Tula Pink

I am putting my vanity aside for just a moment to show you something that I didn’t make. For the record I am green with envy. It is so ridiculously cute that I can hardly stand it. If Erin wasn’t my best friend I would probably pull a Tanya Harding on her and knee cap her. But then where would I go for pizza and movies? When the strike off samples came in for this I fell. in. love. Nothing but the actual fabric could really do this group justice, the colors are so fresh. I secretly want to redecorate my apartment with it, make a bunch of clothes and bags and maybe just roll around in it when no one is looking. The samples were sitting in the design room at Moda for weeks and I would go in and pet it, talk to it and try to coerce it into thinking it was mine, to no avail.  I mean really, look at it! Paint by number deer! paint palette polka dots! wacky citrus colored wood grains! A-maz-ing. One person should not be allowed to have that much style. It’s unfair.

Lush will be hittin’ your hot little hands in December. I am going to beg borrow and steal to get it a touch earlier. I know Erin gets advance yardage so maybe I will invite myself over with a pair of scissors and a large bag. Erin is one of those awesome people that can’t comprehend her own genius so maybe she won’t put up a fuss.

Lumberjacks and 90’s grunge rockers would have had a lot more dating possibilities if their button-ups were made of this kick-awesome flannel. Who needs plaid when you can rock some hot pink swirls or electric teal bird shaped foliage. I mean really, I would be way more into spending time with a forest ranger if he looked as stylish and sensitive, in a masculine way, as shown through his shrewd sense of fashion.Anywhoo, here is my new line of Nesty flannels. Get cozy, enjoy! 

Another collection down the pipeline and yet another batch of wayward cast offs. Some of my favorite pieces are in here. The ones I seem to like the most are the ones that don’t play well with others. Every time I go through this I feel like I am breaking up with the ones that didn’t make the cut. I try to spend more time with them and explain that it’s really not their fault. Maybe in a different place at a different time under different circumstances, things could be more between us. I tell them that I still want to be friends and promise to make them into something really special, a one of a kind piece for a one of a kind fabric. It quiets their rumbles for a while and makes me feel like a descent person, for a while.

p.s. sorry about the drama up there. I have been in one of those moods.

I’ve got it bad! I can’t stop making these little hexagons. The are seducing me from my little project bag across the room.  They whisper my name and beg me to make just one more, then it’s “well just keep going until the thread runs out”. This can’t be natural or maybe I’ve been watching too many sci-fi movies, both are possibilities. What are they you ask? They are little paper hexagons that fit a charm pack perfectly. The only drawback is that they come in packs of 25 or 150 and charm packs come with 40 pieces. It’s sort  of like that whole hot dog /bun conspiracy but I won’t get into that here. I don’t even eat hot dogs but I reserve the right to be upset about it anyway.

Sorry for the detour. So you take these little paper hexagons and wrap a charm square around it and losely stitch down the corners. It is so satisfying! they are perfect every time with oh-so-little effort. I’m a line it up, make it match kind of girl so the precision is intoxicating. It’s going to take me forever to finish (because I am dead set on doing the whole thing by hand, we’ll see how long that lasts) but I’ll keep you updated on my progress. I am making this one out of Full Moon Forest, Flutterby and Nest. The first two collections are hard to come by at this point so I had to do a little bargaining with my mom to get her to release some of her stash. That woman drives a hard bargain.

So if I were my own sovereign nation, let’s call me Pinkerland, this would be my flag. All of my people, so far that’s me, would wave it proudly and without shame. The bumble bee would be Pinkerland’s national mascot. All of my Olympic athletes would wear pink track suits with red stripes and tease their hair up into beehives. You are all welcome to join or better yet start your own nations and then we can have summits to discuss international issues. We could stand for things like cake for breakfast, sleeping in and shopping beyond our budget. We could also stand for painting our (rented) apartment living room walls hot pink with giant flowers.

Yes, that is a peek at my living room, much to the dismay of my no longer refundable security deposit. When you move every year you tend to be more “experimental” with your decorating. I think the quilt will look nice on my couch. It will be like a giant banner when you enter my apartment that says “hey I’m a narcissist, wanna hang out and talk about me?” Anywhoo, Pinkerland is a lovely place. I think my air conditioning is broken so the  climate isn’t that great but the food is cheap and the conversation is good.

The crazy whirlygig of fun called “Quilt Market” is over and the act of recovery has commenced. I have been out of touch for while and it’s because I have been here (see above). the cabin is something like 100 years old so it looks a little shabby but I think the umbrella on the deck gives it that added touch of tropical flair. It’s a happy umbrella. Time spent without electricity or phone service can really change a person. It gives a girl some time to reflect, to ponder the larger picture. This is what I came up with… I really truly need things like ipods, laptops, hair dryers, flat irons, a blender would be nice ooo oh and light, I really really like light, my sewing machine, heating and air conditioning, you see where I am going with this? It was a lovely break from reality and gave me ample time to unwind from all the “excitement”. I ended up doing a lot of hand sewing, I will be sharing the fruits of that labor in the near future. I read a bunch and lounged a bunch. I had long drawn out conversations with friends that would not have otherwise occurred. A majority of the time was spent observing the dogs and all of their shenanigans. The dog to human ratio was 1 to 1 so there a lot tension regarding couch space. All in all a successful trip even without the comfort of the mind numbing digital distractions I have become accustomed to. What can I say, I’m a 21st century kind of girl.

SIDE NOTE: I came home to a mountain  of emails asking me where my pictures from quilt market are. Well there aren’t any. boo. Unless I snap a few pics on my bathroom break there really isn’t any time for that. I arrived in Portland three days before it opened to help set up Moda’s monster huge booth. By the time Friday rolled around my vision had already begun to blur and my knees were a tad shaky. During Market I help sell fabric for Moda from opening to closing. Nights are generally for recovery but this time I was holed up in my hotel room working on my next fabric collection which I am a little late turning in, oops! There may have been some sort of on stage singing incident at the Moda party but I was in no shape to be recklessly snapping pics. So that’s my story. I am sorry if I let you down. Next time I will have the room service guy take pictures of me in pajamas soaking my tired feet in the bathtub. It will probably be more uncomfortable for him then it will be for me. But I will do it for you. Because I love you.

Who’s a winner? besides all of you of course… My Mom is! My spunky yet sophisticated and adorable mom is going to be one of the 10 featured shops in American Patchwork & Quilting’s Quilt Sampler magazine. She owns a quilt shop in Stewartsville, Missouri appropriately named “The Quilt Shoppe” (I like a woman who gets right to the point). I wonder what fabric she will use for the quilt that represents her store? hmm… Oh that’s right, MINE! She is a very loyal Mommy and I love her for that. Once the Magazine comes out in September she will be selling kits for the above masterpiece in her store as well as online. She bought oodles of Nest to stock along with my other collections. Psst… she still has some Full Moon Forest and Flutterby left for those of you who need a little of this or that. I have a feeling she has been hording it in the back room which I fully condone because she gave birth to me. I think that entitles her to certain things. Anwhoo, let’s all say a big hooray for my Mom! I am proud of you because you are RAD and I love you because you are AWESOME!

The quilt is called Empty Nest Syndrome, obviously made from my new collection, Nest. She fussy cut all of the little nest eggs for the star centers. See how the bottom right star is empty? Isn’t she the cutest! The quilt pays homage to all of us wild youngsters who have flown the coup and left our moms with no one to clean up after.

Well kids, I am off to Quilt Market. I leave for Portland in a few hours and I will miss you all terribly. This time I will have some serious arm candy. I bought a bag from DrakaB Design’s Etsy Shop a while back and fell. in. love. She is my new favorite person. The radical pink one in front is for me, of course, and the sassy little green one in the back is a present for my Mom. She has been instructed not to read the blog until after market but I get my lack of patience from her so we’ll see. If you are going to be in Portland and you see this awesome pink bag then say hi to me (I will be the one carrying it). If you see the green bag then say hi to my mom. She will love it and most likely tell you all sorts of embarrassing tid bits about my teenage years. She loves that.

Anywhoo… See you in a week!

As a fabric industry outsider this was about the coolest thing I had ever seen, my first time at Moda. This machine, called a double and roller, goes a million miles a minute and rolls a fifteen yard bolt faster than, well, a really fast thing. The lovely men and women who work these wonder things keep pictures of their families and friends taped to back of it. I think it’s so they have something to focus on or else they would all get dizzy and fall over. That would really slow down production not to mention the added cost of fanning and smelling salts. I thought it would be safer if they wore seat belts but they weren’t very receptive to the idea of being literally “tied” the their jobs. I have thought it over and I get that now.

Hey Kids. Sorry for the tardiness but there is a really good reason…

Sigh, no there isn’t I’m just lazy. In an effort to make amends I am finally posting the whole group. Yay! Birds are fun! This flock is in the hands of Moda’s able sales reps as we speak, so if you want it you better tell your shop NOW! so they can order it and it can be in your crafty little hands by August. It’s only a couple of months, no big deal right? I knew you could handle it. I got a little ahead of myself with this one, I was excited. You have no idea how painful it is to sit on this kind of information. It’s like having a baby, naming her, dressing her up all cute then hiding her from everyone you know and pretending like she doesn’t exist. That would just be weird and maybe illegal.