Happy Zombie

I don’t know how she travels so fast… but my little Mimi is now in Amsterdam!

Dear Mum,

I made it to Amsterdam, and while it was a fast trip here - I’m still in one piece and my travel box is still in great shape. Those UPS guys are great!

So much to see, so many places to go. I rented a bike because it’s the best way to travel here in Amsterdam. Everyone rides a bike or rides on a boat. Lots of interesting shops here, as well as some of the career choices. Everyone here is so nice and friendly, and lots of great little cafes. Here I am waiting for my espresso. Ahh… it’s so lovely to sit outside in this nice weather. I made a new friend, Deiter Van Puffmystuff. He’s inside getting my espresso. I wonder what’s taking him so long?

Deiter suggested we go inside so I could try something new. Deiter said my bobbin was wound too tight and said he has something to take care of that.

What was I saying? Dude, where’s my box! Man… I’m suddenly craving Cheez-It’s and Easy Mac. What’s happening to me? Hmmm… I’m really liking Amsterdam! I think Paris is my next destination. Or maybe it will be to Deiter’s flat… (I just can’t seem to take my eyes off his seam ripper)

Posted in Mimi's Adventures | 11 Comments

I got an email from my little Mimi. Apparently she found an internet cafe. Who knew she could type!

Dearest Mum,

I’m now in London. I’ve been told you’ve always wanted to go here and I feel kinda bad that I got to come before you did. Anyhoo… I found this lovely park and I decided to strech out and relax a bit. There’s a big clock behind me (I overheard someone call it by name… Big BOB I think). Dang thing is loud! How am I supposed to nap?

After my so called nap, my quest to meet The Queen began. I looked, and I looked, and I looked. No luck. Maybe she was busy vacuuming and queening the palace. I danno. I did find this guy, Mr. Pincushion Head. He wasn’t too friendly and didn’t answer me when I spoke to him. I even offerd to fix a busted seem in his pants that I saw from my vantage point (um, more like a DISadvantage point). Not even a “thank you” from the guy. I guess he figured his snazzy red jacket would keep his bangers and mash hidden.

I hope this email finds you well. My next stop is Amsterdam.
With love,
Mimi

Posted in Mimi's Adventures | 6 Comments

I got an email from Target.com telling me Mimi was on her way. And then I get a postcard from Mimi telling me as happy as she is to meet her new Mum… she’s taking a little detour on her way to Oregon. Something about “wanting to see the world”.

Dear Mum,

I’m so happy to be coming home to you. I’ve been told you will love me very much and take good care of me. I’m also very excited to be meeting my two new sisters - Elna and Lil Elna. I know you’re antisipating my arrival with excitement, but I do hope you will be understanding when I tell you I’m going to see the world first. I’ve been cooped up in a box for so long, and would really like to spread my wings a bit before coming home.

My first stop is not far from where I was born. Here I am in a little park in Bejing. As you can see, I’m being well cared for. Next stop - London! See you soon!

Love,
Mimi

PS… do you think this photo might have something to do with your blog being blocked here? Hmmm….

Posted in Mimi's Adventures | 10 Comments

Dear China,
Was it something I said?

Just linky good fun.

Posted in Stuff | 9 Comments

PKM sent me the most beautiful fabric (mailbox love), and unbeknownst to each other - were each making the same quilt from a little Japanese quilt book called “Square Patchwork”. Twins separated at birth. Check out PamKittyMorning to see her work of art!

If the fabic Pam sent me isn’t beautiful enough… look how it’s JUST MADE for the Hello Kitty sewing machine! A match made in heaven (or at least at Target and Windham fabrics). I think this little quilt will HAVE to be my new machine’s “blankie” when it comes. Oh yes… I’ve already adopted her from Target.com - last night as soon as I got home. Now I have to wait. And wait. And wait. I’m still thinking of a name for her. I’m leaning towards Mimi (HK’s twin sister - so few know about her and I think it’s high time she gets some props). That’s it… Mimi! Very fitting!

Posted in Quilty n Crafty, Mimi's Adventures | 12 Comments

I’ve died and gone to heaven. I don’t need it… I must have it! I found out about it here.

How did Target slip this Janome past me?

Love.

Love.

Bliss.

photo credit: Target

Posted in Stuff I like, Mimi's Adventures | 35 Comments

On my fabric folding quest, the quest to be organized… all it was was a plan. A plan for some day. My first step was to get all my fabric out of their Rubbermaid prisons and into my cupboards. Well that was easy cheezy (sans now I have to put all those Rubbermaid’s into the attic). So here you have it. Cupboard #1. The proverbial “BEFORE” shot. It’s been this way for well over a week. I could use the excuse I’ve been bit by a nasty flu bug, and, well, you know… it’s just an excuse. I figured hey, it’s behind closed doors so it must be nice and neat.

All that changed after Autum showed me what she’s done! Right there in my email were two of the most amazing BEFORE and AFTER photos of Autum’s glorious fabric stash transformation - a stashformation! Thinking our email chat was going to be about the weather and Lost… WOWIE ZOWIE she lit my fire! One cupboard. I’ll start with one cupboard! So here it is, my first cupboard! I want to get more shelves, but for now my colors will have to stack as they are.

I have to say, this was fun. Not so much the process, but knowing the end result was going to be magical. That’s really dorky (I’m borrowing that from Autum too), but it really is an amazing result. I know because my little girl power group of friends (MoKaCoCo as we call ourselves… Me, Karen, Connie “blop” & Cortne’) recently spent a few fun filled days refolding my friend Karen’s fabric (who I learned this folding method from) in her new studio. I wish I could show off some photos, but Karen’s studio is going to be featured in a mag so it’s all hush-hush for now and I could be thrown in the slammer if I did. You’ll just have to take my word for it that you’ll be in a When Harry Met Sally moment when you see it!

By looking at the first two photos, it looks like there’s the same amount of fabric. Oh not so mon ami! Hidden in all those piles was not just yardage… but fat quarters too! Lots and lots of fat quarters! Anything over ⅓ yard got folded with the 6½” ruler, anything below that - fat quarters and large scraps got folded with the 3½” ruler and put into one of the floor cupboards (that supports my work table).

A game of hide and seek, and I was “it”… all the little teenie tiny scraps got tagged and corralled into a little basket. Too precious and too usable to chuck - but too small to organize. So in a basket they went. I still can’t believe I found all these little gems hiding in my stash.

This is just one cupboard, and I have like five or six more cupboards to go. I feel like I’m on my way to my own little cotton bliss. Just looking at my neat fabric feels like that feeling you get when you walk into a Crate & Barrel or the Container Store - everything is just so tidy, colorful and pretty that it screams HAPPY. To have that feeling with my own stash is really something. If you’re reading this and think I’m Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs… well, you’re actually kinda right. BUT… if you give this a try, I promise you will love it. Come. Come and drink the fabric folding Kool-Aid. Start with say 10 pieces of fabric. Just ten. You’ll get to piece ten and you’ll say to yourself, “just a few more”. And so on, and so on, and so on…

Big gooey non-contagious-flu-bug-free smack of a kiss to Autum!

Posted in Quilty n Crafty, How I Live | 26 Comments

I’m feeling REALLY inadequate after seeing Heather Bailey’s studio. Sigh. My progress so far:

Posted in Stuff | 13 Comments

This is the fabric folding method I used in my re-do (BTW, not quite yet a re-DONE… but I’m getting there!). Anyhoo… I’m not sure if this is the exact way Lois Hallock does it (I have her book… I guess it’s time I read the words instead of just looking at the pictures!). This is how I learned it from my friend Karen when we folded her fabric in her new studio (and Karen learned it from Lois). So here’s what I do:

1) Place folded yardage with selvedge to your left, the fold to your right. Line up your ruler on the fold. I use a 6½” ruler, but you can use what ever size you like. You can also let your shelf size/space dictate what size you want to make it.

2) Next just start rolling up. Flipping over and over until you get to the end. Let the ruler be your guide. It doesn’t have to be super tightly wound, but you don’t want it to slip and slide either.

3) When you reach the end, your last flap my need to be turned under just a bit. Kind of like how you do when you wrap something in tissue paper.

4) Slide out your ruler and now fold the folded end to the selvedge end. Stack your fabrics with the fold facing you. I use the same method with fatquarters, but with a skinnier ruler (I used a 3½” ruler). I let my shelves dictate how I was going to roll/fold my FQ’s, and rolled them on the 18” width of the fabric so they’d rest nicely on my narrow shelves.

My yardage cupboards have deeper shelves so finishing with an 10”/11” final unit worked perfect for me. If you don’t have a neat piece of yardage to begin with (and boy do I have a lot of those), just fiddle with your piece so you and up with a nice folded unit with now raw edges visible.

I hope I made sense of this! If you’re like me - the pictures tell the story and not the words. Drink the fabric folding Kool-aid… you won’t regret it!   Some before and after photos here.

Posted in Quilty n Crafty, Fabric Folding, Tips & Trix | 45 Comments

Still a WIP… but it’s progress (and still a mess). Every blog I’ve ever visited shows their best photos. All nice and neat, all lit well, all very pretty. I feel that if I show the mess, the more movitated I am to get this done. Like telling the world I weigh blah, blah, blah and then say how much weight I’ve lost! Pretty comes at a price I guess - and this is how I make my payments. I’m really, really diggin’ the aqua. I had serious reservations about it since this is a north facing room. It really works Elizabeth and Anne (when you get the opportunity that is, E)! It makes everything look more pretty (just like you said Autum!), vibrant and colorful - especially red.

I actually have started on organizing my fabric. I’m using the Lois Hallock method of folding over a ruler. I must say, I LOVE doing this and it’s something I will be dedicated to doing once I’m done with the re-do (and more fabric mysteriously enters my domain). All I need is one day all to myself, a full pot of coffee, a box of Cheez-It’s and a hearty stack of archived Terry Gross/Fresh Air podcasts - and I’m good to go!

I have these small cheapo cabinets that I’ve picked up at Lowes and Target, and about 5 of these cabinets are being dedicated to fat quarters (they also work as “legs” for my work table). They work PERFECTLY for fat quarters. Miss Madison keeping a watchfull eye on me… making sure I don’t start something new before finishing what I’ve already started.

One cabinet down… four more to go.  These are all just miscellaneous fat quarters.  I have a long road ahead to get all my 30’s fat quarters prettied up! And after the fat quarters comes the yardage! I won’t even say how much cupboard space is dedicated to that! I’m actually looking forward to getting the yardage all folded and stacked. I know for certain that I will be more apt to use it -vs- buying more once it’s all pretty and neat. I don’t know how to describe it other then it “feels” like I have my own little quilt shop. Well… that could be true as I’ve been to a few small quilt shops that had less fabric then I did. Not saying I have too much… just saying these shops had too little.

Posted in Fabric Folding | 15 Comments