Back to School

I relish the fall each year because when students go back to school, my workload gets to slow down. The weather starts to cool just a bit. (In Florida that means we went from 99 degress to 90 degress.)
Fall means more time for creativity and sewing.

Stash Bee:
Our next block in August was super cute and easy to put together. She wanted low volume whites/creams and I realized how few of them I owned. I tend to buy brights and grays when I see them so putting together white blocks was a fun challenge. (I can't wait to go shopping again.)

Speaking of shopping, I've broken my New Year's Resolution officially to purchase some pretty amazing fabrics. The Sewing Studio had this panel that is going to become something fun for my godson who loves Jack from "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

This panel is a huge 24 x 36 piece that's going to
make a little boy very happy soon.

This came out September 1st and I couldn't just wait on it.
I am counting the days until the newest Star Wars movie is released in December!

I had to create something with this Star War fabulousness right away. I made a boxy bag for my boss who is leaving in mid-September. He and I geek out to the movie previews as they are released. I am so going to miss him.

He loved it!!!

Is this liner perfect or what?

AMB Update:
I started catching up on my projects for American Made Brand's mini quilt competition. I wish I could post my progress photos but since the rules state you can't post your projects to any social media sites, I have to leave my colorful creations to your imagination. There was some paper piecing and some regular block making that I am pretty pleased with. Hopefully one will be accepted and I can post all of my photos in October. Fingers crossed.

Maker Faire Orlando:

Maker Faire was this weekend!! Last year, I participated with a few friends and had such a great time that I decided to join in again. I shared my love of sewing/quilting with everyone. It was my first time selling anything I made so it was quite rewarding. I said I would be happy if I sold just one thing and I ended up selling 20. Whoo hoo! (More money for fabric later.)

Everything I made with Wonder Woman fabric sold
out pretty quickly.

As part of our demo, we had everyone color or design their own button or magnet and showed them how to press it using our 1.25 inch button maker. We had so much fun chatting with the kids and they loved pressing their own creations and having a fun take away. I especially loved how many adults sat down to color and had just as big of a smile when their button or magnet was made.
Check out my two favorites:

I, regretfully, didn't take many pictures of the weekend because we were worried that too many parents wouldn't want photos posted of their children. However, we will have the memories to last a long time. I cannot wait until next year!

Artemis update:
Arti is doing well and has been keeping me company in my sewing room a lot lately.  I just love to see her various poses when she finds just the right spot. I am so glad we found her!

What have you been up to since school has started and fall is slowly arriving?

A Brief Respite

It's been a long time since I posted on this blog. The summer has already gotten away from me due to work obligations. I feel like I've missed out on so much including time to sew because it's been so busy. I need to work on that work/play balance to make time for things that give me pleasure like sewing.

I do have a few items I'm working on including my Stash Bee hive blocks quilt and some mini quilts for the American Made Brand (AMB) challenge. I can't post images of the later since one of the rules is to not post to any social media or blog.

AMB Mini Quilts

To know me is to guess that my AMB minis will involve rainbows of some sort. Over the years, I've bought various shades I thought were pretty and now I have over 40 different shades of AMB colors to choose from. I plan to use as many as I can. (Plus, I'll have the excuse to buy more next year when the "fabric fast" is over.)

A little bit of everything going in my AMB quilt.

Stash Bee

I had my hivemates make paper pieced economy blocks so I would have uniform blocks to make something fun for myself. Here are a few my friend, Julia, sent over:

She used her precious Tula Pink fabrics because she knows I love them, too.
Quilty friends are fantastic!

I have faithfully made blocks for my Stash Bee hivemates that I'd love to share with you.

June's block were envelopes for a love letter my hivemate is
quilting for her husband.
It's a giant 16in block and pretty genius design!

July's Union Jack were a fun challenge.
(I didn't like having to unpick on the first one, but the second one was a snap.)

IG Swaps

My next challenge has been to take a break from Instagram Swaps. They are SO addictive! I completed the last of my swaps in June and couldn't be more thrilled.

Here is what I sent out to my partners:

Nerds Craft It Better Swap:
I was paired with someone who loves Wonder Woman as much as I do!

Paper pieced Wonder Woman logo

Wonder Woman logo then made into the
front of a pouch.

Inside is super fun!

Back of pouch has a little
Wonder Woman flavor, too.

Here's what I received from my partner:

Simple treats, a homemade HP wand and Aurifil.
So perfect!

I unwrapped the rolls above to find these!
Three mini quilts that I can hang together or separately.
They already have a place of honor in my room.
(Plus, mini pins were tucked inside!)

Cotton+Steel Mini Swap:
Deciding on a design and cutting up the precious fabrics I've hoarded took some doing but I am very pleased with the results. (My partner is pleased, too.)

I enlarged the Julie Hirt Mercury block
pattern to make my partner a playful star.
I added in some shot cottons to add subtle color.

For the back, I used "Games we play" because it's so fun!

Check out what I was given in return:

A viewfinder mini quilt! It's so wonderful!
Plus, a cute wristlet pouch and a fist full of C+S selvages.

Can you understand my addiction now? I mean, really? Getting back some great projects from folks that put in time and love the same way I do makes me smile each time I see them.

Rescued:

In May, we said goodbye to our little dog, Evie, who provided us with 16 years of joy. That took its toll and I've had a hard time getting over that loss. (It's been a hard year with so many losses in my family.) I certainly didn't feel ready for a new pet any time soon. Fate had other plans.

Here is the newest addition to our family:

Meet Artemis!

Arti is such a cutie!

This photo of her at the shelter stole our hearts and we had to go meet her. She was scheduled to be put down the next day due to lack of space.  Just as expected when we arrived, she was sweet and playful. We were able to take her home that same day.

[This gorgeous photo is courtesy of Pawsitive Shelter Photography. This non-profit group works tirelessly to get tons of photos of pets available in Central Florida for adoption.  Please consider purchasing a calendar from their campaign HERE. Our very own Artemis happens to be on the cover and is featured as Miss September!]

She's loves a good belly rub!

At a hefty 50 pounds, she is the biggest dog we've ever owned and has kept me sane in the last few weeks. Although we rescued her from a high-kill shelter just before her time was up, I think she also rescued me this summer.

What have you been up to this summer so far?

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Spring 2015

Hi Everyone!

It's that time of year to celebrate what I love most: Quilting! I love participating in the Blogger's Quilt Festival and seeing all of the creativity.

This is my third time entering a quilt in the show and this Spring, I decided to share one of my favorite quilts created in the winter.

"I Love My Hair"
10"x 11"
December 2014

My mini quilt is made with shot cottons, black cotton and is quilted with Aurifil thread.

This quilt represents me and makes me smile each time I walk into my sewing room. I so rarely get to see myself in art, fabric, or quilts that I wanted to capture the Afro that I currently have. I've since started a series of profiles that will be added to my wall art over the next year.

Be sure to visit the festival and see all of the amazing talent for yourself!

Spring Time

It's spring time in Florida and we went from warm to cool to hot in less than a week. I don't know that I am ready for 90 degree weather any time soon. On the plus side, I did find  insulated curtains for my craft room that keeps it really cool during the day. That makes idea of the upcoming summer heat more tolerable.

I've been working on a few projects at the same time trying to put a dent in my UFO list. The crazy thing is that somehow the list keeps getting longer. I just keep getting new ideas and will start it right away before finishing up what I was doing before the idea hit me. Do you have that same problem?

I think my resolution for next year will be to finish a project to completion before starting a new one. (Giving up new fabric purchases for a year is so hard! There are so many pretties that I want in my collection but will have to hope that I can find them in 2016.)

________________________________________________________________
In no particular order, here are some photos of things that are keeping me busy:

I am pretty addicted to Instagram swaps this year and signed up for way too many. This bag was for an Easter swap that uses the open-wide pouch pattern. It was so easy to make that I will definitely do a few more as gifts.

My partner likes nerdy things so I was happy to oblige.

This bag is for my Charley Harper swap. I used unconventional to me fabrics including wool and velvet to give my fox a cool texture.

My partner loves the foxes and I used
E. Hartman's Fancy Fox pattern to make her a tote bag.
I only had to modify it slightly.

So tempted to keep this tote bag for myself.

The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild is sponsoring a postcard swap with other guilds in the area. Here's mine:

Of course I had to make a rainbow!
(Sorry about the bad lighting...gave it away before taking a better photo.)

The guild also made and distributed quilts to our local veteran's hospital in April. I made the Giant Vintage Star in shades of green, gray, brown and black. The back was a fun eggplant color. The gentleman who was given my quilt loved it because brown is his favorite color. I also used a "new-to-me" technique for the binding and used the backing fabric folded over instead of attaching strips.

I will definitely make another one like this to keep.

My Stash Bee Hive #2 block for April. I really love how easy this pattern comes together and looks like you spent hours making it. (It seriously took longer to select fabric than it took to assemble it.)
I can already imagine making one with rainbows of color all over.

Blues and Greens for my hive mama.

That pretty much wraps it up around here. I have a few more things on the horizon including some minis, completing some UFOs and planning some bigger projects. I'll keep you posted.

What's keeping you busy?

Down But NOT Out!

Where have I been? That question has been asked a lot lately because I took a big step back from a lot of things: quilting, technology, my friends and family. I am a pretty private person and over the years the friends I've chosen to keep close know how important that is to me. I do want to share something that is not often discussed: my battle with depression.

I do my best to keep it at bay most of the time because I have learned lots of coping skills since the age of 12. (My father passed away that year and needless to say my life was never the same.) The recent passing of a loved one took me to that dark place and I struggled to get back to the light. The one thing I have a hard time remembering when I travel down that rabbit hole is that I need to stop isolating myself from the world. I do tend to hide my sadness because I don't want others to see my weakness. I also prefer being alone when I'm not in a happy place because I think it might bring others down with me.

The reality is that my friends and family are always the ones who bring me back out of my depressed state and I need to ask for help more. When you haven't seen me for a while or notice that I've withdrawn from activities, remind me that I need to get out of my own head. I need to get out of the house, spend time with family/friends, get crafty and sew/quilt again. It's the little things that bring me back to reality and remind me that my life is quite wonderful.

My blog was started as a place to share the sewing and quilty things I like working on each week but I needed to share this with you. There is a catharsis in releasing this "secret" with the world and I want to be held accountable for my inaction.

I finally feel like sewing again and being creative so I'll post images and notes soon. Thank you to those who have put up with me over the last few weeks and for those of you who have reached out to check on me.

16 different shot cottons and
1 landscape fabric I think looked like
wood grain.

I finished this mini quilt last week for someone and it brought back that fire in my belly to get creative and make more art. I'm not religious but there was something soothing in the creative process of designing it and quilting it that I can't explain in words. I used 18 different color threads and put love into each line as I stitched. (I'll post a tutorial on how I designed it and put it together as soon as I am able.)

I plan to fan those flames and get to work on some projects I've put off. (First, I have to clean out my craft room a bit since it looks like a Tasmanian devil came through it recently.)

Thank you for reading this!

Home from Quilt Beach

I came home late last night from Quilt Beach in Vero Beach, FL. I am completely exhausted but in a good way. I did two things I didn't know would happen so soon: I helped set up/break down a quilt show and I had 5 quilts hanging in the show. Since this was not a judged show, I felt good about putting in some quilts just for fun. I am now inspired to make a quilt for another show and get feedback from judges.

I had a chance to take a class with Luke Haynes and see how his mind works a bit. His class on design gave me lots of ideas for how to approach quilting from an architectural perspective. I have some blocks that will be made into something fun, just not sure what yet.

Luke is just getting into his lecture. Love those blue shoes.

I asked for a sad face but it looked kind of angry.

(Love that Mindy photobombed this one!)

Helen was so sweet!

(She later became my partner in crime on Saturday.)

Ruth was plotting and scheming with her shades of gray.

Cal also used shades of gray...hmmm,
I sense a pattern with these TCMQG ladies.
I really love them!

These are my black and white blocks.
My style of drawing involved a lot of squares in squares.

I also enjoyed more time with Victoria Findlay Wolfe, the keynote speaker, and now have her second book autographed in my collection. I am very excited about the variety of double wedding ring patterns in the back and her permission to distort them to make your own designs. She even rode with me to dinner and we had a chance to chat about her time in Tokyo. She's so awesome.

I took two half day classes and learned so much! My first class on Saturday was on curved paper piecing with Anita Kelley. MIND BLOWN! Although we were using a pattern with traditional fabrics, I can now see how I would design my own block using the techniques I learned. I am so excited to play with this curved quilt idea in my head. I definitely plan to stop by her shop in Melbourne when I can.

That night, at the V.I.Q. party, I spent time with Shelagh Traill and some of the fabulous ladies from the Treasure Coast Modern Quilt Guild, as well as, some ladies from other Florida MQGs. Carole Lyles Shaw, our MQG area board member is hilarious and talented! So glad I had a chance to chat with her. Victoria was there signing copies of her book while hanging out while Luke was chatting at every table and having a nice time. I even met two quilting sisters from Jupiter, FL and we are Instagram buddies for life! I stayed later than I my tired body wanted me to, but was so glad I did. Chances like this don't come every day so you have to seize them while you can. (I am really sad that I didn't a get a single picture that night because I was too busy chatting.)

My second class was on free motion quilting, taught by the amazing Mindy Marik (*see photbomb above!). She is seriously one of the best quilting teachers I have ever had. She started with some basics that I needed to hear again and drilled in us her process of how she starts her quilting day. I felt like I was in kindergarten learning how to write my name and it worked. I will definitely practice more on my home machine and hope to develop a signature style of my own.

Can you see my horribly scribbled name?
(This was to check the tension so it doesn't count.)

I was truly impressed by the amazing quilts sent over from so many talented, modern quilters and the spirit of those ladies who put this all together. I feel most honored to be asked to join the board of Quilt Beach and be a voice in the process for 2016!

Here are some of my favorites:

(This RuPaul quilt is EVERYTHING!)

Now to unpack...boo! (I see a nap in my future!)

Enjoy your week!