Custom Quilt Tops - Make a Cheater Quilt

I'm so pleased to now be a part of PatternJam, a super fun and easy-to-use website for designing your own quilt top.

All of my fabrics from Modern Yardage are there, and I've got new, special pattern collections arriving there soon. Search under Fabric Shop by Designer to find me.

"In Orbit" will be there soon, a collection for space lovers of all ages.

Go to Pattern Jam and just have fun. It's as easy as filling in a coloring book page!

Quilt Label Sighting - Modern Yardage Meets Modern Patchwork

Quilting is alive and well, a great hobby and timeless art form. 

 Modern Patchwork magazine keeps quilters up to date on what's new and classic, and has an ardent following of quilters, DIY-ers and sewing enthusiasts.

I was happy, then, to see Modern Yardage quilt labels were featured in a Hot Picks review in Modern Patchwork magazine.

One of the labels shown is mine, the one with the little birds in the lower left.

See it here at Modern Yardage.

And below.

Just For Fun

I did another vectorizing of an old ad today, inserting my own designs in the dress, hat and butterflies. Today was all about designing for recreational purposes only. And it WAS fun!

I had planned on creating some snappy text, but since I've been spending a lot of time recently giving myself pep-talks, this seemed appropriate.

Quilt Labels - Baby's First Birthday and Quilt Washing Instructions

Modern Yardage has just added my two newest quilt labels to their line up.

I've done them in several different colorways. 

Order as few or many as you like at $1.00 each.

More Scrapbook Papers

I pulled together some of my existing designs for this fun new collection.  For sale in my Etsy shop.

Accuquilt Quilt Block Contest

I took my newest pattern collection, Merriweather, and applied it to a quilt block I created for Accuquilt's contest.

Fingers crossed!

My Lookbook is Published

My wonderful regular clients have kept me quite busy for the last several weeks. Once I had a couple of "free" days, I finished my lookbook, which I had been working on for a couple of months.

See it here.

I also got a few cool florals done, and revamped my website. I've been mad about coral and gray lately!

Case in point: 

Another One of THOSE Weeks!

By that I mean, I didn't do much new designing, but instead was doing some hourly graphic jobs for some of my awesome clients!

Heck, I want them to be successful as much I they do! And what a blessing that I made a living as a graphic designer this week.

I did create a promotional for my Modern Yardage collection Hedgerow in Summer.

Spring is in the Air

I haven't felt all that great the last week or so. But, that doesn't stop me from my near daily run or from my workouts. And it certainly hasn't gotten in the way of my designing and playing with color.

Maybe Spring is in my blood.

Oh, have I ever got some wonderful collections in the pipeline!!!

This pattern I'm featuring today is not yet a part of a collection, but it sure is jazzy!

Botanical Floral

I redrew bits and pieces of flowers and grasses from antique botanical prints and fashioned this new floral.

I plan to create 5 patterns to go with it for a lovely new collection.

Eden's Garden Fabric Collection at Modern Yardage

I really like this little print, Precious in Turquoise, one of six patterns in my new collection Eden's Garden at Modern Yardage.  As you see, the colors are lovely aquas and pinks with a touch of white.

What a cute top Precious makes!

Modern Yardage

I've been launched at Modern Yardage!

Although MY is a place to buy gorgeous fabric online, one day in the near future, you'll see us in quilt stores around the country. We'll be the new big thing!

Come see us for fabrics for quilting, home decor, craft and apparel projects!

Four  of my collections are available now, including these two:

Florals

I did this one years ago. Maybe its time has come?

Colorization - Paying the Bills Part 3

My good pal, Charles of Helmar Brewing, creates some fantastical ephemera baseball cards that look like they could be the real thing. But, no, he's an artist who's found a niche that appeals to baseball collectors.

I've had the great fortune to help him on a good many projects, including the colorization of old black and white photos. Believe me when I tell you, there are no shortcuts to this.

Of course, the better the photo to start with, the better the finished results.

Here's a before and after of  Honus Wagner who played mostly for the Pittsburgh Pirates between 1897 and 1917.

Yep, I'm still doing lots of designing for my fabrics collections at Modern Yardage, but fill up every minute with whatever I can to have an income as a graphic designer.

Hedgerow in Four Colorways

Here it is in Autumn.

Look for it at Modern Yardage soon!

New Designer at Modern Yardage - Me! Tracy Miller!

My fabric designs will be up soon at Modern Yardage, but here is a sneak peak:

Christmas Patterns

I've been lucky enough in the last couple of weeks to have graphic design jobs, even if they're other than creating surface art. I'm not waiting tables, so I count my blessings.

I don't have anything new that I can post, but this timeless Holiday collection is just right this week before Christmas to put me in the mood.

Gosh, She's Got Range!

I've worked on designs the last week or so to answer requests. Fingers crossed that something sells!

Scandinavian Pattern - Sort of

Here's a case where I got started on something and soon realized that it wasn't going to be a pattern that had much chance of selling. It's not something I would wear as a garment myself, nor would it fit into my decor.

And yet I pressed on with it until it was finished and then tweaked the colors until I exclaimed, "Oh, that's cute." 

Anyway, my next patterns will have the market place in mind.

Scandinavian Influences

My grandmother was Swedish, and I've got other Nordic blood in me, too. Maybe that explains my affinity for Scandinavian designs.

I seek them out and find comfort in their clean lines and familiar floral, leaf and flourish shapes.

I gathered 6 from my Scandinavian folder of designs, colored them in Spring 2015 color palette,  and made this collection.