Big Time Retail Therapy

I know that my posting around here continues to be sporadic and I don't see that changing until well into the new year, unfortunately. My job has been soul crushing as of late and I still have a couple more months of insanity ahead of me. Sadly, that means that I haven't been able to relieve my stress much with my sewing machine and I miss it. My sewing life has come to a screeching halt. Check out the sad little assembly line of diaper bags that I have going on in my dining room...

They're all cut, pressed and ready for sewing but they've been driving my wonderful and amazing husband crazy just sitting on our barstools, untouched for weeks. I can't blame him. So what does a girl consistently working until 2 AM do to help keep the creative juices flowing? Shop for fabric, of course!

I took full advantage of some of the Black Friday sales and scooped up a ton of fabric. Literally, if I weighed it all I think it would be a ton! Some of it was stash building but a lot of it has a purpose.

I am attempting to make my nieces dresses as a gift for the holidays. I picked up the super cute Kyoto pattern during a liquidation sale and I spent some time over Thanksgiving picking out just the right fabrics for each. I'm planning to make the same dress for both of them, just using different fabrics. Rilyn's is going to be green. I'm using the Urban Circus Giraffe print on the skirt and the floral green for the top. Then the cranberry Heirloom fabric will be the obi.

When I spotted the Pernillas Journey elephant print I knew that had to be Emerson's skirt. The yellow Heirloom print will be the top and the grey Silent Cinema print will be her obi.

I also picked up a couple patterns for myself. I know there is no way I'm going to get around to making anything for me until at least February but the patterns were on sale and so were the fabrics. Eventually I will make the Liverpool shirt for me. I just can't decide which fabric to use. What do you think? Heather Bailey or Jay McCarroll?

The rest are intended for the stash, although on a few prints I did order multiple yardage because I really want to use them to make myself some new dresses. I really want to get back to a little garment sewing in the new year. So I'm going to suspend Triple 'T' Tuesdays an the Little Stitches Sew-Along until 2012. I promise they'll come back. But I want them to come back when I can focus on making them regular and consistent postings. But I promise I'm not disappearing entirely until then. I'll be around. I think I'd go a little insane without my blog and all my sewing friends out there.

I Spy Pulls

This weekend I dove into my stash to pull my novelty prints for Natalie's "I Spy Rainbow" blocks for do. Good Stitches. Much to my surprise I had a lot more fabrics than I thought I did that would be appropriate for the "I Spy" portion of the quilt.

Seriously, I am not that into whimsy but I guess I do tend to purchase a few "cutsey" prints when I see ones that I like thinking that I will incorporate them into quilts for my friend's babies someday. But I had no idea I could come up with that many appropriate prints.

I looked at colors that some of the other members in our circle had pulled from their stashes and I narrowed down my pile to something more manageable using colors that I think we're thin on in our group.

I am definitely taking Aqua (flowers) and Red (Tufted Tweets) for my two blocks but I think that I might make more than the required two. I might also have to make a Blue block with the elephants and a Lime block with the Jay McCarroll Woodland Wonderland and if I have time I might cut into the Mendocino, Far Far Away II and Owls. Now I just need to find my coordinates. Remember, Natalie is hosting a block drive so if you want to join in the fun and donate blocks of your own to make these preemie quilts hop on over to her blog and get all the details. You can send her blocks anytime from now until the end of October!

Kauai Recap and a Catch Up

The sweet and adorable husband and I had a wonderful time on Kauai last week. We returned relaxed and sunkissed. When we travel it's usually adventure travel to developing nations spending a month or more on the road exploring. This was very different. This was a vacation. We laid on secluded beaches, drank Mai Tais by the pool, hiked part of the Na Pali Trail. It was a little slice of heaven. I actually got through over 300 pages of my book. It felt so good to read again. And I even managed to get in a little sewing. I made these lovelies for my SUTK swap project while I was there...

And, of course, we did a little fabric shopping to add to our travel fabric collection...

The Hawaiian prints aren't really my thing but it was appropriate. I think the majority of the prints are going to go into a beach quilt and the leftovers will get added into the travel fabric stash because, frankly, I don't see how they're going to fit in with the rest of the ethnic fabrics we've picked up in our travels.

And to continue my catch up posts of pictures on that camera I was finally able to download I'd like to share the package I received from Shruti in the last round of the UHG Swap. Again, I am sorry that I am so late in sharing everything. Shruti took my love for solids and made me this colorful package!

She made me a really neat sewing utility belt that says "sew" and has three awesome pockets to store my scissors, thread, rulers, or anything else I need readily handy while I'm working.

Check out the cute little details...

And the detachable pincushion is so creative...

She also sent me a cheery mini quilt to adorn my sewing space and some cool fabrics from her home in India.

Thank you so much Shruti!

Fabric Junkie

Hi. My name is Hollie and I am a Fabric Addict.

Yesterday, as I was out running errands, I decided to stop by the Urban Craft Center. I hadn't been there in a while - probably since Sew Modern opened. I had an agenda, really I did. I was looking for true green and yellow fabric. I wanted a little more true green for the May blocks for the Hope Circle (which I am finishing today) and I wanted a little more yellow fabric for the project that I'm making my secret partner in the SUTK swap but I left with this...

Yikes! Okay. Okay.It's really not as bad as it looks. Most of the cuts are only 1/2 yard cuts and I did get a couple of them at 50% off. All of them are earmarked for something, I swear. I'm not just stash building. But it did make me realize how much I am in love with Amy Butler's Midwest Modern line. It took everything in me not to buy up yards and yards of the entire line.

Fabrics from left to right: Amy Butler Midwest Modern Martini in Yellow, Lauren & Jessi Jung Hideaway Gingham Sun, Momo It's a Hoot Trees Marshmallow Banana, Momo It's a Hoot Eggs Banana, Amy Butler Midwest Modern Happy Dots Apricot

The gorgeous yellows are going into the project I am making my partner in the SUTK swap. I think they'll compliment the other fabrics I've already pulled from my stash very well. I'm really excited about this project.

Top Row Fabrics from left to right: (All are Amy Butler from her Midwest Modern line) Martini Lime, Happy Dots Yellow, Honeycomb Green, Martini Green, Honeycomb Ice, Garden Maze Green

Bottom Row Fabrics from left to right: Sandi Henderson Meadowsweet Chain Flower, Erin McMorris Park Slope Light and Dark Coral Flowers on Lime

The romantic greens I pulled for the pillow I'm making my secret partner for PTS5. It doesn't hurt that green is also my favorite color, so I might have gone a little overboard but they're so pretty!

Top Row Fabrics from left to right: Bella Summer Sky, Bella Costal, Kona Regatta, Kona Evening

Bottom Row Fabrics from left to right: Momo Just Wing It Trees in Water, Momo Just Wing It Stripe in Water, Keiki Tweet Tweet Trees Sky

Then I made the mistake of heading back to the solids. I have been planning to participate in my very first QAL hosted by the fabulous Natalie of Threaded Mess. She's just started a QAL base on her awesome new quilt pattern Marshmallow Brochette. This quilt is so super cute. Anyone want to join me? You can find the QAL here and her Flickr group here. It's not to late to join in. Her quilt is all solids but I thought I might mix it up a little. I've got some ideas. The tree fabric is for the back of the quilt but check out that subtle stripe-y fabric. Isn't it great?

Michael Miller Holiday Prints Joy

Lastly I did find one more true green on the sale rack and although it's technically a holiday fabric I think it doesn't scream "Christmas!" So there you have it. I confess I am a bad, bad girl but my intentions are good. Now it's time to create. Happy stitching my lovelies!

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day

Aloha from Kaua'i! If you found my blog through Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day, Welcome! If you like it here I hope you stick around. First I have a quick order of business before I get on to the fun. We're looking for a few good Quilters to join us in the do. Good Stitches Bee. For those of you who don't know, do. Good Stitches is an amazing charity bee on Flickr. There are now several circles running. Each circle benefits a different charity making quilts for children in need. I have been hosting the Hope Circle which benefits Threading Hope, a charity that gives quilts to kids all over the world. Check out our Flickr group for more details. And if you're interested in becoming a Quilter for the Hope Circle email me directly.

Now for what you've all been waiting for... It's Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day and although I might be recharging my batteries on the beach with a Mai Tai I didn't want to miss out on all the fun. During my retail therapy spree last week I picked up some fabrics that I thought might be good stash builders and I bought enough to share! I thought these fabrics would make particularly cute bindings but if you're the lucky winner you can do anything you want with them. And who doesn't want some new fabric to add to their stash?

Included in the giveaway is a half yard of each fabric: Pop Garden Zag Stripe in Yellow, Sugar & Spice Stripe in Red/Turquoise, Sweet Nothings Diamonds in Green, Ta Dot in Sunny Yellow, Nicey Jane Slim Dandy Stripes in Pink, 20 Sharps, a spool of 100% White Cotton thread and 5 machine quilting needles. That's 2.5 yards of fabric and some essentials for good measure.

It's easy to enter. All you need to do is leave me a comment and tell me what you think you might do with all the loot. That's it. Easy, right? One entry per person. International entries welcome. If you're a no reply blogger please remember to leave me a way to contact you. The giveaway ends at 11:59 PM, Sunday, May 29th. I'll let Random Number Generator make his pick and announce the winner when I get home on Monday, May 30th. Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

A New Winner

First things first. Unfortunately B' never responded to me so I had to pick a new winner of the Daisy Janie Shades of Grey fat quarter set. Mr. Random Number Generator picked lucky number...

Miki Willa said...

Happy Birthday! Congratulations on your 100 followers. This weekend I am watching my granddaughter and having dinner at my daughter's house on Mother's Day.

Congratulations Miki! I will be contacting you shortly to get your your prize.

It's going to be a happy day, right? Work has been a bit of a struggle lately and while I should be celebrating because I am wrapping out on the project today, I'm feeling a bit conflicted because I'm leaving the project in limbo and I hate leaving things unfinished. I am already 6 weeks past my contract end date and I can't stay any longer because I've committed to another project but it's tough to leave nonetheless. So how do I cope? Retail therapy of course! First I did a little stash building by adding some Shades of Grey to my collection.

Then I happened to see that there was a Red Letter Day fat quarter set lurking around Etsy. I missed out on this line before so I jumped on the chance to scoop some up!

I ran out to my LQS to pickup some fabrics for do. Good Stitches bee blocks. Robyn wants "true" green and white blocks for May. Green is my favorite color but ironically, looking through my stash I realized that much of the green I have tends to shy away from the green apple green that Robyn requested. So I just had to pick some up. Luckily the Riley Blake Christmas line just hit the shelves of Sew Modern so I picked up some Candy Dots and Christmas Candy.

And Natalie got a jump on her June block and requested the gorgeous color combo of chartreuse and raspberry. And I spied some of Patricia Bravo's Dreaming in French line that I thought would be perfect. Then I threw in a little Tina Givens too. Delicious!

Well my lovelies, it's not all stress and angst. I'm actually going to be taking a little bloggy break because I'm escaping the rat race and heading to Kauai for the next week. Yes, you can all hate me. I understand. And although I will be lounging on a beach, sipping Mai Tais, I'm also pulling a little stash builder package for Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day! Stop by on Monday to join in the fun! Aloha dolls! I'll be back soon!

MMM Spring Package Received

I have been seriously remiss in sharing my amazing loot from the MMM Swap. A while back I took pictures with my little point and shoot camera and then I couldn't find the USB cord so the pictures sat in limbo. Then, this morning I discovered that my DSLR camera uses the same kind of memory card so I just swapped out the cards to download the pictures to my computer. I'll be catching up with those pictures this week but I'm starting by showcasing the amazing Mary. She was my super secret partner and she created an amazing package for me.

I had been wanting a sewing machine cover and she created this gorgeous one for me combining my love of circles and linen. The color choices she made were perfect too!

Part of the MMM Swap is including yummy, yummy fabric and there is no secret that I am in love with the Oliver + S City Weekend line. I love the colors, the patterns and the feel of this fabric. Seriously, it's soooo soft. I am hoarding this entire line and thanks to Mary I have more to add to my stash.

Rounding out the package she included some yummy Sees Chocolates (that didn't last the night!), a new seam ripper (that I LOVE) and some pins (which always come in handy). What an excellent package. Thank you so much Mary! I love everything! I promised myself to pull back on the Bee and Swap commitments but the Make Mine Modern Swap is my favorite so I'm joining in the fun and participating in the Summer round just starting up.

100 Followers Giveaway

**GIVEAWAY CLOSED**

First of all I want to say thank you to everyone who helped me celebrate my birthday yesterday. All of your well wishes really brightened my day! And remember, the birthday giveaway is still going on until tomorrow. You can enter the Birthday Giveaway here.

Secondly, I hit 100 followers on my birthday yesterday so as promised I have another giveaway to celebrate! I've been recently digging on the new Daisy Janie line Shades of Grey. I think it's so elegant and useful as a staple in any stash so to celebrate breaking 100 followers I'm giving away a full Fat Quarter Set of the entire line. That's 6 fat quarters coming right to one lucky follower!

Photo from the Daisy Janie Website

All you need to do to win this loveliness is leave a comment and tell me what you're planning to do this weekend. I'll keep the giveaway open until Sunday, May 8th at 5 PM Pacific Time. International entries are welcome. One entry per person, please. Good Luck! And thanks for reading!

Birthday Giveaway

**Giveaway is now closed**

Hello my lovelies! I hope everyone is having a spectacular day today. Despite being at work I'm trying to make the best of it because today is my birthday. And to celebrate I'm going to give away a present to one of you! But before I get to the giveaway I have to share the fabulous "birthday" present I got from the super fabulous Nichole the other night during the LAMQG Home Goods Swap.

Nichole made me the most amazing sewing machine cover from linen (Eek!!!). Oh I love it so! It's the perfect size to cover my little Janome.

And check out the back! She, creatively, put a pocket along the backside. It's ingenious! I can put patterns or tools back there for safe keeping.

She also totally spoiled me with a few extras that she threw in the mix. Check out the fabric and the sweet little pincushion she made for me. I have ideas for those square scraps!

Nichole, thank you so much for my amazing swap goodies. I totally am in love with them! You're super talented and generous and I'm glad I got to meet you through this swap. I can't wait for the next meeting.

But I'm not the only one getting presents on my birthday. I want to spread the wealth so I went into my stash and pulled a bunch of scraps from a few of my latest projects to give to one lucky reader. These are big scraps, some measure close (but not quite) to a fat quarter. I think the smallest of the bunch are some long, thick strips. All are adequate enough cuts to do some damage. Since there was so much love for the Soul Crushing Table Runner I pulled out the biggest Amy Butler and Anna Maria Horner leftovers I had from that project. I also included some favorite fabrics from Ivy's Quilt including some Kate Spain, Patricia Bravo and Tula Pink.

This could all be yours...

To enter the giveaway simply leave a comment and tell me your favorite way to spend your birthday. I'll leave the giveaway open until 12:00 PM (Noon) Pacific Time on Friday, May 6, 2011. International entries are welcome. And since I'm very close to hitting 100 followers, keep your eyes peeled for another giveaway coming up very soon! Good Luck!

Round Robin Progress

The end of another month is upon us. I can't believe it's already April, I mean, seriously, folks, where is the time going? I have been able to finish all of my bee commitments for the month which is a huge relief for me, especially since I will have very limited sewing time this weekend because I'm flying to New Jersey tomorrow for work. I'll be shooting all weekend and then flying back home on Sunday. I am planning to take a couple projects that require some hand sewing with me so I can sew on the plane.

Over the weekend I finished up my round on Julie's center in the round robin. I added in some fabrics from my own stash that I think accent her color scheme.

I don't want to spoil the big reveal for Julie so I'm just offering a sneak peek of a corner I worked on...

The quilt is now off to Jorie now and in one short month it will be back home with Julie! I hope she likes it!

Stash Additions

I've been adding to my stash lately. Ugh. It's an addiction. I can't stop! A few weekends ago I had to work on a Saturday and I just happened to be driving by a Momen +, a fabric store in Torrance known for their amazing selection of Japanese fabrics, on my way home. Let me tell you, there is no better cure for the Saturday work blues than some fabric therapy. I disguised the trip as a necessary stop for some fabric for my Spicing Up The Kitchen Swap partner, but that was just an excuse to indulge in bolstering my own stash with some Echino loveliness. I mean, come on! How could I resist?

Then, this past weekend I made a trip over to Sew Modern with my friend Caroline and her daughter, Mayah. Care and her husband are expecting their third child this Summer so we did a little shopping for some yummy fabrics for the baby. I'm planning to make some clothing for her and some burp cloths. And once they get the crib we're going to make another trip back to pick out some fabric for the crib skirt.

I also picked out some fabrics for the projects I have in mind for my Make Mine Modern partner. I am going for a romantic theme for her and I think these work together nicely.

Lastly, I couldn't resist picking up some fabrics for my International Kitchen Swap partner's project. I decided to go with some Kona Ash solid and red and aqua accent fabrics. I've got some big ideas for both swaps.

Of course, I bought a little extra of each of the fabrics to augment my own stash. I'm a bad, bad girl.

New Yummy LQS

This awesome new LQS called Sew Modern opened almost two weeks ago, not terribly far from my house. Not only is it the new home of the LAMQG but they have amazing fabric selections.

My first trip to Sew Modern actually wasn't for the LAMQG Meeting. I had heard about the impending opening through the grapevine and got on their mailing list. Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend the Grand Opening because it was on a Tuesday and pesky work thwarted that idea. Instead I made the trip out on a Saturday.

The space is bright, open, modern and inviting and the fabric selections are to die for, I swear! The great thing is that their fabric selection is very different from The Urban Craft Center so I don't feel like I'm cheating on them.

While I was there I had to stop myself from buying out the whole store. I reminded myself I was here to find some Echino for my Spicing Up The Kitchen partner. Well, I didn't find the particular Echino I was looking for but I did walk away with a few other goodies.

I'm planning to make placemats with the gorgeous Japanese linen that I splurged on. And I did pick out the Ruby Star Rising for my SUTK partner. The orange fabric is going to be binding on a quilt I am about to finish quilting and I couldn't resist the green. Come on! I know that will come in handy someday very soon.

If you're in the Los Angeles area you need to check out Sew Modern. Not only for their fabrics and wide selection of Kona Solids, but also for their classes and their amazing Longarm Machine! They offer Longarm classes and rent out the machine by the hour at a reasonable price.

International Fabrics

I realize that I haven't even shared all the fabric treasures that I brought home from my Asian Adventure. I've started collecting native fabrics and handcrafts from my travels. Someday I'm going to make a travel quilt that showcases all the places we've been in textiles. Who knows when that will happen, though.

Our first stop was Thailand, so of course I had to come home with some Thai silk. I mean this stuff is the real deal and it can easily set you back $20 a yard or more. When we were in Chiang Mai we visited a Thai silk factory and saw the entire silk harvesting and making process in action. I knew that the silks here were priced for the tourists but even at tourist prices I was still getting a steal. I swept up three yards of high quality Thai silk for about $13 a yard. Then when I returned to Bangkok on our way home I stumbled upon a treasure trove of Thai silk in the back of a tiny fabric store after scouring the fabric district in Chinatown. The sweet lady who owned the shop sold me two meters of Thai silk for closer to $8 a meter! She also gave me her card and told me that she would happily ship to me in the US!

In Laos I was turned on by all the amazing Hmong textiles sold at the night market in Luang Prabang. We ended up bringing home a beautiful duvet cover and matching pillow cases. Everything was 100% stitched by hand and it was incredible to watch these women work.The quality of the fabric isn't the best but the hand stitching is amazing and I am in awe of the beauty of the piece.

I also picked up several meters of woven fabric in the local market. I thought the purple and the green would compliment the fabrics I picked up in Guatemala earlier last year.

Finally in Burma I found an amazing hand painted piece. I didn't know what I was going to do with this yardage when I bought it. I knew I couldn't cut it up. It is just too beautiful. I imagined that it could be used in it's entirety as backing fabric when I finally put the travel quilt together. Or I might even use it as a shawl. Then my sweet husband had a wonderful idea last night... We're going to use it for our chuppah in our family wedding that we're having later this month.

I need another trip so I can expand this growing fabric collection. Any favorite fabrics or textiles out there from any of your travels?