ellesquare

wednesday is the new friday

2012-01-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

Exciting news to share today. I'm teaching a quilt class next month!

In October I sent my Friday Night Brights quilt off to live for a while at a new Indy area quilt shop, Crimson Tate.

Heather, the lovely and bubbly proprietor, does a rotating installation of quilts made by local sewists. When I popped into the shop after Thanksgiving, Heather approached me about teaching a FNB class.

I screamed. Hugged her. Cried a little. And then I said yes. It was quite a proposal.

Since then I've been prepping and planning, scheming and dreaming, and altogether bubbling over with excitement. Now that Heather has published her class schedule, I'm happy to make an official announcement of my own.

The class will be held in three sessions, on Wednesday February 8 & 22, and March 7. You'll learn my very organized and slightly neurotic method for keeping everything orderly as you piece the rainbow inset with 168 half square triangles, and I'll cover making said 168 HSTs, cutting bias binding, and making rounded corners along the way. This class is probably not best suited to a new sewist, but I'll cover the basics at length, which makes it perfect for new and newer quilters.

You can open a PDF of the full Crimson Tate class schedule by clicking here. When you're ready to sign up, give the shop a call at 317-426-3300.

blogger's choice fq bundle contest

2011-12-30T16:45:00.000-05:00

There's a cool contest over at Quokka Quilts. I chose a dream fabric bundle from Fat Quarter Shop, and then I made a mosaic over at Big Huge Labs. I've been enthralled lately with grey + turquoise, so I started with the top left fabric from Violet Craft's Peacock Lane range. I actually picked up a HY of this at my lqs the day after Thanksgiving, and I've been playing around with different bundles in my own stash.

If you'd like the chance to win your own bundle, head on over to enter.

one good deed

2011-12-27T21:46:00.001-05:00

In late October, my friend Val posted on her blog that she was making a charity quilt for an auction benefiting the Heroes Foundation, which is a cancer support service based in Indianapolis. She got the most amazingly enthusiastic response from the quilt-blogging community, and I'm happy to be a small part of it. Here's my block, done in paper-pieced string style using a tutorial from Ashley at Film in the Fridge.

At the last count I saw, Val had received 33 blocks. Her (our!) quilt will be the spotlight item at the auction this spring.

If you haven't made a string block before, consider yourself warned: they are majorly addicting. I made Val's block during my weekly sewing circle. It was so incredibly fun, quick, and easy, that I just HAD to have another go. Just to make sure. So I scurried home and squirreled away into my studio to plot. The next day, this happened.

You see, we got this new sofa, and it was just begging for a bright pop of color in our otherwise neutral family room. (the family room is dark, so this is in the sunnier living room. use your imagination.)

And I happen to ~~be a fabric hoarder~~ have a lucky stash of Garden Party. And then.

It actually feels pretty good to cut into it. Even if just a few strips here and there. For the back of both pillows I used a blue print from the same fabric line.

The best part is, these pillows match my Urban Amish quilt - the first quilt I ever made! the straight strips work well together, even though the patterns are different. I KNEW there was a good reason for ~~hoarding~~ hanging onto that fabric!

The pillows are rather petite at 15" square. I have a feeling there's an oversized version in my future!

winner winner!

2011-12-18T10:36:00.000-05:00

Thank you to everyone who commented on my giveaway. And the winner is...

Paula! She said, I love the Little boys and girls crayon roll-up with the green giraffe, so cute!
Thanks for the chance!

You're very welcome, Paula. I'll email you to coordinate.

Thanks again to everyone. Happy holidays!

blog hop giveaway

2011-12-09T09:14:00.001-05:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year! It's the Quilting Gallery Giveaway Blog Hop! More than ~~150~~ 240 quilting bloggers are giving away their wares in the spirit of making your holidays a bit more exciting.

The giveaways run from through December 17th. Pop over to the Quilting Gallery Blog Hop Party page on Saturday to see the entire list of bloggers participating in the giveaway and enter as many giveaways as you like.

I'm joining in the holiday spirit and participating in the giveaway! One lucky winner will receive an item of their choice from my etsy shop, Cosmic Thimble. Just visit my shop and then leave a comment below telling me which type of item you'd love to win.

Here are some super stocking stuffers we have in stock.

First up, pincushion rings! Perfect for giving or keeping.

Next, my shop partner Val's amazingly adorable personalized tooth fairy pillows.

We also have crayon rolls in stock, which are perfect for keeping little ones busy in the car as you're darting to and fro, crossing things off your list.

And something for everyone, Sassy Keychains. These are perfect for teens and tweens as well as coworkers, classmates, and everyone in between.

Val and I will be posting many more items for sale in the coming days, so don't fret about wasting your "choose" now.

This giveaway will remain open until December 17th at 9PM Eastern, at which time I'll pick a winner using a random number generator. If you'd like another chance to win items from my shop, stop by Val's blog and enter there as well. Make sure there's a way for me to get in touch with you when you enter.

And don't forget to hop on over to the Quilting Gallery page on Saturday for a complete list of giveaways.

Good luck!

the neverending [quilt] story

2011-10-03T20:31:00.000-04:00

i solemnly swear that this is the last time i will write about this quilt. until then...

yay! it's done! and it's superfantastic!

here's a quick recap for first time readers. this quilt is part of The Modern Quilt Guild's participation in the Habitat Challenge, wherein masochistic quilters signed up to make something [the IMQG chose quilts] using a random selection of the fabrics. I outlined the rules, which I totally broke, in this post. We won't dwell on that.

the size of these blocks ended up really manageable. I cut 8.5" squares of all of my print and solid fabrics, and then used my #1 favorite HST making technique from Missouri Star Quilt Company. In case you missed it last time around, here it is. Watch, and be amazed.

I KNOW, RIGHT!?

What was i saying? oh, yes - the blocks. They came together quickly and easily.

For the back, I used 2 of my favorite prints from the collection, picked up at a new local fabric shop, The French Seam.

I quilted it with straight lines in three directions, set 1/4" from the inside of all three sides of the print triangles, so that all of the solid squares remain blank.

I'd like to pause for a moment and tell you something hilarious. My friend katie affectionately calls one of the prints in the above photo the "bears" print. Two points if you ID which one and tell me why she calls it that.

And, oh look! how fancy on the back!

For the binding I selected yet another high-impact print from the collection. I added that narrow bit of kona charcoal sashing to the front to help this print really pop.

Tomorrow this one is winging its way to Glenwood Springs, CO in time for a wedding on Saturday.

I'm sad to see it go, but happy it has such a special purpose.

the golden hour

2011-09-24T00:10:00.000-04:00

I realize I run the risk of becoming boring if I post multiples about one project. I TRY to limit each one to 2 posts, and so far I've succeeded.

That ends here. But I'll keep it short. I skipped town last weekend with some girlfriends, and Saturday was beYOUtiful. Like any insane quilter, I brought along my latest completed quilt top and my big-girl camera just in case a brilliant photo opp presented itself.

ta da.

I know, right!? this is the Habitat quilt that I'm finishing up for the Modern Quilt Guild's latest challenge project. note: pay no attention to seams pressed every which way. my type-A is selective.

I wrote about this same quilt last week, so I'll keep it short. Really, this one's about the photos.

don't you just love it when you perfectly catch the golden hour? everything looks so vibrant. In this quilt's case, it IS quite vibrant. Still.

perfect lighting does not, however, cover flaws of gross misconduct. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Article A. (hi!):

thanks to my pal, Jill, for being a good sport about traipsing around, holding up the quilt top, teetering on the edge of first the sea wall, and then the pier, and then "run with it, like a cape!" (which didn't work. at. all.) All this while the rest of the gang peered on with mild interest.

challenge, indeed

2011-09-14T13:57:00.000-04:00

The Indianapolis Modern Quilt Guild is taking part in The Modern Quilt Guild's Habitat Challenge, where we were each given a selection of fabrics from Jay McCarroll's "Habitat" collection of quilting cottons for FreeSpirit. Here's the palette:

Quilts were due at the end of August, so I'm on par with my usual schedule.

The rules were as follows:
* use some of every print.
* add up to 3 solids if you like

Part of what took me long to get this one wrapped up...and make no mistake, it's not done yet!...is that I couldn't figure out where to start. I haven't seen a quilt made with this line that I really love. And yet I loooove the fabric. There aren't a ton of completed quilts in the flickr group, so I suspect others are still in design stage as well. A challenge, indeed.

I knew I wanted the Habitat fabrics to be as abundant as the solids (in other words, I didn't want to use tons and tons of solids and just a smattering of Habitat), and I knew I wanted to do something sleek and modern, yet chunky enough to showcase the bold prints.

So a few weeks ago I decided to grab a handful of potential solids and drag everything to my weekly sewing group. We hemmed and hawed. Finally I decided I would do something with HSTs. I love HSTs. I can't get enough HSTs.

HSTs are my life. (two points if you know where I got that and can replace "HSTs" with the real item that is her life.)

After a quick comb through flickr, I landed on this one, inspired by this one. yes! that's it!

Of course I gave it my own twist. I couldn't decide if I liked ash, stone, snow, medium grey, or charcoal for the solid, so in the end, and with the help and encouragement of my sewing group, I picked three (charcoal, ash, and snow.)

And then because I can't seem to make any quilt without adding a splash of teal and eggplant, I broke the three-solids rule and added those as well. But in the "print" bucket, so they don't count, right? RIGHT?

here's where I am today. Well, as of last night, really. I'm really pleased with how this has turned out so far. It's very modern, as I'd hoped, and I love how the three solids seem to add some movement. Or intrigue. Or something. I used all but a 2" strip of all of the FEs -- even the duplicates -- and an equal amount of solids. And I now have a perfect throw-sized quilt.

Well, I have a quilt top, anyway. I seem to make a lot of those.

Bonus: all of the solids came from my stash.

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced, where you can see lots of other lovely goodness from around the quilt-o-sphere.

King's Cross

2011-09-01T11:02:00.000-04:00

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

Today is September 1st. It's 11:00, and I'm not on the Hogwarts Express.

WHAT THE HELL.

However, I did have the opportunity to visit the UK for work in March, and I stayed a couple of extra days to tool around London with a pal. After walking 7.5 miles from Victoria station to and fro and down to the Tower Bridge, we hopped on a train and went to King's Cross.

Please brace yourself. The photos I'm about to show you will stir the inner depths of your 11-year-old soul.

On our way!

Platform 9 and three-quarters, this way! "I'm coming, Mrs. Weasley! I'm coming!"

And then.

Behold.

Seriously? I've said it before and I'll say it again.

WHAT THE HELL.

I've seen photos all over the google-verse of this, which is allegedly at King's Cross.

There was construction when we were there, which may explain the situation. Still.

Oh, well. There's always next year, right? And I've got my early entry into Pottermore, so there's that.

Happy Hogwarts Day.

homegrown dinner

2011-07-29T23:20:00.000-04:00

I hate that we have had a dry, dry July. Lawns are brown and parched, and people are shut up inside their houses, seeking a cool respite from the stifling oven that has been the great outdoors. If there's one bright side to all of this heat, it's...tomatoes. I was a few weeks late getting my garden in, so my tomato plants have positively exploded these past few weeks. The lettuce is still hanging in there, too. Soon-to-be-red-and-yellow peppers are growing, but still green. Carrots and beets are starting to look more like carrots and beets.

And tonight. Tonight! Finally. Dinner.

Notice the brown grass. blech.

The next month will be a an exercise in creativity and persistence as we reap the bounty of nine (NINE! but three volunteered.) tomato plants. I've got compost stockpiled for feeding if it's ever cool enough to actually do any sort of physical labor outdoors. I've been preparing for the onslaught by trying my hand at making mozzarella and home made bread. With mixed success. But there's plenty of time and opportunity to practice. As an added bonus, my inner eye was working properly the day I planted, because I've got three different kinds of basil thriving as well. To top it all off, my sister-in-law was kind enough to bring me two bottles of the. most. amazing. balsamic vinegar from Oilerie a couple of weeks ago.

I must pause here and tell you that if you have not been lucky enough to try this vinegar, you must MUST make it a priority. It's life altering. Warning: all other balsamic vinegar will be ruined for the rest of your life once you taste this. Trust.

Meanwhile, after a palmful of false thunder alarms over the past few weeks, it's finally raining. My patio is steaming. And I prefer to imagine the plants in my window boxes are singing Golden Afternoon. Or they will be tomorrow.

What's happening in your garden?

just sayin'

2011-07-20T10:12:00.000-04:00

Look what's on sale for $1.95 today at fabric.com.

You're welcome.

Or maybe "I'm sorry" is more appropriate.

ps - the color is "prune." PRUNE.

indiana corn report

2011-07-04T22:04:00.000-04:00

If you're from Indiana, you know what "knee high by the fourth of July" means. For those of you not from Indiana, it means....well....it's about corn and how tall it should be by July 4. Pretty straightforward.

So today is July 4 and in my one 5-mile trip from the cottage I passed roughly 111 corn fields. Here's the report: we're ahead of schedule! My very scientific from-the-car measurement has corn today at navel-height.

There will be no fireworks on the lake tonight. The official fireworks display was Saturday night, but I was otherwise occupied.

Don't worry. We're fine. If you'd like a play-by-play account, head on over to flickr where I uploaded a ton of photos with lots of commentary. They're in a set here.

Anyway, I missed the fireworks Saturday night because I was on the phone with family and insurance and tree service and restoration service. Not all at once.

Astute readers will be wondering right now what caused the tree to fall onto the house. If it was a storm, how would there be fireworks? It was a storm, and I live in Indiana where the weather changes hourly.

Sunday night I started uploading photos and writing the commentary so that i could share the unbelievable tree removal story with my family who are spread out across the US of A. [For those of you who want the short story here it is: three dudes. two ropes. one chainsaw. a slingshot. and a dozen amazing knots.] And then I turned around and caught sight of the most beautiful Indiana sunset. These photos are straight from the camera with no touch-ups or adjustments.

And then... omg.

what a beautiful sight after 24 hours of chaos.

Speaking of chaos, I finished my Friday Night Brights quilt for the RK Kona Challenge and finally photographed it today. After much consideration, I decided to stick with my original design.

That's the Dixie Boat. It's the oldest stern-wheel boat in Indiana.

I quilted the FNB with a zig zag echo and straight lines spaced 1" apart in the sashing.

The binding is the bright stripe print from Remix by Ann Kelle, which looks so good cut on the bias.

I've been wanting to do a quilt with rounded corners for a while, and I like how the soft corners work with the zigs and zags and straight quilting lines here. The backing fabric is part of a duvet cover I bought at IKEA a while back.

No work done yet on the WIPs I wanted to finish this week. There's time yet. I'm hopeful.

vacation planning: WIP Wednesday

2011-06-29T13:36:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday I spent 8 hours cleaning and organizing my sewing room as part of a multi-phase plan to get organized and stay that way. I don't know when or how it got into such a state, but is was an utter disastrophe. Seriously.

Now it's better. It's not perfect, but it's better. Way better. Perfect comes later. Anyway, phase I completed. Moving on.

[note. this is where most people would include the before & after shots. Instead of doing that, I will simply relay one of my favorite quotes from Granda Lola, who will be 103 in November. "Cheryl Ann, when I die, please promise me that you won't tell anyone how many cookie cutters I had." Interpret as you like.]

Phase II involves a promise I made to my husband in a fit of delirium. I said, "I'm going to concentrate on finishing the projects I have midstream before I start anything else. And until they're done, I'm only going to buy fabric to finish those - nothing else." This was before Loulouthi, so I deserve some sort of award for making it this long, yes?

We're leaving for a week's vacation at the family lake house tomorrow, so last night I started packing up my sewing artillery. I'm planning to spend two days sewing, so I selected two quilt tops to back, quilt, and bind.

Article 1: Game Day Quilt. I started this one late last summer.

AND I already have everything on hand to finish it. [does this mean I could rationalize buying 2 or 3 yards of new stuff?!]

Article 2: Lollipatch.

This one is really embarrassing. i started it when my pal Laura was in the hospital having her baby. Well, Baby Maya had her first birthday a few months ago and the quilt top was still ~~neatly~~ folded in my fabric closet.

I can't find a picture of Maya, so here's a pic of her older brother, Noah, when he was the age she is now. Use your imagination. They're both cutie-smunchkins.

I have one more (unphotographed) quilt top at home that I need to back, quilt, and bind, but this one requires a small online fabric purchase (with no add-ons, I swear), so it's not getting done next week.

Once these three quilts are completed, it's on to the next Phase. And the next.

Phase V, incidentally, is the really exciting bit. It's where I'm going to paint my sewing room, make new curtains, put up the organizational shelving system I bought at IKEA two years ago, and then smile like a Cheshire cat until my face falls off.

What are you up to on summer vacation?

Linking up with WIP Wednesday on this... follow the link and see what everyone else has going on!

an absolutely true 18-word book review

2011-06-10T22:26:00.000-04:00

Last night I finished listening to a book that I really thought I'd love. Based on the recommendations and the smashing reviews, I was all prepared for a life-altering experience. Here's my official review:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

good, but I didn't love it. i'll let it marinate for a while and maybe i'll grow fonder.

View all my reviews

Does this ever happen to you? You hear about a book, get intrigued, read it, and...meh. I mean, it's not that I didn't like it - I liked it. I just didn't lllooooouuuuurrve it.

Books like these, I like to let them mature a while inside my head. Maybe I revisit. Maybe I just find myself thinking about it in those spaces between other things, and then i think some more, and some more, and then I decide I loved it.

Time will tell.

Have you read this one? What did you think?

all grows up

2011-06-04T21:01:00.002-04:00

So I mentioned last week that my sister got married, which is why I've been so MIA for the last month or so. I'll take some time in the next week or so to talk more about the wedding and how beautiful she was and how I rocked my MOH speech. Right now I just want to share the quilt I made her (and Rob. it's for him, too!) for my wedding gift.

You may remember that she lived with me last summer and helped me photograph this quilt.

She was a good sport.

So for her wedding I wanted to make her a quilt of her own. Ta da.

She's long moved out, so those are my husband's feet you see.

I'd had a few FQs of Basic Grey's Blush for a while, and when I started to pull fabrics for her quilt, I was drawn to the browns, pinks and reds in this line for her. I rounded it out with a few more blue prints from the collection as well as some coordinating solids and almost-solids. The "grunge" prints from this line look great in person, but they do not photograph well. My camera got a little dizzy, I think.

I went witha strip pattern reminiscent of the quilt she helped me photograph last summer, but using wider strips to show off the interesting prints (that's a total lie. i used wider strips because this was a quilt-in-a-week-and-i-work-full-time situation. but that'll be our secret.).

For the quilting I chose a dark grey thread, which looks cool against the red on the back, and an all-over meandering pattern. This was my first time attempting it on a big quilt, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. And it was FAST. Holy stippling batman. I did it in one sitting! To minimize my Type-A stress, I drew the design onto the quilt sandwich with a washable marker before sitting down at the machine. Easy. Peasy.

I'm really happy with how it turned out. The coordinating solids in blues and yellows pulled the palette together for me. And most importantly, they love it.

And my new quilt photography helper was a good sport, even when i asked him to crouch down (lower...lower....lower...now lean back...raise your right arm...now stay there) so I'd have a footless shot :)

This is the fourth quilt that I've made and given away. It gets easier every time.

And now, for our next adventure

2011-05-24T11:25:00.000-04:00

The wedding was Saturday and already I'm thinking about the next "big thing."

T-Minus 51 days, 12 hours, and some-odd minutes. Will I see you at the theater at 12:01AM?

there and back again

2011-05-22T21:59:00.000-04:00

Despite what my recent blogging behavior suggests, I have not, in fact scampered off. Just very very consumed for the last month.

Big, big news: we survived the rapture!

Just kidding. That's not the news. The news is that my sister got married Saturday! I have two iPhone pictures to prove it.

This is on the way up to the amphitheater for the trip down the aisle. her dress was incredible and the veil...the veil! it was amazing.

And after the ceremony, her little man MacDougal made a cameo for a few photos.

The day was really, really lovely.

And Bobbi Brown water resistant mascara is unstoppable.

I'll post more pics as things surface. Particularly of my hair-do, which was...well, I'm speechless. And also the quilt I made her. the quilt! stay tuned for more.

save me! (from myself)

2011-04-24T11:43:00.000-04:00

Astute readers will have figured out by now that I didn't finish my Friday Night Brights quilt as planned. I have two ~~excuses~~ reasons:
1) 168 2.5-inch squares take a hella long time to sew together when you have to keep them in perfect order and orientation. oy.
2) i have an idea to make this even ~~more complicated~~ better!

For reals, though. It took longer than I thought to sew the squares together, so I didn't get it basted and quilted on Sunday as planned. Instead, I finished piecing (and seam-ripping, and re-piecing) the top. There was much swearing.

With that done, I packed the quilt top and headed off to my weekly sewing circle on Wednesday night. We start each gathering with show & tell before beginning work, and the girls were on pins and needles to see my rainbow. There was much suspense.

And then it was my turn. I slowly reached into my bag, caught hold of a corner, and whipped it onto the table with a flourish! The initial squeal of delight that always accompanies our reveals was lackluster and stunted. "What?!" I demanded. There was an awkward silence.

"I dunno...I guess I just thought it would be bigger," said Val.
"Yeah, from your photo it looked like it took up the whole design wall, " said Dayna.
"What's it going to be?" asked Barb.

Harrumph.

"It WAS big," I explained. "It took up the whole design wall! But I lost a half inch from each square when i pieced it! And it's a quilt! A baby quilt....I guess. I'll add a border!"

They were ruthless. RUTHLESS. So we hung it on Dayna's design wall and threw out ideas all night for how to make it a "real quilt."

The next thing I knew, this is what i'd committed to:

Calm down. Calm down! That's just some fancy photo work.

Or, should it be this?

OR should I just stick to the original?

Your thoughts? I'd love to hear...

friday night brights

2011-04-09T00:39:00.000-04:00

If I hadn't pre-paid for an 8AM pilates class tomorrow, I'd be writing this at 3AM showing you a finished quilt, I'm sure. Alas.

The Indianapolis Modern Quilt Guild is taking part in the Kona Solids Charm Pack Challenge, and we drew the long straw with the brights charm pack. This palette suits me well.

I don't think there were actual rules for the challenge, so I made up rules for myself as follows:

RULE 1: You may pick ONE charm not to use. Everything else goes in.
RULE 2: You may incorporate one other solid
RULE 3: Said solid as well as backing and binding fabrics must come from your stash.
RULE 4: You have to design something you can finish entirely in 1 week.

With that settled, I commenced with ideas and design. Then Butler made it to the Final 4. Then Butler made it to the finals. So when Monday night rolled around and I wanted something brainless to do while I watched the game, I abandoned all pre-planning and decided on HSTs.

Several months ago I stumbled across this video for making quick half-square triangles, and I'd wanted to try this with a charm pack since then. [i realize this is for pinwheels...trust.]

The verdict? It is seriously fast and way less annoying than doing the "mark the center line and then sew in both sides and cut down the middle" method. Actually, this method has an annoyance and frustration factor of exactly 0. I love it.

Back to the Kona Challenge quilt (because seriously, I have to get up in like 6 and a half hours... no more tangents!). Ever since I saw Kelly's I Love Rainbows quilt, pictured here, I've wanted to make a rainbow quilt with the gradation moving from one corner to the other (as opposed to top-to-bottom or left-to-right).

Monday night I sewed, keeping the charms in perfect color order. Wednesday night I cut the triangles from the sewn charms, keeping the triangles in perfect color order. Tonight, I ironed all of the squares open, marked* each one with a number to designate its sequence in the original charm pack, and started getting things up onto the design wall.

*sidenote: has anyone else been using those Pilot Frixion pens? Merlin's beard! It's like something you'd get from Flourish and Blotts!

Where was I? My rainbow! right. It took some finagling, but I'm SO happy with how it's turning out. Even the crappy iPhone photo makes me smile. Success!

Tomorrow I'll piece the top, and hopefully I'll get it backed and basted so that Sunday I can quilt it and get started on the binding. If there was a "slowest binder in the universe" award, I'd get it. I bind at tortoise speed.

So that's how I spent my Friday night. You?

the neighbors are talking

2011-03-14T18:33:00.002-04:00

So I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to walnuts. There I was, all proud of myself for trekking up to Pet Supplies Plus to buy a bag of lizard litter so that i could fill my pincushion for the scrappy pincushion swap with proper ground English walnut shells.

And shortly thereafter, I was a splotchy, sneezing, snotting, scratching, swollen, eye-watering mess. And, NOT the hot kind of mess. The real kind of mess. The kind of mes that must quickly be quarantined lest her husband see her in a state of such immense unattractiveness.

Luckily I got the little bugger filled before I realized what was going on. But what I did NOT get done was to sew up the opening. With my due date fast approaching, I called in a favor with one of my sewing sisters, and she was nice enough to meet me in the parking lot of a closed-for-the-winter swim club to sew it up for me. It was dark outside, and pretty cold, so pulled our cars up next to each other and passed "the goods" back and forth through our car windows.

I wonder what the neighbors thought, seeing two SUVs at the Smoky Row Swim Club in the pitch dark. Whatever they thought, I'm sure it was NOT that she was sewing a pincushion closed for me. Thanks to our PM meetup, I was able to get the pincushion photographed and packed on time. Otherwise, i would have had to send it with a little note, "Dear Partner, I'm sorry I couldn't sew this shut for you. I've included a needle and thread so you can do it yourself."

Anyway, I'm SUPER happy with how this turned out. My partner for this one made a mosaic that, frankly, had me totally bewildered. So I began the arduous process of stalking her. Honestly, stalking is something that I excel at. I dominate. If this was suitable for a resume item, I'd include it.

Activities: Master Gardener, Tree Steward, Blood Doner, Semi-professional Online Stalker

Back to the pincushion. My partner's mosaic was cra-zy. Really weird and cool stuff, and quite a bit outside my general comfort zone, which I love. I was all set to make something really insane, and then the basement flooded and I lost about a week of my life dealing with insurance and service companies, etc.

So with time running out, I proceeded to stalk the heck out of her in hopes of coming up with a simpler idea that I could whip up quickly. Turns out we both love this OOP fabric line from Anna Maria Horner - Chocolate Lollipop.

Ta da.

Check it. It's 3-D.

I floated some flowers on top for a bit of flair. They're backed with medium weight interfacing to prevent a bunch of fraying, and I created some dimension by layering them with wee bits of batting between. There's also a circle of batting between the body of the pincushion and the quartered circle on top. I hope she likes it! It's the one and only walnut-shell-filled pincushion I'll ever make!

look, kids!

2011-03-12T07:53:00.001-05:00

Poor me. My job suddenly necessitates a trip overseas. I'll be back in a week! Yippieeeee!

obsessive swapping disorder

2011-03-07T10:00:00.000-05:00

So I signed up for too many swaps and I got in over my head. Which is ironic, because just as I was catching up and feeling like I could hit the deadlines, the basement flooded. Luckily my sewing studio is on the second floor of our house, so the only things we really lost were the (new in Nov) carpet and a few days of sanity.

There's a long road ahead, but life feels normal again. Or, normal enough for me to spend some time finishing swaps.

First up was the scrappy mug rug swap. My finished product:

I wasn't sure what color to use for the binding. My original plan was for the orange you see above, but once i got the handstitching done I thought a more subtle binding would better showcase the embroidery. So I floated the question out to flickr, and...lo and behold...my secret partner commented with a request for the orange. Brilliant.

Meanwhile, check out what i received from Kelsey. it's magical.

You should see the teeny, tiny handstitching. I covet Kelsey's patience. This definitely took hours and hours. Seriously, I keep picking it up and carrying it around the house, touching it. Pretty soon I'll be clutching it in my sleep.

Speaking of coveting and clutching and dragging things around the house, I finished my quilt for Doll Quilt Swap 10, and I don't want to mail it.

The swap instructions dictate that all quilts need to be labeled, so I designed the back with an integrated label.

I don't know how I'm going to bring myself to take a marker to that little star, but rules are rules. I'll probably need a Xanax first, though. And another when it's time to mail.

Truthfully, making this miniquilt has been totally fun. I started with a sketch and now I have a finished product. But that's another story that I don't have time for today. Why? Because I'm under the gun to finish up ANOTHER swap. This time, it's pincushions, and the deadline is in about 5 minutes. I've already received this amazingly-perfect-for-me pinny from Michelle over at I Like Orange, Too.

When it arrived in the mail last week, I was THRILLED, but not really surprised. The minute I saw it pop up on flickr, I kinda knew it was for me. it's everything i love. Stacked strips, rainbows, FMF, kona charcoal, topstitching. It's so lovely. Luckily both of my hands are occupied as mentioned above, because I think my husband would institutionalize me if I started carrying a pincushion around the house like a woobie. It's already getting use in the studio, so my (his) sanity is safe for the time being.

today's post is brought to you by the number 18

2011-02-22T13:01:00.001-05:00

1. stitching is fun.
2. i should stitch more.
3. i'm so far removed from the world of stitching that, I don't really know my head from my whatsit.
4. embroidery thread comes in various fibers.
5. if you walk into a quilt shop that has a wool folk art wing, and you ask for "orange thread for topstitching" they're going to give you wool, and wool is not what you need for a cotton quilt.
6. the only way to get perle cotton is to ask for perle cotton.
7. not everyone carries orange perle cotton. at least not in the greater Indianapolis area.
8. if you act like you know what you need, people think you know what you need. therefore, you have less chance of getting what you need.
9. perle cotton comes in various sizes, which are numbered.
10. the smaller the number, the wider the thread.
11. the bulkier the thread, the larger the needle eye.
12. the larger the needle eye, the more difficult said needle is to find.
13. perle 5 is what I bought.
14. For perle 5, the only needle available on the north side of Indianapolis that A) is sharp, and B) has a large enough eye, is John James # 18 Chenille.

15. I know this, because I have purchased every needle with a smaller eye. And I found this one at my FIFTH stop.
16. I am an excellent backstitcher. See article A.

17. the best part about backstitching is the, um, back.

18. especially when you use perle 5.

you're welcome

2011-02-15T12:59:00.000-05:00

Saturday night I went to the Lyle Lovett/John Hiatt acoustic concert. I've been stewing since then about how best to handle this, and today I finally bit the bullet. So, as a sane representative of Lyle Lovett fans everywhere, I have sent the following ~~plea~~ suggestion to Heather Ross:

Hi,
I'm Lindsay. Long time listener, first time caller. I've followed you for a while, and I really like your style. Anyway, I'm writing today b/c i have a fabric idea for you. I'm sure you get these all of the time and are groaning at another, but this one is EXCELLENT, I promise.

As you well know, inspiration hits at the oddest times. For example, Saturday night I went to the Lyle Lovett concert and he closed the show with his much loved song, If I Had a Boat. And all I could think about on the way home was that you need to design fabric inspired by this song. If I could draw, I'd do it, but I can't, so the task falls to you.

Anyway, do you know this song? I think you don't, because if you did, there'd already be a fabric line.

Here's a link to the video on YouTube:

and the lyrics

If I had a boat

I'd go out on the ocean

And if I had a pony

I'd ride him on my boat

And we could all together

Go out on the ocean

Me upon my pony on my boat

If I were Roy Rogers

I'd sure enough be single

I couldn't bring myself to marrying old Dale

It'd just be me and trigger

We'd go riding through them movies

Then we'd buy a boat and on the sea we'd sail

And if I had a boat

I'd go out on the ocean

And if I had a pony

I'd ride him on my boat

And we could all together

Go out on the ocean

Me upon my pony on my boat

The mystery masked man was smart

He got himself a Tonto

'Cause Tonto did the dirty work for free

But Tonto he was smarter

And one day said kemo sabe

Kiss my ass I bought a boat

I'm going out to sea

And if I had a boat

I'd go out on the ocean

And if I had a pony

I'd ride him on my boat

And we could all together

Go out on the ocean

Me upon my pony on my boat

And if I were like lightning

I wouldn't need no sneakers

I'd come and go wherever I would please

And I'd scare 'em by the shade tree

And I'd scare 'em by the light pole

But I would not scare my pony on my boat out on the sea

And if I had a boat

I'd go out on the ocean

And if I had a pony

I'd ride him on my boat

And we could all together

Go out on the ocean

Me upon my pony on my boat

[And now that you've heard this song and read the lyrics, I imagine you're running over to your drafting table and sketching while you listen to the song on repeat. you're wearing a caftan. and a cowboy hat.]

Okay, so I have the whole collection planned out in my head. If you want to talk it through, I'm here. Or, you can just run with it and I'll just keep an eye out for it to hit stores this time next year.

So glad you're on board!
Lindsay

ps - in all honesty, this would be a super-cute fabric line. ponies, boats, oceans, cowboys, masked men, roy rodgers, trees, bare feet...lots of good imagery. and your illustration style would be perfect for it. Also, the world needs more boy-appropriate fabrics, I think.

This would be awesome, right? Of course, right.*

(*I also watched Fiddler On the Roof over the weekend.)

you're welcome.

not quite as exciting as that OTHER clearance sale

2011-01-26T15:01:00.001-05:00

I just spotted this in the 50% off section on Fabric.com.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Shudder.

Now this one.

There's something...I dunno...anatomic about it.

Also, I'm sorry for subjecting you to this particular flavor of neurosis that lives in my brain. I guess it's similar to that thing that happens when you get a new car. All you see are Outbacks or Jettas or Vues. It'll be over soon. Promise. *uncrosses fingers*

Daylight savings my a**

2011-01-23T19:00:00.000-05:00

I work full time, and that means between November and, oh, March, I'm never home during daylight hours except for Saturdays and Sundays. Totally inconvenient when you need to take photos for a post. I'm in Indiana, and we only adopted DST a few years ago. I LOVE being on EDT in the summer. It totally rocks (except for those few weeks in June when it's light until 10 o'clock and, as a consequence, I'm up until 1 or 2 AM But that's a small price to pay.) I just wish we didn't have to change the clocks back come November.

anyway.

Today was a great day. it's 6PM and i'm still in my jammies. My husband is in NYC, and the sun was out for the first time in I-don't-know-how-long, so I got some major stuff done. That is to say, I took gobs and gobs of photos. 300 or so.

I also had a bit of quiet time to sit and stew about a couple of swaps I'm in on flickr. I signed up and was admitted to both the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap* and the Doll Quilt Swap 10. The way it works is that you answer a few questions about your likes and dislikes and your skill level, and then you're secretly assigned another sewist for which you'll make something fabulous that suits his/her taste. Meanwhile, a secret someone is making something for you. If you're really on top of things, you make a photo mosaic to help inspire your partner.

*for those of you who don't speak quiltlish, a "mug rug" is an oversized coaster made from fabric. it's a wee quilt that you can put your mug and perhaps a little nosh on. cute.

Here's my inspiration mosaic for the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap:

And for the Doll Quilt Swap (AKA DQS10).

It's fun and VERY serious business. This is my first time in both swap groups, so I'm keen to make a good impression.

I'm in design mode. During this phase of the swap, I cyber-stalk my assigned partners to get a feel for their likes and dislikes. In the case of my Doll Quilt Swap partner, it looks like we might share a brain, so designing something that she would like was totally easy. The hardest part was narrowing it down from the half-dozen things that sprung to mind originally. Here's what I'm planning.

I've always wanted to make some wonky stars, and I've never found the time. Lo and behold, my secret partner's profile indicates s/he's a fan...voila. Idea born.

The Scrappy Mug Rug swap is a bit more of a challenge because my secret partner and I have dissonant likes and dislikes. After a couple of weeks of utter paralysis, I've transitioned to action mode. I've thoroughly combed her favorite photos, and I've taken a look at everything she's created herself. From there I made a list of MY favorites from her favorites and her posted pics, and I tried to find a place where our tastes intersect.

She likes blocks on point. I like blocks on point.

She likes meticulous patterns with a modern twist. I like lots of "whitespace".

She likes bold primary colors. I like rainbows.

4 sheets of graph paper later.

Argyle. I'm totally stoked with the design, and I'm even going to try hand-stitching the orange diagonals so I don't have to fuss with trying to piece a teeny strip down the middle of these blocks. Did I mention a mug rug is around 5" x 8"?

I planned ahead today and took enough photos to support about 100 posts. We'll see if that holds me until March 13. Only 48 days to go (i added a nifty countdown timer to my nav bar ---->).

flu season

2011-01-15T17:06:00.001-05:00

I have _so_ enjoyed hearing about your own fabric mishaps after my cholera post yesterday. My favorite so far is this one, courtesy of my pal Celeste. She calls it "flu virus overtakes red blood cell."

I'm totally feelin' it. Especially after some quick google image searching.

Thoroughly disgusted, I am. (that's "bird flu," btw.) (also, sorry.)

Anyone else have something revolting to share? The gates are open.

cholera and other misfires

2011-01-14T23:47:00.002-05:00

A few months ago my book club read The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson. Looks nice enough, right? Innocent.

Perhaps it's a mystery? Ooh, a ghost story? Something thrilling, certainly. Well, a thrilling mystery it is, and I will tell you this for free: it's about cholera.

And it changed the way I view fabric.

From the first mention of "rice water stool," something in my very full and overworked brain misfired, and my relationship with abstract prints changed. I don't know how, and I don't know why, but certain prints from very famous designers started looking like...well...cholera to me.

The first specimen. Notice the abnormal growth habit:

And...in green! Don't even get me started on the green and its mutations.

I'm lucky enough to have two of my sewing pals in book club, so I have plenty of moral support and companionship as I struggle with this aversion. Unfortunately, I'm not the only one who had a misfire. Val sees it, too.

You may recall that not long ago I had a delirious and maniacal texting fit during a clearance event at my LQS. I'd like to share another detail of that day - a detail that will only undoubtedly validate your thinking that I'm a bit of a lunatic. At least I'm not alone.

Val: Hey, Linds!
Me: VAL! You will never guess what they have on clearance!?!?!
Val: Who is "they" and where are you?
Me: I'm in the clearance room at Always in Stitches, and you will DIE when I tell you what's here.
Val: TELL ME.
Me: It's....I can't believe I'm saying this. It's THE CORIANDER. And there are tons of other prints. The chrysanthemums and the fans and there's a couple colors of the one that looks like cholera...and...
Val: Wait. Which fans? Send me a picture. I hate the cholera and I don't want any, but get everything else!

The thing that makes me really giggle when I think back to this moment is not that we both knew exactly which cholera print I was shouting about. It's the other person in the clearance room. What must she have been thinking? Well, I know what she was thinking. She was thinking, "oh, shiz. i just dropped my wedding ring, and I can't get down on all fours because of my fibromyalgia. I wonder if this crazy, crazy screaming person will help me find it." Still.

Cholera Brown:

and Cholera Blue:

Now, for the record, I want everyone to understand that I am FULLY AWARE (after the research I did 2 minutes ago) that cholera is NOT paisley in shape. It's more of a...i dunno....what is this?

I suppose it's a shape that can only be defined as "vermicelli" in nature.

oh, wait! even better (or worse).

Somehow I can look at that image of actual cholera without issue, but when I peek back at that Asha Paisley I reach for the hand sanitizer.

Don't EVEN get me started on this one. Hives!

this is your stash on drama

2011-01-07T20:55:00.000-05:00

I have had a totally overwhelming couple of days. Family drama, work stress, weather, traffic...the works. migraines. dark circles. I'm a hot mess, and not the good kind.

Somewhere in my throng of maniacal erranding this afternoon, I found myself with 30 minutes to spare, and I just HAPPENED to be a couple of blocks from my LQS. I popped in thinking I'd browse or just sit on the sofa by the cookies and breath in happiness for a minute.

So I took an innocent stroll back to the clearance room (YES! there's a clearance room! but it totally sucks. you don't need to go check it out. nothing good is ever there.), and just like Rachel Zoe, I die.

I lose myself. I black out. I am screaming, pulling bolts off the wall and piling them on the floor in a mountain I think I'm going to carry out to the cutting table.

I'm texting. I'm shouting. A woman drops and loses her wedding ring. I'm on all fours, both looking for it and also defending my mountain.

Ooh, look, Katie Jump Rope!

More texting. Garden Party. More texting. I can't carry it. I need a cart. I ask the ring lady to watch my mountain while I run to get a trolly from the front of the store. I'm suspicious.

Now the cutting begins. Actually, there was just a little cutting. A few half-yards here, a yard there. And many "Gimme the whole bolt, Granny!" exclamations.

Honestly, I totally lost it. My brain malfunctioned. 8 bolts and 40-some-odd yards later, I'm looking at this stack and I'm starting to come to my senses.

Suddenly I remember that I resolved not to buy fabric in January. Granny has gone to the back room to get a bolt they haven't inventoried yet for me.

Granny: You want the whole bolt of this one?
Me: No...I'll just take, um, 4 yards.
Granny: You sure? There's only about 5 here.
Me: Oh, all right. But if anyone asks, I'll say you forced me.

Now this is why I love being a female. I proceed to say something about how my husband will flip, and Granny says, "I've got some plain brown bags under the counter. you need me to pack it in that instead of the normal one?" She is totally serious.

At this point, we hug. I jump a little, even.

Also, there's a brown grocery bag on my front passenger seat right now. My husband is blogging at the kitchen table, and I don't want to risk it.

the best gift ever

2010-12-31T18:00:00.001-05:00

My husband and I have this ongoing dialog about gifting. You see, he's an excellent gift giver. He has this knack for coming up with the best, most obscure & practical gifts for people that are otherwise hard to buy for. How he can come up with "noise reduction headphones" or "a book of witticisms" off the top of his head, I have no idea. I just run with it and praise god for his prowess and for Amazon Prime. Being married to an excellent gifter is, well, just as you suspect. Awesome. Evidence: just a few weeks ago, he gave me this...

But that is not the point. The point is that we have this ongoing dialog about the "best" gifts. And every time it comes up I tell him that the best gift -- the best physical gift -- he's ever given me is a book journal. He gave it to me for my birthday in 2004.

The journal itself isn't particularly fancy, and the format and design aren't revelatory. But this simple journal helped me turn a corner in my reading life. I'd been in a post college reading rut for a half-dozen years at the time and was floundering. I wanted to read. I didn't want to read. I didn't know what I liked.

Anyway, from the minute I received this journal in 2004, I have tracked every book I've read. Every one. Two journals later I've migrated to a simpler, more accessible (for me) format. Still, the journal was the best gift ever. Ever, for me. So far.

I read. I set reading goals. And I love it.

Nerd Alert: This year I read 64 books.

Last year I read 63 books, so 64 doesn't feel like a huge step up. Which is fine because that wasn't the goal.

I finished book number 64 yesterday. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It feels weird to say it's the last book I'll read this decade. I so wish I'd started tracking this in 2001, because I'm pretty sure 2000 or 2001 is when I picked up Harry Potter and Sorcerer's Stone, but I'm not certain when it was, exactly. I wish I knew, because I think HP really influenced the book choices I made then and continue to make now.

I mentioned a moment ago that I set reading goals. In 2009 my goal was to read more non-fiction. I did that, but I also spent a lot of time rereading books in 2009. Don't ask me why -- i have no idea why. But the reason I know is that it's documented in my book journal. So for 2010 my goal was simply to read more new stuff, and reread less. I also made a conscious effort this year to simply read whatever I wanted to read - without hesitation. That said, the two themes I see are YA and Vampires which I find hilarious (though not surprising) in retrospect. Whatever - this year was way fun on the reading front. Here's what I read in the order I read them:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling /r
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer /n
Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix by J.K. Rowling /r
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling /r
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling /r
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows /n
Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris /r
On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony /n
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris /r
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins /r
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collings /r
What This River Keeps by Greg Schwipps /n
Finger-Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich /n
Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris /r
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris /r
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater /n
Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris /r
Valiant by Holly Black /n
Ironside by Holly Black /n
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer /r
Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris /r
All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris /r
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead /n
From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris /r
Frostbite by Richelle Mead /n
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguru /n
Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris /r
Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead /n
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer /n
Blood Promise by Richelle Mead /n
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte /n
Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead /n
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon /n
When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris /r
Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris /n
A Great and Terible Beauty by Libba Bray /n
Rebel Angels by Libba Bray /n
The Help by Kathryn Stockett /n
Maximum Ride - The Angel Experiment by James Patterson /n
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins /n
Love is a Many Trousered Thing by Louise Rennison /n
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray /n
Wicked Lovely by Melissa marr /n
Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr /n
Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr /n
Stop In The Name of Pants by Louise Rennison /n
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson /n
Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr /n
Maximum Ride - School's out Forever by James Patterson /n
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Audio) /r
Maximum Ride - Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson /n
Maximum Ride - The Final Warning by James Patterson /n
Plainsong by Kent Haruf /n
The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima /n
The Wizard Heir by Cinda Williams Chima /n
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford /n
The Dragon Heir by Cinda Williams Chima /n
Max by James Patterson /n
Linger by Maggie Stiefvate /n
Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz /n
Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me by Louise Rennison /n
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare /n
Fang by James Patterson /n
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak /n

What's funny about this list of books -- about every annual list of books for me -- is that I have such a strong association with what was happening in my life while I was reading whatever book. I listen to a lot of books while I sew - particularly when I quilt.

For example, I was listening to Under The Banner of Heaven while I machine quilted my first 2010 finish.

And I pieced this rainbow zig zag as Jim Dale told the story of HP and the Order of the Pheonix. Sirius Black died again while I was quilting it. I burned the candle at both ends to get this one done a couple of hours before my husband boarded a plan to CA to gift it to a dear friend there who'd just had a baby. (further evidence of awesome gifting.)

And I was (unfortunately) listening to Finger Lickin' Fifteen while I machine quilted this Wonderland coin quilt.

The Shadow of the Wind. This was July 4th and we were at the lake. I made these for my nieces who both turned 4 over the summer.

Wicked Lovely, labor day weekend.

and on and on.

So as I sit here on new year's eve and reflect on The Book Thief, the last book I'll finish this decade, I'm haunted by humanity and reality. 2010 was a year of joys and a year of sorrows. Accomplishments and failures. Courage and regret. Births and deaths. It was no different than any other year. And 2011 will be the same. Because that's the way we work - the way human life works. Things happen, both awesome and awful, and we carry on. Somehow, we move forward and carry on. We look for bright spots and cling to them.

Happy new year. Wishing you peace and many bright things to lead you through 2011.

Lindsay

six

2010-12-26T12:16:00.002-05:00

Five years ago today my husband and I drove from my his parents' house in South Bend, IN to Louisville, KY to "interview" a pug mix being fostered through Kentuckiana Pug Rescue.

We knew we wanted a dog, and we knew we would rescue. A few weeks earlier -- sometime over Thanksgiving weekend 2005 -- I stumbled across the KPR website, and it was there that I saw this little mug looking back at me:

Here's her bio that was posted online at the time:

Olivia "Livi" is a 1 year old puggle. The best way to describe Livi is FUN! She is a fun loving, happy little dog. She likes people and other dogs too, although she forgets who's boss sometimes. She loves to cuddle with you and is working on her manners (like not jumping into your lap suddenly). The Vet declared her healthy, she is current with her shots and will be spayed shortly. She's a little over enthusiastic about her leash and walking on it, so obedience school might be a help to her! She's a winner, everyone who came to our house for the Holidays, wishes they could take her home!

Over the next couple of weeks, we filled out the application paperwork, had someone come for an in-home assessment, and received the good news that we were approved and "Livi" was ours if we were still interested.

Of course we were, so we drove to Louisville and scooped her up (and changed her name to Coco on the way home) and have loved her every day since then.

Here are some of my favorite photos of her from the past five years.

She's even a supermodel!

And here's how she's electing to spend today.

Happy sixth birthday, little goose. I'm so glad this is your "forever home."

merry christmas, ma delp

2010-12-25T13:06:00.001-05:00

To be clear, I don't know Susie Delp. but I do know her daughter-in-law. A friend from high school and college, we reconnected through the miracle of Facebook. A few weeks ago I finally created a fan page for my little business, and my friend, seeing my pincushion rings, asked if I'd ever made a writstlet pincushion.

I hadn't. Until then, my pincushion wearables had been of the finger-adorning variety.

My gal-pal said she thought her MIL wasn't really a ring-wearing type of lady, and she asked if I'd design a wristy for her instead. I guess they're not for everyone.

Always one to accept a challenge, particularly of the creative type, I told her I'd give it a go and would have something ready for her to give her MIL for Christmas.

[note to self: do not accept creative challenges two weeks before Christmas.]

Actually, it was fun. It definitely took some trial and error - quite a bit of error, but in the end it turned out great.

My first really successful execution was a little too large. You know those mega-muffins they sell at Costco and Sam's Club? Think that size.

The construction was a success, but it was just enormous. More than a bit unwieldy. Not really practical for everyday use (though hella-cute, if I do say so myself).

So another trip to my favorite pincushion base shop proved fruitful for a lower-profile design.

For perspective, here are the "too big" and "just right" wristy pincushions together.

Merry Christmas, Ma Delp. I hope you enjoy it! I like it so much I think I'll make one for myself now, too.

Happy holidays to everyone. Peace and joy,

Lindsay

trick or treat

2010-10-31T17:33:00.000-04:00

We live on a cul de sac, so there's never really a deluge of costumed wee folk. it's more of a trickle. a drip, even.

Lucky for me, I have this one keeping watch to raise the alarm the moment anyone dares breach the perimeter of her domain,

and 40 yards of tulle on hand to pass the time.

$100 surprise

2010-10-21T09:38:00.001-04:00

I've mentioned before that I tend to be a bit Type A. And when I say "a bit," I mean "totally." That said, surprises are not really my thing. So when Heather Ross announced her studio sale, I considered carefully before deciding to play.

Then, in typical Type A fashion, I drafted my "notes" in Word in advance, so that I could be as thoughtful and deliberate as possible. It paid off.

Most of these cuts are between 1/4 yard and 1/2 yard. Lots of West Hill, some Lightening Bugs, and two huge, kick-ass cuts of FFA II.

Now the only question is, what to do... stay tuned for an upcoming post entitled "Diary of a Fabric Hoarder." I know you can relate.

flipping the coin

2010-09-23T15:40:00.001-04:00

Making progress on the WIP I started over labor day weekend. Football season is great for my sewing productivity.

But the dawn of another football season means the end of another summer. Our neighbors already have their pier out.

It's 92 degrees in Indiana today. Today is September 23. Kids went back to school on August 10th. Pools are closed. Did I mention it's 92 degrees?

We had the driest August on record, and folks around the office were positively agog when the skies opened up yesterday for a few minutes. I don't like to admit it because I'm such a summer girl, but I'm ready for cooler weather. Though my tomatoes are still getting fat and ripe. Proof that there's a bright side to be found everywhere if you're willing to flip the coin.

For example: my husband will be gone all day Saturday at the ND game, which gives me roughly 14 hours to play in my studio. Fun times ahead!

[quilt details: hunky dory + kona burgundy = sublime. i kept the charms full size and set the whole thing on point. I'll talk more to the process when I get it backed, quilted, and bound.]

she's a maniac

2010-09-09T22:14:00.000-04:00

What you need to know is that i'm making hexies. Lots and lots of hexies. More than a thousand. And to make said hexies, i need fabric squares. More than a thousand, with no repeats.

Cindy and I are swapping some 2.5" squares for our hexagon adventures, and we decided to swap pincushions, too. She makes the most darling selvage pincushions. Look what she's sending me!

Seriously cute, right? It's 2x2. I can hardly wait to hold it in my little hand. Two by two!

Here's what I'm sending her.

The fabric for the pincushion ring is a wee bit of Sketchbook from Anna Maria Horner's "Drawing Room" line of home dec. I bought a ton of it last year to make curtains for my kitchen, and I've had fun since then rationing what's left. Of all her fabrics, this is my favorite.

It's mesmerizing. Good for daydreaming and otherwise letting your mind wander. Whenever I look at it, I see new patterns and different details. For example, I just noticed this.

Is it just me, or is it smiling? And a bit maniacally, too .

Go Irish!

2010-09-07T20:17:00.000-04:00

2 Hunky Dory charm packs
1 yard of Kona Burgundy
1 book on tape
7 uninterrupted hours of college football

summer vacation

2010-08-15T18:34:00.001-04:00

It's rough, being on vacation. especially when vacation is here:

Of course schlepped an entire carload of supplies. I work full time, so it's not often i have daytime crafting opps. Today's day 2. Productivity is my middle name.

I freaking love making pincushions. Once i get started, I can't stop. Seriously, one would be plenty. and yet...

see anything super-exciting? how about these gems?

I stumbled across a fq of fmf tucked away in a corner at my lqs and snatched it up.

In terms of construction, making these was pretty simple once i figured out how big to cut the circle.

Check this one out. It's Heather Bailey Fresh-cut. This print is Dahlia, but i fussy-cut it to look like a little bit of sea life.

Want one? All ten of these are for sale in my shop.

they're fraternal

2010-07-31T20:45:00.008-04:00

I have four nieces, and they all have birthdays within a month of each other. This year, the two littlest ones both turn 4, so I set out to make twin doll quilts. Same materials + different design = fraternal.

Aren't they lovely? The finished size is 22" x 26” and I had fun experimenting a bit with two options using the same fabric.

For the quilt tops, the fabric requirements are less than 1 honey bun and about a half-yard of kona white -- combined. Here's how they came together.

I started with this one.

I picked 30 strips from a Soiree honeybun and organized them in the color flow I wanted. In this case, I made a sort of rainbow.

Next, I _folded_ the pattern fabric to the desired length (between 7 and 16 inches in this case) and messed with the whole thing some more.

When everything was set, I cut TWO pattern strips based on the folded length. I put one set of strips aside for Quilt #2, and kept the other set handy for this one.

Then, knowing that I wanted the quilt to be 22" wide, I subtracted the pattern strip length from 25 (for seam allowance and leeway to square up later), divided that number by 2, and then cut two, 1-1/2"-wide strips of white that length -- one for each side of the center stripe. For example: if my colored strip was 7", I cut two 9" white pieces, because 25-7 =18/2=9).

Ultimately, I ended up making a little cheat sheet for the cutting so I could go a little faster.

From here, I sewed everything together, pressing all seams to the side.

Now on to the other quilt.

For this one, I arranged the strips more haphazard. The sashing and assembly technique is basically the same as the center-strip quilt, but you only need to cut one piece of white (obviously).

When it came time to do the quilting, I knew immediately that I wanted to try freeform straight lines. I'm totally Type A, so the idea of doing anything completely freeform gives me the heebies. What's a girl like me to do? Make a plan for freeform quilting, of course. Here's how I handled it:

I marked a chalk line every 6 inches and stitched over those first. Then I freelanced everything in between. The interval marks helped keep my freelancing from getting off track, but it's still got good "movement." I had a hard time with the stitches at first (kept skipping), but fixed it by adjusting my stitch length slightly bigger. I had to switch the needle twice, too, because I used basting spray instead of pins on these little guys.

The lines are 1/4 to 1/2" apart, which worked just fine on these doll quilts (24 x 30). I'd probably go a bit wider on a bigger quilt. I knocked these out in an hour each but it would take FORever on a big quilt.

All told, it took me about 6 hours to make both quilt tops. When you get to the point where you've got all of your sashing strips cut and laid out I HIGHLY recommend doing all the sewing for each quilt top in one sitting. I tried to break for lunch at one point and my brain went soggy.

The verdict? You tell me.

Little Folks Scarves

2010-07-29T16:34:00.008-04:00

Heaven. That's what this fabric feels like. Honestly, I could just swim in a pool of this stuff. it's like butter.

I whipped up this trio of scarves so I could maximize the feeling on my neck. Purrr.

My sister is staying with me this summer, so I have an instant model for all of my creations. Isn't she lovely?

I woke her up from a nap to take these pictures. "But I'm supposed to be on holiday!" she said, "in Car-mel. And you're workin' me!" This one's my favorite.

She's a good sport. Anyway, I couldn't be happier with how these turned out. I found that the 54-inch WOF wasn't quite long enough for my taste in scarf format, so I added on extra patchwork bits at the end. As usual, Anna Maria Horner's fabrics all coordinate beautifully.

All three scarves are for sale in my shop. (update: the yellow one is g.o.n.e.)

Havaianas!

2010-07-27T10:26:00.001-04:00

Havaianas!, originally uploaded by ellesquare.

My sister-in-law went to Brazil and brought me home an early bday present. Bedazzled havaianas!

the time has come, the walrus said...

2010-07-27T10:06:00.000-04:00

...to talk of crafty things.

Let's see how this goes, shall we?