Jane Sassaman quilt artist, fabric designer, author and teacher

Well, the big build up for out Houston Market booth came to fruition this weekend. After a month of stitching and planning this is the result.

WOW! Thank you everyone who posted a comment on last weeks blog! It reminds this quiet quilter what a delightful community we fabric fondlers have. This morning the lucky Early Birds mug winners were drawn from the soup bowl and they are Rachaeldaisy and Tonya Littmann. Hooray and congratulations!!

Rachaeldaisy has been a steadfast Australian follower of this blog, so it is nice to be able to recognize her loyalty. Tonya is a graphic designer and fabulous art quilter from Denton, Texas. Check out her wonderful dragonfly quilt. Again, thanks to you all for making this drawing so exciting!

Of course, this has been another busy week in preparation for Houston Quilt Market. One of our goals was to have the apron pattern finished and ready to deput. That means the directions and patterns needed to be perfected and photographs taken for the cover sheets. So above is one of the many shots I took this week. The fabrics are from the new Early Birds collection for FreeSpirit. Don’t those colors play nicely off the saffron colored walls? We will be posting the apron pattern and new mugs in the webstore directly after Market, so you can see the real cover next week.

The rest of the time has been spent stitching up a storm, designing fliers and attending to all those last minute details. Today I plan to make a market bag with the beautiful new laminated fabrics and bind three quilts. Just 4 more days to make it all happen. Several people have asked when Early Birds will actually be on the shelves… November is the answer. This is great news, as there are some fabrics that will be ideal for the holidays. The next blog will be my Market report.

WOW! Thank you everyone who posted a comment on last weeks blog! It reminds this quiet quilter what a delightful community we fabric fondlers have. This morning the lucky Early Birds mug winners were drawn from the soup bowl and they are Rachaeldaisy and Tonya Littmann. Hooray and congratulations!!

Rachaeldaisy has been a steadfast Australian follower of this blog, so it is nice to be able to recognize her loyalty. Tonya is a graphic designer and fabulous art quilter from Denton, Texas. Check out her wonderful dragonfly quilt. Again, thanks to you all for making this drawing so exciting!

Of course, this has been another busy week in preparation for Houston Quilt Market. One of our goals was to have the apron pattern finished and ready to deput. That means the directions and patterns needed to be perfected and photographs taken for the cover sheets. So above is one of the many shots I took this week. The fabrics are from the new Early Birds collection for FreeSpirit. Don’t those colors play nicely off the saffron colored walls? We will be posting the apron pattern and new mugs in the webstore directly after Market, so you can see the real cover next week.

The rest of the time has been spent stitching up a storm, designing fliers and attending to all those last minute details. Today I plan to make a market bag with the beautiful new laminated fabrics and bind three quilts. Just 4 more days to make it all happen. Several people have asked when Early Birds will actually be on the shelves… November is the answer. This is great news, as there are some fabrics that will be ideal for the holidays. The next blog will be my Market report.

 WHOOOOPEEEE! It finally came! Can you tell that I was pretty excited when my box of new FreeSpirit designs arrived on Thursday? It is called Early Birds. Some collections just feel good from the start and this is one of those. So let’s open this treasure box and see what’s inside.

 WHOOOOPEEEE! It finally came! Can you tell that I was pretty excited when my box of new FreeSpirit designs arrived on Thursday? It is called Early Birds. Some collections just feel good from the start and this is one of those. So let’s open this treasure box and see what’s inside.

It is so suddenly GREEN here that it is like living in the Emerald City in The Land of OZ! And so many kinds of green. There has been nothing but dramatic weather… wind, rain and tornadoes (lions and tigers and bears, oh my!) Several neighbors just over the hill had many trees uprooted and snapped in half. I am constantly reminded of the persistant power of nature.

Yesterday morning it was rumbling and the sky to the south look ominous as we hopped in the car to visit the Hosta Fest in Fontana, Wisconsin. We packed our cameras and a big umbrella. The clouds followed us there and a light rain began as we arrived. But the rain only made the greens brighter and the devoted hosta fans were not deterred. Acres of hostas! It was fabulous! A wonderful study in GREEN.

It was pouring rain when we left the arboretum, so I headed straight to the studio upon our return. It was so dark that I had to turn on the overhead lights, which I rarely have to do in the daytime. But a rainy day in the studio is a heavenly day! I had been working on two new quilt tops in the Garden Diva fabric based on simple 6″ squares, so I jumped back into production.

This quilt is a simple check or 9 patch design. The blocks have been fussy cut and arranged to create a plaid pattern with alternating light and dark rows. The dragonfly block is the glue that binds it all together. Instead of focusing the block on the dragonfly moon, I chose to crop the design to concentrate on the negative space between the characters. This black space makes a big X, which in turn creates diagonal lines, which isolate the new motif that appears.

Here you can see the individual squares, 6″ finished. It is always satisfying to discover a new and dynamic pattern with such basic shapes. The fabrics are so different in design, yet combined so successfully. I love it when this happens!

Here we go again! When I am on a roll it is hard to stop so I kept on with that 6″ square. This time the squares are on point and the composition radiates from the center. Red and yellow are one of my favorite color combinations, so I started with blocks of the Exotic colorway of the Zinnia fabric. From there I tried to blend the colors with each new row of fabric. A red and gold square next to a blue patch with a bit of red and gold, then blue squares with gold and pink next to a pink patch with a tad of yellow. The pink and red checks signal the transition to a border and the border echoes the movement and color in the body of the quilt. The corners are mitered to continue the diagonal movement.

The blocks are easier to see in this close-up. This piece is so wild that I had my doubts during the process. “Jane, you are over the edge here! Are you really going to put those wild fabrics next to each other?” But luckily, I listened to the fabric instead of my doubt and the piece turned out great.

Today the sun is shining and it is already hot and humid. The corn will be pleased and I am happy to spend the holiday cleaning the studio and making space for the next project.

It is so suddenly GREEN here that it is like living in the Emerald City in The Land of OZ! And so many kinds of green. There has been nothing but dramatic weather… wind, rain and tornadoes (lions and tigers and bears, oh my!) Several neighbors just over the hill had many trees uprooted and snapped in half. I am constantly reminded of the persistant power of nature.

Yesterday morning it was rumbling and the sky to the south look ominous as we hopped in the car to visit the Hosta Fest in Fontana, Wisconsin. We packed our cameras and a big umbrella. The clouds followed us there and a light rain began as we arrived. But the rain only made the greens brighter and the devoted hosta fans were not deterred. Acres of hostas! It was fabulous! A wonderful study in GREEN.

It was pouring rain when we left the arboretum, so I headed straight to the studio upon our return. It was so dark that I had to turn on the overhead lights, which I rarely have to do in the daytime. But a rainy day in the studio is a heavenly day! I had been working on two new quilt tops in the Garden Diva fabric based on simple 6″ squares, so I jumped back into production.

This quilt is a simple check or 9 patch design. The blocks have been fussy cut and arranged to create a plaid pattern with alternating light and dark rows. The dragonfly block is the glue that binds it all together. Instead of focusing the block on the dragonfly moon, I chose to crop the design to concentrate on the negative space between the characters. This black space makes a big X, which in turn creates diagonal lines, which isolate the new motif that appears.

Here you can see the individual squares, 6″ finished. It is always satisfying to discover a new and dynamic pattern with such basic shapes. The fabrics are so different in design, yet combined so successfully. I love it when this happens!

Here we go again! When I am on a roll it is hard to stop so I kept on with that 6″ square. This time the squares are on point and the composition radiates from the center. Red and yellow are one of my favorite color combinations, so I started with blocks of the Exotic colorway of the Zinnia fabric. From there I tried to blend the colors with each new row of fabric. A red and gold square next to a blue patch with a bit of red and gold, then blue squares with gold and pink next to a pink patch with a tad of yellow. The pink and red checks signal the transition to a border and the border echoes the movement and color in the body of the quilt. The corners are mitered to continue the diagonal movement.

The blocks are easier to see in this close-up. This piece is so wild that I had my doubts during the process. “Jane, you are over the edge here! Are you really going to put those wild fabrics next to each other?” But luckily, I listened to the fabric instead of my doubt and the piece turned out great.

Today the sun is shining and it is already hot and humid. The corn will be pleased and I am happy to spend the holiday cleaning the studio and making space for the next project.

I’m hoping that you’ve missed me, but in any case, I have been visiting with New Zealand quilters since April 16. My first stop was in Queenstown for the Remarkable Symposium, an annually traveling event hosted by regional quilters for visiting quilters around New Zealand and Australia.

This is my third trip to Queenstown and I feel so lucky to be invited again! The symposium is called after the mountains that surround the area, the aptly named “The Remarkables”. Although it was spring when I left home, it was autumn in New Zealand. The flight into Queenstown was an amazing blaze of color with the mix of bright gold and red deciduous trees against the dark evergreens.

In Queenstown you are always wrapped by mountains and water… so beautiful, but nearly impossible to capture on camera. We arrived in late morning and dared not take a nap, lest jet lag get the best of us. So I headed for the park that I had enjoyed so much before. This was my first autumn exploration, but all my favorites were still there… the giant monkey puzzle trees, the pond, the bowls ground and the roses. It was school holiday in New Zealand, too, so lots of families and students were romping and enjoying their autumn vacations.

One morning we awoke to snow on the mountains in the distance. Thank goodness I packed gloves and ear muffs. You could smell wood fires burning on the way to the classroom in the morning and back home in the evening.

I conducted three workshops at the symposium and each one produced some wonderful work! Below you can see examples from the Kaleidoscope class, the Shape Shifting class and the Pattern Play class.

Then on Easter morning I began a two day road trip, with my adventurous companion, Anne, through the Southern Alps to Takaka in Golden Bay. It was a wet trip and the clouds sifted through the jungle of dense dark foliage on the steep rocky walls around us. I kept thinking of the haunting opening of Aguire, Wrath of God, Warner Herzog’s memorable movie about conquistadors in the Amazon jungle. So that sound track was my companion, too.

My first peek down the other side of the mountain into Golden Bay was obstructed by clouds, too, but it was still an inspiring sight!

Golden bay is a beautiful, pristine and idyllically isolated spot on the northern coast of New Zealand’s south island. There is only one road in and out and it’s extremely steep and convoluted. Golden Bay sits on the Bay of Tasman, surrounded by water, mountains and green fields and my hosts had a fabulous view of it all! Later that day, the clouds began to lift for a beautiful sunset.

The plush green pastures were sprinkled with grazing cows and sheep. Even in town, there was always some livestock within a block or two. It amazed me that the animals stay outdoors all the time, year round, unlike here where they go into the barn at night. So logical!

Things grow like mad here, too! I visited a student’s lovely garden who must have had 20 varieties of fuchsia, plus apples, avocados, oranges, hydrangeas and more!!

What wasn’t green in Golden Bay was rocky, VERY rocky. Tramping (hiking) and climbing is a favorite pastime. It was a bit damp and cold, but we went on a little tramping adventure one morning between the rocks, boulder and exotic vegetation. This narrow passage made me feel like Indiana Jones.

Even though I would have loved a longer visit, it was time to move on. Back over “the hill” to the Nelson airport and a flight to Christchurch. It was a short but dramatic trip over the snow dusted mountains.

Then a two hour drive with my new hostess to her quaint little store, Obsession 2 Quilt, in Temuka. Temuka is noted for their pottery, their carrots and bagpipes… home of the New Zealand Bagpiping Champions. Love it! There were some nice old homes and buildings there, too.

The class in Temuka was small, but very talented. They inspired me with their hard work and unique vision.

It was difficult to believe three weeks had passed and it was time to head back home. My flight was late in the day, so my kind hostess took me to see the botanical gardens in Christchurch. The city is still recovering from a series of devastating earthquakes that hit hardest in the lovely old part of the city, but caused damage for miles around. Church steeples lay crashed on the ground and piles of brick and stone exposed the innards of buildings. But scaffolding and protective fences were evidence of rebuilding and renewal.

The large park that held the greenhouses and gardens was a quiet, restful and rainy refuge in the middle of the shaken city.

It was dark when I boarded the plane for Auckland, where I transferred for the twelve hour flight to LA. In LA there was a two hour journey through customs and a change of terminals before the four hour flight to Chicago. I arrived at O’Hare at midnight and I had been gone so long I felt like a visitor, instead of a native… a newly confirmed citizen of New Zealand. So 32 hours after leaving my hotel room in Temuka, Greg picked me up with Korean “takeout” and a smile! After the hours drive home, I ate dinner at 1 am and hit the sack around 2. When I woke up it was spring again!

Home again, home again, jiggity jog! But home again as a big fan of New Zealand and it’s gracious and resourceful quilters!

I’m hoping that you’ve missed me, but in any case, I have been visiting with New Zealand quilters since April 16. My first stop was in Queenstown for the Remarkable Symposium, an annually traveling event hosted by regional quilters for visiting quilters around New Zealand and Australia.

This is my third trip to Queenstown and I feel so lucky to be invited again! The symposium is called after the mountains that surround the area, the aptly named “The Remarkables”. Although it was spring when I left home, it was autumn in New Zealand. The flight into Queenstown was an amazing blaze of color with the mix of bright gold and red deciduous trees against the dark evergreens.

In Queenstown you are always wrapped by mountains and water… so beautiful, but nearly impossible to capture on camera. We arrived in late morning and dared not take a nap, lest jet lag get the best of us. So I headed for the park that I had enjoyed so much before. This was my first autumn exploration, but all my favorites were still there… the giant monkey puzzle trees, the pond, the bowls ground and the roses. It was school holiday in New Zealand, too, so lots of families and students were romping and enjoying their autumn vacations.

One morning we awoke to snow on the mountains in the distance. Thank goodness I packed gloves and ear muffs. You could smell wood fires burning on the way to the classroom in the morning and back home in the evening.

I conducted three workshops at the symposium and each one produced some wonderful work! Below you can see examples from the Kaleidoscope class, the Shape Shifting class and the Pattern Play class.

Then on Easter morning I began a two day road trip, with my adventurous companion, Anne, through the Southern Alps to Takaka in Golden Bay. It was a wet trip and the clouds sifted through the jungle of dense dark foliage on the steep rocky walls around us. I kept thinking of the haunting opening of Aguire, Wrath of God, Warner Herzog’s memorable movie about conquistadors in the Amazon jungle. So that sound track was my companion, too.

My first peek down the other side of the mountain into Golden Bay was obstructed by clouds, too, but it was still an inspiring sight!

Golden bay is a beautiful, pristine and idyllically isolated spot on the northern coast of New Zealand’s south island. There is only one road in and out and it’s extremely steep and convoluted. Golden Bay sits on the Bay of Tasman, surrounded by water, mountains and green fields and my hosts had a fabulous view of it all! Later that day, the clouds began to lift for a beautiful sunset.

The plush green pastures were sprinkled with grazing cows and sheep. Even in town, there was always some livestock within a block or two. It amazed me that the animals stay outdoors all the time, year round, unlike here where they go into the barn at night. So logical!

Things grow like mad here, too! I visited a student’s lovely garden who must have had 20 varieties of fuchsia, plus apples, avocados, oranges, hydrangeas and more!!

What wasn’t green in Golden Bay was rocky, VERY rocky. Tramping (hiking) and climbing is a favorite pastime. It was a bit damp and cold, but we went on a little tramping adventure one morning between the rocks, boulder and exotic vegetation. This narrow passage made me feel like Indiana Jones.

Even though I would have loved a longer visit, it was time to move on. Back over “the hill” to the Nelson airport and a flight to Christchurch. It was a short but dramatic trip over the snow dusted mountains.

Then a two hour drive with my new hostess to her quaint little store, Obsession 2 Quilt, in Temuka. Temuka is noted for their pottery, their carrots and bagpipes… home of the New Zealand Bagpiping Champions. Love it! There were some nice old homes and buildings there, too.

The class in Temuka was small, but very talented. They inspired me with their hard work and unique vision.

It was difficult to believe three weeks had passed and it was time to head back home. My flight was late in the day, so my kind hostess took me to see the botanical gardens in Christchurch. The city is still recovering from a series of devastating earthquakes that hit hardest in the lovely old part of the city, but caused damage for miles around. Church steeples lay crashed on the ground and piles of brick and stone exposed the innards of buildings. But scaffolding and protective fences were evidence of rebuilding and renewal.

The large park that held the greenhouses and gardens was a quiet, restful and rainy refuge in the middle of the shaken city.

It was dark when I boarded the plane for Auckland, where I transferred for the twelve hour flight to LA. In LA there was a two hour journey through customs and a change of terminals before the four hour flight to Chicago. I arrived at O’Hare at midnight and I had been gone so long I felt like a visitor, instead of a native… a newly confirmed citizen of New Zealand. So 32 hours after leaving my hotel room in Temuka, Greg picked me up with Korean “takeout” and a smile! After the hours drive home, I ate dinner at 1 am and hit the sack around 2. When I woke up it was spring again!

Home again, home again, jiggity jog! But home again as a big fan of New Zealand and it’s gracious and resourceful quilters!