Sunday Stash #88

Gifted fabric is the best! Judy knew I'd love these fun bugs.

Alejandrina gave me a favorite in orange.

My cabbage for St. Patrick's Day didn't turn out great, so I turned it into soup. The soup is really good. I've always liked cabbage soup.

I took a workshop on paper piecing spirals. The technique was new to me. Lots of fun.

Anyone watching "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" on Netflix? I just started it this morning and it's made me laugh out loud several times. I'm on a "House of Cards" break. It's hard to keep up with those plots while I'm sewing. I may or may not be up to the 9th episode. *cough*

800!

800 blog posts. Wow to the wow. I'm such a yacker. Just wanted to say I enjoy each and every one of you. Those comments make me smile and I appreciate all of them.

I stumbled across this hilarious collection of Tumblr posts about family. This one made me LOL. I love a fun family.

How about a giveaway? Why not? I have stuff you might like. I might buy you something. Or make you something. It'll be a total surprise, but if you're game for something free in your mailbox that isn't junk mail, just leave a comment below. If you're a "No Reply" blogger, include your email address so I can contact you.

St. Paddy's Day is Tuesday. I like to celebrate with corned beef and cabbage. The Inspector likes to celebrate with Guinness drinks. We stocked up on all things Irish yesterday. We're not Irish, but any holiday that celebrates a saint who drove snakes out of Ireland, is a holiday right up my snake magnet alley. It's almost snake season, ya know.

I'm making this One Bowl Fudgy Whiskey Chocolate Cake today. That's the ganache melting above. If you're not into corned beef, boozy cake or beer, here are some green recipes I thought looked delicious. And they're healthy to boot!

This is a grandmother's flower for Eleni. I've followed the Stitched in Color blog for years. Rachel recently gave birth to a little girl who could use some special thoughts and wishes. Jodi at Tales for Cloth has organized a flower gathering to make a quilt for this sweet family. If you have a minute and like to EPP, maybe you can help the quilt grow. There's also an auction going on this weekend over on Instagram: auctionforeleni. I love the loving and giving nature of quilters.

Bones needed to go out while I was writing and this little guy was out on the pool deck. Did you hear my snake scream? So I guess it's officially snake season. Let the games begin.

Guild Blocks of the Month

I'm caught up with the OMQG's block of the month. This friendship star is April's block. In dreamy blues with low volume background(s). I need more low volume fabrics. I had to use plain ole white this time.

This Circle of Friends block was fun to make. This was the March block, but I didn't have time to do it before the meeting. I'll have to see if Marge needs another block or add this to my pile of orphan blocks. I thought it was too pretty not to try. It's a bit wonky, but loveable.

I received my first (and only) Kickstarter product. Can't wait to try it out on cold butter. It grates the butter to make it spread easier. Genius, right? I also love the peeps that just keep butter on the counter. Apparently, it doesn't need refrigeration. I'm not brave enough, but I want to be. Eggs can be kept on your counter too. If I implement these practices and we all die, you'll know why. LOL!

This improv is getting larger and wilder. I may call it a day and surround it with big solid borders. And pass out sunglasses. It got a bit out of hand. You should have seen the wild cuts I made at Sew Day. Like drunken cuts. Elbow city. I bet you know what I'm talking about.

Mono Block Printing

The second class I took at QuiltCon was Mono Block Printing with Lizzy House. I took a stamp making class with Lizzy at the last QuiltCon. She's so talented and inspiring. Here are some examples of her block prints on paper.

We did our block printing on fabric. Lizzy is so cute and enthusiastic. If you can ever catch one of her classes, I highly recommend it.

The process was messy, but fun. It's definitely a technique I would try again. The red ink on the acrylic was my printing pad. You lay down pieces of cut newsprint to make designs. You can do this over and over with multiple shapes and colors.

Here are some of the fabrics I printed. It was hard to get the inks as vibrant as I wanted, but I think different inks might produce darker results.

Doxie love!

Sunday Stash #87

Look what followed me home from the Austin airport. I carried this gigantic smoked beef brisket on the plane home. It was the only souvenir I thought Inspector Gadget might like. We all loved it! So delicious. The BBQ sauce was delicious too. I can highly recommend The Salt Lick. While standing in line ordering it, I was wondering how it would be packaged and if it would smell up the packed airplane. It was sealed in a bag and they provided an insulated bag to carry it home.

The March Kona solids arrived. A little St. Paddy's Day theme of green.

Polka dots galore. Craftsy had a big sale and I couldn't resist the deals.

Jelly rolls! MoMo and Valori Wells. I can't bear to take them out of their protective wrappers. Ha!

Carolyn Friedlander has yummy low volume prints. I need to buy more low volume fabrics. I purchased these at QuiltCon along with the following.

Cloud 9 fat quarters. They package them so cutely. Organic, too!

Anna Maria Horner. No lack of color or imagination in that girl's head. I just love her stuff.

Cherrywood hand dyed fabrics. Over 50 colors in this grab bag. They're so vibrant and rich. I can't wait to dive into these. They would pair well with the fabrics above.

Happy Sunday! The weather is beautiful here, but I'd rather be sewing.

Itajime Shibori

I took a class for creating patterns on cloth with dye. The dyeing process we learned is called Itajime Shibori and is a shape-resist technique. You fold cloth and use pieces of wood or acrylic to sandwich the cloth. This is all held down with clamps, so the dye doesn't reach parts of the fabric. It's a fun process. Our instructor was the talented Kim Eichler-Messmer.

Class was held offsite in a bar just a mile or so from the Convention Center and my hotel. We used the bar's back outside patio to get messy. The bar looked like a popular night spot and there were colorful characters surrounding it. There was also a bail bond place across the street as well as a delicious Korean restaurant where some of us ate lunch.

This gal was famous in our class. Her design surprised her when she unfolded her fabric. Click on the photo to get a closer look. Ha!

Here are my creations hanging to dry. The yellow piece on the left was put in a bleach wash to reverse the technique. It was a fun class and I loved all the fabric everyone created. I still need to wash my fabrics before I use them. I have tons of dye and supplies left over, so I'm eager to try this technique again.

Sew Day & QuiltCon Swag

Saturday was Sew Day. After a week at QuiltCon and work, I really needed some time behind my machine. I made this cute house hot pad from this tutorial. The "Glamping" fabric was a gift and I've been hoarding it for a while. I was happy to find a cute use for it.

Then I used my huge bag of selvages from the Cotton & Steel line to make a couple of potholders.  They gave the bags out at QuiltCon and I think it was my favorite swag. The tote bag is stuffed with selvages. And they're really cute selvages.

The freebies were numerous at QuiltCon. This was just the stuff in my QuiltCon tote.

These goodies I received on the vendor floor. There were plenty of vendors to visit.

Many of the attendees traded buttons. I had  some made for my blog and collected a bunch. Some of them are hilarious and inappropriate. Those are my favorites!

I bought a few things too.

My cookie jar isn't full, but I did make blueberry muffins. I missed cooking while I was away. More on QuiltCon later. I took the coolest classes.