Red Letter Quilts: Jaftex

Showing posts with label Jaftex. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Winter in Bloom!

"Winter in Bloom", Original Design category of the Fall 2015 Bloggers Quilt Festival!

It is not too late to participate in the Blogger's Quilt Festival, a bi-annual virtual quilt show for blogger's, hosted by Amy Ellis at Amy's Creative Side!

Nominations are open through October 29th for the Viewer's Choice category.

Inspired by the luxurious colors in the Fusion Illusion bundle of fabric sent to me by Blank Quilting to celebrate the 85th Anniversary of Jaftex, I designed "Winter in Bloom" early this summer. As I played with the fabrics, the colors reminded me of Christmas Cactus, and I reached for the silvery holiday text fabric for the background, to help give the quilt a Christmas-in-the-desert-vibe.

This was an exciting challenge, presented to me by Henry Glass Co. following my participation with the Desire to Inspire Challenge last Spring. It is so fun to allow fabric to "speak" to a quilt design, even when you have no idea what type of fabric you may receive for a challenge!

"Stacked Back", pieced with leftovers:)

Winter in Bloom Stats:
Completed Summer 2015
Original Post HERE
Finished Size: 58" Square
Designed by myself using 900 2.5" Squares, 200 of which were HST's:)
Fabric used:
     Fusion Illusion, by Blank Quilting for patchwork.
     Crystal Palace, by Studioe for background.
     Crosshatch Backing, by Robert Kaufman.
     Season's Elegance, by Studioe for machine binding.
Batting:
     Quilter's Dream Wool
Quilting:
     Free Motion Cross-hatch Quilting with Juki TL-98E
Thread:
     Aurifil 50wt, pale silver color

Thank you so much for your consideration!

Winter in Bloom went for a walk in Bryant Park: Two of the photos shared today were courtesy of office staff from Blank Quilting!

Friday, October 2, 2015

Fusion Illusion FQ Bundle Winner!

The Jaftex Anniversary Hop was pretty fun, right? Entries for the Grand Prizes surpassed 12K in number, so I am pretty excited to see who won all those prizes!

For my part, I was provided this large bundle of FQ's from Blank Quilting to offer here as a giveaway to one lucky reader.
Three weeks zipped by, and this morning we were finally able to draw the winner!
Drumroll, please...

Congratulations to entrant #25, randomly selected as the winner of the FQ bundle:

Beth September 9, 2015 at 7:26 AM

Having spent a lot of time in the desert (Indio, CA), I'd choose Alaska--and then be constantly worried about keeping everyone from freezing in the subzero temperatures. I mean, literally freezing. No exaggeration needed up there, right? Thanks for the giveaway. (Too right! School in Glennallen is not cancelled until temperatures reach -50F! Yikes!)

Beth, I will be emailing you shortly!

I truly enjoyed reading all the comments regarding the extreme weather differences I dealt with this fall! We have broken the heat record here in Nevada with the hottest-ever September average. Acclimating was actually hard when I returned from the 20degree mornings I left up North. I have always enjoyed warm weather (I'm a swimmer after all!), however there was a time when I would have thought I would prefer a cooler climate. I just don't think I could ever get used to those temps though, lol.

Friday, September 11, 2015

TGIFF - Winter in Bloom!

These lovely pictures were emailed to me by Linda Lum DeBono, courtesy of Blank Quilting.

All of the 30 participants in the Jaftex 85th Anniversary bloghop mailed our quilts to New York for photography, to be included in the 'look-book' that will be published at the end of the month!

Winter in Bloom went for a walk in Bryant Park!

I first 'revealed' this quilt on September 9th, my day for the bloghop.

You can read more about it HERE.

Bonus! I listed here as a Q3 Goal (goal #14) for the 2015 Finish Along hosted at On The Windy Side!

Meanwhile, I am still ~~freezing~~ working my arse off in Alaska!

I am undergoing extreme withdrawals from six weeks of NO SEWING!

This is the view near my 'camp'.

Four mountains are visible facing East from Glennallen (from north to south): Mt. Sanford (16,237 feet), Mt. Drum (12,010 feet), Mt. Wrangell (14,163 feet) and Mt. Blackburn (16,390 feet.)
Mt. Blackburn (not really visible in this picture - on the far right) is the tallest of these four peaks, but because it is the most distant from the road it looks smaller. Mt. Drum, which dominates the view in Glennallen, is actually the shortest. Mt. Wrangell is a steaming volcano..

What a surprise I had when a moose and her calf strolled by my trailer at sunrise a few days ago!

I was standing just 10ft away and happened to be holding my phone. I switched it to camera mode as I hurriedly sneaked around the truck to get a shot. It seemed as if they were strolling; unfortunately I captured their butts heading into the tundra 'forest'! Their stroll is actually pretty darn fast! I would share the picture, but it is very dark. The sun had not actually risen yet. Still, I am excited to have finally seen my first moose! As well, a cute & playful little ermine visits daily, and I have spotted several ptarmigans, ravens, and hawks.

Internet is quite sporadic here, and my time online very limited.

Please do not think me rude if I am unable to reply to comments throughout the month of September!

Thank you for visiting, I look forward to reading what others are sharing today for Friday Finishes -

TGIFF is hosted today by at What a Hoot!

Today is Day Eleven of the Jaftex 85th Anniversary Bloghop!

Visit Penny at Sew Simple Designs to see what she made with Peppered Cottons!

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Jaftex 85th Anniversary Blog Hop and Giveaway Celebration - Day Nine!

Welcome to Day Nine of the Jaftex 85th Anniversary Blog Hop!

We are celebrating in style today,

Fusion-Illusion Style that is!

A bundle for you, and a bundle for me!
This bundle is courtesy of Blank Quilting!

Working with these fabrics was such a treat!

I began by pulling a wintertime palette from my bundle..
As I selected the colors, flowering Christmas Cactus came to mind. (I seem to be on a non-stop Christmas fling this year!!) The pattern I went with is a duplicate of my Summer Gathering quilt...
And here it is!

"Winter in Bloom", 58" Square

Machine pieced with 900 squares and more than 200 Half-Square Triangles.

20 HST's were sewn from each color used..

My favorite marking tool for this method..

Silvery text background fabric: 'Crystal Palace' by Studioe!
I LOVE these fabrics!

Cross-hatch quilting on the background..

Quilter's Dream Wool Batting gives a fluffy texture.

'Stacked Back' - pieced with leftover Illusion fabrics..

Machine-bound with 'Season's Elegance' by Studioe

..and a custom label for the finishing touch!

Thank you so much for visiting!

This project has been one of my greatest blogging pleasures - I hope you have enjoyed the stop!

To enter the drawing for the FQ Bundle of Fusion Illusion:

Please leave a comment on this post prior to September 30th, at midnight - Vegas time!

I live in Southern Nevada, where most summer days are over 100 degrees in temperature, and many of those reach over 110 degrees...
However, I am blogging all month from inland Alaska, (Copper River Valley)! The wintertime temps here average 0 degrees, and dip down in the -40's on a fairly regular basis!

My questions is: If you had to choose, in which of these locations would you choose to reside?

Follow the hop all month for more inspiration and prizes at all the stops!

September 1 - Kim Diehl guest posting @ American Patchwork & Quilting

September 2 - Pepper @ Pepper at the Quilt Studio

September 3 - Anjeanette @ Anjeanette Klinder

September 4 - Leanne @ The Whole Country Caboodle

September 5 - Mark @ Mark Lipinski's Blog

September 6 - Heather @ Heather Kojan Quilts

September 7 - Heather @ Trends and Traditions

September 7 - Martha @ Wagons West Designs

September 8 - Linda @ Linda Lum DeBono

September 9 - Heidi @ Red Letter Quilts

September 10 - Jill @ Jillily Studios

September 10 - Dana @ My Lazy Daisy

September 11 - Penny @ Sew Simple Designs

September 12 - Ida @ Cowtown Quilts

September 13 - Liz and Beth @ Lizzie B Cre8ive

September 14 - Melissa @ Sew Bitter Sweet Designs

September 15 - Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl

September 16 - Amy @ Kati Cupcake

September 16 - Barbara @ QuiltSoup2

September 17 - Erica @ Kitchen Table Quilting

September 18 - Leona @ Leona's Quilting Adventure

September 19 - Margot @ The Pattern Basket

September 20 - Sylvia @ Flying Parrot Quilts

September 21 - Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts

September 22 - Kim @ Aurifil Threads

September 23 - Rebekah @ Don't Call Me Becky

September 24 - Julie @ The Crafty Quilter

September 25 - Mary Ellen @ Little Quilts

September 25 - Mary Jane @ Holly Hill Designs

September 26 - Daisy @ Ants to Sugar

September 27 - Melissa @ Happy Quilting

September 28 - Janet @ One S1ster

September 29 - Jenny @ Martingale& Co.

September 30 - Teresa @ Third Floor Quilts

You can also enter more fabulous prizes from Jaftex!
Packages are awarded by Aurifil, Schmetz Needles, and the Grand Prize includes a sewing machine from Janome!:

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Jaftex Celebrates 85 Years! Bloghop & Giveways all Month!

85 years ago, Jacob A. Fortunoff (JAF of Jaftex), began peddling fabrics in New York City.
Their focus at the time was women's sleepwear and lingerie!

Today, Jaftex is a leader in the quilting industry. Jacob’s grandson, Robert, changed the business of the company in the 1980’s, when he purchased companies like A.E. Nathan, Henry Glass, Stylemaker, Chanteclaire, Fabric Editions/Studioe and more recently The Blank Quilting Corp..

September marks the 85th Anniversary of Jaftex, and they sure know how to celebrate---

30-days of Blog-hop-bliss!!

Giveaways are scheduled at each stop throughout the Bloghop!
Fabric bundles will be awarded from:

Blank Quilting Corp., Studioe, & Henry Glass Fabrics!
The celebration is also sponsored by

Aurifil Threads

Schmetz Needles

Janome!

and the Grand Prize includes a Janome Skyline S5 Sewing Machine!!
Enter the Grand Prize Giveaway at the end of this post!

The Blog Hop starts TODAY with Kim Diehl guest posting @ American Patchwork & Quilting!!

Follow along all month!

Here is the lineup: