fun things are coming...

Wow, summer!  It has been rough this year, am I right?  I am still working on my friendship braid quilt but it is very slow going.  I find it hard to focus on sewing when my house is a wreck and with 3 boys and a puppy at home all the time well...my house is always a wreck!  As one of my friends says, "cleaning the house while the children are growing is like shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing."  A-men! 

Remember this collaboration I told you about?

Well I just got pictures of my projects so I double checked and they are allowing me to share with you guys.

This is a pattern I originally did in Central Park and called Stained Glass Garden.  I'd show you a picture, but I couldn't find it.  I really wasn't satisfied with the original and I decided when I made it again I needed to find the perfect fabric to match the pattern.  When this opportunity came along I waited very patiently against a deadline to get Flora by Lauren and Jessi Jung.  The mix of values and the warm colors was just what I felt this quilt needed. I think the new name is Mother's Day Bouquet.  For those who asked me to make Stained Glass Garden into a pattern...well now you have it!

I knew this top needed a special touch with quilting and was panicked to learn my long arm quilter moved away!  Thankfully through recommendations of quilt shops, I was directed to Diane Anderson, an award winning local quilter.  She does her stuff freehanded, which is what this top really needed in my opinion.  I did the piecing and design but the quilting is really stunning.

I was also able to do a project for Easter.  I had been working on this for a LONG time when I was approached with this book opportunity.  It was really hard to get everything just the right dimensions and find just the right products to give it the look and feel I wanted.  I made many many many failed prototypes of this.  It is based on diagonal plaiting techniques like the ones used for this woven tulip basket:

Instead of taking up basket weaving, I tried to replicate the weave with sewing.  I think it turned out cute.  As a mom of 3 cute boys, I love how they used a cute little boy in the book to show it off.

It feels really special to have 2 projects that mean a lot to me...one is the mother's day quilt (my mother sewed and I lost her before she could teach me how) and the other is the tulip basket.  Y'all know my thing about tulips!

Here are some of the other projects in the book.    I think there is something fun for everyone! 

If you are interested in pre-ordering the book, I found it on amazon.  As always, if you make one of my projects, I would love to see it!  You can also add it to the flickr group (see sidebar for link)

Whatcha think???

school's out for summer.

 Well all my boys are out of school now.  The two middle cuties above are my twins.  One is sword fighting with his best friend using his preschool diploma.  It's true...boys can make weapons out of everything.  This gives new meaning to the phrase "Knowledge is Power."

 It may seem counter-intuitive but I've done a little more sewing with the kids home.  I'm averaging about 1 row of these a day.  I had all my leftover Double Chocolat fabric cut up to make a friendship star quilt from accuquilt chisels when I realized half my fabric was cut upside down.  Oopsie!  I scoured the internet and found this design by Darlene of SewCalGal (see blogroll for link).  It was geometric and fit the fabric well...and it meant I didn't have to throw out half of my fabric.  Ding ding ding...we have a winner!

 Puppy man...oh, puppy man.  He totally looks guilty in that photo above, no?  Well he had just relieved himself on the floor minutes prior.  He feels no remorse...it's all in that cute facial hair.  I just love a dog with eyebrows.  While he still pees on the floor, he has actually learned a lot of tricks including picking up his toys and putting them in a basket.  What can I say, he has a flair for the dramatic?

Inspired by this clever tutorial, I bought an ugly collar on clearance and replaced the strapping with this treasured American Jane fabric.  I get to see one of my fabric rare fabrics daily and it's breathable for doggie.  He was developing some major dandruff under the collar so this should help.  Also, it's lighter.  Poor thing is carrying about 2 pounds of metal on his ginormous Texas rabies tag (seriously they take that "everything is bigger in Texas" thing way too seriously), his id tag, and his city registration tag.  I didn't even put on his microchip tag because it was getting ridiculous with all the bling.

Until next time,

Book Club

A while back I said I really wanted to do a quilting book one day.  I started pulling together ideas and making things. Frustration replaced inspiration and I wasn't able to come up with enough good ideas and wasn't savvy enough to navigate the publishing world.  Yeah, I was being a real downer.  Probably less than a month later, I was contacted by moda to see if I had any ideas for a book they were doing.  It just so happened, I had two projects from the starting work I had done that fit within their guidelines.  I added a few more ideas but those two were the ones actually selected to be in the book.   I guess they were good enough after all!

It is kind of crazy to be included in group of some really successful designers and I'm very humbled by it all.   This all started with a doll quilt and a challenge.  I would have never dreamed it would have turned into something this fun.  The book comes out some time in the fall.  Look for news about blog tours and giveaways on the Bake Shop blog.  I will probably give away a copy here.  I promise I won't deface the book by signing it! :)