Magic is Afoot!

Or maybe I should say, LeeAnn is a-wheel! Not only does she make incredibly beautiful quilts, she is also one of the nicest people I have ever met. This amazing lady offered me the loan of her Singer Featherweight and delivered it to me in the midst my crazy Saturday morning basketball mom hecticness. The little primrose I gave her could barely express a droplet of my gratitude. I have always wanted to try sewing on a Featherweight, so I think this whole sewing machine fiasco may indeed be lined with silver... and I will get the baby quilt I am working on done before the shower tomorrow. Thank you LeeAnn!

Friends & Swaps

I had the most fun sewing day today at a mini-retreat at Trisha's house! We met originally because I sent her my quilt in Doll Quilt Swap 6, and it turned out that she lives about 45 minutes away from me. We met in person recently at Jacquie's trunk show, and worked out a sew-in for today- she's the sweetest, and her kids are too. In another twist of fate, her kids have the same names as me and my husband, so the conversation kept us "in stitches" (snicker) all morning! I got some work done on a old WIP, too, in between laughing, looking at quilts, talking about fabric and eating the yummy lunch she made.

Also, I just finished my June block for the Stash Busting Bee International. It is for Adrienne, who sent me her quilt in the Doll Quilt Swap 5. The blues and greens she requested challenged me since my stash leans warm, but I think the result lovely, like seaglass. I took this picture on my lawn chair, last week when it was sunny. Now, it's rainy and grey, but that should mean that I have more time indoors for sewing and swapping and more fun!

Quilt Friends

Almost all of my friends who sew, and especially quilt, are online friends- that's a testament to our modern times. However, the other day, my friend Trisha of TLC Stitches invited me to a trunk show with Jacquie of Tallgrass Prairie Studio at Fabric Crush. A chance to hear from an inspirational quilter and blogger, meet an online friend for "reals" and check out a new fabric store in my area? Oh yeah!


That's Trisha on the left- I sent her a doll quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap last year, and we've been blog friends ever since. It was awesome to meet her in person- she's funny, sweet and friendly in addition to being a talented quilter and knitter! I also met her friend Ginny of I Sew who is a real sweetheart and talented seamstress who live right in my neighborhood!

Jacquie was also awesome- it was great to touch quilts I had seen previously in photos, and hear her stories about each one. Her quilting was beautiful - a lot of it was very modern, with alot of straight lines, and pretty dense. I was very inspired that she's only been quilting for two years! This quilt was especially gorgeous- it was quilted by a woman in her local guild. Incredible!


I'd love to make something like this out my selvages, too. Jacquie has a tutorial on her blog for the selvage spiderweb blocks. I loved seeing this up close- both for the technique of piecing the selvages and for the fun "I Spy" effect with all those fabrics!