Introducing Elephant Romp!

I spent a ton of time hanging out with my niece over the summer and we were always trying to come up with fun things to do. This led to endless hours poking around on some of my favorite creative blogs. We found an amazing tutorial on Cakies for a DIY A-frame tent. We built the frame and the fabric cover in an afternoon (with the help of my handy dad) and then looked for a good place to set up. It was a beautiful day so we chose a sunny spot outside and set up the tent with some over-sized pillows and some of O's favorite toys. 

Of course, I couldn't pass up a perfect photo-op! 

O is wearing an Elephant Romp tunic (I used Made By Rae's very versatile pattern, Geranium) Her purple leggings are from Target. 

The tent cover is made from Chic Chevron in Jewel.

I didn't use a pattern for the pillows but I found a fantastic colorblock pillow tutorial on All Things Thrifty (if you'd like to make something similar.) 

And, the best thing about this tent; when not in use, it can be disassembled and neatly rolled up for storage under a bed or in a closet. It also makes a great indoor hideaway when it's cold or rainy.

...And some stuffed monkey love XOXO

It was hard to choose a color for the tunic since I love all of them. But MM's Cotton Couture in Starfruit just works so perfectly with the Elephant Romp in Starfruit and I wanted to use a solid for the top part of the tunic. I love how it turned out!

Ellen Maxwell used the retro Elephant Romp color story to create the quilt below. You can find the free pattern here.

I hope that you love Elephant Romp as much as I do! Happy sewing and have a great weekend!

xoxo

kait

introducing Urbanista!

Urbanista by Michael Miller Fabrics

Bow ties, skinny ties, vintage cameras, a mustache and a beard-- how hip! 

Urbanista, which is available in your local quilt shop, reflects all things mod, urban and stylish with a nod to the past and the Beat Beneration. 

The Beat Generation was a term created by Jack Kerouac in 1948. And, just in case you're wondering, Britannica defined it as an "American social and literary movement originating in the 1950s and centered in the bohemian artist communities of San Francisco’s North Beach, Los Angeles’ Venice West, and New York City’s Greenwich Village."
......

Our amazing graphic designer, Shawn, aka Doodlegirl, created this mod couple!

......

In honor of all things "beat" we're giving away the lovely camera bag below! It was created using the laminated version of Cameras. The pattern that we used to build the bag is from Watermelon Wishes and you can find it here.

Comments are now closed- thanks for participating!

Happy sewing and have a wonderful weekend! 
Don't forget to check out our free quilt patterns on the Michael Miller website. Ellen Maxwell designed Urbanista and you can find it here.

...and stay cool all you hip cats :)
MMF

AND THE WINNER IS,

Christine S said... "What a great bag!"

Congratulations!

flowers, flowers EVERYWHERE!

Fashion week in NYC is upon us and we're seeing flowers, flowers, everywhere for next spring! We especially love how Tracy Reese and Tommy Hilfiger used florals in their ready-to-wear spring collections.

We created our own floral looks using our beautiful new patterns, Floraliscious, Darling Mums, Petal Path and Verity (available at your local quilt shop in October). The pants pictured above were made using the Wide Pant Pattern by Cali Faye. The photos below were taken by Trenna Travis and feature the lovely Ellen Monohan. 

 Ellen Monohan in Floraliscious. Sew it yourself with this pattern.

......

Trenna captured Ellen again, surrounded by flowers, in sunny California. 

LOVE this easy breezy look (with the perfect shade of lipstick :)!

Find a similar bodice pattern here. 

The Darling Mums dress below was created using the Madison Halter Dress pattern by 5Berries. 

Photo by Charles Witte Design/styling by Kait Witte

We also have free quilt patterns available using our floral fabrics. Heidi Pridemore designed Darling Mums which is pictured below.

......

For a softer floral look, you might like Petal Path. It's perfect for a tea party or a quilt for a special little girl :)

Styled and photographed by Trenna Travis

If you love applique and florals, then you will adore the free quilt pattern, Petals, by Marinda Stewart featuring Petal Path.

......

If you love a more realistic and botanical floral, then maybe Verity is the choice for you. We used Verity to make an adorable dress using Made by Rae's Geranium pattern- which is one of our favorite "go to" patterns! Check it out below and find the pattern here.

photo by Charles Witte Design/styling by Kait Witte

 Marinda Stewart designed this floral rainbow Verity quilt which is available on our website here. We love how she incorporated birds and butterflies from Wing Study and our oh-so-soft Cotton Couture.

So why not get a head start and sew something "floraliscious" this fall?

 Happy sewing!

xo, MMF

"Delightful" by Swirly Girls

Hi! Susan and Christine here from Swirly Girls Design… We are so happy to share our new fabric line on the Making It Fun blog! It is called “Delightful” and we believe it lives up to its name.

We love to scrounge around thrift shops and vintage stores. We are often inspired by vintage linens, wallpaper and photographs.  The idea for Delightful started when we found this dishtowel at one of our favorite stops:

We were especially drawn to the whimsical flowers and butterfly.  Our butterfly is a softer version, yet just as whimsical.

One of the best things about our job is seeing sketches come to life on fabric! Here is the final print, called Daisy Flutter:

We love all of the prints in this line, but Delightful is really all about the COLOR! We really wanted to capture the vintage vibe in a contemporary way through the use of color. We envisioned vivid, saturated colors and are thrilled with the result. 

Delightful is available in two colorways, Raspberry and Strawberry.

Did we mention that it’s printed on yummy Cotton Couture?  Cotton Couture is Michael Miller’s super-soft, silky fabric base that drapes beautifully and is a dream to work with. It is perfect for quilts, but also clothing and other projects.

(This is the Candice purse from Lazy Girl Designs – love it!)

We couldn’t wait to get our hands on sample yardage and start making quilts from our patterns. Grand Central is perfect to feature the focus print Garden Beauty. The coordinates sparkle in the pinwheels.

Patchwork PDQ shows off the prints in a traditional, scrappy look featured here in the Raspberry colorway.

French Garden in Strawberry:

We want you to be just as “Delighted” as we are!  We designed Garden Delight as a free, downloadable pattern.

Click here to get started on this fun, lap-size quilt.

What does Delightful inspire you to make? Send your pics to info@swirlygirlsdesign.com and we’ll share them.

Happy sewing!
Susan and Christine

Follow the Swirly Girls:
http://www.swirlygirlsdesign.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SwirlyGirls
http://pinterest.com/swirlygirls/boards
https://twitter.com/swirly_world