Vest

Family and friends on your holiday list will love and cherish gifts created with your personal touch! Fashion forward clothing and jewelry, with your added personal touch, will be worn and loved for years to come.

Cool Crochet

ALL the coolest babies & toddlers will be sporting crocheted cuteness from Lil' Hipsters! Thanks to designer Kristi Simpson and her love for yarn, style and all things baby, your little person can be totally hip too. 

Cozy

Inspired By Iceland’s Beauty, Northern Lights Crochet has 10 great gift ideas for the fashion-forward people in your life! Wrap your loved ones in Icelandic-inspired warmth and cozy greatness. 

Warm

More Icelandic beauty just for knitters! Northern Lights Knits, also inspired by the beauty of Iceland, would make anyone on your your holiday gifts lists happy. Wrap them from head to toe in stylish coziness.

Style

The collection in Back in Style includes great sweaters, stylish vest, ponchos, purses, and more. With more than 30 projects, you'll find several perfect for the women on your holiday gift list.

Handsome

Give the men in your life the gift of hand-knitted warmth with Everyday Men's Knits! Seventeen perfectly manly projects are guaranteed not to disappoint!

Accessorize

If you're intrigued by resin projects and have jewelry lovers on your list, look no further than Resin Creation. Resin is a versatile, wondrous material that can be used in a variety of creative endeavors, including beautiful jewelry!

Amazing

Fall in love with woodburning, and create amazing gifts at the same time! With Modern Woodburning Book 2, you’ll soon be putting your own personal touch on every wooden block or cutting board or piece of leather you can get your hands on!

All of these projects are sure to make whoever receives them happy, and they are sure to cherish them for years!

What are you working on for the Holidays? Share pics with us on your social channels by tagging @leisureartsinc or using #leisurearts. We love to see what's going on in your studio!

Stylishly yours,

-Leisure Arts Team

Unique quilting ideas: that's what our all-new book Fashion Quilted Accessories is all about!  Today's Guest Blogger, Heidi Emmet, designed the fun patterns you'll find inside of Fashion Quilted Accessories and she's here today to talk about her inspiration for them. Welcome Heidi!

My new book, Fashion Quilted Accessories, is for anyone who enjoys sewing, quilting, and creating something new and different. Each project is geared toward my motto: “Make it up, make it fun, and get it done! I’d love to tell you what inspired me to create the projects for this book. The cover of the book shows my Simply Super Quilted Vest.

Fashion Quilted Accessories by Heidi Emmett

With a cityscape panel as the centerpiece, I auditioned other fabrics around it. A textured home decorating fabric that has a quilted ‘look and feel’ became the foundation of the vest. Panel pieces are really popular. Whatever panel you choose, use this vest pattern to create your own-one-of-a-kind Art-to-Wear piece.

Simply Super Quilted Vest

I have really enjoyed the “big” necklaces that are out there. I own a couple. By the end of the day, my neck is so tired by the weight of all those ‘jewels’! I was sitting at my sewing machine and looking at a scrap of heavily machine quilted fabric. The colors of the fabric and stitching reminded me of faceted jewels. What if…… and yes, the “Colorful Circles Necklace and Earrings” project was born. Fun to make and light as a feather, you won’t want to stop at just one set!

Colorful Circles Necklace

I knew I wanted to create a really different scarf and make a headband (or hat band) to match. I started walking the aisles of Joann’s. The allover butterflies in the quilting fabric section caught my eye. I carried that bolt over to the home decorating fabric department. I needed a “sheer” fabric that had some texture to hold the scarf knot in place and be easy to sew on. Use Terial Magic and an easy method to stitch down the motifs. What a chic and easy project to create.

Butterfly Scarf and Headband

Check out this pictures of this 1960’s tote from South America:

A Vintage Bag Serves as Inspiration

I had to bring it home from the thrift shop. It was so different from anything I had seen. As I looked at it more closely, it reminded me of saddlebags used by the Pony Express riders. I added the unusual idea of using a belt as the handle for this tote. I like being able to make the handle shorter or longer. Use all your favorite quilting fabrics in this one.

Saddlebag Tote

I have a little draw-string jewelry holder which I use when I travel. I love how it almost opens flat, so I can find all the jewelry pieces that are stored inside. I took the same circle and drawstring idea and blew it waaay up.

My Sling Bag Coming Together

The large circle I made needed to be a fun design in itself. Pinwheels are so interesting to look at, so that’s what I did. Use four of your favorite colors together in this Pinwheel purse.

Sling Bag

There are so many beautiful scarf weight fabrics out there. Some are silk, rayon, or polyesters. I was looking at a printed piece that I had and doubled it in my hands and looked again. I loved the way the print showed through so subtly. The design had to be simple and easier to sew (very few seams) because of the slippery nature of the fabric. I had been looking through a design book by the great designer of the early 20th century, Erte’. His designs, while very intricate in nature, inspired me to go in reverse with my thinking. I started sketching what design would add a slimming silhouette while showing off a doubled sheer fabric to its best advantage. This vest will be a sensational piece to add to your wardrobe!

Sensational Scarf Vest

I think I have succeeded in creating accessories that fit all levels of sewing skills from beginner to advanced. I want you to take your quilting to another level with these eye-catching fashions that show off your passion for beautiful fabrics! Thanks so much for visiting with me today. Please visit my blog to see what fun projects I’m working on now: Designsbyheidi.wordpress.com