Flying by

Wow, I can't believe that I've already been here 2 weeks! Thank you for all the checking in emails. I miss all my crafty activities and while I don't really have any progress to report, I wanted to post and say hello.

Work has been great. Everyone is very friendly and welcoming. Even though it's a large company, it definitely doesn't feel that way. While the majority of the employees are scattered across the globe, in the HQ (where I work) we have a few hundred but you'd never know it. People are always introducing themselves so I'm meeting a lot of new faces. It's great since I'm such a people-person.

I'm settling into a routine too. My room is starting to feel like mine (thanks to Brooke for providing some fabulous pictures that now live on my wall!) I'm even making peace with my roommate's cats - well, except when they whine early in the morning! ;-)

Summer has definitely arrived here in the District. During the time I was a student here, I managed to avoid the "real" summer, as I arrived in the early fall, was abroad in between my first and second years of grad school, and then left before it got really hot. I know I'm in for a doozy - thank goodness for ceiling fans, central A/C, and summer dresses!

I've got a somewhat lengthy commute so I've gotten a lot of reading done (which I love, especially having my Kindle!) and am satisfying my crafty craving (well, sorta...) with a little embroidery. After seeing all the photos people took at Quilt Market, I'm itching to get some new fabric and have my sewing machine. ::sigh:: I'll be back in NYC next weekend and hope to get a little stitching time in. I'm crushing hard on Anna Maria Horner's "Loulouthi" and a number of prints from Tula Pink's "Prince Charming." So happy to still be reading crafty blogs and perusing flickr often. I'm living vicariously through all of you!

Well, off to do laundry, groceries, etc. Have a great long weekend everyone! :)

Mid-week musings

It's a rainy, spring day here in NYC (as I assume it is in many parts of the Northern hemisphere) and I'm happy to be home from a morning at work, just now lounging around. As I get closer to my departure date, I'm taking care of little things here and there: clothes sorting (which I try to do every season anyway), file clearing (always feels so good), and all the other associated tasks that come with relocating. Fortunately, I've lived in DC before (for grad school) so it's not unfamiliar territory though working there will certainly be different than student life. Also, I was lucky enough to avoid DC summers so I'm certainly trying to brace myself for the insane humidity that blankets the area - and working on keeping a light wardrobe!

As I will be going and my sweetie will not be, Louie will be heading Upstate to hang out with Winston and with his grandparents for a bit while I settle in. The next few weeks will be quite hectic as I leave NYC (with Louie), head to Atlanta (for my sister's college graduation), and then back Upstate for a few days THEN down to DC. Phew, makes me tired just thinking about it. I just found out that I still have one little stubborn kidney stone hanging out in my right kidney so I want to be extra mindful of managing my stress, anxiety and diet as the more those all spiral out of control, the higher the chance is for the stone to try to pass. Ugh, trying not to think about. (Sorry if all that was TMI - here's my post from the original ordeal a few months back.)

In between all my tasks, I'm enjoying dreaming of a few new things for a new space. And this doesn't even include any of the many Etsy things I'm lusting after.

(Click on each picture to be taken to the source.)

And not to mention, some new fabric from my favorite designer! Certainly saving up for a FQ bundle of the new collection falls within StashPact11 since she's my all time fave.

Hope everyone is having a good week!

A bath, a quilt, and some fabric

This weekend my sweetie and I are heading back upstate to see our families for a quick visit. We haven't been home since the holidays and we're both looking forward to a much needed escape from the city. Not to mention a trip to Wegmans and a hair appointment for me. :)

Louie got a bath and a haircut yesterday and I'm amazed how how shaggy he looked before (and how smelly he was - ugh). He's all set to go home and play with Winston!I'm working on a few crafty things today in addition to a bunch of other random (non-fun) items on the to-do list. I don't have my solid fabric for my Supernova quilt but I'm thinking a trip to Joann's this weekend will remedy that (I'm a sucker for coupons and cheap prices for Kona Cotton solids). I've started a new baby quilt for a friend (see picture below - using a simple pattern by Elizabeth) and I'm aiming to make more progress on my quilt for Modern Relief.

Also, I treated myself to a few quarter yards (purchased from the lovely, custom-order accommodating ladies of quiltsandwich) of Jay McCarroll's* "Habitat" which I've been coveting since I first saw it (since I'm so obsessed with it, it falls within the allowances of my Stashpact11). I have a few ideas for how to use this (and what it surprisingly goes with) but you'll have to wait and see...

*I've seen him in person, as he came into the store where I work a few weeks ago!

(Another random geek-out sighting was Brett, seen yesterday. I think I freaked her out a bit when I told her I knew who she was but because I'm a regular reader of her blog and Design*Sponge, where she's often featured, I recognized her. Pretty cool!)

Fabric love

My bank account prevents me from getting any new fabric at the moment (as does my StashPact11 contract - nothing new unless I have funds/space/REALLY love it) but that doesn't mean I can't look! Here are some of my latest crushes:

Some fun transportation themed fabric (my sweetie loves everything transportation and I promised him that someday I'd make him a quilt with all things for getting places!)

Tula Pink Parisville - I already used this print in another color way in my big quilt and now I want to get this one too!

Alexander Henry's Rainforest Honeycomb - I love the colors and texture!

Quilter's Linen in gray by Robert Kaufman - cotton fabric that looks like linen = genius!

Joel Dewberry's Aviary 2 - I love these colors!

All fabrics are available from various sellers on Etsy.

Comfort

In light of all the ups and downs lately, I decided last week to pull a whole stack of favorite fabrics and make a largish lap quilt (bigger than some of the ones we already have but slightly smaller than twin size). I think this was because I find that quilts are very comforting. During tough times, it makes me feel better to knit/read/watch TV/snuggle with Louie and my sweetie/etc. with a quilt. Why not make one that had a whole bunch of fabrics that I really loved?

I looked through my quilting books and ended up choosing a Kaffe Fassett pattern, adapted with my own picks.
I have been taking my time with this quilt. I've really enjoyed playing with all the fabrics and it's come together in a lovely way. It's going to be a big quilt so that even my sweetie's feet won't stick out if he's covered up. Here's a sneak peek...


I think I'm going to use solid gray for the border and make a pieced back (yay for keeping with StashPact11). I might even have enough batting. If not, I'll wait for a Michael's coupon to pick some up super cheap.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Easing into the week

Monday: no agenda. After the craziness of last week, I'm sticking to my guns and going to take it easy. A few things to do but I will not be making obsessive lists or spazzing out about getting things done. The only must-do is call the doctor to set up an appointment. Other than that, whatever gets done, gets done.

Here's to a smooth, stress-free week.

And a few pretty fabrics, to get your creative juices going:

(All fabrics from Hawthorne Threads, one of my favorite online shops.)

Dreaming

I've been a very good girl and have stuck to my personal StashPact11 rules. Basically, I'm limiting myself almost entirely to my stash this year but I'm allowing a few purchases here and there for necessities (backings, bindings, etc.) and for major fabric crushes. Here are a few that have been sitting in my cart on one fabric website:Sigh. Not yet. But soon.

A fresh start

MAJOR FABRIC DESTASH!

The fabric you see above is only the beginning of my major cleanout! In an effort to start fresh in 2011 I cleaned out my fabric cabinet and MAN did it need it! I have so much fabric that deserves a better home than I can offer so you're all in luck. I'm destashing over at my Etsy shop BUUUUUTTTTT I'm also willing to swap things but only if you have something really unusual rare. I don't want to just simply accumulate more fabric I won't use! The only things I'm looking for are Denyse Schmidt's "Flea Market Fancy" (I have NONE) and Anna Maria Horner's new velveteens from "Innocent Crush." Also, please keep in mind that I've tried to be reasonable about prices. If you REALLY, REALLY want something but the price isn't work, please shoot me an email and we can try to work something out. I'm reasonable, I promise! :)

So, check out my shop and KEEP CHECKING BACK as I'll be adding TONS - and I mean TONS - of fabric throughout the rest of the week.

Happy shopping!

Sometimes, we need a little magic...

Dear Santa,

I know that you're very busy, especially as we're down to the wire here, but I wanted to put in some requests. I've been very good this past year and feel that I've really been tough through many bumpy moments. Here are just a few things on my wish list...

1. World peace (I know, I know...I'm totally up for helping out on this one - in fact, that's what I went to school for!)
2. No more gray hair (seriously - I'm not even 30! Make it stop!)
3. More trees in my neighborhood (but less jack hammering on weekend mornings...)
4. A real-life, grown-up, master's-degree-using job (um, have you been reading my blog? This is a biggie)
5. Some new undies (we all need new ones - admit it)
6. This yummy fabric by this amazing woman:


Thank you for reading my wish list. Stay warm and enjoy the milk and cookies!

Love,
Ruth

P.S. Louie has been a very good boy. He would like some new toys but would settle for dirty socks. Yum.

Yum

These are my favorites from Tula Pink's new line, Parisville.


Can't wait for payday! ;-)

Dreaming

This year I plan on making most of my holiday presents. In fact, many are already in the works (I'm such a planning geek). I also really want to try to beef up my Etsy shop. With my new full-time work schedule, that leaves little time (or energy!) for sewing. :-/ Hopefully I'll adjust to it soon and will be able to work in more crafting time.

My fabric stash is pretty full so I'm really trying to not buy any new fabric. I've been doing really good and have only bought little things here and there (little by little I'm collecting all of Little Folks voile). I think that there is one collection I want to get for myself (probably in a big fat quarter stack):
(Read more about Tula Pink's "Parisville" here.)

What collections will you treat yourself to this holiday season?

Distractions

This lovely stack of Anna Maria Horner's new Innocent Crush is calling my name. But I'm busy with lots of other things and since this is reserved for my personal use (ie. a quilt to be made for me to keep!), there's no rush.

But isn't it pretty?!

(FYI: my stack of 1/2 yards, purchased by my amazing mom, was bought here.)

The Process

I hope that everyone had a great holiday weekend! We had a nice, relaxing few days here in NYC. It's been insanely hot (and it's still going...right now it's near 100!!!) so we didn't spend as much time outside as we would have liked (man, I wish I had a pool...). We did, however, venture down to check out the newly opened Brooklyn Bridge Park. Here are some shots from our spot on the lawn:
All this hot weather keeps me inside doing crafty stuff. My mom bought me some sketching pencils and a pad. As I've been quilting more and more, I feel like I'd like to expand my own creative endeavors. I think it would be really fun to design my own logo, labels, etc. Will keep you posted!

I've been commissioned by a coworker to make her a quilt! She has a whole bunch of old tee shirts from her college sorority that she never wears but can't bear to part with, so she's been wanting to turn them into a quilt. When she heard that I make quilts, she asked me if I would make one for her - of course I agree and I'm thrilled! We've gone back and forth, coming up with a simple but really cute design. She has 12 shirts, which I'm going to sash using a really pretty striped fabric from Dena Design's "Monaco" line after cutting them into blocks. I'm going to back and bind the quilt with matching fabrics too. I'm so psyched to get started on this! In keeping up with Rossie's Process Pledge, I'll try to blog about this along the way.

General design of Erica's quilt. Not sure what size the blocks are going to be but I'm estimating that the whole quilt will probably be about 60" x 60" (she wanted a large lap quilt.)

For the sashing!

For the binding...
For the backing. Yum! She's from Florida - doesn't this remind you of beautiful ocean waters?

I purchased all the fabric for Erica's quilt from Fabric.com. Usually, I like to buy from small, independent businesses but I got all of this for a great price. Aaannnddd.....I snagged some of Jay McCarroll's hard-to-find "Woodland Wonderland" which I LOOOOVE! Check out what I got (for less than $4 per yard!):
And last but not least, I've been admiring this line recently and decided to get myself a yard of my fave print from it:

So as you can see, I'll keep myself busy for a while.

Only 37 days til our Maine vacation!

On another note, I've seriously considering relisting all my bags that didn't sell last summer in my Etsy shop. They're adorable and I wasn't really advertising much. I'm thinking now that I've been out in the virtual community, I should try again (but my ego is a little bruised!). What do you think? I'm also going to keep making new bags, quilts, etc. Thoughts? Suggestions? Hugs?

Stay cool, everyone!

Why compare yourself with others? No one in the entire world can do a better job of being you than you. – Unknown

Maybe I'm not a morning person after all

The past couple of days have allowed me to realize something about myself: maybe I'm not a morning person after all. We're doing inventory at work which requires coming in really early for 3 days and counting (electronically, phew) all items. The upside is that it never takes as long as they think AND there are lots of people there at one time. Downside: it's EARLY...yesterday we had to be there at 7 am (not so bad), today was 6 am (pretty rough) and tomorrow is 5 am (EGADS!). Fortunately, after tomorrow, we're all done and won't have to do inventory for a whole year. Which is great news for me since I won't be working there by then. Phew.

These past 2 days I've come home and tried to nap for a bit but have been unsuccessful. I guess it's OK since I plan on going to bed super early tonight. Oy.

Other news: yay for True Blood starting! Last night's premier episode was good. Woohoo!

Crafty stuff: I've finished my pillow for the Pillow Talk Swap and will post some pictures of it probably later today. I also budgeted very carefully these past few weeks and was able to buy myself some of Laurie Wisbrun's Tufted Tweets! Such cute fabric - it makes me wish I could draw.


Excuse my while I try to stay awake...

Moms...

...are the best!


(Recent score from this past weekend of LQS hopping with my Mom!)

Everyone needs a summer scarf

I love this. I might have to make one. (Image and instructions here.)


What do you say, bank account? Just one little yard of Liberty of London Tana Lawn...

Oh, the silent treatment. I see. Hmph.

Celebrations

Today was a BIG day: my sweetie was officially admitted to the New York State Bar - WOOHOO! Hard to believe I remember the days when he was doing practice LSAT questions on his morning commute. Sigh. They grow up so fast. :) Congrats, baby!

We plan on celebrating at our favorite Italian restaurant tonight (though we had quick celebratory milkshakes after the ceremony). Laid back, always good food, and a waiter that looks like John Heder (seriously, it's creepy). It's definitely a neighborhood type of place - a rarity in this big, impersonal city - though there has been many a celebrity sighting there! (Friends of ours saw Kevin Bacon/Kyra Sedgwick and Amy Sedaris, and Frank Langhella sat at the table next to ours once!)

In other news, we hit up Purl this weekend. We didn't stay for long since there were a gazillion people there, but long enough to ogle the goodies and enter the raffle. And guess what? My sweetie WON! Oh and you will not believe it: the winning item is a cashmere wool scarf kit! And being that I'm actually the knitter AND the wool is lilac colored, looks like I'm truly the winner here. :)

(It's so rainy and gross and dark here so I'll take a picture of the kit in all its glory later in the week when the sun is supposed to come back.)

Anyhoo, after I witnessed my sweetie officially becoming a lawyer, I ventured back down to Purl to pick up the kit and get some Little Folks for my stash. I'm planning on SLOWLY getting the whole line. They have most of it there (yipee!) so little by little, I'll keep adding.

Time to go work on some real stuff. Ugh, how is it almost 4 pm already?! Who votes for more hours in the day?

Crafty goodness (and other nice things)

Being home with my folks is so nice. We're close - always have been - and it's just a very comforting place to be. Even if it's chilly (oh Upstate, NY).OF COURSE my mom and I have been fueling our fabric/quilting/crafting obsessions. We've been planning projects, looking at her stash, ordering a few items (really, just a few, I swear!), etc. We have plans to go to a LQS and probably Joann's today (among other, non-quilting-related errands, of course).

By the way, thanks to these noisy ones, I'm up early. Oh well.My mom sent me a bundle of Laura Gunn FQ from her new line (I love everything she does) and I'm turning them into this quilt. They're all cut up and ready for piecing. My machine is back in my apartment and even though I could use my mom's, I'll probably just wait.

My mom also bought me the original fabrics that Elizabeth used for that quilt (they were featured on Fabricworm as a bundle). So another New Wave quilt is in the works...

She also got me this:


She also has a selection of rotary cutters in different sizes. I've found it's so much easier to use the smaller ones! Will have to save up and get some for myself. Do you use smaller sizes?

Finally, I got my hair done (touched up the color and had it blown out) yesterday. Ahh, feels so good.And yes, those are flying pigs on my pajamas. :)

Happy Saturday everyone!

My turn

Next month is my month for Bee-Stitched. I'm so excited! I've known for a while what fabric I wanted to use but only just decided on the TYPE of blocks this week. I'm going to have my bee buddies do 2 blocks: one with circles and one with triangles. I couldn't decide so I figured why not do both! (More instructions soon to come, ladies.)


In other news, I've got a nasty change of season cold. I'm a whiny patient so even though it's just a cold, I make it seem like the plague (much to my sweetie's frustration). We've had crazy weather this past week or so but I definitely think we're moving toward spring (at least I hope so!)

I'll be heading home this weekend (it's funny, I don't live there but I still think of the place where I grew up as home) for a little break to spend time with my folks. Louie is coming with me (even though I'm mad at JetBlue for charging me more for his reservation than my own ticket!) so he and Winston will get to play together.

Next week will be a busy week for me. I'm still working in retail but the company I work for is opening a new store and I'm part of the team that will be working there. For the next 3 weeks, we're helping set up the store so they need all hands on deck (read: pretty much full time - yay money!). So I apologize in advance if I'm a little more hands off next week. I'm still here. :)

ISO (in search of)

I'm not really the kind of person who feels like they always have to have a complete fabric line. However, a while back I got a bunch of Denyse Schmdit's "Katie Jump Rope" line and find that I like it more and more (it's a little "country" looking but for some reason I'm just drawn to it!).

So now I'm on the hunt to complete the line. This is hard because it's discontinued. I fear that it will become like all the other hard-to-find fabrics out there ("Flea Market Fancy" and anything by Heather Ross).
I've found a bunch of websites and Etsy sellers that have some of this but I'd be interested in swapping (so economical!). I'm going to post some pictures later today of fabrics I'd like to swap so check my Flickr later (and the swap group) if you're interested.
Do you have any of these prints???