New Logo - Brandy Lynn Designs

I've officially been working my buns off in the quilting industry as Brandy Lynn Designs now for 5 months after 12 years of quilting and fibre art as a hobby. I am so pleased to say that quilting guilds, editors, event planners, quilt shops and quilters themselves have welcomed me with open arms as I publish articles, teach workshops across the country and, especially now, with the launch of my first pattern.

I've been plugging away at my website, blog, Facebook and Twitter, but one small thing was missing and I've finally got it designed, digitized and on the first pattern going out next week.

So here it is folks...the long awaited (only by me really...) Brandy Lynn Designs logo!

I love the mix of the traditional quilting needle with the modern circle graphic and the fonts are my absolute favourite. So keep your eyes peeled in stores as my new pattern called INKSATIONS - Silk Screen Table Runner hits the shelves...watch for that new logo!

The next two cities where I'll be teaching the Inksations class are Prince George, BC and Edmonton, AB. Contact me through the Brandy Lynn Designs website to sign up or to book a class for the quilting guild in your area.

Serendipity in Fabric

I am just dyeing to get my pattern back from the printer so I can get the kits into the Quilt Shops for sale! What better way to keep my mind off the wait than to dye fabric with a friend? I ended up with a few muddy fabrics because I tried to use some dye leftover from last week and it had lost its oomph, but the new dye I mixed up with my friend Betty brightened my day with these 2 fabulous pieces.

 

The left photo is a simple 3 colour tie dye and I used the same 3 dyes on the right with a fold and clamp technique. Now I just have to dream up a fun little quilting project to use up my new stash!

INKSATIONS video release!

Well, I've finally created my first YouTube video tutorial. It was a long day (6 hours!) of recording and I did the filming, retakes, cutting, pasting and laughing all by myself. Although it may not be the quality of a professional video shoot, it was really fun, it is me just the way I am, and it gets the point across. 5 years from now I'll be looking back at this first attempt thinking - You've come a long way baby!

Presenting. . . INKSATIONS - Silk Screen Tutorial.

Please do give me your comments and feedback! But remember. . . it was my first try. . .

Dogtown Coffee Company

I'm having so much fun in Dogtown! Last month I mounted a show of 20 fibre art pieces at the Dogtown Coffee Company in Okanagan Falls, BC and the feedback has been fabulous. Not only have I heard wonderful comments about my art, but people love the ambiance, style and food at Dogtown.

The shop has a nice flavour and such a cool concept. It is named Dogtown because that used to be the name of Okanagan Falls. What a great slice of history at the the heart of a new business. If you are fortunate enough to meet Corrie, the owner and her adorable family when you stop in, you'll know right away - they are just good people!

I was thrilled to learn that a piece of art sold within the first week and as you know from this blog post I had so much fun teaching the landscape class here. I took the short drive and rolled in there last week for a quiet afternoon to work and have a London Fog and I was enticed into buying a few gorgeous aprons for my sister and mom-in-law. They were just such nice colour combinations that I couldn't resist. Besides, birthdays are coming up.

Be sure to check it out if you are in and around town! It's a trendy new spot you'll be sure to love again and again.

YouTube schmootube!

Well here it is folks. . . my first blooper.

I pulled a 6 hour video shoot to create my first YouTube video as an added bonus tutorial for the upcoming release of my new pattern INKSATIONS - Silk Screen Table Runner. I'd show you the entire video, but it was such a hilarious comedy of errors that I have a bit of work to do to get it down to a G rating. There were some expletive deletives in between takes and rolling fits of laughter. I don't normally swear having a nine year-old, but my son is gone to visit family for a few weeks and I intend on taking massive action to get some work done launching this pattern. So while he's not here, I feel like I don't have to substitute words like SUGAR! anymore when I stub my toe and knock over the tripod!

Now a "6 hour video shoot" might sound like I have a crew and a producer, or at least someone to hold the camera and press start and stop, but no. . . my husband rigged up a tripod with several delicately placed clamps to hold my iPhone in place. It was just me and the camera and some Simpkins Tropical Fruit Travel Sweets which are soooo good. Check them out here. I pressed start and stop over and over running back and forth smiling, mostly laughing, and sometimes crying. . . just a bit.

Here's the clip - INKSATIONS - Silk Screen Table Runner

It's a raw cut of a few silly takes and I think I look just hilarious, but I have to start somewhere! 

Inksations! Silk Screen Table Runner.

I am so excited about my first quilting/fibre art pattern that I just have to give you another sneak peek. I've never been privy to the process of assembling a pattern or kit before and now that I'm doing it myself as a professional, I thought you might like to follow along. I first designed, wrote, and made samples for the pattern way back in January! I actually thought this would launch in April - what a giant learning curve! It's finally in the last stages of package assembly.

This pattern is a simple table runner with an added silk screen art element, so it actually comes assembled as a kit. Here's a shot of the first prep of the ink bottles before filling.

This was a hilarious process because I wanted a thicker ink for less seeping and ease of use because many quilters are new to screen printing. The difficulty was getting that thick ink out of the jug and into the bottles. I could turn that jug upside down and it wouldn't spill. It was that thick! I tried a syringe, a turkey baster, and finally settled on a cake decorating bag. It worked like a charm!

Here are the first 50 bottles filled and ready for labels. There are actually 4 components to the kit: The silk screen, the gold printing ink, the squeegee and the table runner pattern, of course. So here's a shot of the bags being filled. Shhh! They are not on the shelves just yet. 

Stay tuned for the launch! INKSATIONS - Screen Printed Table Runner will be available soon on my website and at local quilt shops in the Okanagan. Coming soon - the pattern and cover will be hot off the press!

MosquitoPeg!

This has nothing to do with quilting or fibre art, but I just had to post this cute little picture of my son about to enter the battle of the mosquitos. We've lived in the prairies our entire lives and just moved to BC about a year ago. Are we already acclimatized to no more mosquitos? You bet we are! We have had a few this year due to the rainy spring and when we did get a bite it was like a huge welt. Our bodies aren't used to it anymore.

Anyways, we've been joking/complaining about the mosquitos this year with the folks back home and they are giving us no sympathy. This is a shot of Gavin yesterday visiting family back home and they are about to go out raspberry picking. Not sure if the bugs are that bad, or if Geoffrey's making a statement about our newly acquired wimpiness!

Beach Blanket Fun!

We have been hitting the beach so much this summer that I've been inspired to replace the tattered old beach blanket quilt that I purchased at a garage sale many years ago. So I started exploring my stash for inspiration and was thrilled to find a pile of Amy Butler bits and pieces. They were leftovers from all kinds of fun projects I've done in the past. So I pieced them into a simple offset pattern and will back them with a slightly heavier canvas backing.

I ended up with enough scraps to make two wonderful quilts but one of the backing pieces I scrounged up had a chunk cut out of he corner. My solution? Add a funky label. So I pulled a piece out of my hand dyes and penned a lovely label.

The printing turned out great but it needed more so I pulled out my Shiva paint sticks and a pretty floral rubbing plate. Once I had the gold design in place I highlighted the flowers with permanent ink and let it set. Voila, the backing fits and the quilt has that all important label!  Happy Summer!

Charity Quilt (OK Falls) - Halloween Quilt Top

Here are some snapshots of a little pieced quilt top I created from the charity fabrics. It is such a cute Halloween print and it goes very well with the black and white scratchy star print.

Halloween Fabric

When quilting for charity, I try to maximize the bits of fabric that I receive. These 2 fabrics were larger than a fat quarter and when measured, they cut perfectly into 5" squares with very little waste. Piecing them in a checker board pattern creates a balanced children's quilt that features the main print fabric and is very easy to quilt with an all over design.

Toddler Charity Quilt

I have decided to only use fabrics that are donated so as my donation stash builds I'll be keeping an eye out for something that goes with this! Right now this quilt measures 30" x 30" so I'll be adding a few more borders to make it big enough for a toddler. The bulk of the fabrics were from a class taught in Okanagan Falls, BC, so that is where the charity quilt will be donated. 

If you are interested in donating your least favourite fabric (fat quarter or less) from your stash to my Charity Challenge, feel free to contact me through the Brandy Lynn Designs website. I donate the charity quilts to the communities that invite me to teach or speak because the students donate the fabric. The communities to receive the next few quilts will be Okangan Falls, BC, Prince George, BC, and Oliver BC. 

Charity Challenge progress

I've been playing! My charity challenge fabrics are looking much more quilt-able in pieces. I've sorted and cut most of them them into the largest pieces possible to use up every square inch.

I am estimating that I will get 3 or 4 quilt tops from the fabrics donated by this one class. Way to go ladies!