Jane Sassaman quilt artist, fabric designer, author and teacher

As you may know, this is fabric designing time for me. I always look forward to a couple of months of divine isolation in to studio as the ideas incubate. Once the theme of a line becomes apparent everything starts to fall into place. It is hard, often frustrating, work!! I tell my students that no one just sits down and “barfs art”! There are so many options, trial and errors, doubts and rejections, not to mention all the sleepless nights during this period of slow progress. But hopefully all the viewer sees is a glorious end result.

This is the period I am dwelling in at the moment… the doubting, sorting and concentration.This season it has been particularly challenging, especially since the March 1st deadline is a month sooner than usual. Everyday I tell myself, “today is the day that the muse will beat me mercilessly over the head and all the answers will come!” HA! I’m still waiting for it all to gel… maybe today?

But it is also the deep heart of winter and this week we have finally had enough snow to make it really look and feel like the winter season. I love February because the Valentines shot of red is a traditional reminder that spring will be with us shortly. I’ve always felt that Valentine’s Day was brilliantly placed in the calendar year. February also happens to be our wedding anniversary, another excuse to celebrate.

So this week we have whipped up some crafty Valentine ideas. If you are suffering from cabin fever these projects could provide a little distraction and a lot of exhilarating color. We started with some plain brown cardboard boxes from Hobby Lobby and covered them with fabrics from the Early Birds collection.

The oval box makes a cheerful container for Jaci’s pretty Valentine cookies. Jaci is “The Cookie Lady” in town and keeps the citizens of Woodstock well sweetened all year round. There’s nothing happier than Valentine cookies! The oval lid suits the motif nicely.

Wine and champagne are also traditional treats for heartfelt celebrations. This is my all time favorite label on a bottle of wine. In fact, this now empty bottle holds pride of place in our “cabinet of wonders”. Wouldn’t that  design make a fabulous applique? The wine caddy, too, is decoupaged with the same fabric, but with a coordinating pink cap. I’m hoping these projects and colors have helped to buoy your sagging winter spirits .

PS… The winner of the January Patchwork Sassaman Style challenge is Mrs. Bonnie Butler from Ontario, Canada. She used Paula Nadelstern’s exciting Benartex fabrics for her version of the One Plus Four Patch recipe. Go to the Dragon Threads Open Book Blog to see all the entries and check out the new challenge for February.