Happy Sunday!

Happy Sunday to you all!  We've been having a great weekend so far!  Hubby decided on Friday that he was in need of a "furlough" too, so he took a vacation day and we headed to San Francisco to see the King Tut exhibit at the DeYoung Museum.  We spent a little bit of time wandering around the museum before our appointed time to enter the Tut exhibit, we stumbled upon the second special exhibit the museum was featuring: Amish Abstraction Quilts!  Yipee!

The quilts are amazing -- especially since they were all cut, sewn, and quilted by hand!  If you're looking for something to do today (1/21/10), the museum is open to the public for free -- otherwise, the exhibit will be there until June 6th, 2010.

Here are a few of my favorites -- pictures taken from www.pbase.com/brownsf/amish_quilts, where the rest of the quilts in the collection can be viewed.

(unnamed pattern, Holmes County, OH, c. 1930)

(Tumbling Blocks or Stairway to Heaven, Holmes County, OH, c. 1935)

(Broken Star, Holmes County, OH, c. 1930)

(Old Maid's Puzzle, Holmes County, OH, c. 1930)

This last quilt, whose pattern is a variation on the "Drunkard's Path" quilt block, is my favorite.  Seriously, the picture doesn't do it justice at all!  I was so inspired by this piece, that I'm thinking of trying my own variation at home!

So, the "Crafting ADD" continues here at home!  Unfortunately, I still haven't completed any projects, but this also hasn't stopped me from jumping into new ones!

I finally untied one of the Moda Gypsy Rose layer cakes and cut some 5"x5" squares from half the stack - why, why, why is it always so hard to cut into these Moda bundles?  Is it because they look so nice, sitting prettily bundled on my shelf?  Does anyone else have this problem?

Anyways ... they were sewn to some white-on-white blocks and cut into half-square triangles, and have been sitting there on my rotary mat ever since.  Friday night, I was playing with arrangements a bit, but nothing was coming out right.  Hopefully, inspiration will hit soon!

Speaking, of inspiration -- I've added some new features to the blog.  First of all, I'm starting to compile a list of my favorite blogs and inspiring women!  Sometimes, when I'm in a bit of a rut, looking at all the amazing works of other people can help jumpstart ideas in my head!

This weekend, I found inspiration from Natalie over at Cinderberry Stitches.  She does amazing work not only with some of my favorite Moda lines, but also with beautiful appliqued pieces and embroidery.  Two of my absolute favorite Cinderberry Stitches patterns are:

Fresh Breeze:

(available at http://thimblecreek.com/ for $12.00)

and Tailfeathers:

(available at http://www.treasuredthreadsonline.com/ for $130)

Natalie's work is so amazing and all of her creatures are absolutely adorable!  She does a great job documenting her creation process so that you can see her designs and patterns from start to finish.

She's inspired me to try a making something with a little bit of embroidery. This is what I've got so far ....

More pictures coming soon!

Second new feature - if you scroll to the very bottom of the blog, you'll see some photos of the latest listings in my etsy shop.  If you click on the photo, it will take you straight to the item.

Lastly, Mom and I have decided to join the Fat Quarter Shop's Designer Mystery Block of the Month club, which is featuring the fabric of Kate Spain's 12 Days of Christmas fabric by Moda.

The materials and pattern for the first block will ship in June, so keep your eyes peeled for updates here!  I'll be posting pictures of the completed blocks as we go along!  If you'd like to join, just click on the store link above.