Happy 2013 and Continued Blessings

Happy New Year,

May you find this year filled with all the fabric, thread, and yummy goodness that your heart desires.

I am sitting here listening to my church service via internet...love technology...and I am always thankful for the last few days of the year...as it  provides a moment of reflection and stillness.  I find that i am most happy and most thankful when i am in my house leading into the new season.  The only other place that rivals that is church service...but with technology...thats not a problem.

I look forward to a year filled with lots of quilty goodness and loads of creative energy.  I also pray that i am able to find the time to complete the multitude of projects that are flying through my imagination.

So i look forward to a year of health, continued blessings, and the continued expression of the god given talents that I have been so lovingly blessed with.

The 12 days of Christmas

Hi all,

Whew, it's Christmas Eve already. Where does the time go? Hmmm am I ready for Santa tomorrow, eh not really, but who cares. Tiz the season for love and good tidings. I can always finish stitching on Christmas Day. Lol with a lovely IOU..

So here's a quick pic in review.

Starting with a fabulous dinner party for my ALOC friends. Decor food and the like courtesy of moi.

Them some stitching scenes. Some sipping scenes. And a teaching session, with a bit Of sipping In between.

How to Shed weight in just 15 minutes a day

Hi blog world,

It has been a while since I have posted anything about play here. During my absence I have managed to get a bit hefty around the fabric area. I know, I know with all of the holiday fabric goodies, I guess it was bound to happen.

Fortunately, a friend told me about this new fabric slimming diet, a great stash buster to get rid of all that excess fabric weight. So I decidedTo go at it again after fallin off yet another fabric diet wagon.

So I pulled out my ingredients and in just 15 minutes this morning I was well on my way to losing fabric. This is so awesome, I can do this in the morning in just 15 minutes.

Thanks Victoria...and for those of you that have not gotten your diet plan together, pick up the how to ..."15 Minutes of Play" by Victoria Findlay Wolfe.

Fine print: this is not a paid advertisement. No animals or people was harmed in the making of this post. Smiles

Giving Warms the Heart

I love when people dig deep into their spirit to give to those in need. I often wish it could be a year of sustained giving. Today was charity day at the Empire Guilds meeting.

With hurricane sandy and all the displaced families, this guild has been busy making and giving quilts. So today was no different, as it was the day to stuff the stockings that we deliver to homeless shelters. Toys and fun for the children and toiletries for the adults, complete with gloves, socks, and gloves.

Giving truly warms the heart. Happy giving season.

America's Leaders of Change

Yeah, 18 months and this weekend we have graduated from one of the most amazing leadership training programs. A congrats to my 49 Cohorts from across this great nation that participated in this journey with me.

So, of course I was nominated as one of the people to create the class gifts for our fearless leaders of the program. And with Walmart foundation as a program founder, we had the pleasure of going to Bentonville last year and saw the opening of the Crystal Bridges museum. (I am sure I posted some cool art pics from it.)

So we had great quotes and inspiration throughout the year and a half. So I created a mosaic of a picture I took and a mosaic of another image of the bridge and altered a picture of a river, as that was another of our quotes.

Here are the results...hardly a dry eye in the room. Yippee.

Time to make the quilts...

My heart and prayers go out to all that have suffered loss during this storm. My Facebook post says it all.

For all you quilty folks, stay tuned.... And get to stitching... Bumblebeans will be organizing collection and we are looking to identify organizations for distribution of these warm bundles to those affected by the storm.

Dear Jane...am I close to done....

NOT. Ha Judy asked me if all I had was the blocks you will see below. Only 201 to go. lmao

You see, Monday was my second class of the second session (yes beginning of my second round of Dear Jane) and this is what I have.

It is important to note that 6 were completed last week and another three in class on Monday. I would say perhaps in a year. Depends on how many holiday gifts I make. Lol

But I am truly enjoying myself.

Love love eBay

Hello blog land.
I enjoy trolling ebay for old finds. During this jaunt I found some cool star blocks. I enjoy old Fabrics and am on a quest to learn how to date fabrics and quilts. Armed with some informational books and reference materials from the textile industry, I am enjoying my self created lessons.

So, this is how I have decided to go about the educational process. I read up on different fabric types and styles. I then search around eBay, periodically, to see if anything fits my current search criteria. I have a preset price that I am willing to pay base on a variety of factors. Of course there is always the possibility that it is not what it is purported to be which is why I have a set cost in mind. I.e. never more than $2-$3 per block in large groups. I figured that it would be a reasonable cost No matter what age the block is. I also look to ensure that there is not an abundance of the fabric represented in the lot an also that there aren't multiple listings of similar things.

I have also learned that estate sale does not guarantee age... See maximum for block price above. Smiles. And the older re blocks are purported to be, the more scrappy they should be if they are large amounts. They should evidence the scarcity of fabric, because everyone did not have the means to buy bolts of fabric. So I look for a variety of fabrics used, like shirting, feed sack etc in a series.

I have also taken to looking for kitchen sink type quilt tops because they show a wide range of fabrics. You can also see how they age.

So here are some recent finds.

Manhattan was Over Run by Quilters

Hellooo blog land,

It is definitely back to school season. The crisp September air, the bright blue sky and puffy white clouds. Where or where did summer 2012 go. I am sooo happy I was able to attend the daytime eveny of Quilters Take Manhattan. Of course, yours truly "CocktailsandThread" was ticketed and ready for the After Dark event, Quiltini's anyone.  The Quiltini's were yummy, although I did not have as much as I would have liked since I was driving. How did I make that mistake. Lol

Back to the afternoon at FIT. It was great. Beginning with a lovely message from Mark Lipinski, to introductions by Quilt Alliance's Executive Director Amy Milne (she's awesome)... To a lovely SOS with Denise Schmydt, interviewed by the wonderful Meg Cox. Followed by a great intro by Marie Bostwick (love her books) and a talk by Jennifer Chiaverini , gonna have to pick up one of her novels as well. And then all the wonderful door prizes, although I did not win this year.

I was able to contribute and benefit from the silent auction and walked away with two awesome books that I never knew existed. 

Textural Rhythms: Quilting the Jazz Tradition

and Threads of Faith by Carolyn L. Mazloomi

Don't you just love that.

So here is a weekend pictorial of the events. (in no particular order since its from my phone lol)

Karla Overland fromCherrywood Fabrics.  I loooovee t his tunic...

 

 

Meg Cox inteviewing Denise Schmydt at FIT Quilters Take Manhattan

 

 

Stories by Syliva Weire Beaumont, TX Quilt Alliance House Quilts

 

 

Paula Nadelstern designed umbrella and its lucky winner Emily Klainberg

 

Quilters Take Manhattan AFTER DARK - the Quiltini

 

 

QTM After Dark with the wonderul Author Marie Bostwick

 

Love Love Love Luke Haynes...Fiber Artist Extraordinaire.

 

QTM After Dark with a bit of Improv in the Bumblebean studio.

 

Anotehr of my fave people...Leslie Tucker Jennison...Her stuff is AWESOMMMMEEE

 

Simplicity at its finest..

 

The Woman with the best job ever...Amy Milne, Executive Director of the Quilt Alliance

 

QTM After Dark and the energy is still flowing

 

More Quilt Alliance Houses

 

 

 

Isnt this fabulous, I may learn to like yo yos after all...

 

 

Did I not say her stuff is awesome, Leslie Tucker Jennison

 

NYC Metro Mods very own Andrea Murray "Om is where the quilt is"

 

 

FIT swag + City Quilter stop = a stop how before the AFTER DARK

 

QTM After Dark

 

 

Susan Cane, CT "Home Sweet Home"

 

 

Studio Improve at Quilters Take Manhattan After Dark with Quiltini's -
 Love it, For what is better than Cocktails and Thread...smiles

 

 

Caffeine boost at Quilters Take Manhattan - FIT

 

 

Another introduction to an author - Jennifer Chaiverini, gotta check her out...smiles