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.

I made a little Polaroid collage for you. Why? because I love you of course. Next week I will post the whole group. Until then I will enjoy what little power I have left. Holding this back hurts me more than it hurts you, for real.

Flutterby is about to arrive in stores so I thought it necessary to redecorate a little bit. I know you all have been having fun with fat quarters and charm packs but it’s time to get down to business with some serious yardage. I mean really, why should I be the only one? It hardly seems fair. To accompany this great overhaul I designed myself a pretty new logo (see above). It won’t fit on a selvage so I’m not sure where I will use it but still, it’s nice. Since childhood I have always suspected I was the last descendant of some long lost line of royal heritage, a forgotten princess perhaps? Still believing this delusion I decided to make the logo crest-like befitting a lady of my supposed station, with feathers like the wings of the angel I am. Don’t laugh mom, I’m totally serious.

So I heard about this selvage pillow thing and I thought it was a great idea. “How cute” I thought, “a giant selvage!” Oh the embarassment when I found out that the “selvage Pillow” was actually a pillow made out of selvages and not a giant smooshy cartoon version of itself. By this time it was much too late and the deed was done. How could I tell my new little friend that it was not like the others? Like all good parents I decided to ignore it’s deformity and pretend that everything was okay. I tell it how lovely it is and that the other kids are just jealous when it gets made fun of for being, you know, different. For real though, denial is the spice of life.

This pillow ended up being exactly the length of my couch, about 65 inches which also makes it a good dance partner when no one is around and the mood strikes me.

I know it’s a little late in the season for this but I thought I might share a little bit ‘o neck candy with y’all. I have a pension for scarves, I make them often and frequently accept them as gifts. By the way that is a hint if you are looking for a very special present for a very special me. This one was made for my nearest and dearest. The middle part is crocheted. Since I don’t “technically” know how to crochet I have to bind it like a quilt or else it just looks wrong. I do my best to compensate for my shortcomings. Then I just sew fabric to the ends of the crochet part, this is usually when my mind starts to wonder and the project ends. Side note: For all of you who live in or around Dallas I have to let you in on my little secret. The Shabby Sheep is this adorable yarn shop in Uptown. The ladies at the Sheep are the first friends I made in Dallas. They are lovely people and so is their shop. If you live around here you should check it out. They just started carrying fabric too! If you happen to see a disheveled girl in pajamas with black rimmed glasses, say hi, it’s probably me!

The following is about giving much deserved recognition to the little guys that didn’t quite make the cut. There are so many decisions that go into a final collection. Sometimes you just have to let go. As an avid supporter of the underdog I find myself a little saddened by their exclusion. Of course if my collection could have a hundred fabrics in it there would still be a hundred more that my heart would desperately want to include. Alas this is not a possibility. Some of my favorite strike offs end up on the design room floor, dropped but not forgotten. Please join me in a moment of silence…

Diamonds are forever ladies. I don’t actually have any but I have seen some and they look like they’ve got a real will to survive. So this quilt pattern is now officially available for download. It’s really easy I promise.

Download Me!

Please accept this funny picture of Floppy the family Bull as my sincere apology for having nothing to show this week. I am sick and more importantly I am a big wimp when I feel even the slightest amount of discomfort. So this is all I have to offer.

This is supposed to be like the end of a DVD when you have seen what it’s all about and then they go back and show you how it’s all made. Well I don’t use much CGI or make any clay models but I am pretty good with a marker. I wouldn’t mind having a team of people researching the best possible way to make a wing out of abstract lines and shapes, not to mention the added bonus of having someone else go get my coffee. Alas, it is only me and a stack of nature books picked up here and there.

So these are the initial sketches and reference for Flutterby. From here were more sketches, then actual drawings, then scanning and formatting, some redrawing, digital renderings, a bit of color here a little pink there. Some very big decisions are made and off it goes. It’s all terribly glamorous. It’s like being a rock star only the apartment is smaller, I have to drive my own car and my mom is the only one that ever tries to take my picture. Otherwise… exactly the same.