Exhausting fun!

These are 2 of my favorite pictures from the weekend.   I had an absolutely wonderful time meeting Thelma, reuniting with Nicole and of course, taking classes, hanging out and breaking bread with the Queen of Awesomeness - Carrie Nelson.

We shopped, sewed, ate some delicious meals, stayed up much too late laughing, talking, attended an wonderful guild meeting and made many new friends.   I promise a more thorough post when I get home and get the pictures sorted out.

It was an incredible experience.   I'd say "one of a kind" but we're already talking about our next meet up, so I'm hoping we can do something like this again soon.

The biggest disappointment of the weekend was that our blog friend, Allyson, got sick at the last minute and had to cancel her trip.   We were all looking forward to meeting her and hope that she is feeling better and can join us the next time.   We missed you, Allyson!!

I hope Thelma, Nicole and Carrie all have a safe trip home.   I'm looking forward to getting home to the family (and catching up on my sleep!).    More later, I promise!

Red Velvet

No, this is not one of Thelma's cupcake review posts, although I do love a Red Velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing!   I recently got this quilt back from my longarm quilter.   I love the job she did with a feathered wreath inside each of the star blocks.

There's just something about a quilt that's been washed and dried and crinkled.   I just love the Rouenneries fabric from French General, I don't think I will ever get tired of them.   And that spark of Simple Abundance aqua?  And the striped binding?  LOVE IT.

Is it flattery when you copy the designer's pattern exactly, or just lack of imagination on my part?

The pattern is Red Velvet from the fabulous Thimble Blossoms designer, Camille Roskelley.  And I finished the quilt in a weekend at my guild retreat last November.

Whoooo's surprised?

Well that would be me! A dear friend pulled off a huge surprise - she asked 2 Etsy sellers to make me custom pins for my birthday. She must have directed them to my blog, because they duplicated my Stashmaster logo to a "T"

I had to get a new pincushion (also from Etsy) to display all these cute owl pins and in fact, think I need to get another because they don't all fit!

I love how the owls even have the same expressions as the ones on my blog - the baby owls have their eyes closed. And Pinks and Needles even printed my blog banner on the card that my pins arrived on. Cute, cute, cute!

Thanks to my awesome, super sweet and thougtful friend for an amazing, one-of-a-kind surprise gift.

You what?!

I don't recall the context of our conversation, but last weekend my 10 year old DD told me she "hates fabric." Now truly, I could not possibly have spawned such a creature! This is the girl that loves to help me organize my fabric and wants every quilt I make? Say it isn't so!

Fast forward to Tuesday - I was laying out fabrics that I'm thinking about using for an upcoming class quilt, Route 44 (Nicole blogged about it a couple of days ago). DD came into my sewing room and I ask what she thinks of the fabrics on the right hand side that I am considering for the accent color to go with these vintage Amy Butler fabrics. She goes on to describe in thoughtful detail why she thinks the one on the bottom (my pick - a Kaffe Fassett shot cotton that does not show it's true beauty in this photo) was the best choice and what was wrong with the other 3 choices.

And folks, she was RIGHT ON. So unbelieveably insightful for a 10 year old that "hates" fabric! I believe I have a future quilter with a terrific eye for color on my hands!

%)*&!@

No, I'm not cussing at you, I swear. I just wanted to share my latest project! I had 2 charm packs of American Jane's newest Moda group, Punctuation, and wanted to play with them. I found this blog post and knew it was the quilt I wanted to make, only slightly larger.

I went into my American Jane stash and added some fabrics from previous collections. I ended up with 7 distinct colors. I figured I would make 7 blocks and then decide what I would do with the extra block. As it turns out, I messed up the first block by not paying attention to the directional print of my background fabric, so that left me with with only 6 useable blocks. Add some pretty red daisies from American Jane's Peas and Carrots collection, and I have a quilt top that makes me smile every time I look at it!

Kylie's Favorite Color

My niece Kylie loves the quilt I made for my MIL with minkee on the back, and wants to cuddle up with it every time she's visiting her Meme.

Apparently Kylie asked my DH if she might have a minkee quilt of her own for her birthday at the end of September.  Cousin Lily (my DD) said it had to be green, as that has always been Kylie's favorite color.  So I dug through my stash and found some wonderful greens, added a few more from the shop where I work (I love the "toast frogs") and using another of Elizabeth Hartman's fabulous patterns, I made this 9-patch lattice quilt for Kylie.   I have some white minkee for the back, and I think the birthday girl will love it!

Bound for Atlanta!

Both this adorable Hunky Dory baby quilt and me!   I'm leaving next week with my brothers to attend my Dad's retirement party and will get to meet my newborn niece, Piper, and present this quilt to her while I am visiting.  My quilter said that every person should have a quilt with Minkee on the back - I think I agree.

I'm going to mail the quilt ahead of me so it won't take up room in my suitcase.   How does a gal from Seattle pack for HOTlanta?   Plus, I may need some extra room in my suitcase, as I've been promised a shopping trip to Little Quilts to spend my birthday gift certificate!