Monday, October 29, 2012

Introducing: The Mo-Stash Bee!

Hello to all of you beautiful modern fabric stashionistas!!  The year is winding down a bit and we KNOW you're starting to think about which bees and/or swaps you're interested in committing to for 2013.  And, ya know what would be better than signing up for any ol' bee?  Being part of a brand new bee that my uber-awesome friend, Whitney, and I started...that's what!!

Whitney (you may know her as The Peacock Tree) and I were talking about how tough it is to commit to a year-long bee.  People go MIA...people lose their mojo...people feel like doing other stuff.  So, we (well, SHE, and she was gracious enough to ask me to join) thought it'd be super-cool to get a bunch of gals together who love modern fabric and start a stash bee that lasts just 6 short months.  It's your typical stash bee...every month starting in January someone will host and choose a block...the other folks in the bee with make 2 blocks with fantabulous fabric from their stash and send them of to the host...easy peasy, right?  I present to you the Modern Stash Quilting Bee...better known as the:


Sounds peachy, right?  And when Tom Selleck is involved, you just gotta join!  Ok, so I may have embellished the Tom Selleck bit in my last post.  The bee isn't exactly about him or really have anything to do with him other than he's our mascot, but that 'stache!!  How long can you resist that 'stache?  Not long, I bet!

And better yet, we've dubbed all of you Stashionistas - how cool is that?  You covet your stash...you love modern fabric...you can't wait for the best new lines to be released...you probably even hoard some of your best stuff...you know who you are!

OK, Stashionistas...RUN over to the group and join.  We'll have an official registration form to fill out soon if you want to commit.  For now, at least join the group and follow along.  We can't wait to start!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Back By Popular Demand!

Ok, ok, that's exaggerating just a bit...well, a lot.  BUT, when I was off spending time with my tribe (as another lovely attendee, Suzy, put it) at the Sewing Summit, one of my fans (hahaha!) did ask me when/if I was ever going to post to my blog again.  So, to oblige Julie and all of my other adoring public, I have decided to blog again!!  Aren't y'all excited?

I can't promise out-of-this-world posts, or even semi-frequent ramblings, but I do hope to continue to share my sewing adventures with you...no matter how mundane or sporadic.

So what have you been up to since March?  Well, we moved to VA...that's the biggest news, I guess.  We rented out our house in New Hampshire and made our way down to the outskirts of DC in July.  It was a rough adjustment for some of us (mostly me!) but now that the boys are all settled into school and activities, all is well.  We're renting a house a couple of miles away from Paul's office, which is really nice, since he tends to work long hours.  We've committed to try to make the most of our stint here by seeing/doing as much as we can.  It's fab to be so close to "The District" (as it's called around here) - so many fun things to do in DC!  Did you know they have a Postal Museum?  Me neither, but I plan on checking that out one of these days!

Sewing-wise I've been stitching here and there, making bee blocks, doing swaps, etc.  Basically all of the stuff I was doing before and then some...just not posting about it!  How sneaky am I?  If you want to see what I've made lately, you can check out my flickr photostream HERE.  It's not everything, but it'll give you a good snapshot.

The nice thing about our new house is that I still have a dedicated sewing space...and it's NOT in the laundry room!  Our basement is actually a walk-out/daylight basement, so there are windows down there...MUCH better for sewing!  It doesn't feel like a dungeon.  I can't say much about what you can get for your money in this area (it's not much, in case you were wondering), but I am grateful for my corner of the finished basement to do my sewing.

One of my best finishes lately is a little number I put together for one of my very favorite swaps - the Little Quilt - Sew, Vote, Send Group.  Here's what I made:

 
I personally love it and I hope the gal I sent it to does, too!  The funny thing about this mini is it was the start of my very first quilting project.  Around March or April of 2011, I came across the Blogger's Pillow Party, which was hosted by the lovely Rachel of Stitched In Color.  I'm certain y'all know Rachel, but if you dont, RUN to her blog right now...she's fantastic!  So, I run across the party and was inspired by a pillow I saw there - it's excellent, right?  I thought "maybe I could do something like that"...so I chopped up nine charm squares from the gorgeous Nouveau line by Sentimental Studios for Moda. 
 
And, well, long story short, those little squares got put in a drawer so I could try other things.  I finally pulled them out when I got back from the Sewing Summit.  Instead of making a pillow, it is now a mini, but it feels good to have completed a project I started so long ago.  And, it probably looks 1,000 times better than it would have looked had I actually finished it back in 2011...I've learned a ton since then!
 
It's great to be back in the swing of things...let me know what you've been up to these last several months.  I'll be back to share some of the other projects I've completed and other things in the works.
 
PLUS, I will have a very cool announcement on Monday...right here on this little ol' blog!  If you like modern fabric, Tom Selleck, and dipping into your stash, this might be right up your alley...stay tuned!