hello, jade princess

 oh, happy mail day!
this is probably the happiest mail i've gotten in a long time. and since i order books and fabric online regularly, that is saying a lot. but this package just has a lot more meaning to it, which is what makes it so special and extra-happy.

the icing on the cake of opening this package was i didn't realize one of my favorite prints was in this quilt, and there it was, right on top. i'm currently using that "antique flower" print from the "miscellany" line by julia rothman for cloud 9 in my triangle quilt.

photo courtesy of rachel hauser at stitched in color

 so i've been crushing on rachel hauser's "jade princess" quilt for quite some time. (as well as sara schraw's modern flower version.) and i'm a crazy enough fan of hers that last summer, when we were travelling through the south, i thought about contacting her and asking if i could purchase the quilt and pick it up in person. you know, just so i could meet her. it seemed like a great way to get two birds with one stone. (yes, i am a total freak; but, no, she doesn't need to be scared of me. honestly, rachel, you don't.)

anyway, i decided against that for a couple of reasons and it seemed the quilt just wasn't meant to be mine. but then rachel had her baby last month and there were complications and an auction on instagram to help raise funds for their family's unexpected medical expenses. i was on my 20th anniversary trip and i missed the auction. i had been so excited for rachel through this whole journey of her getting to that baby and i really wanted to do something. after realizing i missed the auction, i remembered "jade princess." low and behold, she was still in the etsy shop and i decided now really was the time to buy her.

 the colors of this quilt may look slightly different in the lighting in my house versus how they looked in rachel's, but it does not disappoint in the least! those dainty, orderly dots (comma chalk periods) used for the background of all the blossom blocks are so cute. and the peach leans to the pink side, a very pretty shade. in middle school peach was my favorite color - the first time i ever moved away from my childhood love for red. i've since returned to red, after a few stops at forest green, white, and robins egg blue, but that doesn't stop me from admiring this peach, too.

my other favorite detail since seeing this quilt in person is the quilting done in all the sashing. it's a chunky white 12 wt aurifil in a large stitch. it's reminiscent of hand quilting, or as close as i've seen achieved with machine stitching. i love it! i'll have to give this a go myself soon because it's an awesome effect.

i really like the backstory of the inspiration for the quilt, whose color scheme was taken from this image from fjeldborg. i think rachel did a fantastic job of translating the colors and feel in the image into the quilt. that single pop of jade, balanced by the two mustard blossoms, amidst all the softer colors, works so beautifully. rachel's use of color moves me and motivates me to try new things in my own quilts. maybe someday i'll be able to achieve what she does so effortlessly.

the dogwood quilt was a project for rachel's penny sampler class, which was not offered again this last round of classes she did, even though i voted for it myself. maybe someday it will go up again and then i can learn how to do my own blossoms in this applique style. until then, i'm going to continue loving on and snuggling in this beauty made by rachel.

box of joy

 it's no secret in this space that i'm a bit mad about sandi henderson's designs. that portabello pixie lady is just my absolute favorite. i've searched out and hoarded meadowdot in robins egg/mint/whatever for a while now. and i have also been looking for it in blush lately, to no avail. but that's okay because i'm well stocked on my favorite.

when sandi had a sale on instagram last month, i initially resisted on the grounds of my fabric fast. but the reason she was having the sale was to clear up space and raise money for her family's sudden trip to another state because of her unborn baby's heart condition. this really pulled at my heartstrings. she was offering a fully-stuffed box of various samples, patterns, and bits and pieces from around her studio. i thought for sure the boxes would all be gone in a heartbeat anyway.

however, the next day she indicated there were a few additional boxes available even though some of the items originally meant to be included were gone. well, i just couldn't resist the chance to show her support in her time of need and to get a handpicked box of her things. i emailed sandi that it was ok about the soak being all gone and mentioned my obsession love for meadowdot, particularly in the two colorways. she emailed me back saying she'd put every bit of meadowdot she still had, including some sample pieces from colorways that were never printed, in my box.

i've been giddy to see what she sent me for a few weeks now. finally, it's arrived and i couldn't be happier! as soon as i opened the top of the box and saw that wad of my favorite meadowdot, a huge grin broke out on my face.

 and then the next layer looked like this. more meadowdot in blush!

 by the time i got everything out, i'd found pieces of meadowdot in 8 colors! i'm pretty sure the small pieces are the strike-offs she was talking about. i especially love the pink one. the green pieces have less contrast in them and hence a less meadowdot feel to me, but i'm over the moon about the warm colored bits and wondering why they never got printed. i'm on the lookout for a project that can feature all these different colors together.

 here's the rest of the fabric included. all but the three pieces on the left are sandi designs. the gingerblossom print of the large scale pink flowers is a laminate. i've never tried laminate before and it's fairly begging to be an apron. the two meadowsweet prints on the far right are corduroys. i didn't know any of the meadowsweet was made in corduroy! that'll be a new sewing experience for me, too. looking at these pieces just reminded me what a great vintage vibe her designs have. this is something i came to appreciate so much as i worked more and more with her prints. they just make me so happy!

 other treasures: the lovely nail polish colors that coordinate with her fabrics, a darling owl pincushion made in her famous henna print (i was needing another pincushion - how did she know?), and three patterns.

 i think i can adjust the ruffle pants pattern to make some cute bloomers for under skirts for my girls since i don't think they'd go for the pants. but the cupcake pincushion is perfect for me and that berry picker skirt really is pretty cute. i might just do some garment sewing some day soon.

and then there was this bag of scraps, which i haven't even opened yet because i'm so busy taking in all the rest of the package. goodness, it felt like an early birthday getting all these lovelies in one box at one time. this is sewing bliss.

now what will i make?!

triangle along with paula

 that purchase from fabricworm that i mentioned finally showed up. after making two spring fabric mosaics (here and here) for the color intensive class, i wanted the fabrics. and once the fast was broken for the month, i just went ahead and purchased with glee. a tad bit of guilt, too. in all honesty, unlike my other purchases for the month, these were bought simply for the "i want" factor. i got some of the fabrics from the mosaics and some i had wanted to use for the mosaics. some i also got from fabric.com instead because they were less expensive (not arrived). i had no real idea what to do with them, but i'd created the pull when making the mosaics and thought they'd make something great. lucky for me, the idea showed up before the fabrics did. thank you, paula!

 

do i need another project? heck, no! but that isn't stopping me because i already have fabrics picked for this (so no purchasing required - really), i have the ruler, it doesn't start for another month (time to get wips done), and i've wanted to do a triangle quilt for ages. quilting along with a group under that sassy paula is the icing on the cake! isn't it great how quilt-alongs get you going on something you have intended to do? it just motivates and inspires me so much to work on stuff when doing it this way. i especially enjoy the flickr groups and link parties where you get to see so many variations on the same project. paula even has sponsors offering prizes along the way. so if you've ever wanted to triangle, and i know you do, come along.

for the last year, scrapbook papers like these (above) have been inspiring me to contemplate a triangle quilt. although i've considered doing a solid triangle quilt, i think my spring pull is a good match for this look.

now, my pull is actually a mix of the two mosaics: one that was more yellow/green/grey/pink and one that was new greens/spring blues/touches of warm colors. i am using the two florals of the same print in two colorways to tie everything together. it's now a very cool spring morning with some warm touches to it.

however, now that everything is here, i'm not sure how well it's blending. i've been breaking it down into separate groups to see if i like it better that way.

going with the blue background floral here. the main problem with this is it lacks any more coral. but pops are nice, so it could work.

then again, i really like just these together! so pretty and cheery, yet calm, too. there should be plenty left over for another project with these fabrics.

this it a mix to go with the grey background floral that incorporates the yellow-y greens and gold with bits of red, too.
 

or i could add a bit more grey (from stash!) and the soft magenta print to pick up the touches of purple in the main floral.

 

goodness, too many options! i think i'll just go with everything together. but not until the end of march, when the quilt along officially starts. until then, i have plenty of wips to complete!

fabric selections and a word about ds

 all strips are cut for the newest simple strips baby quilt - boy version. the three on the right end are even sewn together. i like the effect the added navy blues, turquoises, and oranges are having. there is a lot more depth and play in this quilt now.

this quilt started with some leftover strips of riley blake's superstar collection. there were the paisleys, a few solids, some dots, those large stars. the paisleys had a definite cowboy vibe to me, so i opted to aim for a subtle western theme in this quilt meant for a baby named Weston, after his great grandfather, my husband's grandfather. but i wanted to keep it modern-ish and not too cutesy.

the colors in the original strips i started with from the line were faded navy, orange, yellow, deep tan, pale grey. but i wanted to add the turquoise/deep teal stars strip in because 1) it had stars and looked mod western, 2) i liked the dimension the color added, 3) it's a favorite print right now that i love to use whenever i can (from riley blake's sasparilla collection).

 however, nothing i had in my stash helped tie the color of the sasparilla star print in with the other strips. some more navy and orange was also desired for further overall contrast. i carefully selected a few quarter yards of some denyse schmidt fabrics i found at 40% off at jo ann crafts. (if youre here from the fabriholics anonymous, my explanation follows later.) the ds fabrics had just the right vintage vibe to blend well with the western theme of the quilt. and i found one with a navy blue field (background) and turquoise dots - my perfect blender to tie in the sasparilla stars! it's also going to be my backing for the project.

here's the deal with me and denyse - i realize that she is hugely popular, almost to a cult level, among quilters, but i never see her designs as an entire line and think "i have to have that!" usually, there are one or two prints that i like, but i don't get giddy over her the way i do about a few other designers (SH, JD, HB, AMH, AB). now i realize i just committed some sort of quilter/fabric lover sacrilege with that statement, but - and there is a but here - but whenever i approach her fabrics with a specific project in mind, i almost always find the perfect print or two which really bring that project together. apparently i just like her mixed in with everything else and not as one great whole. really, she's brilliant for that in my work. (my work? like i'm some sort of professional or real artist here? ha, ha, that's funny! i'm just a girl playing with fabric for kicks.)

even after finding the great ds prints, i sort of wanted to see if i could locate one really cool retro western novelty print to slip in the mix. thus, when i was at my local scrapbook and quilt store (double deadly temptation) for some project life supplies, i looked for a cowboy print. i did find one print in just the right colors from sasparilla, but it had girls in it, too. i got a fat quarter with the intention of fussy cutting a few horses or saddles out of it. after putting all the other strips up together, though, i don't think it has the right feel for the project, so it's stashed instead. i also located four more prints that had just the right feel and colors that would round out the quilt.

 above are all the fabrics i added in: the navy with turquoise dots is for strips and backing, the pile on the left is some other prints that added the right touches of color and a bit more of a modern but western feel, and the pile on the right is my ds prints.  the two fat quarters are the pieces i culled after consideration.

the whole time i was at the cutting counter, i kept thinking, "after my public fast declaration, i'm going to have to confess to this purchase, even though it's allowable. i have to be honest about this." ugh. i am really happy with these additions to the quilt, but also feeling the guilt of making some purchases. despite the fact that i gave myself permission to buy specifically for projects in progress, i really had hoped to go the whole six months, or at least a couple of months, before spending on fabric. if i'd quit starting something new and stick to my pile of wips maybe i'd do that! what i can say for myself is that these purchases were very intentional, not in excess, and i did not get sucked in to any "gotta have" item of the moment. this is certainly more responsible than my previous purchasing habits. it's a step in the right direction, for sure.

i'm finding that as huge as my stash is, because the majority of it was impulse buying before i had actually quilted much, it has several holes in it when it comes to color, variety of style, low-volumes, and blender fabrics. it's not very useful for the way i actually quilt or how my quilting is evolving. i have a whole lot of fabric, just not a whole lot of the "right" fabrics. for this reason, it's going to take me some time to work through the stash. this is teaching me about how to purchase in a mindful way.

i guess i could have either not made this last minute baby quilt or just made it up with what i had. however, as one fellow faster said, "i'm not going to make ugly quilts just to use up what i have." ditto. i quilt because i enjoy it and i want anything i make to be enjoyable to me. especially if i'm going to gift it. i'm not going to gift a quilt i don't like just to give away a quilt. i could buy something else instead. really, the aim of fasting was to find ways to use what i had (which i did with those leftover strips here) and stop impulse buying exciting new fabrics or sale items. perhaps what i'm really doing is more akin to "fabric dieting".

also, i've realized i really prefer to work with 1/4 or 1/2 yd cuts. they are so much more manageable when it comes to cutting than anything bigger. i despise trying to square off big cuts! however, i find working with smaller cuts has improved my accuracy and my attitude about cutting, too. thus, lately i usually only purchase 1/4 or 1/2 yards, unless it's for a backing or it's a versatile or favorite print i know i will be using a whole lot.

now it's time to go sew, sew, sew those strips together and get this baby done!

welcome home lolly lolly

i debated about whether to post this or not, but obviously decided "yes." so here goes . . .

 a certain special fabric package arrived at our house last week. a package i was super excited about. only this package didn't contain cut fabric, it was an already completed quilt. in case anyone wondered where lolly lolly went after it left rachel's header banner at stitched in color last week, now you know.

 i have been in love with this quilt ever since i first saw it on rachel's blog. this was rather odd for me because of the color choice. i don't do magenta or anything purple-y. not at all. but apparently i do. the color combo of the cerise and melon (what rachel calls that magenta & orange-y pink) is totally surprising. and enchanting. i keep looking at it thinking, "I can't believe this works . . . but it does! wow!"

other things that attracted me to this quilt: the story of the emotional roller coaster rachel went through in making it, the original pattern from one of my favorite books ("gumdrops" in sunday morning quilts), the way rachel adapted that pattern, all those adorable fabric scraps, the dense line quilting, the fact that rachel made it. um, basically everything. every time i visited her blog, it made me smile to see it on her header banner. and with penny patch under way around here and my obsession with figuring out vintage tangerine, i was seeing that lolly lolly a lot.

then last week i stopped in at stitched in color to link up with the penny patch quilt along link party. low and behold, there on her sidebar was lolly lolly for actual sale in her etsy shop. that blew my mind! i thought, "i didn't know she was selling this. how did i miss that? and i can NOT believe it's still up for grabs!" now, i'm a quilter. and i'd already planned on making a quilt like this eventually, probably in colors that i considered more me. but i went a little crazy. the idea of having the exact quilt, made by rachel herself, in my own hands was irresistible. so there went a chunk of my fabric budget which had been rebuilding as i tried to fabric diet.

apparently Rachel had just listed it the night before and was pleased to have it snatched up so quickly. happiness on both sides of the deal. she asked what my plans for it were. that had me a bit stumped because of it's size. it's actually only a large baby quilt - 39" x 42". larger, it would have been perfect as a gift to d4 for Christmas instead of the pillow sham i was planning. (cheating, yes. but, hey, someones mother made it.) i was definitely not giving it away, so where to put it?

 i ordered this quilt on tuesday and it was in my hands before the week was out. fast! rachel also wrapped it nicely in some pink tissue and tied it with selvage from some shelbourne falls corduroy. (that stuff is incredibly soft, by the way!) there was even a business card with her autograph on the back. okay, autograph is a bit strong but i'm kind of a rachel geek lately. it's probably coming across kinda creepy. there is no serious stalking going on. promise.

 i was rather busy after i opened the package, so i tucked the card in my back pocket to avoid loosing it. later in the day when i was working on my penny patch, it felt a little like a good luck charm back there. that card is going in my scrapbook because i'm the type to keep bits like that.

none of the kids were home so i tried an experiment with the quilt. i'd decided to place it on the toy balcony upstairs for them to use when they played. instead of making a huge deal out of the quilt, i simply hung it in place and waited to see their reactions.

all the girls noticed it in turn and made very appreciative, excited, and complimentary comments about it. d3, the 7 yr old, was the most smitten. she just sat in front of it, stroking it, admiring it, and talking to me about it.

"mom, where did this easter egg quilt come from?"
what easter quilt? what are you talking about?

"this purple one with all the easter eggs on it. did you make it?"
oh! those are actually kind of supposed to be gumdrops, not easter eggs. it's called the "gumdrop" pattern from a book i like.  no, i didn't make it. rachel hauser made it. i bought it from her.

"rachel cowsert? our neighbor?"
no, rachel hauser.

"oh! who's that? do you know her?"
no, but i read her blog all the time. i really like that quilt so i bought it when i saw she was selling it. i was just going to make one, but i bought it instead."

"well, i really love all the gumdrops on it. it's so pretty. i like all the different fabrics she used."

"mom, can this quilt be mine? i want to keep it on my bed and snuggle it a lot."
the quilt is a little too small for you. you already have a small quilt on your bed. i just want it there on the balcony for everyone to play with.

"well, okay. but can you make me a larger version of this exact quilt? because i love it. you better expect me to be playing with it a whole bunch."

 she's totally in love.

and so am i.
this quilt has done something to me. it's got me wanting to do new and surprising things with my quilting, things i've never dared or even desired to do. it's pushing the limits of my creative thinking. i expect my quilting to be different soon.

from the bottom of our hearts, thank you, rachel.
i know i paid for this quilt, but i feel like i won the lottery.
lolly lolly is home and we are over the moon about her.