Back to Basics

Maybe it's the time of year, but at The Sisterhood of Quilters, we're getting back to basics. As a thank you for your business, we're including a free gift with every purchase of $20 or more made at www.sisterhoodofquilters.com.

You'll receive a 1/2 yard cut of a Sisterhood of Quilter's basic fabric design chosen for you by Jody Houghton. Perfect for your projects or stash!

Offer Expires December 31, 2011.

We're also now on Facebook!

Umpqua Valley Quilters' Guild Talk & Workshop

Thursday, January 5, 2012, begins my season of talks and workshops at area Quilt Guilds. The first event is with the Umpqua Valley Quilters Guild in Roseburg, Oregon.

As an artist/fabric designer, I explain "How Artwork Becomes Fabric" from my own personal experience. Quilters are always interested in the process and come away with a better understanding and appreciation for fabric designs. When designing my own fabrics, I work to give the quilter a full palette of coordinates and blends with my artwork. The creativity and range of projects from the designs make the collections really fun.

A totebag workshop is scheduled on Friday, the day after the talk. It is a quick and easy project with lots of fabric and artwork choices. My fabric art panels are used for the pocket. Details for the workshop and talk are in the Events section of the Umpqua Valley Quilters Guild website.

Be sure to join us on Facebook.

QUILTOPIA 2011

I have been invited to celebrate my work at QUILTOPIA 2011 as featured artist! Quiltopia is an annual quilt festival that will inspire you to learn the joys of using textiles in a traditional and/or contemporary art form. It will take place September 30-Oct 2, 2011 at several venues in Salem.

I've made an easy to reference PDF of the scheduled events. You can print or download it here.

As a native of Salem, I am honored to show my artwork and quilted projects made from my own fabric designs and fabric art panels available at sisterhoodofquilters.com.

For more information on QUILTOPIA, contact Sylvia Dorney, at Greenbaum's Quilted Forest, phone: (503) 363-7973 or email: Sylvia@quiltedforest.com.

I have designed a quilted wall banner especially for the show (shown at right) in my watercolor style highlighting Mt. Hood. Quick and easy, the wall banner is made with 2.5" strips in a log cabin style. Finished size is 16.5" x 53." The individual fabric art panels are also available for purchase.

I will also be lecturing on "How Artwork Becomes Fabric" on Friday, September 30, 2011, at the Willamette Heritage Center as a part of QUILTOPIA At the Mill.

If you are in the Salem area, please stop by and say, "HI".

Girlfriends At Sea Fabrics Available Now!

My new fabric collection, Girlfriends at Sea, is available to quilt shops nationally through the Northcott Fabrics Sales Team, and can be purchased at sisterhoodofquilters.com.

This collection, inspired by last year's Quilt Camp at Sea to Alaska, is perfect for memory quilt projects, totebags, and cabin wallhangings. Kits, patterns, and fabric art panels are all available for purchase NOW.

Celebrate the love of adventure and make something fun to cherish and share!

"Girlfriends At Sea" Fabric Art Panels Are Available Now

"Girlfriends at Sea" Fabric Art Panels are now available at sisterhoodofquilters.com! The coordinating fabrics by the yard of this new collection will be available on Thursday, Sept. 1.

"Girlfriends at Sea" was inspired by last year's Quilt Camp at Sea to Alaska. Be sure to check out the new patterns and kits using these fun and adventurous designs!

If you'd like to find your own inspiration, join us on a Quilt Camp At Sea fabulous adventure. Sign up now and join me on the Mexico Cruise, March 10-17, 2012.

Let Joy be your compass!

Quilt Camp At Sea Alaska Cruise, part 3

The 2011 Quilt Camp at Sea to Alaska is fast becoming a memory now that a month has gone by.

The experience was invaluable for me. The networking between teachers Patti Carey, Dodi Poulsen, Eva Holen, Lisa Moore, quilt shop owner, Georgia Gale, from "The Needle and I" in Everett, Washington, and Carol Porter, from Clover Needlecraft, Inc., was fabulous!

Meeting quilters from all around the U.S. was really fun. I have especially enjoyed the emails that have come in since the cruise asking about the custom fabric process I shared for "Art Depicting Life" quilts. Questions are always welcome as we live and learn together - one stitch at a time.

Time to look forward to March 2012 and the Quilt Camp at Sea to Mexico! Grab your girlfriends and come with us!

See you on the pier.

Quilt Camp at Sea Alaska cruise, part 2

During this year's Quilt Camp at Sea Alaska cruise, onboard instructor Lisa Moore and her husband Dave hosted an open house for us during our stop at Sitka, Alaska. WOW, their home and hospitality were wonderful! Lisa's website, "Quilts with a Twist," features her original pattern designs, as well as her favorite notions and kits and fabrics for sale.

On the way to her home, Lisa suggested that we visit Fortress of the Bear. Please check out their website to learn the wonderful work this nonprofit group is doing as they rescue and care for orphaned bear cubs. It was a heartwarming experience watching the bears play and interact with each other.

More details of our great 2011 cruise experience to come.

Quilt Camp at Sea Alaska 2011 cruise

The weather was great and the seas were calm on the Quilt Camp at Sea Alaska 2011 cruise that took place last week. The time spent in Glacier Bay is always the most inspirational for me. It is quiet and serene as the ship slowly enters the waters of the glaciers. It is awesome and grand. The first photo is of Margerie Glacier. The mix of colors from white-white to aqua is beautiful and the way the light between and around the ice pillars shades and highlights nature's artwork is just amazing.

This second picture is Patti Carey (right) and I on the back deck of the ship in Glacier Bay. Patti is Northcott Fabrics' Marketing Director. She has a great blog about her own designs, patterns, and events.

Patti and I have enjoyed taking our professional relationship to a girlfriend relationship of sharing our joy of family and quilt and fabric designs. I got points for helping her with a technical quilt design software issue, and she got points for guiding me back to our room, as I apparently lost my sense of direction on the ship! We had lots of fun and good giggles.

More to come.

Cute Charity Jacket

When I find a free moment and realize that I can just play, creativity happens!

I have been wanting to make Jan Ballagh's "Mismatched Medley" jacket pattern for a long time. The moment finally arrived, and look what I created with my art panels! Fun, huh?

I love it and it was so quick and easy. Jan's design is available online at Indygo Junction. I have enjoyed Indygo Junction's designs for years at Quilt Market and have watched them grow and grow.

Enjoy their website. It's really fun. And don't forget to visit my site: www.sisterhoodofquilters.com.

Go have fun!

Freebies!

I've added a page to the sisterhoodofquilters site exclusively for Freebies. I encourage you to check it out.

Currently I have FREE patterns for a wall hanging and quick quilt, as well as for my quilted heart pins. Also, there are free printable files of my "Girlfriend Wisdom" column that I write for the Country Register Newspaper. An example (#49) is shown at right.

I often write my column in the voices of my wise, wonderful, women: Faith, Hope, and Charity. As you will see, I combine my fabric designs in the artwork for the articles. Print them out for yourself or your Quilting Groups. I hope you find them inspirational and uplifting. Check back for the newest publications.

Girlfriends @ Sea, Reserve Now!

Because my newest fabric collection, Girlfriends @ Sea, was inspired on the 2010 Sisterhood of Quilters Alaskan Cruise, this year's Alaskan quilt cruisers will receive the opportunity to purchase the fabric before it is released to the general public.

If you won't be joining us on this year's cruise, you can still "reserve" fabrics for Sept. 1, 2011 delivery. The fabrics are limited in quantity and only available for a short time, so don't miss this opportunity. See the April 17, 2011 blog posting for the designs available and reference numbers to use.

The complete quilt kit, "Girlfriends at Sea" is $55.00. The totebag kits are $28.00 each. Both are shown here.

To reserve the new fabrics, simply email me (jody@jodyhoughton.com). You will receive an email in September and can confirm your order and make payment at that time.

Grandmother-to-be

One of the wonderful benefits of quilting is the ability to create projects to honor events, family or friends.

I have the great privilege and honor of becoming a Grandmother for the first time. My daughter and son-in-law are having a little girl in September!

My design mind immediately started thinking about baby images. My first collection is zoo animals with encouraging blessings (sample panels are shown at right). The individual 10" x 10" art panels and zoo baby fabric collection are available here.

The zoo babies are my current "Art Depicting Life" project. I have designed a quilt pattern that includes the art panels. It is also available at www.sisterhoodofquilters.com.

I will be announcing another "Art Depicting Life" project so check back to learn more!

Totebag Workshop at the Quilted Cottage in Toledo, Oregon

I had so much fun making totebags with Quilters: Shirley, Jan, and Joyce! From cutting the fabric to applying the rhinestones, we moved along completing the totes.

Quilted Cottage shop owner, Monica Lyons, gave us a special treat by serving High Tea. We giggled with "Pinkies Up" as we sipped our tea from fine china.

The highlight of the class for me was teaching the unique process of making my three-dimensional leaves. I love to use the leaves as embellishments on my totes and quilts.

I will be offering a packet of the leaf patterns and instructions very soon on the sisterhoodofquilters.com website.

Faith, Hope & Charity with Red Checks

This past weekend I was a vendor at the Polk County Fairgrounds. Thank You Mid-Valley Quilters Guild! They did a great job with their show.

At every event, I find a gem in the form of a design idea, a contact, or an opportunity. At this show, I realized the value of my large banners featuring my characters: Faith, Hope, and Charity. I received many, many requests for fabric art panels that matched the banner images and encouraging messages.

Thanks for your comments, Quilters. Your requests are appreciated! Art Panels (5"x10") have been printed, along with a red check strip (3"x42"), and are available on the website NOW! Images are shown here.

NEW Girlfriends At Sea Fabrics

Girlfriends at Sea is a fabric collection that was inspired by last year's Quilt Camp at Sea to Alaska.

These new fabrics are currently being shown to quilt shops nationally by the Northcott Fabrics Sales Team. Now is the time to notify your local quilt shops to bring this fun collection into their shops.

Girlfriends love to go on adventures together and this collection is perfect for memory quilt projects, totebags and cabin wallhangings. More projects and kits will be available in September when the line is released.

Mid Valley Quilt Guild Show

Come visit me at the Mid Valley Quilt Guild Show at the Polk County Fairgrounds in Rickreall, Oregon, April 21-23, 2011. My booth will be in the main room of the show and I'll have my newest totebag kits on hand.

The Beach Babe collection of totebags has been very popular for this season's Girlfriends trips to the beach. Several groups have purchased the kits to make on their weekend getaways! The newest tote design is made with my Sun Block and Seagulls fabric, very fun and cute with a Girlfriends @ Play message.

Be sure to visit www.sisterhoodofquilters.com to see my fabric art panels for your spring and summer projects.

Speckled Hen Quilts Grand Opening

If you live near Aurora, Oregon, please join me at the Speckled Hen Quilts Grand Opening on Saturday, April 2, 2011.

I will be showing a preview of my new line of gift pins. The card that comes with the pins features the message, "May this little Block of Joy happily Brighten Your Day".

The pins will be shown at the International Quilt Market this May for national distribution to quilt shops. The artwork for the pins comes from design elements of my fabric collection. The pins make wonderful complimentary gifts for quilting projects.

A new totebag pattern will also be featured at the Grand Opening with my Sunblock & Seagulls fabric for directional prints.

Come by and celebrate Karen's new venture. We all wish her great success in her new location!

SEWEXPO

Join me this weekend (March 3, 4, 5 & 6, 2011) at the Sewing & Stitchery Expo at the Puyallup Fair & Events Center, 110-9th Avenue SW, Puyallup, WA 98371.

You can find me at booths 165 & 166.

This is the perfect place for both experienced and beginning sewers and quilters (and everyone else!) to indulge their creative passions or explore new ones. With more than 400 booths to shop from, you are sure to find what you are looking for.

See you at the show!

NEW Sisterhood of Quilters Greeting Cards

I've created a new collection of greeting cards for the Quilting and Sewing Community. Each card features a reproduction of one of my quilt or fabric designs. Cards are 5" x 7" with a glossy finish and are blank inside to allow for your own personal message.

I am so excited about this new product line that I am including THREE of my Sisterhood of Quilters Greeting Cards (shown here) FREE with *every order of $20 or more as a gift to you. Offer ends February 28, 2011.

Visit us soon at www.sisterhoodofquilters.com and check out our newest fabrics by the yard and fabric art panels. Also, select patterns are on sale for just $5!

Sign Up Now for the 2012 Quilt Camp At Sea Mexico Cruise

I have once again been asked to be guest artist on a Quilt Camp At Sea fabulous adventure. Sign up now and join me on the Mexico Cruise, March 10-17, 2012.

Classes will be available with Patti Carey, Lori Hein, Anita Mahoney, Judith Baker Montano, and Jackie Wolff, plus "Make It and Take It" sessions taught by Janet Bottroff!

We will sail out of San Diego, CA and visit Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. What a fantastic opportunity for a Girlfriend Getaway!

See you there.

NEW Beach Babes Quilt and Wall Hanging Patterns

Feel the need to get away from all the cold weather and get to the beach?

New Beach Babe quilt and wall hanging patterns and kits have been added to The Sisterhood of Quilters and are sure to get you in the mood for warm hearted Girlfriend GetaWays!

New Fabric Art Panels are featured with "Let it Shine," a motto to uplift and encourage fun and play in the planning of a great new year.

FREE Beach Babes Wall Hanging Pattern

Here come the Beach Babes!

Don't delay in buying the fabric that you need for for your projects. The quantity is limited! If you would like to shop in your neighborhood quilt shops, check out "Find These Fabrics" on www.northcott.com:

1. Northcott home page: Click on COMING SOON
2. On the Coming Soon fabric page, click on BEACH BABES - Seagull print
3. On the full Beach Babes Collection page, click on the right sidebar: Find These Fabrics

I have the new fabrics on www.sisterhoodofquilters.com, but again, shop early. These designs are LIMITED and will be selling out fast!

Also, download the FREE Beach Babes wall hanging pattern (shown here) at the Sisterhood of Quilters. And have fun!