Will work for Fabric...

you know those signs you sometimes see people standing at the edge of the road holding...



I think mine should say... "Will Work For Fabric"...because I have been known to do this in the past!



Last year I swapped my labor for the giant roll of batting you see in the photo above. I did some sewing for Roc-Lon Industries for quilt market & in return I got the batting...only problem was, I didn't quilt!

I have long drooled over the new movement in quilting - modern colors, traditional patterns approached in non-traditional ways, the use of solid colors to complement the prints and decided just before christmas that I wanted to give quilting a try and made some table runners for gifts.

Then I stumbled upon a friends blog post announcing season 2 of Project Quilting! This was just the inspiration and challenge I needed to try my hand at quilting!

here are a couple of pics of my work in progress..






and the description of my piece for the challenge - inspiring friendships

20"square pillow cover

named for Friendship, NY

driving through the hills of allegheny ny this summer I passed a roadsign for Friendship NY and thought that would be a great place to say that you were from ... when I spotted this challenge on your blog I thought it would be the perfect place name from which to draw my inspiration.

so... friendship...my online friendship with you brought me to this challenge, the fabrics I used are from other "friends" I have made both online and in real life while pursuing my creative endeavors...Patty Young and I started out together in the same boutique group on ebay, I met Sandi Henderson there as well, Jennifer Paganelli and I became online friends and later met in real life when I visited her home in CT for one of her fabulous home shows(turns out she also has inlaws in my hometown!), and I snuck a little Valorie Wells in there as I had the good luck to meet her at quilt market!

the nesting dolls fabric represents the friends we made while living in Poland too many years ago!

the fabric used for the border came from my stash - the outermost print reminds me of the hills where friendship, NY is located

I started with a log cabin block that I cut into quarters, shifted around and sewed back together, made the stripwork heart applique, added batting & backing and quilted it all free motion (?) ... as I may have mentioned this is one of my first forays into quitling and I don't know all the correct terminology yet! I then added an envelope back to the front so it could be used on a 20" pillow form

thanks for inspiring me!

We're off to see the Wizard...........

or we will be soon.

Yesterday Eily, Leo & I snuck out to do a photoshoot for an ebay launch happening later this week. Leo pleaded to model but as I had no headscarf to cover up the buzz cut he was relegated to serving as the photographers assistant. He even brought his own kids digital camera to take his own shots!

I thought I would share some of our fun with you!
Leo helping with my camera bag...




Eily realizes she has landed on the witch!





Leo wants to get in on the fun too.....love the expression on his face!





then, he gets a better idea....

Thanks for the feature!!!

what a week it has been - I have emerged only briefly from my sewing lair to check in with the outside world - online world in this case.

I had a few pleasant surprises when I received a couple of emails that let me know I had been featured on some folks blogs! Whoo Hoo! Thanks so much!

The first was actually last Friday on an awesome blog...The Long Thread.. I have added this blog to my bookmarks as it is a great read!

Then I had the privilege of working with the photographer Virginia Payne...she featured gock's frocks on her Designers Showcase on her blog!

Today a fellow etsy faster featured me on her blog Handwoven by Kristin Kelley.... thanks so much Kristin!

And Vida's Market has gotten some good press with a link on the sidebar of Cool Mom Picks under here's something cool....

WOW! I should go into hibernation more often...but since I am here I will give you a few more sneak peeks of the goodies I have gotten ready for Vida's Market

and be sure to check out my etsy store for some fun new additions!