December 31, 2012

2012 Recap

You know, it seems to be "the way it is done" for folks to do a big collage of projects they have completed over the year and I hate to follow into what "everyone else" does, but it is such a great idea so I am going to jump on the bandwagon! Here are just a few.

The New Wave Quilt turned out really awesome. Two hexie projects, which would have never entered my radar had it not been for the swaps and bees. A couple of Modern 99 blocks, which is a bee I started and really enjoyed. The Ninjagoo pillowcase, my first commissioned project along with my favorite block (the yellow, pink and green one) and last but not least, the Modern She Made Pillow.  Once again, this was created as I was in a swap (and co-hosted it too) that required me to do something new.

2012 was a wonderful year of challenges and I look forward to many more. 

I wish you and your family and loved ones a healthy, happy new year!

Julie

December 30, 2012

Find My Fabric - Y or N?

Have you ever really needed just a yard or so of a fabric that your local store does not have in stock or has sold out of? This is the perfect situation where the Internet is your friend!

Enter Find My Fabric.com
It was exciting to learn of this website (which is still in beta stage) so let me get right down to business on what I went searching for!

My first impression of the site was a pang of traditionalism. Upon entering the search page there is a very pretty blue and yellow quilt with blocks that spell out the word quilts.  As a modern quilter I would have liked to see it with more of a fresh aesthetic but that's just me.

The first search was "yellow pearl bracelets", with one result, a store in Bellingham, WA. I wanted to see how much shipping was but after two clicks, I still did not see it so I just abandoned this search.

The next search was "flea market fancy", and knowing this would have a lot of results I was hoping for better luck. The search returned with 135 results. I clicked on a couple of them and went straight to two sites that appeared to have a credible online presence.  What I mean by that is I have browsed at or heard of these stores before today, so they were familiar to me and I would order from them. The shipping wasn't clear on either of those and it wasn't of interest to me to act like I was going to place an order, just to see the shipping cost, not to mention the "create an account" part of that whole scenario.

The next search was for "remix ovals", which returned nothing.  This was sad as this is a pretty new line and to have no results was a disappointment.

The last search, which I was confident would be great, was for "kona". There was a whopping 2,066 results.  So...I went to narrow the search by price point (as I don't care to pay over $6/yard) for any Kona I buy and it didn't work. :(  I got an error message that said {Sorry, no results for Kona. You can try the search without price filters or go back}. I tried this 3 different times in case it was just me.  It wasn't just me - I was able to duplicate the error message both subsequent times.

I wanted to check out this website a little bit more so I started clicking around, next > to the blog.  The last post was May 2, 2012 (and I did all of this on December 29, 2012). An online presence must be updated frequently for credibility and this one wasn't.

Overall, I think the idea is great, but I was under the impression (which was all in my own mind) that webcrawlers were going out there scouring for all the fabric (similar to a google search) but actually, fabric shops who want to sell must sign up for an account and link their online inventory to this site.  My question is, why would I go to this site, if a google search can find the same results (or more)?

Not wanting to be "Debbie Downer" there was one more thing to try! Upload a picture of the fabric you are looking for to find a match, so I did....and got an error message which suggested I try again later.

It was at this point that I had to throw up my hands and admire the idea but question the execution.  So it is a  no for me.  I don't recommend this site to you at this time, with the current coding.  Let me be clear, that makes me sound like I know a lot about how a website works, I don't.  If Find My Fabric could somehow do the google search behind the scenes and produce a result of price per yard and shipping, then perhaps I would revisit them but currently, it is not valuable to me as a fabric buyer.





December 27, 2012

A Year of Stars

Elizabeth, over at Don't Call me Betsy, has a Foundation Paper Piecing Block of the Month for 2013.
She has a special going on until January 5th and then the price goes up so go check it out now for the bargain. This will be a fun way to start the new year!




December 21, 2012

100 Day Hustle - Update


So all in all I did most of the list, but not all of it and that's ok with me!

Tonight is my Modern Quilt Guild meeting where we are having a pin cushion swap, elections for next year and all kinds of fun.  If I have any energy left when I get home, then I will sew the binding on my Rainbow quilt (of course I have to sew it together first) so I can whip it up on the car ride home for the holidays.  One of my friends tells me that I am a super fast binder, so I might be able to check one more thing off this list before December 31st.

  • Bind New Wave Quilt done 10/21 see finished quilt here
  • Bind Rainbow Quilt
  • Finish Dresden Top
  • Finish Chopsticks
  • Modern She Made, Round 2 done, view here
  • Modernista Swap done 10/28
  • Mod Mosaic Blocks - October done 10/3
  • Mod Mosaic Blocks - November  done, forget when
  • Mod Mosaic Blocks - December -deleted, we are off this month - yeah!
  • Modern 99 Block - October  done 10/2
  • Modern 99 Block - November done 10/20
  • Modern 99 Block - December done 12/1, see collage here
  • Cut Charm Squares for Sewing Summit Charm Swap  done 10/10
  • Cut 10" Squares for Black/White Swap  done 9/27
  • Prepare Fabric and Pattern for Lounge Pant class done 9/28
  • Quilt for Christmas for surprise recipient (not this year)
  • Make at least one project with a zipper (still scared, I must attempt this!!)
  • Cut out Plus Quilt (this whole project has changed to HST something...in progress)
  • Boat Block - nope
  • Start (and finish) Big 10 Quilt started 10/20


December 7, 2012

A Year of Modern





These are the blocks we made in my Modern 99 Bee this year - aren't they pretty? We used the book compiled by Susanne Woods for our inspiration.  Each person sent us the page number and some fabric to create for them.  We had great variety and I must admit, some of the blocks were skill builders for me.

Although this was great fun, I am happy to be done with this bee so I can work on more quilts and less blocks.

Congratulations to everyone who completed these blocks and I'll be selecting (via random generator) the winner of the fabric prize on January 1st!


December 1, 2012

Modern She Made - Round 2

It was a success!

Lori and I host the Modern She Made Swap and this round is just finishing up. There are dozens of talented projects by so many wonderful ladies.  Pop on over and take a peek - lots of talent!

You are to make your partner a project of your choice, but following her guidelines (based on her taste, her colors and a few ideas) but this round it must also include a triangle.

 My partner this round was Tiffany of The Crafty Fox fame. Little did she know, I was stalking her back in October.  You see, she became one of my "I've met her in real life and she's awesome" friends from the blogging universe when I met her at Sewing Summit.  We had a couple meals and classes together so I was noticing her style and her likes and dislikes.

So....this pillow was made just for her, using a mutual friend's pattern. You know Diane right? She's the super talented pattern designer.  I used her Scrap Attack pattern but took out the outside and stitched it right up for Tiffany.

It was my first pillow ever and I would like to make more pillows. I would have never considered a pillow, since I have never made one, but she put that pillows were her #1 choice so it made me venture out and try it.  That is one of the wonderful things about bees and swaps - stepping out of your comfort zone.

And just to keep it real, this is a 14 x 14 pillow cover, but I had bought a 20 x 20 pillow form, which didn't quite work, so....this pillow is stuffed with bath towels and socks - so know with a real pillow form, it will stand up a little bit taller and straighter.