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.

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.

You asked for it! So here it is! My “Hardcore Mini Cassette Tape Quilt Pattern!” It’s ALL done AND you could win it during Sew Mama Sew’s Giveaway Day!

PLUS, I’m throwing in SIX Cotton+Steel Fat Quarters! The winner will be selected at random on Wednesday, Dec 16th. The PDF pattern will be sent to your inbox (emailed) and the Cotton+Steel bundle will be sent to your mailbox (snail mailed)! BUT you gotta leave a comment answering the question below. Sew Mama Sew rules. International entries welcome.

But hey, don’t worry if you don’t win, I’ve listed the pattern on my Etsy store. Feel free to have a snoop around. I only have the one pattern right now but I look forward to filling it up with lots of goodies soon.

Now, whether you’re an ambitious paper piecing newbie or a slick experienced type, a general knowledge of paper piecing and quilt construction is a must for this pattern. However, I’ve included a list of resources to get you out of any jam. Don’t worry, I got your back.

The finished quilt measures – 26″ x 28″ (66cm X 71cm)

The pattern includes:

• 16 pages in total
• 11 pages of instructions
• 10 paper piece cassette tape patterns
• A material and fabric needed list (for batting, backing fabric and binding included. However, the pattern doesn’t include instructions on quilt sandwiching, quilting or binding)
• Block and Quilt Keys
• Assembly instructions
• Tips on how to customize your cassette labels (my favorite part!)
• Background cutting diagrams (plus a cheater sheet to make life easier)
• A Resource list
• Measurements in both inches and centimeters
• The pattern can be printed on standard letter sized paper

Once you have the pattern you can make all kinds of cool things too! Like this:

Isn’t it outstanding?! This Christmas mug rug was made by pattern tester extraordinaire Jonna (@bespokeoutlaw on Instagram). Coming this new year I’ll be posting other cassette tape projects you can make with the cassette tape paper piecing patterns. Stay tuned!

And as always, for Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Days the BIG question… I always love the answers. A few years ago I asked about who’s number you’d want to find in a Matchbook. I was giving way one of my Match Needle Books. The answers were a mix of sweet and naughty. Hey, tis the season! (PS since then, I wrote a pattern for the Match Needle Books, it’s FREE. It’s over there on the right hand side.) Okay, here’s the question to enter the Giveaway:

You’re going on a long road trip with someone you have a crush on. You haven’t told them yet. To let them know and set the tone for the trip, what would be the very first song you’d put on your mixed tape?

Good luck and if you’re on Instagram, I hang out there as @lysaflower. If you’re on Facebook I have a page there too. That’s one of the great things of Sew Mama Sew’s Giveaway Day, I’ve met some pretty fantastic people through it. I look forward to meeting you!

Happy #sewinglikeamothertrucker!

designing

Earlier this summer my son was telling me about his friend in Vancouver, whose high school is being torn down over the summer. On the last day of school they gave the students buckets of paint with permission to graffiti the inside of the school. My son asked me, “Guess what they mostly painted?”

Without hesitation, I said, “penises.”

My son looked at me and blinked twice, “… That’s what I said too.” Then we both paused and stared at each other. Hmm, we both went there.

He broke the silence saying, “Mostly they wrote positive, life affirming messages.” We were both impressed (and mortified at our answers). Then he added, “mostly they were messages like, YOU CAN DO IT!  BUT there was one guy who painted,  apostrophe Ts  behind all the CANs.”

It was like all the air sucked out of the room when I heard that, well not the room, it was my car (we were driving at the time). I realized, I’ve had that same guy in my head! He’s added an apostrophe T to a bunch of my CANs. Although,  the apostrophe T has gotten smaller over time, I can still feel them occasionally. AND since 2015 is my year to live fearlessly, I’ve been diving in head first regardless of any apostrophe T twinges I might have. 

In January I registered for The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design. That was a biggie. I have one more module left. AND THEN! Earlier this week I discovered one of my designs from the first module was on the, to quote my friend Esmari,  “The holy grail” of design blogs, Print and Pattern!!!!! I’m not sure if I even recovered from that one yet. It’s the envelope design at the top of this post.

Then, this past February Esmari sent me an email telling me how I HAD to apply for the UPPERCASE Compendium book. She told me I just HAD, HAD to! So I took a deep breath and I did it. I just found out I was a finalist! I’ll take that. I didn’t get in the book but I’ve been told that my work will be shared on UPPERCASE’s newsletter. Which I LOVE! Again, I’ll take it!

In the next little bit I’m  finishing up two patterns, due to come out lickity split. My Match Needle Book pattern will be released for the Pacific Northwest MQG  meetup, (Aug 20-23rd). It will be posted on my blog as a free pattern.  Plus, my Hardcore Cassette Tape Mini Quilt is ooooh, so close to it’s final version. Yay!

Finally, this September (WOW! It’s coming fast!) I’ll be showing my Fabric Stash Drawing Project at Drygoods Designs in Seattle! I’m so thrilled! I’ve been searching for years and holding out for the exact right location to show this body of work. AND it’s happening. Yup, it’s on like Donkey KONG!

So take that, little man putting apostrophe Ts on peoples CANs. (…um you know I don’t mean boobs right?!)