Fabric Hoarding

So, I can't be the only one reluctant to cut into my favorite fabrics, can I? I've been hoarding some of my most treasured collections, afraid to either do something with the fabric and then regret it or to use it up and not have it left. Take my Heather Ross/Munki Munki collection:

I do occasionally cut into these fabrics for my baby quilts—the poplin Munki Munki is just so soft and the images so amazingly cute. But I most definitely hoard it. However, I've recently been so inspired by Susan at Canadian Abroad, who just showcased her gorgeous Heather Ross quilt. I love what she's done, and it's made me consider cutting into and using my HR prints a bit less stingily (is that a word?).

My most prized HR is this fabulous wahini/surfer girls print that's just impossible to find. But what good is fabric if you never use it, and instead just visit it occasionally and stroke it lovingly?!

I did, once upon a time, actually surf (badly), so I particularly love these adorable surfer girls. While I have given away a lot of the things I've sewn, I'm not sure I could give away whatever item contains this. But the more I think about Susan's great quilt, I think this would look fabulous in a quilt mixed with other HR fabrics.

Just picture it, this surfing fabric, alongside HR's Mendocino collection, with its mermaids and sea horses!

A while back, I scored a great deal on a whole luscious yard of HR's pink with VW vans—definitely the right transportation for my surfer girls!

In addition to my Heather Ross, I've also been been hoarding, er, holding onto my Melody Miller Viewfinder fabric. I think I bought the last two yards off of Etsy about 9 months ago, and I've been reluctant to cut into it.

I think it's time, however. I think I'm going to make a shopping tote, using this great grey textured fabric from Architextures. I typically follow Bijou Lovely's tutorial for making the bag. More on this as I get going on it.

Christmas Tablerunner

It's still part of the 12 days of Christmas, right? Look what came in the post!!

It's the tablerunner that my swap partner, Jan, made for me as part of the Modern Christmas Tablerunner! Isn't it marvelous?! Look at it close up . .  .

Isn't that penguin fabric in the center so great?! I just love love love it! There is just a bit of Christmasy fabric here and there (an odd tree fabric and such, which I also love), but it is mostly  non-holiday fabric used to effect a holiday style when used with holiday table wear and poinsettias and such . . .  but it looks like I can use it year-round if I use it with regular non-holiday table wear because the fabric is mostly non-holiday. Yay!! I just love it and think it is amazing! The quilting on it is gorgeous! This is the second year that I have participated in the modern tablerunner swap and I have been so graced with amazingly talented and generous swap partners! I am so lucky!

And look at the great ornament I received too:

So great!! The pups went right to the tree and checked it out and both approved!

Now that all gifts have been given I can start reporting on my holiday sewing activities, so stay tuned for future crafty updates!

Tablerunner Finish!

Sorry for the brief radio silence . . . I had a work conference in Denver and then the Thanksgiving holiday, so am just now trying to catch up!

On other fronts, yay, I'm done! Thanks to the amazing head start I got at the Utah Valley Quilt Guild retreat last month, I finished my tablerunner for the Modern Christmas Tablerunner Swap I'm doing on Flickr!

From checking out my partner's mosaic I figured out that she (along with several other people!) kinda liked trees. Fortunately, that's sort of my paper piecing thing. I've recently discovered these stars, so I thought I'd combine the overlapping trees with some stars.

I had originally finished the first panel of trees (meaning I had finished a set of three trees), when I discovered that the big tree was too short. The bottom of the tree came too close to the bottom of the bottom of the tree on the left, and it looked all wrong. I was so frustrated, because I loved the fabric and everything else about the trees! But back to the drawing board I went and redrafted the pattern for the trees and started over (insert sad emoticon here!).

One of my goals for this tablerunner was to use a lot of non-holiday fabrics. I love the way that bright modern fabrics can be used to make something look holiday appropriate without being explicitly holiday themed.

I did use Riley Blake's Doodlebug Design Santa Santa's Workshop Snowflake fabric throughout the piano key border and in the stars, but other than that I relied on the reds, greens, and turquoises in my stash. I particularly love how the American Jane Punctuation looks like ornaments in the trees! I also have a weakness for birds, so I always try to sneak a bird fabric or two (or three!) into my trees! That's Cloud 9 Heron fabric on the bottom. I also used P&B Textiles' Velocity Feed the Birds in there too. 

So, my tablerunner is pretty much ready to go! I just need to make a Christmas tree ornament. I'm strangely stumped about what to do . . .  any suggestions??

More News and Views From the Retreat

So. I think I've finally caught up on my sleep after 4 straight days of sewing! My neck, however, has not quite forgiven me for staring straight at my sewing machine for so long! I can only imagine what we looked like--a room filled with 76 women seated at their sewing machines from 7 a.m. until past midnight! One man stopped by and asked if we were all part of a sweatshop! I replied that I didn't sew nearly fast enough to keep my job if that had been the case!

Apparently, it was snowing up quite a storm outside, but we were in a windowless conference center, fairly removed from the world outside. This is what it looked like at home:

We also apparently elected a president and quite a few senators and congresspeople while we were away at retreat as well . . .  kind of surreal how the world marches on! It was strange actually; I kept checking my iPad for news, but it didn't seem that anyone had their TVs on or were talking (much) about politics. I did, however, get cornered a few times (I'm really not sure why!) and was asked my opinion on presidential politics. A very dicey question in Utah! But no worries . . .  I'm not about to launch into a diatribe on my stance on foreign policy, healthcare, or even more delicate issues! Not in this post, at least! ;-)

Now, back to the retreat itself! First of all, as I mentioned yesterday, I got there a day early so that I wouldn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to drive up to Park City on Wednesday morning. I'm so glad I did! I was able to get my bearings, set up my sewing area, meet some people, and, best of all, hang with my roomie Sue! I wish I could link to her blog, but she doesn't blog . . . yet (hint, hint, Sue!). Sue, knows that I'm a bit out of my element here in Utah, as I'm really an East Coast ocean girl in my heart and soul. And being the sweetie that she is, look at what she gave me as a retreat roomie gift!!

A whole fat quarter bundle of Emily Herrick's totally fabulous Going Coastal collection! Yay! I'm beyond thrilled with these goodies! I've never had a whole, entire fat quarter bundle before and I'm frankly somewhat beside myself! Sue had given me some samples from the line a while back, but that just whetted my appetite for more, and now I have it all! If you don't know this line, definitely check it out. It has flamingos, sea kelp, lobsters, madras, sailboats and other fun designs. So fabulous!

I have a great pattern of Emily's, Cabana, that I already have in mind for the fabric. I have the person in mind to give the finished quilt to, as well, but that part is top secret as I think she reads the blog . . . so more on her secret identity and her special story after the quilt is gifted. I will blog along as work on this quilt, however, so you will get to see this one in progress!

There were some goodies for sale at the retreat, but I was oh so restrained!! $3 half yards, patterns, and all sorts of other goodies. I'm sure you can just imagine what the sale area looked like . . .  sort of like the stores on Black Friday (after Thanksgiving). Nothing like offering sales on fabric to quilters! It was bedlam. I braved the bevy of ladies, but I held myself back and this is all I succumbed to:

Pretty restrained, eh?! I'm fairly proud of myself!

Now, on a non-retreat front, I have some exciting news . . . I won something as part of Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival!! If you haven't gone over to her site yet to check out the totally amazing talent on the festival, stop reading this right now and head on over to see! I mean it! I'll still be here when you come back! I summoned up my courage and posted my Mama Lilly quilt on the BQF this year, which was fairly daunting given the gorgeous and completely professional work people presented, but as this was my first year of sewing and my first year I completed any quilts I thought it was a good risk to take. And I was rewarded with a $25 gift certificate at Fabricworm! Clearly not for my quilt, just one of those lucky draws! Yay! Because who doesn't love fabric?! And Fabricworm is a great store with an amazing selection of distinctive fabrics.

Fabric Frenzy!

Weeeee! Fabric!! I think one of my favorite parts of sewing and quilting is playing with er, selecting fabrics for my projects. I love the complex interactions between value, texture, pattern, color, and the  inexplicable role that whimsy plays. 

Take the American Jane Punctuation fabric in black, green, and red in the foreground of the picture, for example. I'm not sure what it is about that fabric, but I find it just captivating! It has a life to it, a bounciness and life that adds so much to a quilt or Christmas stocking or zippy pouch!
This the color palette I'm playing with for the Modern Christmas Tablerunner Swap. As you may have seen already, this is the possible draft of a tablerunner for my secret partner:

The colors are just to brighten up the design. Can you picture this design in the colors above? Not in ALL of the fabrics, but in a subset of the greens, reds and aquas.

What do you think? Which ones do you like? Which ones would you dump? I don't have it in my stash yet, but I was thinking of adding some Winterkist too . . .

Seeing Stars

I have a friend who is one of those extra special people who remembers every birthday, anniversary, and other holiday with a card or text. I thought it was time I turned the table and let her know how grateful I am for her thoughtfulness. I've also been meaning to try my hand at this starflower block I found over at Ellison Lane Quilts for some time, so it seems the perfect time to make this for my friend! If you haven't yet, go over and check out her blog. She is fabulously talented and has some great tutorials!

This was also the perfect use of my ever-growing scrap heap! I've been inspired by the recent spate of blogs on using scraps and so I've climbed into my scrap baskets and pulled out some some goodies to work with.

I finished the top last night and, amazingly enough, the blocks actually line up! I know this is what is was supposed to do, but that is often so far from what happens with my piecing! Of course, I did originally swap two of the segments when I was sewing it together, so I had to unpick lots of stitches and try again . . . .  Anyway, I think I love this block!

I've been reading on a number of blogs about color value (check out Sew Katie Did or Stitched in Color, for example), and after doing this star block, I get what they're saying. Do you see how the darker blue fabric has a darker value than all the rest of the fabrics. It's not just that it's a darker color, but that it is denser and isn't in balance with the other ones. If I were to do this again, I'd either find a blue with a value more consistent with the other ones, or I'd pull on some darker values in some of the other colors (like the red, orange, and green) as well to balance it across the star.

Now I'm just trying to decide how to quilt this. Should I hand quilt an outline of the star? Or, should I machine quilt parallel lines outlining the start? Or, other suggestions?

Da Bears!

Continuing the 'bear cracker' saga of the other day, despite repeated launderings--even with baking soda and white vinegar--the clothes continued to smell delightfully fishy. Oh joy! Especially exciting given that we were headed right into bear country in Yellowstone! In fact, just minutes before we checked into the Madison Campgrounds in Yellowstone, the rangers had chased off a black bear who had come wandering into camp. Yikes! Nevertheless, I kept reminding myself of how FEW people actually get eaten by bears on an annual basis, so what are the odds that it would be little ole me (even if I did reek of salmon)?

We did get our own chance at a bear sighting yesterday, although happily it was not in our campsite. We spied two cubs on the side of a hill and took our photos (and quickly made our getaway). Lacking the fancy gigantic lenses of some of the photo-tourists, our bears are a bit blurry but were nonetheless quite clear and close!

We also saw elk, bison, pronghorn deer, moose, and even a coyote stalking its breakfast! The pups were watching the coyote with keen interest from the car, and were whimpering a bit with excitement (the way they often do when they see a pup they want to play with), but they kept it fairly subdued, apparently having a sense that this coyote was not the usual sort of pup!

Having only my knitting with me, I didn't make any progress on my sewing projects, but I did succumb to the smallest of fabric purchases . . . this fat quarter from Selvedge Studio in Missoula, MT.

They had such a gorgeous selection of fabrics, I just wanted to buy up the whole store! I restrained myself, however, and only left with this one fat quarter (and their business card so that I can go back to them in the future!).

In the meantime, I just keep knitting away at my socks and I am now nearing the toe of Sock #1. I did briefly lose my mind and skip a step, so I had to go back and rip out my stitches and then turn the heel. I use the same pattern time and time again, and so I should know by now how to make a sock, but it has been a while! In addition, a few socks ago, I jumped to the gusset before turning the heel, and ever since then I keep making that mistake--as if I've created a groove in my brain that remembers the mistake and not the correct step! Linking up with Lee for my Wednesday WIPs!

In addition to my yummy fat quarter, I also brought home these fabulous old Ball jars. We found them in a little antique store in Ennis, MT on our way to Yellowstone. I was so impressed by their great condition, particularly the zinc and porcelain lids, and I so so love the aged blue color of these jars! I plan to replace some of my newer jars with these, and to fill these with buttons, zippers, selvages, and such.

Rumors of my blog death are greatly exaggerated!

Hi friends,

Thanks for hanging on . . . somehow March just marched right on without me, it seems! I'm really not sure how it happened, but I got back onto my blog list, and there they were, all 1,000 plus blog posts, just waiting to be read! Yikes! That's right! I apparently got just a wee bit behind in my blog life! You know how it goes, the rest of life calls, and you must respond, and the blog life falls ever so quickly behind!

Here on the home front we're gearing up for a yard sale--not my usual thing. In fact, I've never held one before. We're working on simplifying our lives. Paring down to just the things we actually truly need. Need, as in actually use regularly, rely on, want, like, and have to have. Not think we will use one day; not have because some friend of a great aunt's second cousin gave it to us and may some day visit and we wouldn't want to offend by not having it on display; not keep because some list somewhere suggests that it may be trendy; not hold on to because I had it when I was a child and it holds some whiff of a positive emotion I had back in 1983. We're trying to go cold turkey on all those things and really stay focused on what we want and need right now. Simple living focused on the present and the future. This may be over-sharing, but here goes: I cut a small square out of my old, holey security blanket (a.k.a. "bankey") from childhood, threw the rest of it out (with a big gulp and a bit of a nostalgic tear), and then packed it away in a small box with some other carefully selected mementos I would actually put in a child's room (the blanket square being the one exception!). This whole process is clearly draining both physically and emotionally. I'm currently lying on my back on an ice pack recovering from apparently too heavy lifting yesterday. We're making great progress however!

I've also made great strides in the office/sewing room. It is a small room to begin with, and while I'm thrilled to even have a room dedicated to creative work, it was feeling a bit cramped, so as part of the paring down process, I've removed one of the tables, and opened up the space quite a bit. It feels so much airier and more conducive to work! I emptied out my built-in bookshelves of books, and put in jars filled with fabric, colorful zippers, buttons, and other notions. My next step is to paint my sewing table (a rummage sale retro piece) a funky Chinese red. Pictures to come!

I'm feeling inspired to get back to sewing, which I've done precious little of since I finished my zippy pouch. I've had two great sewing days at Ella's, which has been great fun--hopefully more to follow! I have decided to get cracking and to to make some tote bags, zippy pouches, and some little clutches to sell at our upcoming yard sale. If nothing sells, I've gotten a head start on Christmas!

Speaking of the zippy pouch swap, I don't think I've shared the marvelous pouch I received from Annabella!! I was so thrilled to discover that she was my secret partner!! Look at the marvelous pouch and scraps I received all the way from Morocco!!

I've loved all the great, rich colors that Annabella uses in her quilts. It's how I picture the lush, rich textiles of Morocco to be. I've been luxuriating in the yummy scraps that she sent, because they remind me of her quilts. It's funny how even though I could go out and buy the same fabrics, I just don't think I could combine them the same way to the same effect! And I just adore the robot fabric!! It's been one of my favorites for a while! And don't you love the patchwork piecing--so fabulous! So many of my favorite fabrics on this!!

Stay tuned faithful readers, changes coming soon to Shortcookie . . . I've gotten adventurous and should have some new design elements coming your way!

New Toys!

It is so hard to resist new toys, er, technology! Especially when old technology fails you! I have 37,000 (okay, perhaps 5!) plastic, poorly-made in China seam rippers than I can never seem to find. I was tearing apart an old favorite pair of PJ bottoms the other day (to use as a template for a new pair), when the metal shaft started to slide away from me into the plastic base. What use is that?! Sigh. That's it. It just so happened to coincide with one of those conveniently timed 50% off coupons from Joann's (I'm sure the store and the seam ripper were working in cahoots!), and so I made the big leap:

Look at this beautiful baby from Gingher! Sleek, aerodynamic, and yes, just a wee bit dangerous! I'm pretty sure she won't be traveling with me on my carry-on luggage anytime soon! She has a retractable blade, aluminum and nickel handle, and no cheapie breaking gonna happen with this puppy!

And just when you thought the fun was over, no sirree Bob! I've been fighting the lint wars inside my machine, discovering with some horror that, perhaps, I'm just a wee bit more obsessive compulsive than I thought I was. But there's just no way to get all that thread lint from out of the closed, confined space of my poor Brother, or is there . . . . ? Much as my little paint brush does wonders, I've found something even better! Yes, I succumbed to one of the product placements during my sewing class last week. The instructor was extolling the wonders of her mini-vacuum and I just fell in love. BUT, rather than buying the one selling in the shop, I went online and found a bargain on Amazon. And, voila!


Who knew vacuuming could be so much fun? It doesn't quite show the scale, unfortunately, but this is draped over a fat quarter, if that helps! The larger black part attaches to a regular vac nozzle, and the little attachments fit inside the business openings of the sewing machine. There are brush attachments and regular nozzle attachments. All it's missing is a lighted end! Now my machine is happy and back to her original fuzz-free state. Ready for business! And all for $8!

That's it for toys, but I did get a fun addition to the stash. Look at this amazing FQ from aubreyplays:

Isn't this so adorable? I just love love love it! She also has amazingly cute typewriters, one in this same light orange, and another in a turquoise. Hard to resist! Lots of projects in mind for these . . . sewing machine cover, little pouch for my sewing machine parts, etc. Love this! Check her out on Etsy! My only problem with this fabric is that it may be like Munki Munki . . . I may be developing my fear of cutting into it because I love it so much! I have to be strong, I must use my fabric!

On other news (I know, so much to say--lots of lost time to make up for since I've been down for the count with a migraine this past week!) . . . I've signed up for a few swaps! I had such a great experience with Susan's Modern Christmas Tablerunner swap this past December that when she announced she was back back for more (this time with pals Hadley & Cindy) I just had to sign up again, this time for the Mouthy Stitches Zippy Pouch Swap. Having finally conquered my apparently groundless fear of the zipper, I thought it was perfect timing! I've also signed up for GenQ's Stitchy Love Valentine Swap. Just a li'l valentine in the mail. Finally, I'm participating in April's Hello Sun BOM QAL. I better get cranking on that one, because the month is halfway done, and while my pieces are cut out I have some sewing to do!!

Better get sewing!!

Houses Under Construction!

Thanks so much to all the great visitors and the wonderful feedback! And many thanks to Lee's anniversary WIP Wednesday, which livened up the Shortcookiehouse!

I went back to the drawing board today with the houses for my tablerunner swap. I had originally done one house, which I really liked, but thanks to great feedback on my blog last night (thanks to all the links from Lee's great WIP Wednesday link-up!), I've decided to frame all the houses and trees just in white and then use colored perle cotton thread to hand quilt around each of the trees and houses. So, having trees I already really like (and which are already happily framed in their Kona snow), I went back to my pile of extra designs for pieced houses (I had many more designed than I needed), and then got crack-a-lackin' today on piecing it. Here's what I've come up with:

I had just gotten the pez fabric in the mail this week and was so psyched to be able to incorporate it into this. I'm also pretty happy with my fussy cut of the heron/stork on the roof which I'll now applique on. I think this house is in much better keeping with my trees (pictured poorly in yesterday's post!). I've gotten started on my second house, which is in red tones, but incorporates the blue tufted tweets chairs for windows (with a bird peeking out of one), and the pez fabric as a door. Who knew?! I think I've actually fallen in love with paper piecing!


A bit dispirited by all my dark photos, I actually braved the outdoors today (I know, it was, in fact a beautiful, sunny crisp day today in Utah!) and took some photos of my works in progress that don't make them look quite so milktoasty. What a difference! I know, I'm not quite an Ansel Adams yet (can you picture him dragging quilt blocks around the great American southwest??!).



I know I showed these yesterday, but the pictures were so awful, I had to show them again in proper light so that they actually look like trees! I guess natural sunlight actually makes a difference!

So, tomorrow, I'm back to finish my red house, and then I have just one house left to piece before I can pull the top together . . . which is a good thing, because I have still have quilting and binding ahead of me before I need to send it off in two weeks to ______ (my secret partner's secret destination in a perhaps far-off land!)!

Updates and a Public Service Announcement

Linking in to Lee's anniversary edition of WIP Wednesday. Lots more things in progress than in any other state. . . . def my state of life these days it seems!

Made some headway on the tablerunner yesterday . . . Got two trees pieced, and I'm happy with how they're looking. I have two houses to go, and then I can piece the top together. I'm hoping to get the top pieced together by Friday so that I can get quilting before the weekend. Here's what I have so far:



Yes, my pictures sooooo clearly rot! I have to find a way to actually take pictures during the day so I can take them up close and actually capture the fabric! Everyone else's blogs look like commercials, with people running through fields with quilts flapping in the sunny breeze, children laughing, puppies frolicking, you get the general idea . . . .

The next step is to frame the trees in a bright fabric to set them against the natural linen I'll be using for the top fabric. I've been ambivalent about whether to frame the trees and houses in color (like I have with the house), but I think they can use the extra color. Still not sure though . . . whaddya think?? I guess it would help to see the design? Sigh. I'll get back to that.

On other projects, have just gotten the Ugly Duckling Lizzy House fabric I've been itching for for ages (gotta love Etsy!), and am going to make a Keyka Lou "easy" envelope clutch. I'm trusting that "easy" means "easy." It doesn't have zippers, so for now I can avoid my phobia, although Susan took the jump today and did an amazing job on her pouches, so I guess I'm going to have to pull up the big girl panties and give it a go one of these days!

Okay, now for the public service announcement: just about three years ago I began having problems with my gas furnace in my rented home in PA. The pilot light kept going out. My lovely landlord (and I really mean that!) kept coming over to relight the pilot light, but it kept going out. Strangely, my migraine headaches (which I've always had) kept getting worse, and I kept getting sleepier and harder to wake up (but I've honestly always been hard to wake up as everyone in my life will tell you!). But then, my carbon monoxide detector went off. The fire department came to my house and discovered that the carbon monoxide in my home was at life threatening levels (because I had bought the cheapest type of CO detector, and it only went off after a week or more of CO exposure). All this to say, if you have gas or oil heat, go to your nearest hardware store and purchase a well-made, top-of-the-line carbon monoxide detector with a digital display (that shows all CO levels above zero). I could have died from CO poisoning, and I still live with serious consequences from exposure to this invisible, odorless gas.

Alright, you may now resume your previously scheduled quilting and crafty blog reading!

Oops! I totally forgot!! Guess what I found at the front door today!


I ordered this on Etsy from Daniel Ahn. It's from Korea, and I couldn't find it anywhere else. Yup, dogs dogs dogs! I may have to devote an entire post to the fabric on the right, because when you open it up it's just riotously wild and huge. It has secret Christmas gifts written all over it!