Frida

We often get requests from YouPatch customers wanting to make high detail images into small quilts using the pixelated method/style. This is tricky because the higher the detail in a small quilt, the smaller the little pieces. It gets to a point where the pieces are simply too small to sew.

But they can be stuck!! A-ha!! I came across a method called Fabric Mosaic via FaceBook (as you do) when I befriended a woman called Robyn Taylor who makes small pixelated fabric wall hangings using this method. She also teaches this method. Google her!!

After numerous discussions with Robyn and some of Dan's magic software creations, I began a trial piece. A portrait of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

QuiltCon - meeting all the quilty people!!

What an absolute buzz it was to meet so many wonderful people in Austin last month!! Many people I had corresponded with online, people who had made YouPatch quilts, so many people I have admired over the years!!

WARNING: there will be a LOT of photos in this blog post and I will be in most of them :P
So if you have had enough of seeing me and my pink hair, just focus on the OTHER gorgeous people in the pics ;-)

First up, the Aussies!! In the lead up to QuiltCon, I joined a FaceBook group called "Aussie QuiltCon Contingent". Such a gorgeous and supportive group of women. Some old friends, some new. We shared our travel plans, our excitement and of course much silliness! What a crazy bunch travelling to the other side of the globe to play with quilts and fabric!!!

QuiltCon - The first blog post of many

And not a minute too soon!!! I'm a tad late in posting about QuiltCon as we didn't get home to Melbourne until the 28th Feb and since then I have been suffering jet lag, a nasty head cold and a severe case of procrastination-itis!

So in this first blog post, I'll be mainly showing you our YouPatch booth. We were so proud of our booth that packed away into a suitcase! But more about that later.

In future posts, I'll be talking bout the people of QuiltCon, the city of Austin and, of course, all the gorgeous quilts!!! I'll also be showing you our post-Austin visit to Los Angeles where we got to hang out with a bunch of fabulous people and soak up the winter sunshine.

But first, our journey to Austin ..... didn't go exactly to plan!

Audrey - finished at last!!

This has been by far my biggest and most ambitious quilting project ever!

I started with this pixelated image:

Using YouPatch, I generated a pattern with just over 2000 pieces and, over the course of about 50 hours, I made the quilt top.

Here she is half-finished at the Melbourne Stitches & Craft Show last year

Bubbles!!!!!

So as you may have seen in our recent post, we are introducing HSTs into the YouPatch quilt design suite! Here is the first pixel quilt I've made that incorporates triangles:

The original image was a pic I took about a year ago of my daughter Ella blowing bubbles.

Rather than go with my usual bright solid fabrics, I wanted to incorporate a palette that was a little different so I asked my dear friend Louise (who usually goes for a softer palette than I do) to select the fabrics for me. Not only did she select something gorgeous and a little different, she went with textured fabrics.... all purchased from Amitie.

From L-R: Robert Kaufman dot in pink, Quartet Collection by Faye Burgos for Marcus Fabrics, Zenith by P&B Textiles, Robert Kaufman quilters linen in silver, Robert Kaufman quilters linen in platinum.

Introducing ... TRIANGLES!!!

YouPatch has, until now, provided pixel quilt patterns using only squares and rectangles as component pieces. We have recently been dabbling with the idea of adding half-square-triangles (HST's) to improve the capacity for creating smoother curved and diagonal lines.

My clever husband Dan Prager (the brain power behind this idea) has written about it in his blog post and we have re-published it here ...

Adding triangles to YouPatch

The Racket Logo

Following my talk at RacketCon 2014 a few participants expressed interest in getting a quilt based on the Racket programming language logo (right).

Since I used Racket extensively both in inventing and developing YouPatch (www.youpatch.com) I thought it would be a nice gesture to make a free quilt design available to members of the Racket community.

However, just running the Racket logo through the YouPatch process (as it stood) made for an unsatisfactory result on two fronts:

Reflecting on a crafty year

2014 was a super busy crafty year with the launch of YouPatch in February.

Loads of pixel projects and quilts for friends and family.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make YouPatch a wonderful experience and to everyone who made my 2014 interesting, fabulous, challenging and creative.

Happy new year!! I hope it's s stitchy one!

Andi xxx

PS The song in the video is called "Ho Hey" performed by the very talented Indi Eisner. You can listen to it here!

Yee-haw! A Texas quilt

Well, if we are going to take an Aussie quilt to QuiltCon, we'd better have a Texas one too! ;-)

This succulent was the closest thing I could get to a cactus at short notice ... lol

This is the first pixel quilt I've made that has the added element of applique. It's not easy to create a 5-pointed star using squares and rectangles! :P

Aussie Aussie Aussie

In preparation for our trip to Austin in February, I thought it would be good to make something very Australian to share at our YouPatch booth.

An Aussie map quilt hanging on the most Australian of icons, the hills hoist!

A fun collaboration (and a freebie for you!!)

You may know that the YouPatch software creates pixel quilt patterns using the Kona Cotton solids range (by Robert Kaufman fabrics). So YouPatch and Robert Kaufman have become firm friends since our launch earlier this year.

So when we were approached by the good people at Robert Kaufman to collaborate on a pixel pattern project, we were delighted to get involved.

Robert Kaufman have a new range of brush stroke fabrics that were created using actual scans of Vincent Van Gogh's brush strokes. How cool!!! So what better image to use in a quilt pattern than the artist himself!

This was our first pattern using non-solid fabrics so presented a bit of a technical challenge but decided we were up to the task and created this pattern for a pixel quilt:

The pattern is available here as a free download. You can find out more about this fabric range here.

Thanks Robert Kaufman for including us in this project!!

Andi and the YouPatch crew xx

Make Modern (and a wrap up of the show)

The Melbourne Stitches and Craft Show was a whirlwind of craft and quilts and meeting people and learning lots and .... pure exhaustion!!

I've been told I look a little tired in this shot :P

Thank you to everyone who came and chatted with us and attended my demonstrations about the YouPatch website. We loved meeting you all and hearing your crafty stories!

But now the show is over and we are looking towards the next wonderful YouPatch projects and collaborations .... which brings me to Make Modern.

Have you heard about Make Modern yet? It's a new online Australian magazine all about modern quilting. Gotta love that!!!!

Issue 2 was released on Saturday and we are delighted to have a pattern in this issue as well as a great business review. Go check it out (here)!!!

Our pattern is a pixelated pink skull cushion (perfect for Halloween!!)

Please go and have a look at this great new offering and support a group of dedicated crafters (like you and me) making a splash in the world of crafty publishing!!

I think Make Modern is absolutely packed with value!! Great projects and articles. Everything I'm looking for in a quilty magazine! If you do buy the magazine, let me know what you think?

Happy stitching to you!

Andi xx

Getting ready!!

Dan and I set up for our first trade show today: Melbourne's Stitches and Craft Show at the Caulfield Racecourse.

I was invited to be one of their 'guest artists' which is very flattering and I'm a little nervous (and excited) about how the next four days will pan out. I will certainly keep you posted.

In the meantime, here's a look at today's setup ....

A pretty big space to fill.

With my name on and everything! (Don't I look gorgeous in fluro??)

Half way set up. Still a bit messy.

The right hand section of the booth all ready to go.

Complete with my wall of divas!

And the other half.

With the computer ready to show everyone how YouPatch works.

Are you coming to the show this week? Please pop over and say 'hello'.

Much stitchy love to you.

Andi xx

What have I been up to?

Apart from the usual school holidays, kid wrangling, etc ..... I've been sewing some teeny tiny pixels together.

The smallest 'pixels' are 3/4 inch so fairly fiddly. I've completed 40 blocks out of 100. (What you can see in this pic is about 6 blocks).

It will be a while before this baby is finished so I'll try to pop by here regularly to show some progress pics.

See ya later stitchy people!!

Andi xx

Is it that time of year already??

I'm seeing reports of Christmas trees going up in shopping centres and the jingle of Christmas music playing in the malls. And it's still September!!!! CRAZY!!!!

But ... it's not too early to start your Christmas stitching!! We have a Santa pattern that is perfect for the silly season.

Pattern available for purchase. Just click here!

Ho ho ho quilters!

Andi xx

Down Under Quilts Giveaway

Aussie quilters will already be very familiar with Down Under Quilts. Well this much loved magazine has just gotten even better with a new look!! This month's issue (the Spring issue) will be in the shops this Thursday with a fresh new feel.

As usual, the magazine will be available in Newsagents but will now also be available at Coles stores!!

We are very excited to have a YouPatch pattern in this Spring issue .... a gorgeous pixelated tulip!

In addition to lots of gorgeous patterns, each magazine comes with a free wheel of pretty quilting pins!!

The giveaway bit ...

Practical Publishing is offering a free copy of the magazine to one lucky PatchAndi reader (Aussies only for this one). You each have 3 chances to enter.

1. Leave a comment on this post telling me what image you would like to turn into a pixel quilt.
2. 'Like' the PatchAndi FaceBook page and leave a comment on this post to tell me about it.
3. 'Like' the YouPatch FaceBook page and leave a comment on this post to tell me about it.

A winner will be chosen at random next week on Wednesday 24th September.

You can also win a free copy over at Anorina's blog: Samelia's Mum. She's a fabulous quilter and also has a lovely pattern in this issue.

Good luck to all and see you soon.

Andi xx

Autumn leaves?

Yep ... I created this abstract pixel pattern from a picture of autumn leaves.

Using YouPatch I chose the lowest level of detail and dropped the colors down to 5. Then I selected my own color palette and voila .... this was the result!!

For the quilting I went with an off-centre spiral, augmented with some fun squiggles and swirls.

And for the backing, I chose this stunning fabric that I bought at Amitie Textiles.

I'm hoping this quilt will be accepted for the exhibit at QuiltCon.

I'm a bit excited to have this one finished and I have another finish to show you in a few days. Much stitching excitement!!

Andi xx

Eeeeep!! Much excitement!!

I'm sure you've heard by now that Katy Jones (aka imagingermonkey) is the editor of a fabulous new quilting magazine out of the UK called Quilt Now.

Image borrowed from the Quilt Now FB page

Well, Issue #1 has been released this week although it may take a while for copies to reach Australia :(
And ... YouPatch has a project in it!! A juicy pixelated pineapple!!! Here's a bit of a taster:

It is such an honor to be a part of Katy's new publishing adventure. Thank you Katy for including us! I am sure that Quilt Now will become an integral player in the modern quilting world!! 

Pop out and grab your copy. It will also be available as a digital download so head over to the Quilt Now website to find out more!!

Yay!! (again)

Andi xx

Some actual quilts!!!

It is very exciting to start seeing some pixel quilts being made by our YouPatch customers. Check out these two wonderful examples:

The incredible Victoria Findlay Wolfe was our very first YouPatch customer. She created a pixel quilt pattern of her daughter with a plan to make it for her birthday. And this crafting dynamo actually made it in time for the May deadline. Check out that smile on Miss Beatrice's face. She loves it!! And so do I. What an incredible job she did!!

You can read more about the birthday quilt over at this blog post.

Another very happy pixel quilt birthday kid!!! Have a closer look at his t-shirt!! ;-)

This one was made by the very talented Lisa Lee for her minecraft loving son. (You can check out her etsy shop here). I love how Lisa has used some printed fabrics in her quilt. It makes this very quirky quilt even quirkier!!

My son has seen this quilt and is already begging me for a quilt just like it for HIS birthday. I'm going to be a busy Mama!!

Thanks to both Victoria and Lisa for giving me permission to reproduce these pics of your gorgeous quilts with your gorgeous children!!

Have you started working on your YouPatch quilt pattern? I'd LOVE to see some pics of your work.

Andi xx

Welcoming autumn with a new quilt!

When Lynne from Lily's Quilts put a call out for bloggers to make something with this gorgeous bundle of Oakshott Liparis, I instantly saw pixel potential!!

It took AGES for the fabrics to travel across the globe to Melbourne. When they finally arrived, I was so excited!! They were gorgeous!! Rich in colour with incredible depth. Dark (because they are shot with black thread) and luscious.

I knew I wanted to create a pattern in YouPatch but YouPatch only works with Kona colors. So ... I got my trusty Kona color card and did my best to match the Lipari colors to the Kona colors. When I had a list of colors, I created an image in YouPatch using these colors.

Here's the result .... inspired by the coming autumn ...

I used most of the Lipari colors and added in some Kaffe Fassett shot cotton in a rich raspberry and also some additional black.

I pebble quilted the black trunk and branches and did a meander over the leaves using red thread.

Then I used a wavy stitch to quilt the background grasses.

For the backing, I used a gorgeous pixel-y fabric from Anna Maria Horner's Dowry collection. Purchased, of course, from Amitie!

Thanks so much Lynne for sending me these gorgeous fabrics. I've had such fun playing with them.

Andi xx

On quilting, binding and backings - Part 2

Last week, I wrote about the quilting side of pixel quilt making. Moving right along, I thought it would be good to have a bit of a look at binding and backing choices.

As with most other quilts I've made, I make the quilt top first and then wait to see how the quilt top 'speaks' to me before I choose a backing and binding.

The great thing about these pixel quilts is that all the fabrics on the quilt top are solids. That means I get to go completely crazy with backing fabric choices. Of course, I do think about the thread colors I will use in the quilting to make sure the backing fabrics will happily play with those thread colors.

I had such fun raiding my stash of vintage sheets for the back of my bunny quilt. Even though the front of the quilt had no greens in it, I loved the idea of my bunny frolicking in a green field of 70's flowers. 

The lilac binding worked perfectly with the backing and framed the front of the quilt nicely. I usually opt for a much bolder binding but this quilt just seemed to cry out for softer, prettier choice. It really works!

I couldn't resist this lime and pink backing fabric for Marilyn. I thought she would have approved of the flowers and butterflies. I found it at Amitie and bought whatever was left on the bolt!! Loved it THAT much!!!

I'm not entirely delighted with the look of the black quilting on this fabric but I knew it was going to be a wall hanging and really, only I would know! ;-)

And given the black border that I added to this quilt after I'd quilted it (remember?) a black binding was really the only choice.

The backing for Groucho was also a wonderful Amitie find. I knew it would absorb the quilting beautifully ... and it did!!

But what I'm particularly excited by is the Groucho binding ...

I made a binding that would change color as the colors around the edge of the quilt changed. I think I did a pretty good job of matching up the seams.

I usually love a binding to create a frame for the quilt but in this case ... with the image moving out beyond the edges of the quilt ... I knew a frame such as a black binding would only serve to contain the image rather than allow it to breathe. Does that make any sense?

With YouPatch still in it's very early days, we have yet to see any pixel quilt finishes from our lovely customers. So I am extremely excited to see what wonderful choices people make with their pixel quilt bindings, backings and quilting designs.

Can't wait to see what everyone is stitching!!

Andi xx