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You know, there’s nothing quite like waking up and seeing one of your designs filling your computer screen. Especially ones that you didn’t put there. That happened to me three times this past March!

The first time was on March 4th on Make it in Design’s blog: Pattern Design Showcase Part 2- Module 3 (Sept 2015 Class)

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Then on March 9th, I woke up to this:

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And on the same day I saw this!

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I was scrolling along and then BAM! Hey, that’s MINE!

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As one friend phrased it, Print and Pattern, it’s like the holy grail of Surface design sites!

And when I wasn’t being taken by total surprise I was working on another Skillshare class. Honestly, I can’t get enough of this stuff!

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The Arrow, The Flash and Marvel Agents of Shield. What do all those super hero TV shows have in common with this blog?

I’m a super hero? Nope.

I’m a super fast bow and arrow shooting spy? Well… no.

They just stared up again after their mid season hiatus? Yup, nailed it! And on all those shows after their hiatus they have a recap. You know the part where they say “Previously on…”. Here’s mine (It’s quite long so I’ve broken it into three posts. This is Part I):

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Previously on Lysa Flower… I had just won a portfolio review with Elizabeth Olwen from her Skillshare class, “How to create a Fabric Collection in Two Weeks.” If surface design is something you have a burning desire to do, I highly recommend any of her classes.

QUILTCON! It happened, it was amazing. We ran around the show acting like it was Halloween and ALL the people were giving out full-sized chocolate bars!

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Here’s a quick recap of the highlights:

TOP Left: We met Janine Vangool from Uppercase Magazine (OMG! You know how much I love that magazine right?!), Kimbery Knight from Cotton + Steel! (Pinch me did that really happen?) Oh and the cute little red head was our fearless Sherri!

TOP Middle: Note to self, next time take pictures of the quilts AND the LABELS! D’oh! Hand smack to forehead! Luckily Instagram came to the rescue to identify most of the quilts, although I don’t know the name of the quilter from this middle picture. If anyone knows please let me know.

TOP Right: This mini hexi quilt ( 1/4″ hexi’s I might add!) was done by a 14 year old named Sophia Locke.

MIDDLE top: This bridge quilt was a guild challenge. Which Guild you ask? Don’t know. What was it called? Don’t know? I know, so helpful hey?! Labels woman, labels!!

MIDDLE Middle: We found my QUILT!!! Yay! (Check out Sherri’s awesome bag!)

MIDDLE Right: I adore this quilt! It was from Windham Fabrics booth. It was a stunner and they also had the booth covered with paper origami dresses made with all their designer’s prints. Did I mention we met Lotta Jansdotter!!!! Holy Moly!

BOTTOM Left: Hillary Goodwin’s quilt from Entropy Always Wins

BOTTOM Middle: Anna Marie Horners block of the month from Creative Bug

BOTTOM Right: The whole catalyst behind going to Quiltcon was to meet up with my Auntie Caryl (who knew more people there than I did! I guess owning a quilting shop for 22 years will do that). It was wonderful to reconnect with her and I adored our time together!

I made up a little name tag zippy pouch for the occasion (shh… don’t tell anyone but a tutorial is in the works!).

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I also made up some #sewinglikeamothertrucker buttons for trade-zees!

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This quilt by Alison Chambers summed up up the trip. At 3 am we left my house for Quiltcon. We closed the trip by getting home at 1 am.

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My partners in crime Judy and Sherri, Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild peeps!

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I was offered one piece of advice going to Quiltcon, never take more than two classes. Which is what I did. Now if I were to add onto that advice I’d say take them early in the weekend when you’re fresh. I loved my two classes but I was so worn out by then. Still super duper fun! I would have liked to have been a bit perkier.

The first class I took was from Lizzy House. Did you know she’s engaged? Anyways, it was really fun to meet her and take a block printing workshop.

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The second class I took was a Valori Wells all day block printing workshop. I had come prepared with images from my Snail Mail collection. I had also wanted to take her silk-screening workshop but since I decided in July 2015 to go to Quiltcon they were all full. I was fine with that, feeling lucky just to get into this workshop, until we started playing. Now, it’s firmly on my to- do list!

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Lysa Flower trivia, that’s what I studied in art school, printmaking. It was pretty nifty getting back to it.

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It could have been the sleep deprivation but it felt somewhat like a dream!

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And before I new it, “Wham Bam thank you Ma’am” it was over! I was back home and received this lovely swap package from Amanda. A pretty snazy welcome home if you ask me!

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I’m not really sure how to go about this or how to write about it…

I’m still a little in shock.

but I won..

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Unbelievably, I won. I won a portfolio review with Elizabeth Olwen for this collection I designed in her latest Skillshare class!

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We live in amazing times don’t we! YouTube, E courses! You can connect with people, instructors all over the world and learn anything. ANYTHING. It’s crazy. How did we do it before?

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I’ve always loved learning, in fact I easily could become a professional student. My husband says I could have been a doctor if we added up all the time I’ve spent in school!

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Last year when I was working on my first fabric collection, I checked out Elizabeth Olwen’s Pattern Design: Creating Inspiring Repeats. Lurked would probably be a better term. It was weird really, I’ve been buying fabric, looking at it, sewing with it forever but when faced with how to design a collection, I was like, huh? I loved Elizabeth’s class, it really filled in the gaps and answered the questions I had.

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With The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design finishing at the end of 2015, I have to admit, I panicked a bit. I’m a girl that loves deadlines and schedules. Then early January rolled around and what popped into my inbox, but an invite to another Elizabeth Olwen class, Pattern Design II: A Creative Look at a Full Pattern Collection. Building a collection over two weeks? Hmm… I waffled, do I have time? Then I snapped myself out of it. Make time. Do it now, there will never be a perfect time.

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It was a gorgeous class. ThWEB-Yellow-loose-leaf_circlee lessons were well recorded and well explained. Her information was clear and concise. Plus, uniquely she provided feed back and a Skype Q & A call. From what I understand not every class is hands on like this one. Score!

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I posted my mood board from the class a few weeks back. Creating a mood board was a step I’d often brush past and one I don’t think I’ll ever skip again.

 

 

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In brainstorming for the mood board I realized the story of my collections was this:

When I moved to the west coast my grandfather unexpectedly started sending me letters. Every time I received one I dropped everything and wrote him back. Being a sucker for stationary didn’t hurt, however this routine we created, it allowed me to meet my grandfather in a way I never had before. He was very romantic about the past, something we had in common. I long for my pen-pal, the ritual of putting everything on hold, slowing down, thinking of what to say, answering questions, putting pen to paper and simply writing a letter.WEB-letter-spot-graphic

A far contrast to the internet, Youtube, E courses, etc (all things I love). I know I’m a conundrum.WEB-postcard-spot-graphic

P.S. Elizabeth was very sweet and remembered the project I did her Wildwood Collection back in 2014 (and calender) . She’s awesome like that!

 

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Saturday morning… a regular day. We made breakfast, got everyone ready for soccer, sent them off and settled into doing some homework for Elizabeth Olwen’s Skillshare class, “Pattern Design II: A Creative Look at a Full Pattern Collection”. The mood board I posted last week, it was for her class. Working away, I realized I need to reference something on my phone. Hey look, I have a text. I opened it. Oh hey, it’s from  Sherri. Huh?…  Feeling like my fingers had just turned into sausages, as quickly as I could I went to the Modern Quilt Guild Instagram site.

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It was true! There was my Cassette Tape Quilt! It had been selected by the Modern Quilt Guild to be in the LA Times!

We double checked the  LA Times  Website. There sits my quilt beside Carolyn Friedlander‘s. The fabric designer who’s fabric we were given, along with a handful of Robert Kaufman Kona solids last March from our guild, for a mini quilt challenge.

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Violet Craft, Jacquie Gering, Amy Friend, we’re all included in the article! C’mon!! ( I’ve since discovered Lindsey Neil’s Instagram feed @penandpaperpatterns-WOW!) AND, did you see “On-Off-Standby, Pink” by Janice Smyth? Gaw all the quilts, A-maz-ING! Talk about good company! How the heck did this happen?!… Well, I know I need to thank the Modern Quilt Guild. So thank you Modern Quilt Guild AND thank you for creating this community… AND for being awesome!

My head’s still having a hard time wrapping it’s self around it. Talk about the little stinking quilt that could. Posting about it on Instagram while I was making it last March, my feed lit up like a Christmas tree. Requests for a pattern poured in, so I did it, I made a pattern . I recently released it on Etsy. Then feeling like, what the hell, mixed  in with a pep talk from Sherri, I submitted it to the Quiltcon show. It got in-YAY! (I’m going this year, which makes it extra exciting!) THEN this happened… And really, my only plan was to make a pillow for my bed with cassettes on it. Huh.

 

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SNAIL MAIL_ moodboard

This is a mood-board. Step one to designing a fabric collection. Stay posted for step two…

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