Tag: String Theory

Scrap resolutions

January 2, 2020

Happy New Year! Are you starting off your new quilting year off with a resolution to use up your scraps? Or maybe just get to some of those lovelies that have been living in your stash and are looking for the perfect project? Great! Because String Theory 2.0 is here!

String Theory 2.0. is the second issue of the Lab Manual series and features projects that are made for 1 1/2″ wide fabric strips, or sometimes called strings. String quilts have been around for a long time and have been a favorite of scrap quilters for ages. I love them and they are one of my favorite standard scrap bucket sizes because you can do so much with them!

2.0 offers six new projects, all based on 1 1/2″ strips, and this time around, some of the projects add in the A-word. Yes, appliqué! Now don’t be afraid! It’s not scary appliqué I promise and all of the projects will burn up a serious amount of scraps! Be brave!

Now, winter weather and my schedule have not been great for getting a lot of outside quilt shots but I did luck out with a recent sunny day and ran out to put up my project “Happy Lattice” out in the garden to catch the sun. Beautiful quilting on this one by Tracey @thequiltingninja .

I had so much fun bringing these projects together and I hope you will find something that tickles your scrap fancy. To help start you off on your scrap resolutions, I’m offering free shipping in the U.S. on all on-line orders of String Theory 2.0 for the month of January! Yeah! No discount code needed, just shop an go!

And of course, your support and purchases are always appreciated at your favorite local quilt shop. String Theory 2.0 as well as all of my other patterns and books are available to shop owners through their distributors.

If you’re in my Pacific Northwest neighborhood there are some upcoming workshops and trunk shows featuring these new projects so check them out!

Are you a member of the Northwest Quilt Connection? I’ll be visiting NQC, Saturday, January 11th and I’ll be sharing a trunk show program. See their site for more details.

Upcoming classes at Two Thimbles Quilts Shop in Bellingham:

Saturday, February 8th I’ll be teaching the Flora runner.

Sunday, March 1st, Walking Foot Quilting.

Sunday, March 29th I’ll be teaching Petal Pusher.

Another great opportunity coming up in January, February and March, will be Scrap Science Club at Quilting Mayhem in Snohomish.

Well, my year is off with a dash and I hope yours is too! More soon!

Happy new year’s 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!!!Lab Manual Series 2 coverv2

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!

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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?

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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

Time for a little String Theory!

June 23, 2018

And yes, we’re talking science – SCRAP SCIENCE that is! One of my favorite subjects to be sure. The longer I quilt one thing has proven to be true – the scraps keep multiplying and they keep getting smaller! I have been on a solid year full of string quilts – strings for me being skinny 1 1/2″ cut strips of fabrics. The result is my latest project – the String Theory Lab Manual and I’m thrilled to share it with you!LMS_String Theory Covers

String Theory includes patterns for 6 different projects, all featuring these skinny strips of fabric. It’s amazing what you can do with all of these lovely little bits. We also talk a lot about low volume fabrics, storage ideas, and general construction tips and tricks. For me, it all started with this project, Rock Star…

Rock Star

This one also includes the optional project for the Big String Star that I teach in workshops and has been so much fun. On to the next project, Calliope!

Calliope
Calliope

Calliope is my version of a traditional plus quilt on scrappy string steroids! What makes this quilt work visually with all the different fabric scraps is the technique of color-blocking and I talk a lot more about that in the book. Next up, Domino, a curvy log cabin table runner. There are actually two version in String Theory but here’s version #1…

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Domino

And Ombré Loco, for serious scrap enthusiasts with a bucket of favorite color scraps over-flowing. The best thing about this project is how it can be adapted for ANY favorite color out there!

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Ombre Loco

Next up, Exit Stage Left!

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Exit Stage Left

And last but certainly not least, Simple Gifts, a quick and easy table topper that can be personalized for any favorite holiday colors.

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Simple Gifts

One more for good measure, is this Simple Gifts alternative, these cute little throw pillows. I couldn’t resist! How can you ever have too many throw pillows? Especially when they’re this cute!

Simple Gifts alternate project – pillows!

O.k., here are the details…look for String Theory at your favorite local quilt shop or ask them to get it! They can order wholesale directly from me or through the following awesome distributors: Checker, EESchenck, Brewer Sewing, and Petersen Arne.

Or, you can order directly from my new shop page ! You can also check out my other latest patterns available now too. More about those later. I think that’s as much scrap happiness as we can handle in one post for now!

Happy string quilting,

Tonya

Class Full

April 14, 2018

“Class Full.” Those are delightful words for a teacher offering a class – a bummer if you were trying to get into the class too late! Do you take classes at your local quilt shop, at conferences, or with your guild? Classes can be so much more than learning a specific technique or quilt pattern. As a teacher and as a student myself, here’s what I love about them:

  • shared passion, excitement for our craft and truly the art of quilting
  • support and encouragement from other quilters
  • idea overload – in a good way!
  • a different perspective
  • learning a new project, the actual content of the class itself…

I wanted to share some student projects from some recent Big String Star classes I’ve taught. It’s a class based on this larger project, Rock Star – scaled down to wall-hanging size.

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Rock Star by Tonya Alexander

So much fun…

Aren’t those student projects beautiful?! Creativity has no bounds and I love that and am so inspired by them. The one thing I would add to my list of favorite things about classes is this:

  • There is nothing more satisfying for a teacher than to see their students’ unique and creative projects come to life!

So take a class, meet new friends, learn a technique, and most of all, HAVE FUN!

Happy stash 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!

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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!

Lab Manual Series Cover v2 (002)

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