Feeling hot, hot, hot

Holy cow, it's been hot this weekend! After what has been a really cool summer, I was completely thrown off by the 90 degree weather this weekend. Without A/C, that is entirely too warm to turn on the iron and get much sewing done, but I did make quite a bit of progress.

Today I made a block for Marilyn (aka Spiced Coffee) over at Traveling Threads and managed to do while hardly turning on the iron! I didn't plan on making a second block since I am going out of town later this week and didn't think I would have time this month, but when I saw this pattern, I just had to make another block. I did the vast majority of the paper piecing with just finger pressing and only turned the iron on for sewing the sections together and didn't have any problems. I was really proud of myself for finding a stay-cool way of doing this for her and the block turned out really well.



My friend, Sarah, came over Friday night and we each worked on some sewing. She successfully made a pair of "pirate pants" for her boyfriend. He's going to wear them while playing on a pirate and ninjas themed ultimate frisbee team. She looked so proud I had to put her on the blog.



While she sewed and we chatted, I also got lots of cutting done (a much more weather appropriate activity). I cut a bunch of strips for the improv log cabin summer quilt I'm planning.



And I got my Traveling Threads packets all set to go! I'm sending out modern Christmas fabrics and I'm asking people to make scrappy blocks with square, rectangles and strips. I figure that the fabric is festive enough that it will be cheerful without being kitchy. I'm so excited to see what these amazing ladies come up with.

Color! In the Mail!

This has been a good week for getting awesome colorful things in the mail.

I won Upstate Lisa's giveaway and she sent this super cute package...



containing this amazing mini-quilt! I'm so excited to hang it on the wall. Not only is it fabulously inspiring, it's also wonderfully bright and cheerful. Lisa is also full of great advice and encouragement. Thank you so much!



I also got a Kona Color Card this week!



It's so big it hardly fits on my kitchen counter for a photo!



I was waiting on one from Hancock's but they've been on back order for a couple of months (and won't be getting more until August), but Pink Chalk Fabrics came to the rescue and had one in stock!! It looks like they have 30 in stock if you want one.



I'm already using it to plan out a summer quilt for Jon and I. We love our comforter, but in the summer, it can be a little much and a single sheet is too little. I'm thinking an ultra light quilt inspired by the ones below will be perfect! Click on the photo to see where these beauties came from.