I've tagged myself

Heather Mulder Peterson has offered up her newest book to the first 5 people who tag themselves. I willingly signed up! I've always been a fan of her patterns and color combos and can't wait to see Stop, Drop and Roll.

Here are 6 or 7 random facts about me:

1. I also played softball in high school. I wasn't that great but our team overall was excellent for our league. I was an outfielder, mostly left field. Never broke a bat though.

2. Speaking of sports, I also have varsity letters in track (the thought of me sprinting around a track makes me want to laugh now), basketball and football cheerleading (is this a sport? maybe not). I was on the volleyball team my freshman year and only after that switched to cheerleading. Mostly, I miss the fabulous legs I had then.

3. My six month old daughter has already been on 3 continents. I actually highly recommend traveling with them at this age. They can't walk or crawl and can sleep in the stroller. I'm typing this from Prague, where I'm living for a couple of months. I know, lucky me! It's for DH's work.

4. I went to the coolest quilt/craft convention ever in Melbourne, Australia. It is called The Stitches & Craft Show. It was so worth getting soaking wet in the rain to get in. (It was raining cats & dogs!) There were fabulous supplies, including some indie fabric screenprinters, spectacular classes which I'm still disappointed that I didn't take, beautiful quilts on display, lectures, and other inspiring goodies. We totally have to copy this concept in the US. I will make a future blog post about it when I get home in June.

5. Until I was in college, I had only been in 4 states, no further west than Des Moines and no further east than Dixon, IL. We took annual vacations to northern Minnesota which I loved. My parents don't travel a lot, which is a total understatement.

6. My secret dream (ok not so secret now) is to design fabric. I think I could do it. I'm obsessed with pattern and color. Will I ever have the courage to pursue it, even if it goes nowhere?

7. I'm realizing how much I thrive in a structured schedule even though I don't think of myself that way. Somehow I find it comforting and reassuring. Go figure!

I don't know who to tag. I like that Heather did it voluntarily, so I'll do it that way too. I feel a bit uncomfortable that I might be imposing otherwise. Let me know if you want to share! I would love to hear from you!!

I can't wait to actually sew

I feel like I've taken a 1 year hiatus from quilting, and I practically have. However, fabric "collecting" has been in full stride. I've even got fabric waiting for me at home in the mail. LOL

I've got more fabric than I can use and need to go on a fabric diet. (Not a starvation diet though...) I just can't help it. With every season comes more and more fabric I love.

I need to work on the Sonnet quilt from long ago, finish the quilt-a-long quilt, and I have a layer cake of Chic or Treat waiting to be made with this quilt pattern I picked up while in Australia.

Park City Girl's Quilt Festival

This post is for Park City Girl's Quilt Festival, which by the way is a fabulous idea!

My favorite quilt is the one I made for my daughter, now 6 months old. It is hanging on the wall in her bedroom.

It started when I bought a set of Freshcut fat quarters, mostly the peach-y fabrics. I thought immediately that they would make a great quilt if I ever had a little girl. DH and I had said we were going to try having a baby about a half year prior to the release of that fabric. Nothing had happened yet, but over time, I collected some additional fabrics, figured out what pattern I would use, and started cutting out pieces.

Still, no LO on the way. Eventually, enough time went by (2 years) with nothing happening that we began fertility treatments. By this point I had started slowly sewing blocks together. It was the 3rd treatment cycle, and 2 1/2 years after starting to get pregnant, that finally worked (and I'm thankful because I've heard so many people tried much much longer). Needless to say, the news that I was finally pregnant spurred me on to finish the quilt. It's one of those things that I think represented how much I hoped to have my daughter even when I got down about not being pregnant for month after month. I'm not really sure why, but in my heart I always thought I would have her. I think she already likes the quilt as she will look at it when I hold her in the rocking chair in front of it.




All this talk is making me wish I was home. I never took a photo of her room so what I've got to post is the pic of it right before it went to the quilter.

I can't wait to read all the posts about favorite quilts!

A little bit homesick, in a good way

So still no sewing for me, but I have been dreaming of sewing things. I've been without a sewing machine since early Feb, and will be through May. I've been traveling the world, collecting lots of goodies (mostly fabric!) along the way. Plus the fall I was so busy with my new baby daughter, then with all the packing and wrapping up my life to be gone for a while. I'm so jealous to look at everyone's blogs and see all the neat things they are making.

New Fabric studio

I just heard of this new fabric studio called Studio E. I'm going to have to keep an eye out for their fabrics. I like what I see so far. I have no idea where to find a shop that carries them.