Designing In Progress

Shhh...listen carefully...what's that sound? Uh, do you hear it too? I thought so! It's been a while so i'm popping in here to break up the cricket chorus and let you in on a few things that are going on here and elsewhere. I am going to temporarily ignore the lengthy "to do" list that is pulling at my sleeve and staring back at me as i type. Look away! Let's procrastinate together for a little while :)

One morning last week, my Mom and i snuck away to J and L Orchids in Easton, CT. No matter how deep the snow or frigid the chill outdoors, beautiful orchids are grown inside this magical little greenhouse oasis in the middle of the woods. It's impossible to leave without being awed and inspired — especially at this time of year when most everything is in bloom.

Underside of leaves, not sure what plant. Amazing lines and color.

This orchid was from Hawaii and almost came home with me:

This one did come home with me:

Oops, and so did this one:

Now let's hope i can keep them alive long enough

to bloom next year!

Other than that, time is flying! These past few weeks have been a blurry kaleidoscope of creativity and color (perhaps made blurrier from a lack of sleep) that will eventually become my next line of fabric for Moda and for you, i hope! I still have a ways to go, but it's coming together...

In the meantime, while it's quiet on here, there is so much going on that you might want to know about:

Cara is hosting her second annual Basics Charity Challenge with the wonderful and worthwhile mission of helping to provide basic necessities to women's, children's or homeless shelters. I love that Cara is inspiring people to take action, and as some extra motivation to get involved, she's also offerring prizes!

Erin and Ali have put together a superfun Tangerine Tango Quilt Challenge that involves my all-time favorite color on the planet: orange. When Pantone announced Tangerine Tango as the 2012 color of the year, i was so excited because well, i seem to have a love affair with this color that has even spread to Pinterest. It might also be true that i have an incredibly hard time designing anything without using orange somewhere. Christmas designs are the hardest for me! But back to the challenge, i was absolutely thrilled and honored when Erin asked me to be a guest judge for this challenge and am already excited to see so many beautiful creations popping up on their Flickr group. This is going to be so hard! If you want to get in on the fun, Fat Quarter Shop has put together a Tango bundle to get you started. Good luck!

Fat Quarterly Issue 8 just landed in my inbox last week and it's packed with some awesome project ideas that involve a variety of paper piecing techniques — i've never tried paper piecing, but am already excited to make this clock. There are also inspiring designs for pillows, blocks, and quilts. I might be just a teenie bit biased, but John made a beautiful quilt out of Good Fortune called Double Happiness (which made me triple happy!), that is also featured in this issue. Thanks always to the team at Fat Quarterly for putting together another dazzler.

Just browsed through the latest issue of Adore Home online magazine and am adoring (couldn't resist) so many of the ideas for incorporating pops of color into your home. Eh hem, page 11 orange wingback chair?? Love it! But i'd settle for the cute yellow pendant lamp on p. 39.

And finally, i saw this on Jan's blog and could not resist sharing it too. At least someone is getting some sleep!

Time to get back to the (other) drawing board!

More soon.

xo,

kate