Lip and Moustache Lollipops by Angie Gubler and Kristin Rees of Blonde Designs.

 I Heart February Reader Project Linky - share the love!

pink chalk fabrics ~*~ new arrivals ~*~ free patterns ~*~ on sale

Painted Heart Bag by Vanessa Christenson of V and Co.

 I Heart February Reader Project Linky - share the love!

pink chalk fabrics ~*~ new arrivals ~*~ free patterns ~*~ on sale

Heart Shaped Pot Holders from MarthaStewart.com

 I Heart February Reader Project Linky - share the love!

pink chalk fabrics ~*~ new arrivals ~*~ free patterns ~*~ on sale

Celebrate I Heart February with Pink Chalk. A daily dose of cupid’s creative side sure to make your heart thump.

Share the love by linking in your own Valentine’s Day inspired projects. There’s some fun prizes too — see details at the bottom of this post.



Project Linking Guidelines:

• Valentine’s Day Projects.
• Limit one entry per person.

• All linked projects will be eligible in a random drawing for one of four I Heart Pink Color Stacks. Projects accepted for submission thru February 15, 2012.

For those of you that like buttons:

<div align=”center”><a href=”http://pinkchalkstudio.com/blog/2011/11/15/handmade-with-love-a-holiday-tutorial-contest/” title=”Pink Chalk Studio”><img src=”http://pinkchalkfabrics.com/images/blogposts/pinkchalk_handmadewithlove135.jpg” alt=”Pink Chalk Studio” style=”border:none;” /></a></div>

Troubleshooting this code: if you do not see the button appear after you cut and paste the code, your browser may have turned the straight quotes into curly quotes (there are 12 of them). Be sure they’re all straight.

pink chalk fabrics ~*~ new arrivals ~*~ free patterns ~*~ on sale

The Pantone Color Institute selected Tangerine Tango as their color of the year for 2012. Tango. Tango. I’m in love with Tangerine Tango. It’s happy, playful and fun. Pantone describes Tangerine Tango as vivacious, optimistic, enticing, exotic and hopeful. An “adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow” packaged in a sophisticated friendly non-threatening reddish orange.

The color of the year is chosen by analyzing color trends all over the world. The experts at the Pantone Color Institute follow trends in the entertainment industry, film, hot new artists, popular travel destinations, technology, and even sporting events. The experts at Pantone comb the world looking at the newest, latest and greatest.

Is Tangerine Tango a new color? Not really. Look around. It’s all over the web, in the mall, and most likely in your own closet. The trend has been building for quite some time. Colors evolve in an organic progression with one color coming to the forefront in the design world. Pantone pulled Tangerine Tango to the top and gave it a bit of a push. Last summer I bought a top from Eddie Bauer in Tangerine Tango. Cutting edge, that’s me. Ahead of the curve? No, just lucky. The color is so happy and fresh. It drew me in. I couldn’t resist.

Pantone also selects 10 Fashion Colors each Spring and Fall. The full line-up for Spring 2012:

• Tangerine Tango -  enticing juicy orange, is a vivacious and appealing
• Solar Power – radiates warmth and cheer
• Bellflower – distinct ornamental purple, exudes uniqueness and creativity
• Cabaret – sensual and intense rosy-red
• Sodalite Blue – classic maritime hue, brings order and calmness to mind
• Cockatoo – tactile blue-green adds a whimsical touch
• Sweet Lilac – delicate pinkish lilac adds a touch of romance
• Margarita – piquant yellow-green, lifts spirits with its refreshing and stimulating glow
• Driftwood – adaptable blend of beige and gray with a slightly weathered feel
• Starfish – perfect warm summer neutral

The Spring 2012 colors spoke to me in such a compelling way.  Soon I had a stack of quilting cottons on the work table. I arranged and rearranged them in stacks. Which colors go together? I could have played all day with my stack of colors without actually creating a single thing other than stacks of color! Fortunately, one of my favorite jobs here at Pink Chalk is designing FQ Color Stacks. I’m excited to introduce two new Pink Chalk Color Stacks: Spring 2012 Solids and Tango Tango. What will they inspire you to create?

Do the Tango! ~Diana

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If you follow along on our Facebook Page you know what a free pattern junkie I am. I love finding them and I love sharing them. Facebook is such a perfect medium for stuff like that. Here’s an album of all the free patterns we’ve linked to if you need to catch up.

I have a circuit of sites I check in on regularly. Moda being one of my favorites. Today I spotted a pattern for this Zig Zag Quilt. I snapped this photo in Moda’s booth at Fall Quilt Market but never matched it up with a source. Until now! Woohoo!!!

The construction is so very clever. The pattern gives credit for the technique to Amandajean of Crazy Mom Quilts. I won’t say more, just go check it out for yourself.

ps be sure to read the comments on the Speedy Baked Ziti post for some awesome weeknight recipe inspiration – warning, it will make you hungry!

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I’ve been on a mission over the past several months to add some new recipes into our week night dinner routine. After a series of rejects (including the one where I thought I was making soup and it ended up being a paella type stovetop dish) I was ready to take a break. Along comes Speedy Baked Ziti to restore my faith in fast and delicious!

The special touch is the ricotta – Yummo! I served mine with a sliced baguette and olive oil & balsamic for dipping.

What are you cooking these days?

pink chalk fabrics ~*~ new arrivals ~*~ free patterns ~*~ on sale

We got our annual blast of snow here in the Northwest and it made for a glorious day of falling flakes and beautifully blanketed trees. Due to the infrequency of a big storm, there’s little effort put into clearing roads. It generally melts away in a day or two. Schools close and most people hole up and enjoy the weather mandated downtime.

Early this morning I sent an e-mail letting the team know the shop would be closed, I got back a flurry of e-mails excitedly sharing what sewing was planned for the day.

Here’s mini roll call from the team:

Alicia: hemmed a pair of pants for hubby using this tutorial and knit away on a skirt (goodness she’s talented with the needles!)

Diana: finished the back for her Pips quilt, wished she had batting, and is planning a bias binding with the Sherbet Pips scarf fabric.

Cindy: working on fabric placement for a Curlicue Crush quilt.

What she’s doing on the design wall: “I have a bunch of Art Gallery fabrics that I want to use in big enough chunks so I can see ‘em. This pattern seemed like just the ticket for that. Plus I get to work with curves again. Since each block flows into the next you have have to decide ahead of time where each will go. This was the only way I could think of to accomplish that.   I know I could have cut every last piece out and put it up on the wall but since I won’t need it all cut out (the sides are only partial blocks) I decided to do it with just some squares of fabric.”

Carrie: working on her Radio Way quilt from Jaybird Quilts – all cut out using her Sherbet Pips jelly roll. (Jaybird Quilt patterns re-stock arrives Friday)

First round of finished blocks!

Melissa was going to attempt a bobby pillow cover and then onto one of the 100 other projects she has on her list for the nursery. I’m working on a new block of the month – feels good to open the envelopes and get started!

Schools and the shop will be closed again tomorrow. I’m certain we’ll all squeeze every last bit of enjoyment from it!

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Project: Thimble Blossoms Little Ones Quilt Pattern

Dimensions: 36″ x 48″ for the pattern – Diana’s measures 41″ x 60″

Sewist: Diana

When Diana discovered Little Ones she imagined beach balls, summer, sun and sandcastles. She’d been on the lookout for a quilt to make with the Sea Gem Studio solids color stack and found it in this pattern by Thimble Blossoms. Diana’s sea glass jewelry was the inspiration behind the June 2011 Solids Club stack and we named it in celebration of her Etsy Shop Sea Gem Studio.

Working with triangles can be very intimidating. All those points needing to line up and edges to keep straight! Diana discovered it was not as hard as anticipated. Clear picture instructions give the details needed to successfully make the blocks.

The triangles are pieced together in groups of 3. The quilt top is then sewn together in strips. A clear guide is provided for placement of the strips to offset the beach balls. Diana selected a favorite fabric as an accent pattern to add a pop of design texture to just 2 beach balls.

Wider border pieces were added at each end and on the sides to create a lap sized quilt. The accent fabric in the border really brings it all together.

The back of the quilt is just as playful as the front with color coordinating prints and left over triangles.

Diana machine quilted this project on her regular sewing machine. We were all impressed with the swirly flower design on the beach balls. She claims to still be learning how to free motion quilt!

The straight line quilting on the end cap borders (done with a walking foot) reinforces the shapes beautifully.

The binding used is Moda Bella Solids Robins Egg Bias Quilt Binding. Finishing doesn’t come any easier. Stitch it on, tack it down and it’s done. The Robins Egg coordinates perfectly. Easy peasy.

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Diana is one of many talented knitters on the Pink Chalk Team. We flipped out when she came to work wearing her Vite Cowl last week. Free pattern on Ravelry by Kristi Johnson. One skein of Cascade Magnum and size 15 needles.

pink chalk fabrics ~*~ new arrivals ~*~ free patterns ~*~ on sale