Tula Pink

This is the very first quilt have ever made for my own bed. It’s made entirely from rejected Neptune swatches. These are all of the pieces that didn’t quite work for one reason or another. Any of you who read my blog know I have a special fondness for all of the little fellers who don’t make it. There are a few of the cans I had made on Spoonflower too in there just for pizazz!

This is quite possibly my favorite quilt I have ever made for a lot of reasons. One, I like it because the process of making it was totally organic, I just kept sewing until it started to look like something. It’s like a suspense movie, I had no idea if I would have enough fabric or if would would work out in the end, it was built on pure faith.Two, I am a total control freak. My neurosis borders on debilitating at times so to let all that go made me feel like a better person, at least for a minute before I starting freaking out again. Oh ya, and it was also the inspiration for my Spiked Punch pattern. That’s two stories of how things came to be: the humble beginnings of Neptune and Spiked Punch. I just love a happy ending, don’t you?

By the way, I redesigned my blog a little bit so you may have to empty your cache or history and reload the sucker if you want to see the new look.

I just got wind of this a minute ago. Over at Jolly Jabber they are auctioning off quilts and stuff to raise some $$$ to help out the Haitians. Lissa Alexander over at Moda Fabrics made this Neptune quilt that she has donated to the auction. It’s super cute and you should totally have it so go bid on it. After she made this quilt I liked it so much that I made one too. So if you get it then we can be like sisters, unless you’re weird, then we’ll just be cousins or something.

Bottom line is this- you get something cool, some people you don’t know get stuff they need, I think you’re awesome and the Karma gods owe you one which is always good. I am not really seeing a down side here.

Okay, so here is the dilemma, not tragic but still it’s something that deserves a little attention. I am doing this super huge color-wheel quilt from Joelle Hoverson’s Last Minute patchwork and Gifts book. I made one and it was so cute I decided to make three more and make it a Queen size quilt. It’s ginormous! Of course that wasn’t enough and I am going through this Victorian phase so I added these little cameo cutie silhouettes. For me a project is not complete unless it has some animals in it. It was all going just fine until I got to the last wheel. I have a puppy, a squirrel and a bunny. The dilemma is this, what goes in the last wheel?

I think y’all will be helpful and maybe think of something I haven’t thought of.

By the way, if you haven’t made this quilt you should. It is super easy, goes really fast and looks totally amazing. I used a bit from Full Moon Forest, Flutterby, Nest and Neptune with white and gray background pieces. I have seen a lot of people make it a ton of different ways. It always looks good, it’s just one of those great designs that can’t be messed up. I wish I had thought of it, but I didn’t so I will just have to settle with making it over and over again. That is the plight of envy I guess.

So my bloggy friends, Pamela and Lindsey, let me know about this Hollywood Nest sighting. I don’t have TV so I missed it. I immediately downloaded the episode from Itunes and there it is! Nest on TV! Apparently in the world of Monk, egg eating champions who may also be suspected of jealousy induced vandalism hi-jinx have very chic curtains in their homes! Who would have thunk it? Hot Pink curtains go very nicely with criminal tendencies. I never did get past the curtains to find out if he did it or not. I think he did. A fictional person with that much style is definitely up to no good. The episode is called “Mr. Monk and the Lady” if you want to check it out. You can watch it for free here. It’s about 25 minutes into the episode and it glares on the screen. It’s hard to miss.

So now that my little pink Nest Eggs are famous she has a big attitude. It was bound to happen. Her 4 minutes of fame went straight to her head. Now I am expected to drive her around to all kinds of casting calls and she is on a special low carb diet.

Oh wait… I know what you really came here for. You want to know who won the Honey Bun? Well, I am so excited about Neptune’s pending release that I decided to give out a few charm packs as well. So here it goes.

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The Winners are…

Denise- Honey Bun

Can you believe I never knew the difference between a jelly roll and a honey bun until now? Thanks for educating me! lol And I am in love with “Neptune”….anchors make me smile! =0) Thanks

Stefanie- Charm Pack

Glad that you are back with us! I would love to win your Neptune honey bun! The colors are “swimmingly” beautiful!

Heather- Charm Pack

Hi there! Hey little hunnybun! I would love to win those cuties, so here is my comment! Thanks and wish me luck!

Bridget B.- Charm Pack

I love the stump and ax, of course I love the fabric, but that stump is so cute. If stumps can be cute that is.

Kristi S- Charm Pack

I would LOVE to win this…pick me..pick me!!

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Email me your address and I will get these in the mail to you pronto. Thanks for playing my game and making me feel loved!

It’s like a little slice of life! And it could be all yours. A Honey Bun is like a Jellyroll only smaller and cuter.  It has 40 1.5 in x 42 in strips of every piece in Neptune. How exciting is that! All you gotta do is leave me a comment and I will randomly pick someone to receive this little treasure. You will love it and I will love you. Don’t worry you don’t have to be clever, even though it will make me smile and that should be reward enough. So bring it on and win some free stuff. I will keep taking entries until Friday the 13th, because that sounds totally ominous and fun. I will announce the winner the following Monday, the 16th of February. Happy commenting! P.S. Some of you may have noticed that the entry changed a little. That is because I accidentally deleted it. Don’t fret, those of you who have already entered are still entered. Sorry, I am a nerd sometimes in my haste to do things and end up creating chaos. All is well now.  

Where have I been? What have I been doing? Don’t I love you anymore? These are all valid questions. I have left the bright lights and big hair of Dallas and made my way to a quieter place. The people of this little town call it Stewartsville but I have renamed it in my honor. Welcome to Pinkerville! I moved into the little farm house down the road from my Mom. This will be the fourth state I have lived in in less than 3 years. Change is obviously not something I fear any longer, that and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

I have done the big city thing, the suburb thing, the college town thing now it’s time to tackle the small town thing. I haven’t been here long but I have learned a lot. I have learned how to drive on ice and consequently fear for my life and the life of others every time I get behind the wheel. I have learned that mice travel in herds and they really like avocados, I have bought more groceries for them than I have for myself. I have learned that there are not enough words in the English language to describe a dramatic drop in temperature, all though the ones that do exist are mostly of the four letter variety. I have learned how to make my own coffee, since the nearest Starbucks is more than 20 miles away. I didn’t even think that was possible, I stand corrected. Most importantly I have learned that two little girls with big blue eyes that call me big sister can get me to do absolutely anything (no matter how uncomfortable crawling on all fours making pony noises can be).

Aside from my on going battle with nature I have been very busy. I am working on some new fabrics and making a ton of stuff that I will be sharing in some upcoming posts including a few projects for magazines that will coincide with the release of Neptune. To keep myself busy I am helping my Mom out at her Quilt Shoppe. So if you need any fabric cut and find yourself in the Northwest Missouri area then stop by and see me, I am there almost every day.

So here it is! I am so proud of this collection that I could spit, if spitting didn’t totally gross me out. I have been making tons of stuff out of this and can’t wait to actually finish something so I can show it to you. I suppose you have already guessed the theme, it’s dogs! Just kidding. I grew up on the coast so this is especially special to me. It feels like home. I am landlocked here is Dallas so Neptune is a little tribute to what I miss most about California, the ocean. It was freakin’ cold so I didn’t go in it all that much but I looked at it a lot and that’s gotta count for something, right? Neptune will be hitting the shops in March. It will give you something to look forward to through the winter.

Even Jane voted! Just kidding she is obviously too young. I was going to post a picture of me voting but Jane is sooooooo much cuter. She even brought a cookie! What a prepared little patriot. I brought a whole bunch of writing to work on in line and then found out that almost everyone in Dallas County voted early and breezed right through.

Anywhoo, I am not going to talk politics because I firmly believe in the separation of craft and state but I will say this… Voting is super cool, it makes you look younger, thinner and taller like vertical stripes. You should do it even if it’s just because all of the other kids are doing it.

I am really only posting because I think Jane is the cutest and thought you should all get a look at her.

This is a picture of the quilt I made for Neptune. I am really excited about it and I think it’s my best quilt ever. I worked on it with Lissa Alexander, the marketing director for Moda, and it turned out awesome. It is hanging in our booth which had a bake shop theme and was devastatingly adorable, if you ask me.

Below is my new collection of quilting cottons, Neptune. I am super excited about this group and can’t wait for y’all to get your crafty little hands on it. I think this may be my best yet. I will be giving the full details here shortly. I just need a moment to catch my breath.

So Quilt Market has come and Gone. I am about ready to fall asleep right here at my desk. If I have keyboard marks on my forehead please just ignore them. With all of the excitement of meeting and greeting, selling and smiling I am left with only a few pictures to my credit but possibly of the most important event that took place at the Moda booth this fall.

That’s right, I am talking about Applesauce Ball 2008! The question burning in every-one’s mind is this… What do a bunch of designer’s do after 5 days without sleep, a wide open space and a bag of apples? No, it’s not a riddle it’s simply a series of circumstances that lead to the inevitable.

mmmmm. Tastey!

Naturally we play baseball with them. It took us a few tries to actually hit one, like I said we are “designers” not athletes. Once we did it was sweet apple pie for everyone! The unexpected burst of tiny apple bits flying everywhere was more than enough to put our giggles over the edge after a long week. Several innings later we were left only with these small remnants and a sore pitching arm.

Oh the aftermath!

This is what happens when the doors close and we are left to our devices on anything but our best behavior. We had 3 hours to pack up our gigantic booth and be back on a plane to Dallas, which got cancelled, and in our offices 12 hours later. I wait months for Quilt market to come and then it all seems to be over in a blink. Now I can barely move and if I happen to spell any of this right or complete a coherent sentence than I will consider today a success.