I know it’s halfway through the month – but I really struggled to declare an April wine of the month. But the other night I was out for drinks with a friend and realized why I’ve been having so much trouble: April’s weather. Think about it. You can have an 72 degree sunny day and just want to sip rose outside. But then the next day it is pouring and 60 degrees and you want to make a pot roast…
-
Choosing a Magical Bag Pattern
Read moreI love this bag. Yeah, Marie Kondo, it brings me joy. When I first saw the Small Things Magical & Mystical collection from Lewis and Irene I knew I had to own at least some of it. I found a fat quarter collection at Fat Quarter Shop so I got a little bit of all the fabrics. Win! For my first project using the collection, I wanted to make a bag. I desperately needed a new bag. While the…
-
A Really Good Weekend
Read moreI just had an amazing weekend and had to share it. First, I’ve started working on a super-complex quilt pattern. The final product is a secret because it is going to be a gift – but this is the list of pattern cuts for ¼ of the final product: I finished that quilt block yesterday and it is almost perfect! There were a few spots where it got a little wonky – but I can work with those parts. I…
-
How to Quilt a Quilt
Read moreSo you finished your first quilt top and you are so excited about it because it is beautiful. But what next? One of the most influential things I have ever read about how to quilt a quilt was at The Inbox Jaunt. Their #1 way to ruin a quilt top? Leave it in a box and never make it into a quilt. Now whenever I question if I’m making the right quilting decisions I remind myself that at least it…
-
Baby Harry Potter
Read moreThere is a lot of Harry Potter fabric out there. (And I have serious plans for a lot of it.) But most of it isn’t exactly baby friendly. Enter Spoonflower. If you’ve never shopped at Spoonflower, you should. Independent designers upload their designs and you can shop them and then print onto a wide variety of fabrics: quilting cotton, jersey, linen canvas, and more. Or, if you are an artist, you can create and upload your own design onto fabric.…
-
Drowning in Mistakes
Read moreSometimes you can plan and plan for months and everything still doesn’t work out. But when that happens, you need to have a support group, a glass of wine, and a seam ripper to correct your mistakes and move forward. I have these really good friends. Fun facts: they’re expecting their second baby, we spend a week at the beach together every year, and the male half of the couple is terrified of crabs and jellyfish. So, naturally, I started…
-
March 2019 Wine of the Month
Read moreThe last weekend of February or the first weekend of March means that it’s time for Drunk Bus! I recognize that this not a holiday for most of you – but for my friends and I it is one of the best weekends of the year. Once a year we gather and do a wine tasting tour of Charlottesville area vineyards to celebrate one friend’s birthday. This year we did: Gabriele Rousse Flying Fox Valley Road Pollack Virginia does…
-
The Not Quite a Tar Heel Quilt
Read moreOne of my favorite parts about quilting is being able to give gifts to people that are as unique as they are. I stealthily asked my friend what her nursery theme was. (Hint: ask months before the birth and in passing – new moms love to talk about this stuff and usually forget conversations 5 minutes later. Pregnancy brain is real.) She was having a baby boy and is a huge Tar Heels fan – but she didn’t want to…
-
Murder Mystery Quilt Fabric
Read moreI chose my fabric for the Murder Mystery Quilt! I’m really excited about it – now I get to do my first block and read the first chapter! Also, for anyone who needs metric-driven success: I didn’t have anywhere to put the fabric so I decided to make a One-Hour basket. In the past these have taken me a half a day – but this one took one hour! Shopping for this fabric also was a personal journey. One reason…