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Moda Love Blog

If you are here looking for the Moda Love Blog- please click here.  We have moved!

July Label Crew

We have a new post about the July Label Crew here.  Please remember that we have moved to:

thesweetwaterco.com.  Thanks!

New Patterns and Winners!

We have a new post on our new site- thesweetwaterco.com

Check out our new patterns and find out if you won our latest contest!

Just a reminder- we have moved and will be posting all new blog entries on our new site!

We're Moving!

Today is a very exciting day for us!  After 5 years of blogging, we are finally moving to a new blog/website.  You can read all about it here.

However, there is a little something we need to take care of here first.  We haven't yet picked a winner of our Boat House contest yet.  I kind of forgot because we have been so busy getting the new site ready.  So...the winner is:

Candy who wrote:

I love it!! Each and every piece!!! Since my son joined the navy last year I love the red white and blue theme. I can't wait for this to become available!

Congratulations, Candy!  Just e-mail us at [email protected] with your mailing address.

We are very happy with our new site- finally our blog, store and everything else are in the same place! 

And if you want another chance to win The Boat House fabric, head on over to the new site and subscribe to the new blog for a chance to win.  

We will be updating this site, letting you know when there is a new post on the new website until everyone gets transferred.  

P.S.  If you place an order on the new site this week, you will receive something special!  Details here.

Sweetwater Marketplace

is now OPEN!!!!!

We have had so much fun making jewelry - 

 coasters and hot pads

and even signs and bags

plus so much more!!!  To view and purchase click here!  All items are handmade and are limited!

To help celebrate our new section on Etsy we are offering this special deal - 

All items in the Bunting Section on our Etsy shop are 30% off until Monday June 16, 2014.  Prices listed are the sale price no code to enter!  Click here for the sale items!

Welcome To The....

Boat House!  But first, we must confess.  We don't have a boat.  Let alone a boat house.  We don't even live by a lake.  Or an ocean.  Or any body of water you could but a boat on.  But we do have a creek.  Or is it a crick?  My husband and I always debate that. I actually know that it is "creek", but a whole lot of people around here say "crick", so I think that's okay, too.  Anyway, yesterday we went down by the creek to take photos of The Boat House.

And I also must confess that The Boat House is my favorite.  I know I always say that, but really.  I'm in love with this collection.  Some of you may remember that a long, long time ago I blogged about how I always wanted to do a patriotic, 4th of July type collection.  And my mom and sister always just rolled their eyes.  Mostly because we don't want to leave out all those people outside the US that buy our fabric. So we had an idea.  We could use the good ol' red, white and blue color scheme without making it too "American".  So the collection turned out more nautical than patriotic, but I can still make a red, white and blue quilt for my favorite holiday!    

So here it is, The Boat House.

 

First, the blues.

 

Here is my favorite print- the nautical flags.

Next, the reds.

And everything together.

 

And these little "flags" are actually blocks of a new quilt.

The pre-cuts are so yummy!

Now the fun part.  We have a Moda pre-cut we are giving away!  So if you would like to win some Boat House fabric looooong before it will be available to purchase (I'm thinking it won't come out until about January), just leave us a comment letting us know what print or colorway is your favorite in the collection.

We hope you like it as much as we do.  Thanks for taking a look!  And even though we don't have a lake, the creek is just as fun!

 

Just A Little Peek

We got a huge surprise from the UPS man a couple of days ago.  Well, not really a surprise, because we have been anxiously awaiting its arrival for a long time.  We know Elementary hasn't even hit stores yet, but as usual, we are off to the next thing.  And the next thing for us is called The Boat House.  Our next fabric collection.  Not that it will be available any time soon.  January is a looooooong way off, but just having this in my hands makes me smile.  Really, really big. 

If you follow us on Instagram, you saw just a little peek of The Boat House.  Here it is:

Not a great photo- but we will be photographing the entire collection next week.  Which is when we will show it here on our blog.  So until next week, this is all I have!

I do have another little something to share with you.  We are being featured in a great online magazine from Australia this month, Kindred Stitches.  If you haven't checked it out, you should definitely do so.  Just download their free app using this link:

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/kindred-stitches-interactive/id665019498?mt=8

You can also see a promotional video of the issue here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbuJu-qgHGI

The e-magazine is beautiful- here is what the cover looks like:

Inside the issue, we contributed a cute table mat pattern that is quick and easy.  The entire issue is inspiring, and the photography is beautiful.

One last thing, the winner of our Elementary pattern company is:

Rachel S. who wrote:

How do you pick a favorite?  I love this line of fabric.  I think my favorite is a toss-up between Rugby and Picnic Plaid.

Congratulations, Rachel.  Just e-mail us at [email protected] with your address.

Have a great day- and we will see you next week with The Boat House!

Finally!

It seems as though we have been working on our Elementary quilts forever!  But the final binding was completed last night and we are ready to show them.  As many of you know, we couldn't make it to Quilt Market last week in Pittsburgh, so this is the first time for anyone to see them.

Here they are!

Music Class (We thought the half circles looked sort of like a record- so that's where it got it's name).

 

Math Class

Rugby.  We love this for either a baby, birthday or graduation quilt!

This one is my favorite.  Well, maybe Music Class is my favorite. But then again, this one might be.  I just can't decide!  It's called Picnic Plaid.

The last one isn't a completely new pattern.  We just tweaked one of our old favorites.  It's called Town Square. And we did it in two colorways.  First the blue:

I love the square quilting on this one.  

Then we decided to do in in the kraft color:

We also wanted to do one of our popular Jelly Roll quilts in Elementary.  But we don't have it done yet- so you will just have to imagine it looks like this.  With blue instead of green.

We will show you when we finish!

If you would like to win the entire set of patterns, just leave us a comment letting us know which is your favorite.  The patterns will be finished in a couple of weeks.  We will post them in our shop when they are done.

And, as usual, if you would like to have a kit of one of the quilts, we are offering them for pre-sale in our shop.  This is how it works:

• You can preorder any kit (it includes the pattern) for one week.
• You pay half the cost of the kit now, and half when we ship.  
• The expected ship date is late August/ early September.
• After one week (which will be Tuesday, May 27), we will take the kits out of the shop and we can't guarantee we will have extras.
• You can choose from any of the above 6 patterns, including the Jelly Roll quilt, which will come in Elementary fabric.

We will choose a winner of our pattern contest in a few days.  Good Luck!

 

 

 

Bunting Tutorial

I have a problem - a forgetting problem!  I had every intention of bringing my good camera to work with me today but once again I forgot.  Yes I could go home and get it, but would have to drive through what looks like to me as the great dust bowl. Plus getting tossed around on the road due to the wind just didn't sound that fun. So my apologizes in advance for the not so stellar photos! 

Here we go -

Step 1

Find your favorite iron on transfer (you can find all different shapes for your own bunting here!)

Step 2

Trim about 1/16" around all of the letters.  If possible a rotary cutter works pretty slick!

 

Step 3

Pre-heat your iron to the hottest setting - make sure to turn off your steam!

Step 4

Get your canvas ready for the iron on transfers.  I only do 1 or 2 transfers at a time.  Cut your canvas into small pieces just enough for 1 or 2 letters to fit on it.  Make sure to leave plenty of space in between the letters.  Place the iron on transfers face down on the canvas.

Step 5

And Iron!  Leave the iron on there for a few seconds.  You can test the iron on by pulling up one of the corners of the transfer.  A small portion of the ink will remain on the transfer sheet but the majority will be on the canvas.  If the transfer needs some more time just place the corner back down and continue ironing.  It is very important that the iron is on the hottest setting.

Step 6

Once the transfer is complete peel off the paper backing

Step 7

Head back to your rotary cutter and trim 1/8" around both sides and the bottom of the transfer.  You will trim the top on the next step.

Step 8

Trim 1/2" on the top of the transfer

Step 9

Admire how well of a trimmer you are

Step 10

Get some of our fabric bunting tape and sandwich the letter in between.  Sew all layers together!

At last but not least - enjoy your bunting!

Don' forget if you order anything from our bunting section on etsy today or tomorrow you will receive a set of our iron on labels for free!

 

We Love....

Buntings!  We are kind of obsessed with buntings around here.  So we decided to make a whole bunch of them.  And when I say a bunch, I kind of mean it.  My sister gets all the credit for this project.  She had the idea of using our iron-on transfers to create custom letters we used for the buntings.  Here is one example:

But she didn't stop there.  She wanted a little more color, so she added this:

And then if you were actually having a birthday party, you would want one for the cake.  Or cupcakes.

So when you put them all together, you get this.

So here is how it works if you want to make one.  I will list everything out cause I kind of got confused when it was explained to me.  So I'm hoping this helps you!

• For the large buntings, you can choose any word you wish in any color- black, red, green, blue, pink or orange.  You can also have a multi-colored one with each letter in a different color.  
• You will recieve the iron-on transfers in the word and color of your choice.  The transfers can be ironed to any fabric.  The one pictured uses canvas.  If you would like to order the canvas, you can do so separately from the iron-on transfers. We offer it in 1/2 yard bundles.  1/2 yard will make approximately 18 bunting letters.
• The iron-on transfers come with instructions on how to make the bunting.
• For the smaller triangle bunting, we used Moda Candy.  You can also order that in a variety of fabric collections.  
• The "Happy Birthday" bunting for the cake comes in other colors as well.

If you would like to order, you will also have to choose which shape of bunting you would like.  Because of course we couldn't just stop at one.

Here is the flag shape:

Rectangles:

Hearts:

And triangles.  By the way, this little boy wasn't too thrilled to get his picture taken.  He never is, but we did get one with a smile!

One more thing.  The bunting letters are sewn to fabric.  We call it fabric "ribbon", and you can order it ready to be sewn to the bunting in a variety of colors.

The colorful buntings are available in Wishes, Noteworthy or Road 15.

We kind of like them all mixed up.

And that's not all.  These cuties are my favorite.  We have an alphabet and a number bunting.

 

I love how the iron-on transfers make it look like the words are actually printed on the fabric.

And we couldn't do a big project like this without adding a couple of canvas art prints.  We love these at a party by the cake, or in a kid's room.

Whew. I hope I didn't forget anything!  Oh- I almost did.  If you order anything in our "Bunting" category this week, you will receive these fun iron-on transfers for free!

This offer lasts until Wednesday, April 30.  You can find everything now in our shop.  To make it easier to find everything, be sure to click the "Bunting" category on the left side of the screen.  

Have a great day, and Happy Buntings!