Spring Blooms Mini Quilt Swap Update!

I saw that Karen posted aboout the mini quilt I made for her and her pictures are sooo much better than mine. You can clearly see that it really was indeed a lovely quilt. I just have crappy picture taking skills, LOL! See???

She has more pics on her blog...you can see the other goodies I sent too!

Another Ad for APQ!

My ad is ready....take a look! I love this new pattern and decided it would be the perfect lead in kit for my October Ad in American Patchwork and Quilting. It's a brand new Spring Release by Pam Puyleart. No blog, sorry. (I love her patterns, and already have all her new patterns in stock! They are all on the new website though. Hey, I can only load them on one site because I run a one woman show, y'know!) Remember the colors are off because it is for print and not for web, so they use different colors.
It will be available as a Kit in June, when I open my new website!

Woo-HOO!

A Celebration!

Life has a way of reminding us that time goes on and there is none to waste. This is my niece, Nyshma. I changed her diapers and babysat her as a newborn while my sister attended classes at the University of Puerto Rico.I can't begin to tell you how hard it was for my sister to raise her as a single parent, I only watched from the sidelines and helped out as asked. I was young and she was young... but she was wise beyond her years and I was always in awe of how she managed to work everything out; whatever came her way...it just always seemed to work out. She MADE it work out. As a parent I now know that it is NOT as she made it seem, it is SOOOO much harder and no matter how hard you try, it does not always work out in the end. But as if to prove a point to all the naysayers who were so fast to conclude that a single mother cannot go the distance....here you go. Nyshma graduated this past weekend from Rochester Institute of Technology, with honors!
Her major was in Marketing and minor in Japanese. Yeah, she's an anime geek...what can I say? LOL!

It was a day of great joy in our family. And we rallied to celebrate this milestone, for both of them, as I do believe that behind every graduate in that class was a parent who pushed and encouraged and cheered for them . This is half of Nyshma's Home Team:

From left to right: My Mom, T-Choco (my youngest sister), T-Sandy (the middle sister), The Graduate (Nyshma), her #1 fan GP (who wore her cap with great pride all afternoon!), ME and my Dad!

GP had been preparing for weeks; he told the tailor he needed a suit "For Graduations, Weddings, Concerts and More!" Nyshma was graduating, she is now engaged to be married and GP will be going to see the Boston Pops this Summer...so I think he was covering all the bases, LOL! This is Nyshma with her fiance.

Oh, Nyshma did have a second half to the Home team but they had to take their own picture...we didn't have a panoramic camera, LOL! Maybe I can steal one of their pics, but I haven't found one yet. BTW...the other team was the one where Nyshma was NOT the tallest in the group. Guess who she takes after...LOL! I'll try to get a pic posted of them soon.
Hope your holiday weekend was full of wonderful family gatherings too. Brenda=)

Star Gazing!

Do you know who that is? No, not Joanna, the other one... That's Kaffe Fassett and yes, that's me! Some of you might not know this but Joanna is a serious KF groupie, OMG! She is so funny, she has his books, she has loads and LOADS of his fabrics and is she weren't married and he were not otherwise "committed", well, let's just say she'd be parked in his driveway, LOL! Well, she found out through some grapevine that he was coming to Nashua and that was it, she was "all over that" like a bee on honey. I of course, was invited by her, but I think it was just a precautionary measure; just in case she passed out or needed some fanning. I did pack some smelling salts, just in case....LOL!

I have to tell you that it was being sponsored by Westminster Fabrics and Rowan Yarns but it really wasn't all about knitting or quilting. It was about color, inspiration and finding your mojo. This designer is so NOT about quilting and fabrics. He is all about art, and perspective. It was one of the best lectures I have EVER been to. It was inspiring. And by the time we left, I wanted to go buy myself some wool and make myself a sweater too! Who knew you could actually paint, quilt and knit? Hello! I don't knit...what's up with that? I need sonething to do while I wait for the Lunesta to kick in, LOL!

Oh, and I was a total hit with my bright and bold print shirt... I was a primitive lover in disguise...I was disguised as a Kaffe Chick! See how I match the quilt? And see how my shoes match my shirt? Oh, T-Choco has taught me well! And both Kaffe and his sidekick Brandon Mably (Studio Manager of Kaffe Fassett Studio in London England) had nice things to say about my shirt, BM actually came up to me and asked me where I had purchased it (Lane Bryant, ladies!), and if it was new ("Well yes, I just bought it yesterday!").I thought that was so funny. It took me a minute to realize this "guy's" sweater looked just like the ones on the manequins on display all around the room, duh! I think I didn't notice his accent because I was with Joanna and after a while with her you just don't even notice the accent anymore....so here we are, Hey, I had already given him all my shopping tips, he just had to let me take a pic. Oh, and get this, he was posing and when we walked up for our pics he embraced us and there were "OH, we didn't get hugs" from the masses, it was just so funny. We can't help it if we're cute! LOL! It was just a fun time all around.

Now you know, even if you're a primitive lover...there is always something to be learned so step out of your comfort zone and go see the designers when they hit your neighborhood, I bet you too will have a great time.

Thanks Joanna for inviting me, and for remembering to take the camera so we could document ourselves, among the stars! LOL!

Spring Blooms Mini Quilt, Done!

I decided that I wanted to have some fun and had no time for it so I committed myself to the Spring Blooms Mini-Quilt Swap. The way I reasoned it was that I would not make the time to stitch up something wonderful unless I had a reason. Just for fun? Well, just for fun I might want to continue to wash and fold the stuff that's in the laundry baskets, hello!? LOL!

Anyway, this is for a Blogger in Canada...No names shall be disclosed, we don't want to spoil the surprise! Woo-HOO!

OK, so here's what I made.First the disclaimer: New computer, same camera...even worse, I can't work the picture editor so just think of it as a "glimpse" of what could possibly, just may or might not be, a cute quilt. hahahaha! It measures 12" sq. The pattern is Spring Pillow Party by Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs. I just made it smaller and skipped the pillow part. It's Peach, homespun flannels for the back and binding, and wool for the applique. The top background and basket are flat cotton. It really is cute...doesn't look like much in the picture but I really tried to fix the image...I'm just not that good. Oh well, at least you get to imagine the possibilities, LOL!

PS> I don't know why the image doe not allow you to see the close up. I uploaded it three times...I just don't know if it's Blogger or the picture editor. Bummer!

Swap Alert!

Kim from Creating by the Lake is hosting her first swap and I'm joining in the fun. I truly do believe we can never have too many pincushions so I am posting this to encourage you to join in the fun and start building that pincushion collection. Now go sign up, you know you want to!
Oh wait, I was just thinking that I need to show you what I'm going to make...these have been on my wish list way too long and I am going to use the swap to finally get to making one, one for me and one to share. You know how it goes. "Sharing together, happy as a feather!"Unless I get a little extra creative and finally get around to making this one (I have TWO clamps, one for me, and one to share!) Aren't these awesome? Both are by Birdbrain Designs... Hmm, I do like that watermelon one too, and it is a Summer pincushion swap...choices, choices... Here's the Watermelon one...Would you make this one for me??? I would make it for you if you were my swap buddy!

I'm In Soooo Over My Head!

You thought I was dead, didn't ya? LOL! Well, I'm not. I'm just in a few pickles as of this writing.
First, I'm building my New! and Improved website. YEAH! No pics of that, sorry...it will be open soon so just hang in there. I will have a grand opening sale too, woo-hoo! For now, you'll just have to shoppe at my wonderful old site....which has some great new Redwork fabrics from BaumTextiles. They're soooo gorgeous. Did you see the new slideshow? I put it there so you could see all the wonderful reds with beige...not white! Do you know how hard it is to find a red print with beige? Very! The pics just don't do them justice. They are stunning.
Next, I was in a swap. Yep, you know me, always looking for adventure! So I joined a "Mini Art Cupcake Quilt" swap. Did you get that? Wow, that was a mouthful! Now, only after I received my quilt did I realize that these women meant business. But how was I supposed to know this wasn't a beginner level swap? Hello!???? Now I'm at a loss. You think my swap partner might mind that she got the runt of the litter so to speak? Oh dear, I'm in soooo over my head here. Take a look at this mini quilt I received. I've seen lesser quilts at the Vermont Quilt Festival, hello! This one came from Australia! Sorry, I didn't press it...this is what it looked like right out of the wrapper....
Remember, this is supposed to be a Cupcake themed quilt...see all the teenie-weenie cupcakes in the background? There is a cupcake "plant" coming up hert skirt!
Did I mention the woman's body is embroidered? The cupcakes have sprinkles and cherries made from beads? Oh, man...what's up with that? There's metalic thread and all kinds of fancy piecing and details.... look at the skirt!it's as if she is running on a path made from crystals. The skirt has a ruffle too...and did you see the "cupcake plant" ? And the fussy cut cupcakes tucked in and hidden in the greens???? GP says her feet are hidden under the skirt, which I thought was pretty funny! How's that for a different perspective? Did YOU notice she has no feet? I bet you didn't!
It arrived in a cupcake bundle with a cupcake card....how awesome is that? Oh, and the artist/quilter embroidered her name and country on the binding.
So now you see...how am I supposed to match this so I don't feel like I'm shortchanging my own swap buddy? I have to mull this one over, LOL!