Lucky Ducks!

Thanks to everyone for following the Moda Blog Hop these past few weeks...and for leaving so many wonderful comments!  The overwhelming majority of you love sewing LAP QUILTS!  I never knew!  I think it would be fun to design a series of lap quilts so that you can make one a month for a whole year...Penny are you listening!?
So, to celebrate the Blog Hop, we have picked a handful of winners...who love to sew!   If you are one of the lucky winners, please drop us a note at notions@frenchgeneral.com with a copy of your comment and your address....and we will get you some of our new Fall 2013 collection, Josephine, faster than you can make up a lap quilt....I think!

Debbie from Lomira, Wisconsin
Deb from Rochester Hills, Michigan
Christine from New Mexico
Karen from Breezy Point, Minnesota
Laurie from West Texas

Merci!!

Color Inspiration Workshop with Amy Butler

A couple of years ago, at a quilt market in Houston, I ran in to Amy Butler and her husband David and in passing I asked Amy if she would ever want to come to France with us to teach.  David immediately answered for her and said, YES!  Then I said, what about two weeks, and David said, YES, again!  So, for almost three weeks this past summer, Amy joined Kick, Molly, Mogull and me as we welcomed guests from all over the world to our little corner of the South of France.  We had such a good time with Amy in France, before our weeks were over, I asked her if she would like to come teach at French General someday.  Not knowing when it would happen...we both loved the idea and decided to work at making it happen.
Fast forward just a couple of months...and we have a plan!  Amy is coming to Los Angeles to teach her Color Inspiration Workshop at French General on Saturday, November 2nd, 2013.  We will start the morning with Amy's colorful talk about how she creates her beautiful patterns and fabric.  Amy includes tips on where to look for color combinations and finding inspiration everywhere - whether we are traveling or sitting in the garden.   We will break for lunch and in the afternoon, begin to put together our own color palette books - filled with fabric swatches, paint chips, and magazine clippings.  Amy will teach how to pull out color from theses collages to create our own personal color palette - which can be used in our homes, our wardrobe and our art.
This promises to be a special day at French General with the unique opportunity of creating with Amy Butler....I hope you can join us!  Seating is limited.
For more information and to sign up please visit our workshop page.
Merci!

Moda Size Matters Blog Hop and Giveaway!

Today is the kick-off day for the Moda Size Matters Blog Hop and Giveaway!  This has been a long time coming...and I'm excited to start the blog hop on day one, along with Edyta of Laundry Basket Quilts and Brigitte of Zen Chic!

Our latest collection for Fall 2013, Josephine, is coming soon!  Filled with our deep reds and pinks, rich browns, and naturals, the Josephine Collection is inspired by Napoleon's first wife, Josephine de Beauharnais.  The first Empress of France was a lover of all things botanical and kept a rose garden at Chateau de Malmaison that rivaled the best English gardens of the time.  For our Josephine Collection, we included beautiful old florals as well as fantasy florals and small petite prints - perfect for mixing into a quilt!

Last Spring,  Lissa Alexander, Moda's master marketing gal, asked each of the Moda designers to chose a block to create.  At the Moda Schoolhouse, we each stood up and presented our block, along with a story of how the block fit into the chosen theme: Size Matters.  I took the theme quite literally...I made my block bigger....

and better.....

When I stood up to present my block, I told everyone I really thought that the point of the project was to make our block bigger - and better!  Little did I realize that everyone else had a block that was actually useable...6x6, 8x8 or even 12x12.  Oh well, my block was designed to be turned into a portable picnic blanket - complete with tie - so you can wear it over your shoulder as you walk to your perfect spot to picnic!  That's Molly's Stella up there sitting on the blanket...she's always ready to picnic!

Download Instructions For Our Block Here

We've also designed a beautiful, large Flying Geese inspired quilt with our new collection, Josephine.  Designed by myself and JZ, sewn by the talented Penny Tucker, and quilted by Cheryl Yamamoto...this quilt, as well as all of our quilts, is truly a team effort.  As many of you know, designing quilts has not come easy to me...but this quilt seemed to flow...I loved the combination of the classic style and the ability to show off the fabric at the same time.

Order the Josephine Quilt Pattern Here

Over the years six years of designing fabric for Moda, I have learned that size really does matter!  Once I settle on a theme for a collection, I go digging in my fabric archives for inspiration.  I look for a couple of large scale prints, a few mediums and a handful of small, or ditsy prints.  Being fairly new to the quilt business, I have learned how important the variety of scale is.  Too many large prints and there is not enough depth or diversity - too many small prints and the design of the quilt can begin to lose itself.  I am so thankful for friends and teachers that have helped me learn this along the way....it's been an important tool for me while designing collections and the accompanying quilts.

Thanks to Moda, I have a handful of giveaways to accompany this blog hop, as well as some cute Josephine Hankies, so go ahead and leave me a comment about your favorite size quilt to sew...is it a lap quilt, a baby quilt or something larger?  Sofia will choose the lucky winners within the week and we will send out some prizes! Thanks for playing along and hope to see some of you in Houston!

Be sure to visit all of the Moda designers throughout the Moda Blog Hop, including Edyta and Brigitte today:

Laundry Basket Quilts
http://www.laundrybasketquilts.com/blog/index.php
Zen Chic   
http://www.farbstoff-bridge.blogspot.com
September 5th
Bunny Hill           
http://bunnyhillblog.com/
Basic Grey                         
http://blog.basicgrey.com/
Sweetwater                            
http://sweetwater.typepad.com/makelifesweet/
September 6th
Jan Patek  
http://janpatek.blogspot.com/
Pat Sloan         
http://blog.patsloan.com/
Pieces From My Heart                     
http://piecesfrommyheart-sgervais.blogspot.com/
September 9th
Deb Strain                 
http://debstrain.blogspot.com/
Barbara Brackman                                     
http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/
V & Co.                      
http://www.vanessachristenson.com
September 10th
Lauren & Jessi Jung     
http://laurenandjessiblog.com/
Kate Spain             
http://katespaindesigns.blogspot.com/
Me & My Sister                      
http://meandmysisterdesigns.com/blog/
September 11th
Kathy Schmitz Studios                              
http://kathyschmitzstudio.blogspot.com/
Minick & Simpson          
http://minickandsimpson.blogspot.com/
Primitive Gathering                                
http://lisabongean.wordpress.com/
September 12th
Fig Tree                                    
http://figtreequilts.typepad.com/my_weblog/
A Stitch and Dye 
malka@stitchindye.com
Thimbleblossoms                                        
http://www.camilleroskelley.typepad.com/
September 13th
Blackbird Designs                                           
http://blackbird-designs.blogspot.com/
Cotton Way                                 
http://cottonway.blogspot.com/
Stephanie Ryan Design Studio            
http://www.stephanieryandesign.com/blog/
Kansas Troubles                                       
http://kansastroublesquilters-lynne.blogspot.com/
Aneela Hoey     
http://comfortstitching.typepad.co.uk/

A quilt assembly pattern will be supplied on Moda's blog,
http://modafabrics.blogspot.com/ on September 16th.
Have fun!