Fun goodies arriving in the mail!

Wow! Great couple of days for mail! I used to love getting the mail when I was a kid - that is until bills and junk mail became the norm. Well, being in the wonderful business of quilting, mail can be fun again! I received the edited version my manuscript from my editors at Martingale today. Super exciting and funny enough it totally makes the book feel like it's really happening.

My other big - and unexpected surpise - was the delivery of this lovely new magazine from Fons & Porter call "Fun Quilts For Kids of All Ages". My quilt "Daisy Dreams" is featured as a project - WOOHOO! Didn't they do a BEAUTIFUL job with the photography and layout? This was done month's ago, so it was a nice surprise to see it! :)

The team over at Fons and Porter are super nice, so if you ever have the chance to work with them you'll find it's a treat! Well, back to the working world, and Elizabeth, if you're reading this, I've actually started working on my new patterns. Could the sloth be gone and the muse returned?

Step AWAY from the quilt...

Back up quietly and no one gets hurt... Really.... Seriously... Ok, so a bit melodramatic maybe but honestly I have ripped this border off this quilt four times now. Maybe more, but I've lost count. I knew i was in deep trouble when I woke up at 2am dreaming about this damned quilt last night. Oh sure it looks all cute and innocent with those pink scallops. It's cursed I tell you.


Well, it's not perfect (but what is?) and that's just fine by me! More than fine considering. It seems that one side of the quilt center was like a micron shorter than the other side - Ok, maybe more than a micron shorter - and I tricked myself into thinking that the quilt fairies would sprinkle some pixie dust upon my seams and *poof* the seams would just magically line up.

The moral to the story - Quilt while it's fun and stop before you find yourself weilding an angry seam ripper.

Happy Birthday Pam!

A little birdie told me it was your birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAM!!!

Quilt in progress - could it be?

These days the quilt progress has been slow. That's the way it goes in the world of creativeness... Really, I swear. Sometimes it comes easy and sometimes, well, it just doesn't. With that said... I love this new quilt! It's sweet and a bit miniature (those blocks on point are 4 inches). When all is said and done it will have a lovely set of yellown scallops along the border and knowing me some damned appliqued berries. I swear I can't help myself!

Mom - If you're reading this, you can probably guess by now that this will be coming your way for some testing magic! For those of you who don't know, my wonderful Mom is my tester... Aren't I lucky?

The wandering mind travels to far and distant lands.

These days I seem to be searching under rocks and in small nooks and crannies for new ideas and things to generally brighten my day. I suppose these places aren't so far afield from the world of quilting, but still not all inspiration seems to be coming from the fabric world at the moment. I love it when people share their inspirational favorites, so I'm going to return the favor by sharing mine!

Inspiration for the Day: ETSY

Etsy is my absolute favorite stop these days. Crafters and artisians from all over the world are staking their claim and personally I'm loving it. If you haven't been I suggest you sit down with cup of coffee, possibly a snack or two, and browse to your hearts content.

{ WARNING: What I am about to say now, in the early days of Summer,
may shock and offend some and is not for the faint of heart }

Christmas Gift Alert!!! Here's my tip for the day, week or whatever: This is a great place to round up Christmas gifts, so do yourself a favor and bookmark sellers you find interesting. It's my plan this year to bookmark away all year long and buy for Christmas as budget allows. Since I personally can't seem to squeeze out a single hand-made gift without waiting until the last minute, you can still give hand-made gifts - just ones made by somebody else.

{Some links to get you started }

• Belle & Boo: Beautiful illustrations (and she has an awesome blog to boot)
• Marmee Craft: Original art and prints
• Mia Acessories: Bags and vintage notions
• Blossom Hill: Sweet wool animals and other goodies

Won't you be mine?

This weekend was spent doing some yard work, enjoying the company of a good friend at dinner and quilting away trying to get a couple of stalled projects under way. On the techie front (and I am a total geek when it comes to stuff like this) I snagged myself an iPhone. I have to say, for anyone looking at possibly purchasing one of these little wonders, that it is probably just the most amazing piece of technology I've seen. And I was a sceptic! My husband drove us to the store for "just a look" and lo and behold 1/2 hour later we were walking out of the store pockets MUCH lighter but with new toys in our hands. BEWARE - once you get one in your hands it's pretty hard to resist the lure! Coolest feature - the maps. Type is where you want to go, and *poof* it gives you a map, phone number and address and then offers you directions. Lost no more!

Alos, this is pretty exciting news! I designed a pattern using the upcoming Be Mine collection by Sue Zipkin for Clothworks. Well, The Fat Quarter Shop is now offering a kit of this quilt which you can now pre-order through their shop.

The Jolly family also stopped by my booth at Spring Market and now carry a couple of my patterns... They are just the nicest people!