Afternoon Tea Mug Rug

Check it out! A tiny fussy mug rug. Of course on such a tiny project it's pretty easy to rationalize using tiny bits of my tiny tiny Liberty stash. These little flowers were lounging in my stash for years - given to me by a dear friend, they were always too precious to use. There comes a time where it just seems right, so that's how this mug rug was born. 

This mug rug was featured in issue 7 of Quilt Now Magazine. You can get a copy by following this link. It's always a joy to have my projects in Quilt Now - there's something much more real about seeing my project in print! 

Shades Quilt

Another publication! This baby quilt was included in Quilt Now Magazine, issue 8. I am quite proud of this quilt - it is my first actual quilt to be published in a magazine (all the previous magazine projects were pouches, pillows, and small things). 

I started with a general idea of color saturation and low volume fabrics, and it turned out just how I had envisioned it! The fabrics are from Art Gallery fabrics, and they were perfect. I picked them all by looking at the Art Gallery website - it's always a bit of a gamble when picking fabrics based on the small pictures online - but this time it worked just right! 

Seeing Stars Cushion - Quilt Now Magazine!

Photo credit: Quilt Now Magazine

I'm excited to share that my Seeing Stars Cushion is featured in this month's issue of Quilt Now magazine! Go check it out by purchasing the digital copy here, or grab a copy at your local Barnes & Nobles!

I'm so happy to see this one in print. I am in love with the prints and dense quilting, and those pom-poms! So awesome! If you make one of these pillows I'd love to see it! Please drop me a line if you do.

Social Tote

This week I made a Social Tote!

Social Tote

I had picked up this pattern at Quiltcon. I always get it into my mind that I want to make a thing, but then I waffle on buying the pattern - thus I don't make it. In truth buying this pattern was an impulse buy. I saw it at Alyssa / Pile of Fabric's booth, and I love Alyssa's shop and wanted to buy something. So impulse had me, and I bought this little pattern. 

Social Tote

I really love how this turned out. I love sewing projects with a bit of a challenge. Once I decided to sew the Social Tote, I was directed to some links online to make it easier. First and foremost, Carolyn Friedlander has step by step photos for sewing the lining. Also, an instagram friend directed me to the tips over here on this blog. Once I got down to sewing, it really wasn't too hard. The best tip is to follow all the instructions!

As an added bonus, my existing pin cushion fits in the pincushion section. 

Thoughts about leaving quiltcon

Friendship.

For a long time, as a child, I wished and prayed for a really good friend. I always had friends, but never a best friend. For years and years, I felt like the only one without someone to confide in. As an adult I found myself in a similar state - I'd had such close friends in college, but they didn't translate into the kind of everyday friendship I needed. Moving away from home, and starting a family didn't make it very easy to make friends. 

At some point I reached out and joined the Chicago MQG. Almost immediately I had formed a close friendship with Em. What a gift our friendship has been! Many more friendships formed through the MQG.

Now somehow I find myself surrounded by friends. Some new, some old. Local guild friends, swap friends, and people from online. This was unexpected, it's as if I didn't know I would have such close friendships in my lifetime.

So now it's time for QuiltCon, and it's finally time to meet one of my closest friends, Shruti. Somewhere in the course of the past five years we'd become close friends. It started with me receiving a doll quilt from her way back then. Now it's a pretty regular string of facebook messages - nearly every day - sometimes more than every day. And we meet. And it's just like it always has been - friends. 

The weekend went by in a blur - so much fun, so many memories. Now it's time to head to the airport - but first I text Shruti so we can say goodbye. Who knew this would be so hard? Standing in the hallway of the convention center, hugging, crying, then laughing because it's so silly to be crying, then hugging and crying some more. We'll make it happen. We'll see each other again. We'll work hard, we'll become famous quilters. Guilds will want to pay us to travel and teach together. We'll write a book. We'll chat online. It doesn't seem like enough. It's hard to know when we'll see each other again. More hugs, more tears. Someone walks by and we ask them to take our picture. It's a photo raw with emotion. 

I write this with the lingering rawness in my heart. I can't forget how important this trip has been. Some day I might forget the rawness. I hope I don't forget how it feels to be loved by friends. 

Thanks to Shruti, Emily, and all the amazing friends who made Quiltcon the best. I'll never forget all the smiles, the hugs, and all those great memories. These friendships inspire my quilting even more than anything else. I'm so grateful for all of you!!