more quilt stuff!

So I was in Sun Valley with my parents last weekend, watching HGTV and kind of wishing I was at home working on projects instead. My cousin Emily is getting married in a few weeks and I need to make her a quilt. I was talking with my mom about it and we decided on a beachy sort of blue white and yellow palette. We looked at fabrics online since there was only one quilt shop in the area and it was rather lacking - but didn't find much that we liked.

Back in Seattle, I went to Pacific Fabrics yesterday and couldn't find anything that grabbed me there either, so I headed to the solids section (like you do) and found my favorite sky blue and several pale yellows. I thought a Denyse Schmidt style bars pattern would work nicely, but the blue and yellow only was pretty bland and boring. But, AHA, I found a few jewel tones to mix in for unexpected surprises! It took me all of 20 minutes to cut out the entire thing, and here's how far I got sewing in two hours last night:

That's a navy, a chocolate brown, a pinkish (but still masculine) red, and a grass green. The colors came out a little strange but trust me, it's pretty great. Reminds me of beach balls and those changing tents and sunshine and summer skies all at once. I know it's not what my mom expects but hey, it's awesome. And definitely different from what I started out doing, which I kind of love. The strips are all the same length but I cut them at random angles and widths so it's kind of hard to make sure they end up in a relatively straight line. But I love a challenge! I'll keep you posted on this one.

Love, mcnabbs.

quilt!

Soooo... rockin' Kate Franco puts all her quilt stuff up on her blog. Why don't I do that? Clearly, because I'm nowhere near as awesome as she is. But I finished a quilt top last night and I was so excited about it that I took pictures, so you get to see it!

The inspiration is kind of a long story. I have been really into solid fabrics recently - I used to think they were boring but now I'm all over them. Plus they're wayyyy cheaper, so that helps. I have been just going to the fabric store, heading straight for the solids section, and pulling out one or two I love and just rolling with it. You may recall my earlier post about the one I'm hand quilting (I did post that, right?). It kind of rolled into the idea of making quilts about places once I saw Thomas' pictures from Cinque Terre and knew I had to make one about those colors. I bought the fabric to make a quilt inspired by this town and I'm SUPER excited about it:




The one I made was inspired by weddings actually. Two (three?) of my cousins and my dearest, longest friend are all getting married this summer. I'm a bridesmaid for my friend's wedding and we were all looking at dresses and flowers and decor for months, and she was asking what we'd do if we were getting married. So I started wondering about it... I've never thought about it and a couple of years ago I even made fun of girls who had their entire weddings planned out before they even found a fella, but now I kind of understand. After looking through all the wedding magazines and websites, I have an idea of the kind of things I'd love to have if I was getting married in the very near future which is not going to happen. But if I was getting married next year, I'd have chocolate brown and berry with cream and green accents, letterpress invitations with a berry-colored peony design in the background and chocolate lettering, flowers would be peonies and star jasmine, and my one bridesmaid (Monica, of course) would be wearing a chocolate brown dress. Now I've loved this berry color for a while now, it looks really good on me and it's just sort of warm and comforting, and goes with lots of other stuff. So no surprise when I was at the fabric store and it hopped off the shelf and into my hands - along with a chocolate brown and cream, and a green for accent. like you do. I wanted something with minimal effort so I planned 24" blocks with minimal piecing to show off the colors as much as possible. I ended up with a lot more of the coral pink than I expected, but it definitely works. Also I noticed last night as my cat the quilt whore was gleefully rolling around and depositing cat hair all over my masterpiece that she is the same colors as my quilt too (save for the berry color). She's a brown tabby with white belly and paws, green eyes, and a pink nose. awww.



Also, Karol and Asuka and I went to IKEA the other day. Clearly we did not have fun.

condos

i have a thing for vintage homes. aaaaand i'm fantasizing about upgrading to a condo closer to the city (not that i could ever be able to afford it, but a girl can dream, can't she?). here's my current obsession:

http://www.livehistoric.com/

damn you katie!

Seven Things On My Mind Right Now
by abby taylor

I was tagged by the always adorable kate.

Rules: Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag 7 others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

Fact #1: I get really depressed if I don't have plane tickets.
Really, I have to have a trip planned or I go nutty and get all bummed out. But once I buy tickets to anywhere, even if it's months and months away, I instantly feel better.

Fact #2: I really don't mind working on weekends.
Of course this is dependent on if I have anything better to do. You get so much more done since no one is there to bug you. And I'm on an hourly wage so hey, time and a half never hurts, right?

Fact #3: No one has ever kissed me under the mistletoe.
And I really wish they would.

Fact #4: I crave baked goods.
They're pretty much my favorite food group. I could never be on a low-carb diet. I could never be a vegan either, cheese is too delicious.

Fact #5: I have the shortest attention span ever.
It's pretty terrible. In order to get anything done, I need a definite plan of action, a definite task, and a definite deadline. Don't ever give me a task to do "sometime" and expect me to get it done - unless it's really exciting and I have time right now. I will lose interest.

Fact #6: I want a weekend house more than almost anything else in the world.
It can be a shack, or whatever. All I want is a roof, a toilet, a bed, a kitchen, and a porch - and it has to be within 3 hours of home. I want to jump in the car Friday after work and be off the radar till Sunday afternoon. I can't think of anything more appealing to me at this point in my life.

Fact #7: Sometimes, despite my happy-go-lucky exterior, even I get a little lonely.
I know it's hard to believe, but hey, it happens. And really, when it does, all I want is a big hug and a little understanding. But then again, don't we all?

I tagged the following suckers on myspace, since zack is the only other person I know with a blog. And yeah, it's less than seven. deal:
folpmer
monica
zack
kateekins