a little inspiration

It's been a crazy week for me, so I thought it might be nice to end it with a little inspiration. These are photos that I took a few weeks ago at one of my favorite places in Cincinnati, Krohn Conservatory. Krohn is a huge greenhouse that is architecturally gorgeous and full of breathtakingly lush scenery. I've been going there since I was a child, and I've been trying to take my children there every couple of months, and they enjoy it just as much as I do. 

So gorgeous, right? Mother nature is pretty spectacular. One of these days I'm going to break out my paints and create some paintings based on these photos. Wouldn't that be fun?

If you are ever in the area, you need to schedule a visit to Krohn Conservatory. You won't be sorry!

Aunt Edna by Denyse Schmidt

I stopped in my big box fabric store on Tuesday and was so excited to see that they had all of Denyse Schmidt's new line of fabrics called Aunt Edna in stock. So, even though I need more fabric like I need a hole in the head, I couldn't resist getting some of every print. They are gorgeous.

I love this floral print!!

And this leaf print with tiny dots is really nice in both colorways.

And the polka dots are some of my favorites! I especially love the grey print.

The plaids are gorgeous.

And I really love the houndstooth prints. I should have bought more of them! The tiny dot prints are cute, too.

The quality of the Aunt Edna line is very nice. The cotton is soft, seems to drape well and has a nice hand. Some of the earlier lines by DS Quitls for Fabric Traditions were kind of rough, but this one isn't. However, the price has increased on this line too. At my local store it was $12.99 yard, on sale for 30% off.  But it is really gorgeous, and one of my favorite lines that Denyse has created. Now I just need to find the time to make something with it!

a quilt designer in the making?

This is Olivia, my little girl. She's turning four next week--where does the time go??? She loves to help me when I'm working in my studio, and yesterday while her older brother was in school, she set out to design a pink castle quilt with some of my scraps.

As you can see, she took her design challenge very seriously.

She rearranged some squares, making sure every piece of fabric was in the right place.

And in the end, she was pretty happy with her own work. And I couldn't be more proud. 

Crazy in love with Crazy Love

 

Seriously! How gorgeous is this fabric?? It's Crazy Love, the upcoming line by Jennifer Paganelli of Sis Boom. Jennifer was kind enough to send me some to play with before it hits stores in March and I finally had the chance to cut into it last night. This just might be my favorite line of Jennifer's yet.

This is one of my favorite prints and I think Jennifer's use of color is spectacular. I can't wait to finish my project and share it with you, so you can see just how amazingly gorgeous Crazy Love is.

vintage quilt monday :: wool suiting patchwork

Welcome back to another Vintage Quilt Monday post. This quilt is a far cry from the beauty that I shared with you last week, right? But I think it has it's own unique beauty as well, if you just take a closer look. This is a simple patchwork quilt, that is actually unfinished, and it's from the group of quilts that was given to me by my step-mother. Either her grandma or great-grandma made this one. 

This quilt is a lap sized blanket that has been made out of squares of wool suiting. There are solids, plaids, and a little bit of everything in this quilt. The wool squares have been sewn together to make a top and it looks like the maker was going to finish it with the pillow case turn method, where you sew the top to the bottom, right sides together, and leave an opening to turn the quilt right side out before quilting. But, for some reason, this quilt was never finished. 

I love how most of the seams are pressed open.

And if you peek on the inside of the quilt, you'll see that the backing was to be this strawberry printed flannel.

Quite an interesting choice for a back, right?

Here's a better shot of the strawberry flannel.

And while this quilt might not be as classically beautiful as some of the other quilts that I've shared with you in this series, I kind of like it's utilitarian feel, and the fact that it was probably made with scraps of old suits. I also love that, since it is unfinished, it gives a peek into how the quiltmaker worked.

do what you love, live your dream and share your passion

I wanted to share a little inspiration with you today. Please take a moment and watch this video, which I think is totally amazing.


The Holstee Manifesto Lifecycle Video from Holstee on Vimeo.


Life is short. Do what you love. Live your dream and share your passion. That's what it's all about.

happy mail, via craftsy

Ah, Pezzy Print by American Jane. How cute is this fabric? I ordered a couple of charm packs a few weeks ago when it was a featured item on Craftsy Deals. Are you familiar with Craftsy Deals? Each day, a new deal is featured, and items are usually 20-30% off retail prices. You can sign up to be notified of sales on their website, and then you'll get a daily email with all of the Craftsy Deals that are available. This was my first purchase of a Crafty Deal and it was very easy to complete and shipment was quick too. 

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them, but I just couldn't resist getting a couple of packs. And if you'd like some Pezzy Prints, there's a deal on Craftsy now for a Pezzy Print Jelly Roll. I'm almost tempted to get one of those too, but I need more fabric like I need a hole in the head. But, there's nothing like some good, fabric happy mail, right?!