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Respect The Quilters

I have got LOVE for quilters.

I didn't even know that I did!  I mean... I did... but... now I truly know in my heart that I 100% admire them!  I have never been to a Quilt Show before.  Coming from a background in fashion design... I guess I sort of made the assumption that it was a "granny" thing?  I don't know what was wrong with me and I'm sorry.

We went to a Fabric Expo/Quilt Show down near Cincinnati a while ago and although we went for the fabric - we were taken aback by the absolutely amazing quilts that hung before our eyes.  I'll share with you a few favorites (although I regrettably don't have the artists names for each of the quilts - they were on such small cards so could not be incorporated into the photos easily).

A girl getting a tattoo...QUILT!  See??  Seeee??  Freakin' awesome.

And look at that detail.  I love the use of that print for the skin... a nice comic book reference there.

And this??  I can't be sure that it is not actually a painting...

We sort of got the name on this one!... And SEEEERIOUSLY???  I'm positive that this took three lifetimes to complete.  My mouth dropped to the ground and I left it right there in the Expo Center.

Thank you - quilting Gods - for allowing us to bask in the glow of your beautiful fabric art.  And thanks for making me feel like a completely talentless fool!!

Tea-Stained Bag & The Five Year Journal

This past Christmas, I got a 5 Year Journal for my Mom.  I also got one for myself so that we could both write for a year and then switch on the 2nd year, etc.  So every other year we'd get our own back and get to read what the other wrote the previous year.

I was decidedly bored with every other unfinished project I have going on so I yanked out some white cotton and some old tea and put them together - with the journal in mind.

I love a nice hot tea fabric drink.  Mmm.

Just give it a stir and let it sit long enough to stain it.  I gave it about 15-20 minutes while I ate dinner.  It could need more, or less.  I'm no expert with tea!

Hand wash it to get the extra tea outta there.

And toss it in the dryer!  Look at that color.  That's the good stuff right there.

The stuff dreams are made of.  No, really.

And now with terribly yellowed lighting - I plan out the chopping up of the fabric, to turn it into a little bag for the journal.  Nothing fancy - just a little drawstring bad-boy oughta do.

And maybe a stripey drawstring?  Yes, that'll do too.

Finish it up with a nice running stitch for that handmade touch.  That's where the love is at folks!

 

And scrunch.

Mom - this one's for you!

Whew! Lots of Happenings!

Cool things have happened in the past two days.

I got a promotion at work!  Woo!

It was a total surprise.  

They promote everyone in front of the entire company which is a couple thousand people.  No biggie...

My contact came flying out of my eye and into my hand just moments after the announcement, which added to the fun.

I won a giveway!  And a really interesting one, at that!

It's not just any old giveaway - it's a giveaway of a kit in which I must complete and give feedback.  That will be fun! 

(photo from Princess Lasertron's blog!)

 Princess Lasertron - designer of felt flower and button bouquets and accessories - is starting to sell kits to make her felt flower bouquets.  In order for her to test the kits, she's doing the mini-kit giveaway in which I was a random winner :).  The random number generator isn't really random you know.  It picked me because I am awesome.  I'll blog about the kit and the experience once I recieve it!  Princess Lasertron will also be blogging about the other mini-kit winners experiences once we all finish.

Today we went to the greatly anticipated Sample Sale at work.  Mmmmmm.  Adreneline!!  Digging through a thousand boxes of piles of clothes with thousands of other frantic people is just a crazy experience.  You leave feeling exhausted, sweaty and soo hungry!!  Peter, Heidi, Evan and I all made out like bandits.  Socked up on enough t-shirts, jeans, hoodies and random pieces of fabric to clothe an army.  I got a ton of plain hoodies and tees that are begging to be covered in hand embroidery!!  I have been doing laundry for hours.  Oh the pain.  ;)

Sew to Speak

I am so excited for the weekend!!  

Duh.  Okayyyy sorry that was an obvious and pointless statement. 

Who is not excited for the weekend?

What I meant to say was... This weekend, we are going to be checking out the new cute little fabric shoppe in town!  This little shop is something that I just discovered a couple of days ago and then found out that it has only been in Columbus for a year (although I'm sad I didn't know about it from day ONE!). 

It is called Sew to Speak.  Check out their blog!

I was whining about how there are no good fabric stores around here to get amazing prints... all we have is Jo-Anns.  Everyone has Jo-Anns.  Jo-Anns only inspires me to a certain degree.  

I want to walk into a fabric store and I want my HEAD TO EXPLODE.  You know??

My head exploded when I walked into MOOD in New York but that is another obvious statement.  

Sew To Speak is full of vibrant fabrics by many of the very bestest print designers that I admire.

Anna Maria Horner

Heather Bailey

Alexander Henry

Amy Butler

Tina Givens

To name a few.

I told Evan that we should think of a budget before walking into the store.  At the same time we both shouted out a number.  He said $30 and I said $600.  Well there ya go.

So does that mean the compromise would be $315?  Meeting in the middle!  

Isn't that what marriage is all about?   

I will definitely have to restrain myself.  Kid in a candy store will not even describe it.

Money does not buy happiness... but money buys fabric which brings happiness.  

So I guess it's an enabler to happiness.

See you soon - Sew to Speak!!

All photos were taken by April Rhodes on behalf of Sew to Speak.

www.sewtospeak.blogspot.com