A Little Happy Zombie and a Pincushion Swap at PMQG

We had another great meeting last Thursday night at Portland Modern Quilt Guild. The Happy Zombie, Monica Solorio- Snow, talked about her Holiday Happy line of fabric (so cute- must get gnomes), getting started in the fabric designing business, and behind the fabric industry scenes information. Did you know she designed those cute little "Claus Gnomas" in all the colors of the line? Lecien only released the red, and I am going to write to them that I would love to see the other colors released too!  I can just imagine a bunch of gnoma claus' on my couch. I love Monica, she is so funny, down-to-earth, and just lovely to listen to.  She makes me laugh!


We also had a pincushion swap! We put our handmade creations in a plain paper bag, put them all on a table, and then choose one. I made this one, which Katie chose.

That's a Munki-Munki chicken in the middle!

The little dish is from Pier 1.
And little pom poms!  I have a happy place in my heart for pom poms.
I am a  true child of the 70's.

And I got this one, which Amber made!  It couldn't be more perfect for me- aliens, a little Flea Market Fancy (I only have one fat quarter of this fabric line and continue to drool over the bits I see online), and I think she told me she dyed the pieces on the back.  Amazing!

I love those aliens!  Munki Munki again!  The Flea Market Fancy is on the right.
I think the piece above the aliens is dyed too!

And it looks completely different on the back- these are the pieces I believe she dyed.

I am always so happy to go the PMQG meetings.  It's so nice to be around so many lovely women who love fabric and sewing as much as I do!

Recycling Vintage Sheets on Earth Day

The sheets are ready for the vintage sheet fat quarter swap!

It was a bit daunting to think about cutting all the sheets, so when I saw the advice from My Tiny Robot Heart, I knew ripping was the way to go. That, and my Mom told me it would be a lot faster.

It was a lot easier to rip up all the pretty sheets once I got started. I measured first, found the best way to divide it into a "chubby" fat quarter (usually around 20 x 23 inches, some were smaller though), and made my cuts. I ripped them outside. There are a lot of particles that float around when you do it inside. My mom rips sheets for her rag rugs (seriously cute) and she mentioned that this would be best. Once they were ripped into large strips, I made the second cuts where the fat quarter would be, and ripped those. I ironed each one and folded them the way that our swap master Katie requested.

Blue sheets.

Pink sheets.

Yellow, green, and orange sheets.

I am so excited to participate in my first swap- I can't wait to see what I will get back!