Publications – Stash Lab Quilts

Modern Wool has arrived!

March 28, 2021

It’s finally here! I’m so excited to have my hands on my first copy of Modern Wool: 12 Projects to Get You Stitching in real life and ready to share with all of you.

Earlier this week I did my first-ever video – opening the box on my first delivery! You can check it out on Facebook here. And a shorter version on Instagram here. Added bonus – Our lovable Winston joins me in the video, too. ❤️🐾

While you’re there, be sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram. I’ve been sharing more photos and details there that don’t make it onto the blog. A quick glance of the blog posts will assure you that it is not my most frequent mode of communication!

One of the best things about this week with the book coming out has been the enormous amount of lovely comments and support I’ve gotten from everyone! You are all so wonderful and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate them all.

Self-doubt is the killer of creativity and I am definitely not immune. My quilt motto has always been to simply make what I love and love what I make but putting things out into the marketplace is next level when it comes to wondering what the heck I think I’m doing!

I’d love to share some wool inspiration with you in Modern Wool, to encourage you to give wool appliqué a try, or expand your ideas of what wool appliqué can be in your own projects. There are several ways to get your very own copy now!

Go to your favorite local quilt shop (or give them a call) and ask them to get you a copy! Ask them to stock it for your friends, too. They will appreciate your business!
Order it on my website – and let me know if you would like your copy signed!
Order it at C&T Publishing and check out all of the other great titles they offer while you are there!
You can also find it on Amazon – be sure to put in a review there, too!

With that, I’ll close out this post with another thing I enjoyed this week – this beautiful congratulatory delivery from the kind and creative folks at C&T. Thank you for everything!

Happy stitching,

Tonya

Pre-ordering for Modern Wool!

February 21, 2021

We’re a step closer! I’m happy to share that you can now pre-order your copy of my upcoming release of Modern Wool: 12 Projects to Get You Stitching right on my website. If you’d like a signed copy, be sure to drop me note in the comments on your order. Anticipated date is currently March 25, 2021!

You can also pre-order a copy directly with C&T Publishing or – and this is a BIG ONE – go to your favorite local quilt shop – ask them to preorder a copy for you and help support their shop! There are so many ways to use your consumer dollars in important ways, especially now while so many small businesses are struggling.

There are 12 projects, but there is a double bonus because I featured both a low-volume and a dark version of every project! Thinking about how we see color and how colors appear on dark or light backgrounds, all became part of my exploration of wool along with combining wool with modern, mixed cotton fabrics for all of the backgrounds. I think it’s fascinating how the exact same color in the applique shapes can change appearance, all by just changing the background! Here’s an example of what I mean:

This is the project called “Rest” in both the dark and light versions. It’s my take on traditional penny wool projects and the wool pennies are exactly the same in both versions. The only difference is in the background fabrics I chose. Colors can appear to recede or advance with a simple change in the background creating so many wonderful design opportunities in your projects! Here are some more quick images of some of the projects:

I’ll definitely be sharing more images and details about each of the 12 projects as we count down to publication but most importantly wanted to share that you can now pre-order your copy now.

Be well my friends and happy stitching,

Tonya

Two new for wool!

December 1, 2019

Hello December! I can hardly believe it! Time to catch up on some new pattern details…and a SALE! First up is Deco Rose, one of my latest patterns just recently introduced this Fall. Deco Rose cover front Deco Rose features wool applique on cotton background – and my favorite – two background options: low volume or dark prints – this time using a mix of 5″ charm squares. Same applique pieces, completely different look! Of course, if scrappy is not your style, pattern includes option for single fabric background. Make it your own!

Deco Rose can be a quick-make – even with hand stitching! – and could easily be made as a gift for someone special for the holidays 🙂 I can’t say that for all of my crazy-scrappy projects but it’s true for this one!

My second new(ish) pattern featuring wool applique is Hungarian Picnic! Hungarian Picnic cover front

This pattern has a special place in my heart because it was inspired by my home-away-from-home country, Hungary, and the wonderful people there. This pattern originally appeared in Quiltmania’s Simply Vintage in Summer 2018 and is now available as an individual pattern.

HP_1 — A-mazing quilting by Tracey @thequiltingninja

The image above is the same quilt, just different lighting! Some projects you know you will just keep forever, and for me, it’s this one for sure.

And guess what? For the next 48 hours, I’m having a pattern sale in my shop just in time for Cyber Monday as a small way to say thank you for all of the wonderful support and encouragement you’ve given me this year. All individual print patterns are 25% off and ship for FREE in the U.S. – including Deco Rose and Hungarian Picnic! Just use coupon code “Thankful2019” at checkout. Sale runs through Tuesday, December 3rd.

Happy holiday quilting,

Tonya

Quilt Market re-cap & recovery

November 24, 2019

Quilt Market is the quilt industry trade show that happens twice a year, fall always in Houston Texas followed immediately by the Quilt Festival, and each spring in a changing location. This was the first time I had my own company booth at Fall Market and it’s pretty daunting when you are a one-woman company! Fortunately, I have lots of support from friends, professionals, and my go-to guy, my husband 🙂

So much effort, energy, business, and at the end of the day, fun. It takes a bit to get back to normal! Here’s what you start with…

Not very inspiring, is it?! Everything else has to be hauled, shipped, rented, or bought on site. To make something wonderful, where people want to be and ultimately buy. This is a business after all and if you don’t make money, you can’t make more patterns, quilts, fabric, books, or whatever you have to offer.

Some shots of my booth after setup…

One of the downsides of having your own booth is that you actually have to be in it – all the time! Which makes it hard to get out and around to see other booths and all of the other sights. It’s kind of a trade off in many ways. So I did run around the show in the mornings before the floor opened. At the end of the day, I’m just too tired to even enjoy. Here was the view from my booth – business was hopping!

Besides the opportunity to meet lots of new industry faces and catch up with friends and business partners from before, I introduced three new patterns and the second installment of the Lab Manual Series, String Theory 2.0, which are now available to shops and directly on my site as well. More on those soon but they are all now available!

And before you know it, it’s over and everything comes down in a flash! Just like it never happened…

After the wheels touched back down on the runway in Washington State, I hit the road for my last two travel teaching/speaking trips of the year – and now, THANKSGIVING! How can that even be possible?!

Happy quilting,

Tonya

Drumroll please…

October 19, 2019

O.k. o.k. o.k.! So excited (and mildly stressed out – in a good way!) The countdown is on. This time next week I’ll be opening my booth at the Houston International Quilt Market 2019 and introducing my newest patterns and offerings to quilt shops, distributors, and retailers alike including…..String Theory 2.0!!!

Quilt market runs October 26-28 before the International Quilt Festival in the Houston Convention Center (everything really is bigger in Texas – this thing is gigantic!). It’s the industry trade show for everything quilty – fabric companies, pattern designers, notions, distributors, retailers, publishers, and every auxiliary industry you can imagine.

Like most things, I’m working towards this with my hair on fire! I sure can’t do this alone – HUGE thanks to the consummate professionals and friends that make my designs come to life: long-arm quilter and thread whisperer, Tracey Fisher, graphic designer extraordinaire, Lindsie Bergevin, and keeping me honest, my much-needed technical editor, the awesome Elizabeth Beese. With their efforts, here’s a peek at some of the things I’ll be introducing there!

If you are a retailer attending Market, please stop by my booth #2208 and say hi! I would love to meet you. My booth is in the LAST row of the show floor (or maybe, the first, depending on where you start!) Let’s just call it the end row – and the easiest to find!

You can also pick up your passport for the Pattern Designer Booth Hop – a fun way to discover some great independent designers and a chance to win PRIZES! Who doesn’t love that?

If your not a shop owner but your favorite local quilt shop peeps will be attending – send them my way and let them know what you’d like to see in their shops. You can be there in spirit and have them bring something home for you 🙂 Your support is soooo important and they appreciate your business!

I promise more feature posts on the individual new patterns and the new Lab Manual – String Theory 2.0 after market. (I heard some of you may still have a few scraps laying around so it was necessary!)

To be sure to get the latest updates from Market – follow me on Instagram @stashlabquilts and also follow the tag #quiltmarket2019 for great posts from everyone on the show floor.

Next stop, HOUSTON!

Tonya

Hungarian Picnic

August 30, 2018

Summer, sunshine, picnics in the park – what could be better? Well, I would add happy memories to that list and for me, some of those are showcased in “Hungarian Picnic”, my latest project for Quiltmania’s Simply Vintage magazine. I’m happy to share that it’s featured in the Summer 2018 issue!

HungPicnic79-SV27_TanyaAlexander — Hungarian Picnic, image courtesy of Simply Vintage, Summer 2018

Now, I don’t usually think of my quilting style as “vintage” and this is my first time in this particular edition by Quiltmania, but I guess if I think of vintage like good old Webster does as “of old, recognized, and enduring interest, importance, or quality” I’ll go with it! I think the folks at Quiltmania were spot on yet again with the photography and styling of this project. It evokes warm memories for me – and of a very special time in my life when I lived in Hungary.

I don’t have the honor of actually being Hungarian, I’m more of a voluntary adopted daughter! I was there teaching English for a year after college but really spent most of my time soaking in all of the “gulyas leves” that I could, learning about a beautiful, rich European culture, and loving the spirited and generous people I was surrounded by.

HP_2 — Hungarian Picnic, by Tonya Alexander/Quilted by Tracey Fisher

One of the simplest things that reminds me of that time of my life are the beautiful motifs found in Hungarian embroidery and pottery. My luggage was full of both when I made my way home and I always find the colors and forms inspiring. This project seemed like the perfect way to feature some of those.

Each region in Hungary is represented by it’s own unique style of embroidery. This design is inspired by and is reminiscent of iconic motifs notably from the area of Kalocsa. See the little red pepper in the border? That’s the tell-tale sign of Kalocsa embroidery and it’s symbolic of Hungary’s probably most famous export – paprika! HP_1

Project construction features quick and easy, scrappy nine-patch blocks set with a single “solid-ish” background fabric. I chose to do wool felt applique for a rustic but bright and colorful applique border – stitched by hand during the summer on my front porch, no less! You could, of course, substitute any favorite applique technique, switch out for cotton fabrics, fuse, needle-turn, take your pick!

HPcloseup

I am an absolute convert to free-form feather motif quilting featured on this project by Tracey Fisher. I think she was a little skeptical when I said I wanted feathers all over this since she knows traditional feathers aren’t my norm, but fortunately she obliged and added her amazing talent and free-form styling. Now I can’t imagine it any other way! I think the feathered quilting echoes the embroidery forms across the field of grid nine patch blocks in a particularly pleasing way for me.

So, if you already subscribe to the always beautiful and inspiring Quiltmania publications, you’re in luck, you hopefully already have your copy. Or, look for Simply Vintage at your favorite local quilt shop before they sell out – they’d love to see your smiling face 🙂

SV27-Couv Rotimpress-GB.indd

Happy summer stash quilting,

Tonya

Family Tree

June 19, 2018

Family trees come in all shapes, forms, and sizes and so does this “Family Tree”, my latest project for Quiltmania’s Simply Moderne magazine. I’m happy to share that it’s featured in the new Summer 2018 issue!

: Family Tree, image courtesy of Simply Moderne Summer 2018

Now, I know typically family trees aren’t this bright or bold, but when I think of all of the colorful characters and fun family memories that make up my own family tree – this doesn’t seem so far off! Really, it’s about the vibrant colors of life that it represents.

I dove deep into the scrap bucket for this one using an assortment of bright prints as well as solids for the leaves and nested them in a mix of black/white print fabrics. The stack of black/white fabrics on my stash shelf was the result of a fun shop-hop fabric hunt. I love a mission – especially when there’s fabric shopping involved! Mixing brights with black/white prints is a go-to combo that will always look great, no matter which colors you choose.

For carefree summer quilting, I opted for fusible applique and finished with a machine blanket stitch in matching threads for the leaves. The bright pop of hot pink of the flange binding adds another layer of interest to this project and keeps the black print fabrics from feeling too heavy or serious. It’s a surprisingly simple technique and a fun one to try if you haven’t before.

The quilting was a bit of a lark on this one. I echo quilted around all of the leaves and then changed up the quilting motifs in each of the squares. Black and white fabrics are very forgiving so give yourself permission to mix them up and try something new – remember, this is supposed to be fun!

So, if you already subscribe to the always beautiful and inspiring Quiltmania publications, you’re in luck – check your mailbox and it should be there any day. Or, look for Simply Moderne at your favorite local quilt shop on shelves soon – they’d love to see you’re smiling face 🙂

Happy summer scrap quilting,

Tonya

New for Spring!

April 7, 2018

Oh my, oh my, oh my! I feel like my hair’s on fire! I’m getting ready for Spring Quilt Market which will be in May in Portland, Oregon. (Quilt Market is the industry trade show for designers, publishers, fabric companies, etc. to introduce their products to shop owners and retailers.) So exciting, but no small amount of work, I will admit!

I’ve been to market once before but this is the first time I’m going as a vendor and will have my own display booth. While I’d like to say I’m busy sewing, that is only one small part of the process of bringing a product to market. There’s a whole lot of computer time put in before then! One of the exciting mile posts for me is seeing the products coming together and the cover reveal! So I want to share with you my pet project for Spring…..String Theory!

So this is the draft cover, there are still some tweaks being made but it’s still pretty freaking exciting to me! I’ll share more sneak peeks of the projects inside soon but honestly, I just couldn’t wait any longer to share with you 🙂

Happy stash quilting,

Tonya

Spring forward – with Spring Strings!

March 10, 2018

The arrival of Spring is fast approaching and this weekend we get to spring ahead and reset our clocks to take advantage of more beautiful spring sunshine! Sounds like a great time for a scrappy spring table top project – like my recent “Spring Strings!”

20180309_163151

The pattern for “Spring Strings” is featured in the current Spring 2018 issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine.

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My friend, Creative Director of PQ and fellow-Martingale author, Jeni Gaston likes to remind me that primitive is not a color – it’s a style and feeling that can work with many different color palettes – which is encouraging for me because I love bright, saturated colors. For this project I pulled together some of my favorite wool fabrics in blue, green, and magenta. I layered them on a scrappy background of low-volume scrap strips – or strings – and the combination was so fun!

20180309_163237

A quick and easy blanket stitch around the wool applique shapes is a hallmark of primitive style and it made this project relaxing and fun to do. So, pull out your bucket of scrap strips, pick out some fun wool in your favorite spring colors, and enjoy making your own version of Spring Strings!

Happy stash quilting,

Tonya

Happy New Year!

January 8, 2018

The new year brings new beginnings, resolutions, clearing out the old and in with the new, or in my sewing room, that means a new scrap project! If you’re looking for a scrap buster to feature your favorite color (or the color with the biggest pile of scraps!), you’ll want to check out my current project for American Patchwork & Quilting in the February 2018 issue. This is “Plaid to Meet You”!

103144841_webw — Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine. ©2018 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

I can’t take credit for the project name at all. The beautiful photo styling and editorial was done by the great folks at APQ. I was simply referring to this project as my version of Buffalo Plaid. I’m sure you know what buffalo plaid is even if you didn’t realize that’s what it was called – think red and black plaid on hunting shirts. That’s a buffalo plaid!

red-buffalo1[1] — traditional buffalo plaid print

My version takes a bit of a twist in the color category. Sorting through my scrap strings (which I keep sorted by width and color family, my smallest being 1 1/2″ wide), I came up with a big pile of grays left over from another project. (Can you guess which one?) What to do with them? Here were some of my auditioning fabric pulls I was considering before I landed on the final purple/gray combo.

Now, even thought the Kaffe Fassett purple/teal Spiral Shells fabric on the left didn’t make it in the final version, it definitely helped me pull together thoughts about the quilt. Sometimes it’s like that, you think something will be there and then further down the line, it gets edited out. In this case when it came time to pick the main purple and gray off-set square fabrics and border, the shell fabric came out.

My stash of scrap strings was pretty light on purples so I spent time scavenging the scrap table at my guild meetings and in friends’ sewing rooms to come up with enough to reach my scrappy vision. Long after the decisions were made, the sewing was complete, and the quilt shipped off to APQ, Pantone came out with their color of the year predictions – yep, you guessed it – ultra violet! Purely coincidence, I guarantee it.

Here’s a shot of the big spiral quilting in progress using the walking foot on my domestic machine…and yes, the backing is a beautiful modern toile by Jennifer Sampou called Black & White Scenic Onyx for Kaufman Fabrics. I’ve been hording it for just the right project! You can also see the two main purple and gray fabrics I used for the squares alternating between the grid blocks, Kaffe’s Guinea Flower (purple) and Kaffe’s Ferns (gray) from Free Spirit.

This project would be so easy to adapt to your own favorite color-way. Basically gray + pick your color. Or change up the gray to a different neutral. How about taupe? black? white?

APQ0218_CV1DG_web (1) — APQ, February 2018 issue

So whether you are wanting to clear out some scraps for the new year or love your scraps all year long, I hope you’ll enjoy making your own version of “Plaid to Meet You”!

Happy Stash Quilting,

Tonya