Happy Zombie

I’m neat, I’m tidy, I’m organized… I’m full of crap. I’m exposing myself in the hopes my public humiliation will bring about change. THIS is my reality. Stacks, piles, notes, more stacks, more piles… and then there’s the disorganization in my head too. What was I doing? Where am I walking too? What was I gonna get?

As you can see in the photo, I have totes and bins, ready to be filled and tucked neatly away. But sigh, I’ve just stacked those into piles as well. My studio/office is just shy of being 10′x10′. I can use the lack of size as an excuse, but the gist of it is, is that if my space was 100′x100′… my mess would only be bigger.

I recently redid my studio/office. I (read: my DH) hung white cupboards and base cabinets with a counter also. The walls I painted this soft, soft pink (they used to be a light butter yellow). All my treasures were parading neatly on little shelves. My fabric stash cozy in the cupboards away from sunlight (now THAT’S funny… sunlight, in Oregon!). So what happened? I don’t know! I’m going to point a finger at the pink paint. Just because.

Yesterday I picked up more cabinets at Lowes and I’m filling them with skinny shelving so I can have 10 or 12 shelves to make my piles in/on. I’m hoping this is the ticket and I’ll soon have the neat and tidy space I dream of. When I’m at my computer, my back is to the mess. By having this photo on my blog I can’t escape it. Plus it’s helping motive me to get off the computer and get crackalackin on the studio/office redo. BTW… no longer a studio/office (I’m tired of saying that)… it’s officially now a STUFFICE! Stephen Colbert’s not the only one who can make up words!

I haven’t posted a Sew & Tell in a while… maybe because I haven’t sewn in weeks (talk about being too ill if I’m not quilting!). A few quilts from recent past… pre-blogging stuff! There’s a designer I discovered a little over a year ago I just love, and her name is Lori Smith. I can open a magazine or my favorite catalog (Keepsake Quilting, the “Victoria’s Secret” for quilters!) and see a quilt and I just KNOW it’s by her because it’s something that makes me want to run and make it. And that’s saying a lot because I find more pleasure in designing my own.

Anyhoo… Lori has a really cute pattern pack called Fat Quarter Quilting: Four Fabric Quilts. These quilts I made are the finished size of a fat quarter. All you need are four fat quarters (five if you use a FQ for the backing). The first two I have made were samples for the shop, so I kind of stuck with the fabrics/colors like in the pattern (though I do dig the black & white with the birdie toile) .

I hope I don’t sound like an infomercial… I just want to pass on something fun, fast and pretty. These little patterns are a great way to use some FQ’s you just love but don’t know what to do with (plus you get six patterns in a pack - talk about bang for your buck!). From start to finish this is a nice little weekend project. Piecing, quilting and binding…. HUGE satisfaction in getting a quilt done fast! The quilts finish nice and “square” (I know, I know… they’re rectangles!), though my photography is not (ugh).

The third was purely for me. It’s the same quilt as the second one but made with some of my all time fabric. I love, love, love this fabric collection by Linda Hohag for P&B Textiles. Did I mention how much I love this fabric??? This quilt took a little longer since I hand quilted it… but boy was it fast to quilt compared to quilting a bed size quilt! Satisfaction!

I was so tickled to see Wee Wonderful’s Hillary Lang’s Stitchette’s take on an elfin life! The über talented Hillary has these two lovelies in the freebie section of her store. I was so excited over these cuties I had to make them right away! So cute, so cute, so cute! Thank you Hillary!

I decided I wanted the Stitchettes to be the star of the show, so I did just a simple white on white (snowflake) and solid red. I thought about doing some star blocks in the setting, then thought of doing some pinwheels, and then thought of doing some prairie points. I crumble up and tossed my graphpaper notes (no, not really… into the recycling bin it went) and went Simple to showcase the elfs. A case when less is truly more. I enlarged the patten, so each Stitchette block is 16” tall (finished).

I echo quilted (by hand) around the Stitchettes, then did a cross hatch on the rest of the quilt. Hard to tell by my cruddy photos, but the Stitchettes just kind of pop out by doing this. Click on the photo and you might be better able to see them “poof”.

Now my only problem is having to wait until Christmas to hang this. Though as one to break rules (even my own), I think my little Elf Stitchettes have a perfect year-round place in my office right next to my redwork Roly Poly Circus.

I was visiting Allsorts and she has THE cutest coaster pattern. If the coasters aren’t cute enough… her pattern is even cuter! I decided to try the coaster as a circle.

Am I a stalker if I visit someone’s blog day after day, waking up each morning and wondering what new delights await me there? Ok, maybe not a stalker… but a fan for sure! I’m a huge fan of Jenny/Allsorts and her current delightful yummy is her little advent pouches (envelopes). So I took a little stab at it myself. So far I’m up to day 4. How many more to go??? Are these just not too cute! OMG, I think I have a blog-crush on Allsorts.

I was reading on PAMKITTYMORNING where Pam got her inspiration on a project, and I thought I’d do the same here! When I made the little house quilt for my Aqua/Red Swap partner, I looked no further then my medicine cabinet where I KNEW the most perfect red/aqua combo lived!

Not as exciting as Pam’s Rice Krispie Treats… but it’s all about the packaging. So much goes into package design and color… it’s a shame to let all the talent and inspiration get hidden away in our pantries and cupboards. Next time you’re perusing the aisles of your grocery store… your next quit inspiration may just be waiting for you on the shelf (and no doubt it will be on the hardest to reach shelf!).

Too bad I used the wrong setting on the camera… the quilt looks so dark and dingy next to the Aquafresh (it’s a bright Kona Snow actually).

Just in time for Halloween… err… more like Halloween 2007! I’ve gotten emails asking me how I did the coloring on the tea towels I made for Miss Dew (who knew there’d be that must interest! WOW!). Anyhoo… I made a little pumpkin with instructions. Nuttin’ fancy, but perfect for playing with and trying something new. For your own Crayon Jack, click here.

I had a fun conversation with Linda over at Craft Apple about looking at people’s photos and spotting things. From one of her photos, I thought her walls were painted the exact same of pink (Behr’s French White) as my office/sewing room, but she said her walls were white (DARN… I thought we were going to have some kind of cosmic painted sisterhood). Anyhoo… If you click on the image to see the larger one, that’s right… I keep my candy corn in an Easter Bunny glass jar. It’s how I live.

My good friend Robin from Kelso, WA is now hooked on coloring! Here is her CJ, PLUS she had to do more and made the cutest snowman! All images are clickable to see a larger image.

This weekend I “staffed” at an Anna Lena quilt retreat and I got a bunch of project tops finished, as well as a new project too. This first top I call Wash Tub Fun because I used the beautiful Wash Tub Prints fabric line from Andover by Karen Snyder (another shameless plug for my friend Karen). It looks like a large quilt in the photo… but it’s no bigger then two placemats side by side. No pattern… it just just evolved.

I did plan the blocks which are “Double X #3″ from Judy Hopkins’ Around the Block book. Side note… I have all three of the “Around the Block” series… Around the Block Again and Once More Around the Block as well. They are my BLOCK BIBLES!

This little lap quilt I call Charming Cherries. I love, love, love the charms by Moda, and this is my third quilt using charms. This pack of Sandy Klop’s “Cherries Jubilee” charms is my all time favorite charm pack! I got this charm pack at Anna Lena’s, but a great online source for a charms addiction is at the Fat Quarter Shop, where I’ll be getting my next charm pack… the April Cornell Sonnet Collection. I’m addicted to charms!

Anyhoo… no pattern (yet… wink, wink), just something I doodled onto graph paper (and of course seeing something my friend JJ made something similar and that inspired me to see it through!). I wanted to make something where I didn’t cut up the charms (I wanted to leave them as whole as possible). The outer border is by Moda as well, Apple Pie by Sandy Klop’s American Jane line. I love this fabric so much… I’ve purchased this fabric three times!

This little table top quilt I call “AutumnWeen”. Yup… another charm pack! This charm pack is Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet by Sandy Gervais for Moda. I got this darling charm pack at Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove, CA.

I modified a pattern from Darlene Zimmerman’s Aunt Maggie’s Quilt (for my use - and she knows I modified it). Technorati Profile

I saw this small travel iron in wonderful little antique shop in St. Reges, Montana. The kicker was that it was only $3 because the cord was missing. I didn’t dare tell the show owner I didn’t care about the cord… that this was purely for eye candy only! Even the box is beautiful to me!

Sigh… I loved my first ever trip to Montana and am heart sick I had to leave. I’m soooooo happy to be home with DH and DS, but I’m ready to pack up and head east. Have you ever had that feeling in your tummy and heart that you just BELONG somewhere? Maybe it’s a reincarnation thing… I danno. Anyhoo… I had THAT feeling in Montana.

I was in the Bitterroot Valley this weekend with my good friend Karen at a quilt retreat hosted by Bell Tower Quiltworks. I had the TIME OF MY LIFE and made some lifelong friends. Everyone in Montana was SO nice and the scenery wasn’t too bad either!

Before Montana, of course comes Idaho… another new experience for me! We stopped in the little town of Wallace, Idaho where Autumn was in full bloom! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Autumn!!! I have more photos to come, more thoughts, and much more Montana Goodness to share. For now… I must unpack and get my life back to normal (as if it was normal before I left for Montana).

Thank you Montana for your enchantment & kindness and thank you Missoula for putting the big “M” on your hill to welcome me!

I love you Montana,
Monica

My Montana/Idaho Flickr photos.