Snow Baby Village Fun

Happy Holidays to all!

Every year we put up a Snow Baby village in our house.  It started when the kids were in preschool and kindergarten.  

I always loved Snow Babies, but the antique ones were just too expensive (and breakable) to invest in for the kiddies.  So I found some bisque ones that I started painting!  Every year I paint a few more.  I write the kids' names on the bottom, so someday when they have their own homes, they can have their own set.  

At this point they each have 50+ Snow Babies, plus a lighted Christmas tree and a light up cabin.

So at the beginning of every December, we crank up the holiday tunes, make hot cocoa (no matter how hot it happens to be here in Florida!) and the kids set up the village in our kitchen bay window.

I always love to see how they arrange the babies and what kind of stories they make up about the little groupings!  Here are a few shots:

The snowman makin' gang.

Yanking a buddy up onto the snowy porch.

 Placing the star on the tree top.

The little bisque houses came with a raccoon sitting near the chimney. I decided to paint the critters to look like each kid's cat.  Here is Rexie, Liam's cat.

And Shu-shu, Olivia's cat.

Even though the kids are preteen and teen now, I catch them showing their friends the Snow Baby village and pointing our their respective kitties :)  Love that!

ps, In case you are wondering, those are the same Snow Babies used on the cover of the Cream Puff Christmas Trees Pattern!

Photochrome Petals has Arrived!! Giveaway!!

UPDATE:  Congratulations to "Lorraine", she's the big winner!  Thanks to ALL OF YOU who entered!  I so enjoyed reading all of your lovely comments!! :)
-Julie

Wow.  I can't believe Photochrome Petals, my very first fabric line, is finally hitting the stores!!
Have you seen at at your local quilt shop yet?  If not, be sure to ask for it!!

Let's celebrate and have a quilt kit giveaway!  This is the I Heart Lava Lamps quilt- kit includes ALL the fabric you need for this queen sized quilt top!

See end of post on how to enter :)

Above is the free pattern promo pattern I designed for Photochrome Petals called "Butterfly Collector!"  Click here to hop over to the Clothworks site to get this pattern for free!.

Why the name Photochrome Petals?  Well, I was inspired by flower spots.  (Shocker!)  Like the kind you'd find on Foxgloves or Asian Lily petals.  I created the designs in Adobe Illustrator in greyscale, then recolored them.  Kind of like a certain photography process way back when.  And voila- Photochrome Petals!

I happened to be a helplessly giddy ombre fan.  Like, since forever!  So there was no question that my fantasy fabric would have ombre color gradations.  Or two in the case of Photochrome Petals!

There's a linear ombre design in 6 color ways:

 

 


And a radial ombre design in 6 colorways.

 

 

 

The linear ombres are perfect for creating optical illusions. Can you image the 'card trick' quilt blocks made in ombre stripes?  Or how about creating shadow effects on leaves and things:

The radial designs are for circle lovers!  Check out the moon on this mini-quilt by Cecilia Koppmann:

Sew them up into cones, and they'll be perfectly shaded:

Cut both of the designs up for applique for added dimension.  Or simply disregard the shading and cut out lacy patterns like this butterfly-  the result is undulating color!  Swoon!

Use big swaths of Photochrome Petals, or just bits to accents your flower brooches:

The possibilities are endless- I'd love to hear how you'd use the shading of Photochrome Petals!

Want some of your own to play with?  Clothworks is sponsoring a slam bang giveaway of a

Queen Sized quilt kit for the La Todera  "I Heart Lava Lamps" quilt!

The winner will receive the pattern, plus all the fabric you'll need to make the quilt below!!

Simply leave a comment here, and we'll use our random number generator to pick a winner! (please include your email in the comment section)  We'll be picking a winner on Friday!  Good luck to all!