New Bees in the New Year (a month late)

One of the best things about quilting, in my opinion, is the chance to participate in a variety of bees. Sites such as twitter and flickr are excellent places to find other like-minded quilting people with whom to start a bee. It's great fun because quite often you meet new friends in the process.

So I thought I'd share with you a few bees that are happening this year.

3x6 Bee.

I love this bee. In fact, I with a handful of awesome ladies help run this bee and make it a success. It's quite fun and rather low key. Basically, you get paired up with a group of 6 other people and you make 1 block for each person in whatever colors they specify. You have 3 months to do this. So theoretically, if you participate for 3 or 4 quarters you will have enough blocks to make yourself a nice sized quilt. One of the reasons why I like it so much is because you get to meet a lot of talented people in a short amount of time. Sign ups are going on right now for Quarter 1 (Feb 1 - April 15) so check it out here.

Here are a few of the awesome blocks I've been given so far:

4x5 Modern Quilt Bee.

It is basically the same concept as the 3x6 bee, only you make 5 blocks instead of 6 in the three month period. I'm not sure if their sign ups have closed or not yet but I participated in it for the first time over Christmas and it was great fun. All the ladies in my group were extremely talented! Check out their webpage here for more info.

Here are the blocks I got the first round -- enough to allow me to finish up a sampler quilt I've been working on from the 3x6 Bee.

Quilts for Cancer.

This is a new bee starting up where each person makes a quilt that they give to someone they know that has cancer. I like this idea because not only are you helping to give people some comfort during a trying time, but it also uses your stash fabric so there is no mailing necessary except for the blocks. There are still a few spaces left so you can check it out here.

Do.good.Stitches.

This bee is the brain child of Rachel from Stitched in Color (seriously if you have not read her blog go do it) I love this bee and have been part of it for about a year now. I love that we quilt for charity, that we use our own fabric, and that we rotate who designs each quilt. I also lucked out and have the best group of people ever in my circle. Seriously, they are all super talented and super creative. For more info check out the Do.good.Stitches flickr page.

Here's a small sampling of some of the quilts that the Inspire Circle has finished:

Citrus Sails Quilt

Bijou Lovely's Herringbone Quilt. 

Also new bees are starting up all the time. Be sure to check out the Quilting Bee Blocks group on flickr that often has a list of bees looking for participants.


Are you going to participate in any bees this year? If so, which ones?

Sam.

This is Sam.

He is a beautiful, albeit old, macbook pro I got when I graduated college.....oh about five and a half years ago. I love him very much. He has always been there when I needed him (well except that one time when he "accidently" erased my portfolio, but that's water under the bridge) Whether it was late night press releases, client changes to ads that were on their way to printers, or even simply opening presents with the family on Christmas morning - I could usually solve a problem with Sam's help. 

That is until tonight.

When he just up and decided to not work anymore, knowing full well that I have 2 major design deadlines coming up. 

What a jerk.

So I did what anyone in my position would do (throw a fit and call Sam names, obviously) and THEN I went and cheered myself up via fabric...because buying fabric when you probably have to spend THOUSANDS of dollars unexpectedly makes perfect sense.

And while I love my new collection of Citron Gray fabric (how can you not) I am still pissed at Sam. 

Valentine's Day Showcase!

I know, if you know me it is a bit strange for me to posting about valentine's day....in January...let alone at all because I've never been a huge fan of the "day of love"

But my heart has been turned! Bring on the flowers, the candy, the hallmark cards, the decadent dinners large romantic gestures, and of course the decorating.

My awesome friend Melissa is hosting a Valentine's Day Showcase this year which I am super excited about. It runs from Feb 1 to the 14th. There will even be a tutorial by yours truly offered during that time (yes it will be valentines-y...see previous paragraph on new found love for valentines day).

Now, I don't want to rain on her parade or anything so I'll just give you a few hints: lots of tutorials, linky party, prizes. So go check out her blog for all the details!

And as a side note, if you have any ideas for what you get the medical-student-who-has-no-time-for-anything-fun for Valentine's Day let me know. =)

Creativity.

In my previous life I was an art director.

I went to college where I got a degree in advertising and design. Yup, while my friends were busy spending hours in a lab mixing chemicals together in the hopes of blowing something up, I got to draw, watch movies, go to parties, take photos, play on the computer and basically have a grand time with some awesome people. And it was all in the name of creativity. See, being a "creative" in the advertising world can be stressful - you must always be ahead of the curve and ready to spot the next trend.

But I loved every second of it (okay maybe not the second that my entire portfolio got erased an hour before it was due...)

I loved going to work at odd hours of the day.
I loved that going to concerts, movies, art galleries, and watching television were all part of my job description.
I loved traveling to various places in the name of work.
I loved that the tools of my trade included Primsacolors, a MacBook, a Nikon Camera, sketchbooks and lots of books.

Basically I loved being creative.

When I started quilting, many of my close friends were not surprised and saw it as another outlet for me to "express myself." I love taking my inspirations from my travels, nature, architecture, and pop culture and translating them into quilts. I think this is why I design all my own patterns.

So I have a question for you - what inspires you? How do you plan on staying creative this year?

For some ideas check out this video:


29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

Fat Quarter Shop Bloggers Choice Bundle

Now if you were to know one thing about me it would be that I love pandas.

But if you were to know two things about me it would be that I love pandas AND I love fabric shopping/choosing what fabrics to use for my next projects.

One of my favorite shops to buy fabric at is the Fat Quarter Shop. Not only are they online (hello, buying fabric in my pajamas!) but they offer TONS of different fabrics from all sorts of my favorite designers. One of the best features of the shop is their Blogger's Choice Bundles. I love it because different bloggers put together a bundle of their favorite fabrics which the FQS then lets people like us sell. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I secretly really really want to contribute my own bundle to the FQS. In fact, I dare say if I get to do that it would be the highlight of my year.

So imagine my excitement when I learned that Quokka Quilts has teamed up with the Fat Quarter Shop to offer this awesome contest to design your own fabric bundle. The winner not only gets all the fabrics in their bundle BUT also gets to have it featured at the FQS. Swoon!

Of course I needed to start brainstorming ideas for what fabrics to choose.  I immediately knew I wanted to create a fun, bright quilt with a feeling of spring/summer to it. (Perhaps I'm longing for the warmer weather to get here already). Anyway. My thoughts first went to tangerine paired with a lime green. Then of course I wanted to contrast that with my favorite neutral gray. So with that in mind here's the bundle I created:

Fabric selections from top left to right:

1. Bella Solids Pistachio
2. Crazy Daisy Citron Tile
3. Bright Owl Lime Swirl
4. Yard Sale Grass Confetti Dots
5. Babysaurus Green Tiny Stripe
6. Mimosa Orange Chevron
7. Mimosa Light Orange Basketweave
8. Remix Tangerine Scatter Dots
9. Meet me at Sunset Orange Stained Glass
10. Bella Solids Amelia Orange
11. Remix Steel Argyle Plaid
12. Tuxedo Collection Gray Stripes
13. Citron Gray Dot n' Square
14. Citron Gray Quarter Dot
15. Bella Solids Etchings Slate


Now I will go cross my fingers and toes that I can win a set of these lovely fabrics in order to make a quilt out of them...otherwise I just might have to buy them and I have already used up my quilting money for the next few months...gotta love those after xmas sales! =)

Confidence in 2012

Happy New Year! Sure I'm a few days late, but I've been busy enjoying every last second my lovely husband and I had together before he had to go back to school (a lame but sadly necessary part of becoming a doctor...wouldn't want someone operating on your heart if they didn't know how your heart works I guess) Anyway I digress.


I know it seems a sort of must do for quilt bloggers to list their quilting related goals for the year. Not to be outdone here are my quilting goals for 2012 (and also because lets face it, if I am held somewhat accountable then the chance of these being accomplished increases exponentially)

* Finish wedding quilt
* Quilt & Bind cathedral window quilt (seriously it's been pieced for about six months now)
* Organize my sewing room
* Write at least 2 new patterns
* Master curves


In other sort of related but not really news, after much deliberation my family and I have finally settled on our word for the year. Yes we have a word we focus on each year. So what. Go ahead and laugh. But at the end of the year we'll see who is the one left laughing.

Anyway our word this year is *drumroll please*  Confidence. We will have confidence in our choices (school, work, and otherwise) and stop second guessing ourselves. We will have confidence while taking life-altering tests (Boards/Grad School Tests) and we will have the confidence necessary to follow our dreams and make things happen this year.

I'm excited. Do you have a word for the year? Or any quilting goals? Or perhaps both?