Fabric Design Contest on Spoonflower 'Zigzag Cheater'

Hello everyone! :) I have entered a quilt design into the latest spoonflower contest.

The Contest is called Zigzag Cheater Quilt.

When I first read this I thought that it had to be a design that was full of zigzags and Cheaters..you know the animal from Africa... How weird I thought... but then I read on.. and I learned something new :) 

A 'Cheater' Quilt design is actually a fully laid out design to work as a completed Quilt Top! Yeah, so if you're unsure about how to quilt you can go and buy one of these and put it together with batting and a backing fabric, quilt all over it and bind it and There You Are.. :) What a Cheat :) But that's the idea isn't it. ha ha.

This is what my design looks like. :-)

So now I need all of you to rush off and VOTE for me. I really need the exposure you know. I do a heck of a lot for the folks in the QQQ Team, and I'm hoping that they will want to do something for me in return :) AND to pass it onto all their friends and they to their friends etc. etc. 

This of course is not just for the QQQ Team.. it's for everyone and anyone who likes the design and would like my work to become recognised :-)

This is the LINK to my shop on Spoonflower.

30 BRAND NEW Fabric Designs

As of yesterday I have 30 Brand New Designs go 'live' on Spoonflower. :D They are now all available for purchase! There is no minimum length, so you can even order a fat quarter!

Have a look at a few of them here :) Some of them are what you'd call a 'cheater' design. This is a design that when printed out looks like a finished quilt :) All you have to do is buy a yard or two and then you can sew / quilt it directly onto your batting and backing. Nice and quick :)

Indonesian Batik Fabrics

I recently heard about Indonesian Batik Fabrics when I was in New Zealand. I visited with a local quilt group in my area and there was a lady giving a talk about them. I went a little crazy, spending a tad more than I should have but I just couldn't resist them. :-p Typical of a fabric addict I suppose.

Anyway also recently I joined Craftsy.com where I presently sell my first and so far, only Easy Peasy Nine Patch quilt pattern for beginners.
The kick back is I get news letters from them telling me what deals they are having and today I got an email telling me about some Indonesian Batik Fabrics selling at a reduced 20% off rate. !!! Whoohoo

The process of dye resistant designs, similar to batiks, have been traced back 1500 years to Egypt and the Middle East. In Indonesia, this process evolved into batik. To produce these intricate patterns a copper stamp is created. The cap is then dipped in wax and stamped on to the fabric. The fabric is dyed numerous times to achieve a unique coloration and crumpled by hand to create a textured look. The fabrics are then placed in the sun to dry where the colors become increasingly vibrant. Finally, the fabric is dipped into a vat of hot water and the wax melts away leaving you with an amazing look.

Batiks by Mirah, I love them!!

You have to visit the site and see close-ups of the designs... yummy!

I WISH I had some cash because the fabrics are incredible and are going for a really great price. Much Cheaper than what I paid in New Zealand.

I thought I'd tell you all about it, so that you wouldn't miss out. :-) 

African Safari

I've taken the plunge and entered a competition on Spoonflower.com.  The contest still has some time to go before people can start voting  but it will probably be found HERE

The one I've entered is the Zigzag / Chevron cheater Contest. What it is, is a Cheat Quilt. What? you may ask.. lol....
Well we were invited to design, in a yard of fabric36 inches by the width of the fabric 42 inches, a Quilt Top. You would buy the yard and receive a piece of fabric printed to look like a finished quilt. All you'd have to do is put Batting and Backing fabric with it and sew / quilt it all together.

This is 42 inches wide and 36 inches long.. my African Safari Quilt Top Designed for the Zigzag Spoonflower Contest.

I'm quite excited about this. It took me ages and ages to put it together. I really do hope it was worth the effort; :-D 

Please Please Tweet and Fb and Google+ this post... Especially if you like it :-) Thanks.

Latest Madness with Mermaids

A few years ago I was asked by someone to paint a picture of a mermaid for their bathroom. This I duly did and my customer, I'm happy to say, was really happy with it. Last week I had another customer on the boat and she asked me if I'd do a Mermaid for her... so I did and this is what I've come up with :

The Mermaid.

I've uploaded it to my Fine Art America Site, where you can buy it for as little as $22 :-)

Then I got a WILD idea and worked on it to be able to make it into a fabric design.... I've done it in two ways ONE AS A LARGE PANEL 42 inches by 28 inches with some extra dyed fabric added to the side to make up the yard... and one yard starts at about $18 depending on the type of fabric you'd like it to be printed on... :

The Yard of Fabric

So on Spoonflower.com you'll see Mermaid at Home :-) by the YARD... I don't earn much from this as the company (Spoonflower) takes most of it...they have large overheads I guess... But I'm hoping that some of my designs may become popular :-)

Then I also did it to fit into a FAT QUARTER :

Fat Quarter of Mermaid at Home

So there you have it :-) More Mermaid Madness :-)