Happy Zombie

I’m getting ready for Quilt Market - and I’m so excited about going. Not just because my second line of fabric is debuting (more on that in my next post)… and not just because I get to see all that is new and wonderful in the quilting and fabric world… or that I get to see a bunch of friends (and meet new ones)… I’m so exited because I’ve always always wanted to go to Salt Lake City.  And it’s not just because I’ve had a crush on Donny Osmond since I was 10 and have fantasized about running into him there.   I’m not LDS, but the temple has been on my I-want-to-visit-list since I was a kid, too.  Maybe because I thought it was a castle, and for sure my Prince Donny was in there waiting for me.

Every Quilt Market Pam hosts an imaginary radio show on her blog.  Like a farm report - but without the farms.  And no reports - more like links.  People going to market and making blog posts about market can leave their permalinks to their posts - and people not going can easily find the posts that talks about market.

There have been so many Quilt Markets I’ve attended in my jammies from home via Pam’s KPKM Quilt Market reports. I look so forward to the post whether I’m attending or not. BUT… I’m secretly hoping people will also write market posts who are from SLC and have tips and ideas of things to see and do in SLC:  Shops, restaurants, places Donny can be found, points of interest. Hopefully people will sport the KPKM button I made and lead me to Donny lead us to all the great stuff SLC has to offer!  And of course market reports, too.

Pam’s got a big huge secret she recently revealed. I told Pam when I finally got to blab, that I would shout my happiness and excitement from the rooftops.  I am now atop my roof!  I’ve been waiting for this day forever and am so thrilled and happy! Pam has a gift with fabrics and I’ve been calling her the fabric whisperer since the moment I met her, and have been wanting a line of PKM to have for myself.  And now Pam has partnered with Holly Holderman of Lakehouse Drygoods… it’s finally happening!  Oh happy day!!!!    I love 30’s repos, I love modern fabric, I love cute, I love bright… and now thanks to Pam and Holly… they’ve created a fabric love child for me!

Image used with permission. SOURCE: Pam’s flickr

I think I just lost my voice from shouting, but I’m so happy to say out loud… CONGRATULATIONS PAM!!!

Posted in Quilt Market | 44 Comments

Some people leave for a trip or outing and worry they’ve left the iron or coffee maker on.  I worry I’ll leave the house and forget to bring some kind of handwork to take along.  I once had a lunchbox filled with fabric scraps, English paper-pieces, needles & thread… the who schebang.  My little handwork travel kit.  My big fat plans: I was going to make a Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt.  As it turns out… I made placemat.

Time to rethink just how much handwork I want to do - balancing the doing with the finishing.  Enter “Fast & Easy Granny”. Still handwork… just a lot faster. Bigger = faster.

Time to rethink the name - sounds like Granny’s a wee but saucy.  Luckily Quiltmaker found just the perfect name for it: Pink Lemonade.  I’m so excited for my block to be in Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks, Vol. 3, and once I read the cover - my excitement escalated and I pee’d all over myself.

I made my block in Rosalie Quinlan’s beautiful Sweet Broderie fabric by Lecien.  I did a mock-up quilt in Photoshop - wish I could sandwich and baste a real quilt as fast as I can in Photoshop.  Are you listening The Great Gazoo?

Another mock-job, this time in Happy Mochi Yum Yum and white.  I hope my block is given a try and the process is enjoyed as much as it is for me.

I’m told Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks will be out on May 10th, so be sure to look for it. Visit the entire blog tour and see a heaping spoonful of blocky goodness.  Two copies will be given away on my blog - one from me and one from Quiltmaker. Leave a comment by this Saturday morning (PST) and I’ll have random.org pick two winners.

Edited in:
The give-away is now over and random.org has picked two winners!
1st winner: Comment #165 - Eileen
2nd winner: Comment #59 - kathy harris

Posted in Quilty n Crafty | 254 Comments

Gotta get this off my chest before my bra rips apart at the seams (it’s already a tight squeeze in there). A real shit bomb has been dropped on our beautiful quilting/crafting/sewing community recently. All the negativity and meanness I’ve seen displayed recently has given me the vomits - especially when there are kind, decent and talented people being targeted in a rampage of thoughtless comments. Way too much “keeping it real” being slung.  Making a disparaging remark about someone’s artwork or fabric or pattern or book or style or where they buy their fabric or technique or whatever is not ok just because it’s followed by a “just keeping it real”.  Keeping it polite will make you sleep good at night.

I realize the rampage of mean and ugly comments/posts are the minority - and by speaking up… I hope to increase the love and decrease the hate.  I cringe at the thought of a new blogger or a new sew/quilter being intimidated by mean comments or posts - whether it be to blog, tweet, flickr or join a guild. The overwhelming majority of quilters, sewers and crafters are really, really, really nice people.  It’s so cliche, but the more the merrier.

A few of my own personal “rules of the road” when it comes to blogging (and commenting), and if it encourages just even one person to jump on board and enjoy the ride… I hope I do that.

1. I blog for me and I treat my blog as a journal and a failing memory back-up system. Getting comments and meeting people via comments I get, and most of all - the friendships born of it… that’s gravy.   I could care less about “following” and hit counting.  For me it’s all about the quality of my friendships, not the quantity.  I blog because I like to blog, not because I have to.  Period.

2. I always try to leave comments for others, and also try to read the comments left for others. When I first started blogging, it was easier to visit blogs because  there were only a few dozen crafty blogs at the time.  Now I have hundreds of favorites and it’s hard to keep up, but I try. I found one of my very best friends in the whole world because I read a comment she left on someone’s blog.

3. I LOVE show and tell! I think anyone who’s in a guild will agree… show and tell is the favorite part of the meeting! I love to see what people are making, what people are doing, where they went, who they saw. One of my all time favorite “field trip” reads was on Lisa Boyer’s blog when she took us to the post office.  Sharing is not bragging.  Bragging is not sharing.  Sharing is sharing.  Period.

3a. I love to see what people are working on - why I show what I’m working on.

3b. I love seeing peeks into people’s homes and where they live - why I show mine.

3c. I love seeing places people go, especially if I can’t go there myself - why I show mine.

3d. I love seeing what’s on the other side of the camera - why I show mine. (aka the good use of “keepin’ it real”)

4. I am me. I want to be positive, inspiring, friendly and polite. Being positive, inspiring, friendly and polite does not make me a phoney. It’s the same way I treat people visiting in my home, or at the grocery store, or the DMV, or that nice kid at Staples who was so friendly and helpful. To that a-hole driver who cut me off on US 101… meh, you not so much.

5. On my blog and in my 3D life… I celebrate all quilting, all fabrics, all resources.  Not everything is my cup of coffee, but I’ll keep that to myself.  Just keepin’ it polite.

6. Tell people that I took notice… and fixed my reader feed to show in-full in Google Reader. Seriously, I had no idea it was so irritating - I guess I needed to check my own blog in my reader sooner!

7. Tell Google that it’d be nice if they’d updated all the blogspot blogs with an email field in the Name/URL option so non-blogspot people like myself can stop being called “no-reply bloggers”.   TIA, Google.

8. Continue apologizing for having an inbox that looks like an episode of Hoarders and sucking at emailing.

9.  Share some damn good reads:
- Katy’s my opinions are mine and mine alone
- Amanda’s Reality Check
- Sarah’s Easter, and a Little Rant
- Krista’s No take-backs

10. Tell people my son and daughter in-law flipped a U-ie and chased down that car in their neighborhood to take a pic of the IQUILT (New South Wales) plate for me.  Best Mom’s Day card ever!

Ok. I’m done. And my girls are happy now that there’s more room in the bra.

Edited in:
I think there might be some confusion with the way I wrote my post - but all this isn’t about me, it’s about what’s going in Internetlandia right now… flickr groups, blog posts, comments on blogs, comments on Amazon, Facebook posts and comments - it’s a whole bunch of stink in a whole bunch of places. I personally haven’t been hit (that I know of, that is!), but I take it personally that our beloved, creative and kind community has. I just can’t sit quiet while good people get crapped on, as well as all the negativity that might potentially discourage any new quilters and/or bloggers from jumping in. This isn’t about me. This is about all of us.

Posted in Stuff | 202 Comments

One night at our guild meeting, Elizabeth generously shared some beautiful scraps from one of her projects.   I dove into the delicious pile of Echino and picked out a treasure trove of little lovelies.  Pet.  Fondle.  Pet.  The next day when when I went to re-pet my bounty of riches… I couldn’t find them.  PANIC.  I must have lost them at guild.  I even checked all the nooks and crannies in my car (well hello there, french fries).  Tears.  Tears.  Tears.  They weren’t just any scraps… they were Elizabeth’s scraps!

A few days later I was sewing with my girlfriends, and I mentioned if anyone had seen some rogue Echino scraps that I had somehow lost at guild.  Because I’m surround by the best friends ever, everyone volunteered to share some of their “E-scraps” with me.  I said no thank you, but man… I was so touched.

A few days after the sewing day, I get a package from my friend Jen.  Holy schmokes - Jen had sent me her treasured Echino booty, along with a sweet, sweet note.  I was soooo touched.  What was once lost is now found - ten fold.  When fabric is infused with the kindness and generosity of friends like Elizabeth and Jen… all the more beautiful fabric becomes.  Pieces of friendship. Joined.  Loved.  Cherished.

No pattern.  No plan.  Just pure enjoyment of the process of piecing the fabric.  Trimming the fabric.  Arranging the fabric by size and color. Plus I love the slicing sound my rotary cutter makes when it’s kissing the ruler as I trim.

I had to add some additional fabrics, and I do believe those scraps came from Mo, Violet and Irene - my little quilt just gets better and better!

I had a profound moment that no matter what my finished guilt looks like, no matter what fabric, colors or techniques I used… it’s all about what you love, who you love, what you love doing, what or who you’re making it for and what makes you happy.  And THAT is what makes a beautiful quilt. And when life gives you scraps… make scrapanade.

Posted in Quilty n Crafty, I Heart Oregon | 64 Comments

Never ever have I wanted to go so badly to an exhibit more than I’ve wanted to go to the “Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts” exhibit (the Quilts of Gee’s Bend at the de Young came a super, super, super close second). I heart red & white quilts. There’s something so magical about something in only one color on white, and making solid fabric dance to where it takes on the life of a printed fabric.  Thank goodness there’s been a lot of media and blogging about the show and I could travel to the exhibit via Internetlandia Airlines.   Here are a few great starting points if you haven’t heard about it:

- The American Folk Art Museum’s Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts exhibit
- NY Times article about Joanna S. Rose, her quilts and the exhibit
- Martha Stewart’s visit and video
- Kate Spain’s beautiful blog post
- Cherri House’s wonderful surprise (ask her about The Video!)
- Pat Sloan’s exhibit visit and a motherload of links of other exhibit goers

I don’t have 651 red and white quilts like Joanna Rose has… but I love mine just the same.  And mine aren’t in some amazing exhibit in NYC - but I am in talks with dear hubbs and negotiating some ceiling hanging quilt rods.

My beloved Roly Poly Circus quilt.  I loved making it, I love how it looks, and I love the story behind the woman (Ruby Short McKim) who designed the drawings.

My embroidery and hand quilting - this took me months to do, and I loved every second of every stitch.

A blown up version I did of Wee Wonderful’s Elf Stitchette. I hung it up one Christmas - and I’ve yet to take it down.

One year we got invited to be guests on a cruise up the Columbia River on the US Coast Guard Cutter Steadfest to Rose Festival in Portland. Not only did I commemorate the trip with making an embroidery… I stitched it while on board.  Take that search & rescue.  I didn’t make it in solids, but it’s still red & white.

My schoolhouse quilt. One of my favorite quilts. Another quilt I hung up one Christmas and never took down. At least I’ve taken my Christmas lights down.

A peek inside my hutch - I love seeing people’s goodies, so here’s mine (love my zombie gum from Joan!). My other love besides red & white is salt & pepper. Black, gray, white… from one end of the value to the other.

Because I can’t make a post without going off topic… my horrid panel wall that we inherited from the original owner of our house. As soon as it warms up, it’s getting painted. I’m still trying to decide what gray. Who knew there would be so many to choose from!  And to make matters worse - these pins make it all harder to choose from!

Posted in Quilty n Crafty | 38 Comments

In a time of need, in a time of happiness, in a time of tragedy - the first response by a quilter is to make a quilt. Loving and nurturing others through bits and pieces of beautiful cotton that have been pieced together with loving hands. Quilts allow us to wrap our arms around others and let them know we care. To warm someone who’s cold.  To reach across the world and be a loving neighbor.

As much as my heart was ready to jump in and make quilts and send them off to Japan, my head knew that what we need to send to Japan right now is money through relief organizations like the Red Cross and MercyCorps. There are a lot of great quilty and crafty fundraisers in Internetlandia right now (Susan and Alicia each have a great list here and here), but I couldn’t put my needles down. I wanted to help raise money as well as I had to make a quilt. I had to do something, and do it now - so Love Pockets for Japan was born. A little 8″ x 12″ quilt with a pocket for collecting money.

So I’m thinking… what if we all make two - one for yourself/your family and one for you to sell/fundraise.  If you do make one to sell, please give 100% of your sales to go to Japan’s earthquake and tsunami recovery and relief efforts.  Sell on you blog, your etsy, to your family, neighbors and co-workers. Make four. Make eight. Sell, sell, sell… donate, donate, donate, donate, donate!

I’m treating my Love Pocket like a swear jar, and I should have it consistently filled and refilled. Every time I reach $10.00 - I’ll alternate donating here and here.

I have a PDF template here. To make the pocket I traced a 5″ circle for the stitch line.  I folded my template into quarters to find my center.

After I traced and stitched on the line, I trimmed my pocket to a ¼” from the seam, snipped my curved edges and cut a small slice in the pocket’s liner (at the bottom of the pocket) for turning.

I pressed the pocket and embroidered with a blanket stitch (can be top-stitched, fielder’s choice) to the quilt top from stop and start markings on the PDF.

So my hope is that a quilter will get their fix to make something and also to be able to sell something to generate funds for their donation(s). I hope this is a way to be able to encourage your kids to share their allowance, family members and co-workers to skip the latte and drop some cash into the Pocket of Love (that’s strategically pinned at the entrance of your cubicle/office) instead.
My Love Pocket is made entirely of fabrics from Japan. Another way to support the people of Japan is through purchases of goods that come from Japan. My favorite places to shop for Japanese fabrics is at Sew, Mama, Sew! and SuperBuzzy - and both shops are currently supporting Japan earthquake and tsunami relief organizations.

Practicing what I preach, I’m going to sell the Love Pocket that I made, and I will donate that entire sale to the Red Cross. Starting at $10.00, who ever leaves me the highest offer for it (mention it in your comment if you’re interested) by 5pm PST on Friday, March 25, 2011 - that’s who I’ll sell it to.

Edited in:
Highest offering has now ended. Congratulations to Diane P! This is such a thrill for me to send her this Love Pocket! Thank you to everyone for your generous offers. I wish I could show what my inbox looks like and show off all the kindness and generosity of others who have privately pledged donations. Look to the left. Look to the right. There’s a really, really, really good chance you’re looking at someone generous, giving and kind. When awful things happen… the stronger that goodness shines!

Posted in Do Something | 32 Comments

Why is it that every time March 17th rolls around, all I want to do is verbally accost strangers with a: “It’s manly, yes… but I like it too” and “Always after me Lucky Charms - they’re magically delicious!“?  I guess it’s my way of punching people who aren’t wearing green.

This year my good friend Pat Sloan has made it easier for me to expand my verbal répertoire with a copy of her Tour Ireland With Pat Sloan book from Leisure Arts.

It’s more than a quilt book - it’s a beautiful tour of Ireland.  Pat makes you feel like you’re actually there, and gives you a beautiful glimpse of Irish life and scenery (except that how dare she didn’t take you and left you stuck at home vacuuming and cleaning stale Cherrio’s out of cracks in your car’s seats). I’ve never been to Ireland - unless you count the one time when I was 12 and we stopped for refueling at Dublin’s airport… and Pat’s book is like going there without having to take a long flight!

Want a copy for yourself??  Hop on the Tour Ireland blog tour! Leisure Arts is generously going to give TWO lucky commenters each a copy of Tour Ireland With Pat Sloan from each one of the blogs on the tour:

Canton Village Quilt Works - Jackie Kunkel
Crazy Mom Quilts - Amanda Jean Nyberg
Happy Zombie - Monica Solorio-Snow
House of A La Mode - Heather Bostic
Leisure Arts - Cheryl Johnson
Let’s Sew! - Pat Sloan
Mrs. Schmenkman Quilts - Amy Lobsiger
Pam Kitty Morning - Pam Vieira-McGinnis

Please leave a comment by 11:59pm PST this Saturday, March 19th.  I’ll have random.org draw two names and announce the winners from my blog here on Sunday morning.  And by morning I mean around noon.

Edited in:
Apparently one is supposed to pinch - not punch. This is what happens when a post is drafted while watching Sons of Anarchy.

The winners!
Pat will announce all the winners from all the blogs - on to her blog early this week. Keep an eye on Pat’s blog!

Posted in Stuff | 248 Comments

The other day when I was criss-crossing the aisles at my local Safeway, I kept seeing these cute old gals - and they never moved, not once. I couldn’t help but wonder if this is how I’ll be tweeting with my pals when we reach our golden years.

I was tempted to bring them each some coffee - but instead… I snuck a pic of them! I think this photo is worth a thousands captions… but I can’t think of a one.

Because right now we could all use a good laugh or two.

Posted in I Heart Oregon | 51 Comments

Opportunities to serve my country comes in many ways, and last week I discovered that my friends Lissa Alexander, Polly Minick & Laurie Simpson and the good folks at Moda have started the Just One Star program.  An opertunity just perfect for quilters!  I’m a veteran and a quilter, so Just One Star touched me all the more deeply.  And because I love Polly, Laurie and Lissa so much… well that was gravy on top of gravy on top of a pot of gravy.  You can read all about Just One Star on Polly and Laurie’s blog here and here, and on Lissa’s blog here.

I am sooooooo crushing on Just One Star.  But like a potato chip, one is just impossible.

So I thought I’d make two… one in red and one in blue.

And it just snowballed from there.

I don’t even know how many I’m still working on at this point… but I’m loving every second of it.

I’m thinking of making the entire Minick and Simpson Flag of Valor quilt…

maybe two… and maybe one of them in a Happy Zombiesque red, white and aqua-blue twist (I figure I’m a veteran… I love red, white and aqua - surely I can’t be the only one), and then donating it to the Quilts of Valor Foundation.

For even MORE inspiration, visit Pam and Sherri - they’re Just One Star’n it too.  How ’bout you?!

Posted in Do Something | 30 Comments

Somewhere between the Baby Boomers and the Gen X’rs is my group - the Diana Generation.  We cut our hair like Diana (a complete failure for my friz-fro hair), we bought “Sloan Ranger” jackets, we traded in our Levi cords/Ditto jeans, biker shades and Wallaby shoes for preppy pleated pants, wild sweaters and sophisticated loafers.  We coveted any magazine that highlighted our Diana, watched every TV show and news report that featured Diana.   We stayed up into the wee hours of the night to watch her wedding, and recorded the event on VHS tapes - the cherished VHS tape… even though we not longer have VCR’s.   We even had our children around the same time Diana had hers. Diana, our Queen Bee.

As the People’s Princess, Diana was not bound by the United Kingdom’s boarders… Diana was everyone’s princess.  Diana didn’t just bestow us with her style and fashion - she taught us about humanitarianism, benevolence and charity - to take action, to think globally and to be good and active citizens of the world.  She taught us by example and her goodness will live forever. We morn her death so deeply - as if Diana was a close, personal friend.  And as mothers, in our hearts we feel like we became guardians of her children.  And now it’s as if one of our children is getting married.  What a fine young man Prince William is, and what a fine young woman Kate is.   That William is marrying the love of his life… that is just gravy.  William and Kate - our little love birds.

I LOVE royal kitsch. Love it. Put something royal or British on a plate or a dishtowel, add some swirly-ques and exaggerated cursive script… and I’m in. I thought I’d try my hand at making my own William and Kate wedding memorabilia, (because it’s much more fun than a saved VHS tape). I thought I’d share my embroidery with the rest us who didn’t get an invite to the weeding.  We’ll be going to Westminster Abbey via our TV’s and our stitcheries.

I don’t know if anyone will even care to make it, but I feel like sharing it. I ironed freezer paper to the back to make it easier to trace with a Micron pen and coloring in the shapes (with everyday Crayola crayons) while atop something tactile to give the tinting some texture.

Before stitching (2 strands of floss for entire project, 1 strand for the lettering in the talk bubbles) - I heat-set the coloring with an iron on high and using some cotton muslin to absorb some of the wax (and protect my iron).  I don’t know yet what I’m going to do with my stitchery, but I decided Camille and Bonnie’s Bliss would be the perfect fabric on so many levels to do it in. Though I still don’t know what “it” exactly is yet.

If you’d like to make the embroidery, you can download the Kiss me Kate PDF here.  Be sure to set your printer to print at “scale to fit” to print the entire image.

If you make the the Kiss me Kate embroidery and/or make something with it, please post your pics to the HZHQ flickr pool.   “Please” as in please-don’t-make-me-beg-you-please post your pics.

Posted in Make Something | 61 Comments