it's officially ski season!

The local mountain isn't opening for another week, but we skied it anyway! We hiked to the top of the mountain a couple times yesterday and again today for some preseason snow.

fall inspiration

We just had our first big snowstorm here in Cache Valley, but I'm still holding on to fall!  I took these photos about two weeks ago as I was on a walk through town.  The vibrant colors and textures are so inspiring to me! Oh how I love fall.

first quilt: days 2 & 3

Here are all of my photos from days 2 and 3 of my quilting adventure.

I've always been scared and nervous to make a quilt -- and now that I'm almost done piecing the quilt, I'm not sure why I was always so intimidated.  I think it's because I like instant gratification, and making a quilt does not give me that. But it's so much easier than I thought it would be!  Just careful cutting and pressing, and making sure I get the blocks in the right order :)  We'll see if I'm still this positive when I get to binding and quilting it -- I definitely am nervous about that part.

Sorry about the belly shot on this one -- I forgot how short this shirt is! I was so proud that I coordinated with my quilt, though.

first quilt: day 1

Day One

I spent this morning cutting out pieces:

Cutting is exhausting!  Thankfully, the blocks are super simple so it was just a matter of measuring correctly.  Even so, after a couple of hours, I was definitely ready to be done.

Me? Quilt?

Every time I teach a sewing workshop at a quilt shop, I'm met with confused stares when people ask me if I quilt and I have to answer no.  Quilting is so common here in Utah (it seems like it's more common here than elsewhere, does anyone else think that's true?), and I have to say that I'd like to jump on the bandwagon.

I'm beginning my quilting expedition on Sunday, when I will start cutting up some lovely Joel Dewberry fabric to make a quilt made from his Deer Valley collection in the Tarragon colorway (pictured above).  I can't quite find a good picture of what the finished quilt will look like, but I'll be sure to post my progress.



meeting Joel Dewberry

In addition to creating my sewing patterns, I work for a professor in the Family & Consumer Sciences department on campus, and daily I find myself thinking I can't believe I get paid for this.  It's a quite wonderful feeling to have!

Case in point:  on Wednesday, my co-workers and I headed to Park City to assist at sewing conference.  We were fortunate enough to have Joel Dewberry as a speaker, and then we facilitated a sewing workshop creating little stuffed birds, which is a project from his latest book.

Oh. My. Goodness. SO adorable!

Of course, I cornered him after his presentation to ask him all about being a fabric designer, marketing himself, creating a brand, setting up a display at the International Quilt Market, etc.  And the great thing about all of this was that he was incredibly willing to share his knowledge, which means a lot to me as an aspiring textile designer.

So now my brain is buzzing with ideas, I'm sketching layout and presentation ideas for my booth at Quilt Market in May, and I'm finding inspiration everywhere I look.  I am headed full bore into my next round of designing, excited about the possibilities of where this all might take me :)