Quilting for Haiti

Have you seen this button floating around out there?

Well, back in February, Tammy blogged her thoughts about wanting to do a quilt drive to share a small token of comfort and love with some of the people in Haiti. She said, "Quilts, especially those that are handcrafted, are really just a giant hug for anyone who wraps one around herself." I love that idea. So in an effort to help Tammy realize her vision, this lady:

Ms. Sis Boom, Jennifer Paganelli (how cute is she in one of her new aprons?), and this lady:Ms. Dark Horse Designer and Go Make Your Bed seamstress extraordinaire, Nancy Geany, organized a "Quilt Haiti" block-making sew-along at Make & Mingle! Jennifer and Nancy brought piles of colorful Sis Boom scraps that are irresistably cheerful and smile-inducing for us to use to make the blocks. People of all ages and sewing skills came including Cindy and her adorable daughter (who, eh hem, brought her own Hello Kitty sewing machine): "Cute" just doesn't cut it. I mean look at this sweet block she made (the one with the little birdie on it):
Here are two crafty gals thoroughly enjoying themselves and letting their imaginations soar!And here's Charlotte embellishing her block:It was so great to meet Charlotte. Some of you may know her from her amazing craft-a-thons at the Silver Bella Craft Workshops. She's also teaching a workshop at the Mary Engelbreit Home Companion Workshops in St. Louis this May! Ya know who else will teaching be there? No, not me! None other than Kaari Meng (aka: French General and Moda friend)!

So back to M&M, there was a little goofing around (ok a lot). Apparently, Jennifer and i had the same idea at the same time and took simultaneous pictures of each other.But we did manage to get enough blocks made for two quilts in only 4 hours! Here's an action shot of Jennifer adding her block to the design wall: Looks like she was even a little surprised at how nice it turned out!Here are many of the completed blocks. I made one, too, and i think Jennifer has an incriminating picture of me at the sewing machine over at her blog. (At least she didn't take it 5 minutes later when the bobbin thread went haywire!)Nancy will be sewing and quilting all this love together (thank you, Nancy!) and then sending the finished quilts off to Tammy. What a joy it is to know that our community came together on a gray day to bring a little bright warmth (in the form of a big quilty hug) to some people who need it more than we do. A special thanks to you, Tammy, for your contagious inspiration, to you, Jennifer and Nancy for actually making it happen, and to everyone at Make & Mingle for hosting the event. So much fun!

Project Runway Sunday

Several months ago, a chic and trendy not-just-fabric shop opened here in Fairfield! It's called Make & Mingle and is co-owned by three wonderfully creative women, Alexcia, Karen and Natalie. Their shop is colorful and inspiring with craft project ideas everywhere. There are embellishments galore and even funky furniture to lounge around on while you dream up your next creation. It's an all-round super hip space and they'll even host craft parties!

Today, my girlfriends, Casey and Amy, and I went to Make & Mingle for a really fun workshop with Maya Luz, one of the incredibly talented contestants from this season's Project Runway!! Anyone watching along? Do you love her or what?! And no, she wouldn't tell me who wins (as much as I tried to pry for even a smidgen of a clue. She did smirk though, which made me wonder if it could be her? hmmm).

Maya showed us how to make a clutch handbag out of old clothes that we were asked to bring in. Hers looked very cool (um, to give you an idea of how mine turned out...when I brought it home and showed it to my husband, he put it right on his head. If I were on Project Runway, they'd have to rename it "Project Runaway" so maybe I'll show you next time). But having fun is what it's all about, and here are Amy and Casey having a great time:
Maya was nice enough to show me her sketchbook and to share a bit about the concepts for her new clothing and accessories collection. I really love looking at artist's sketchbooks—that's where it all begins. And there's something about those initial marks on a piece of paper that contain all the energy for what's to come. It's like inspiration made visible, an idea made concrete, which sets things in motion. Beginnings are such an exciting part of the creative process and it was obvious that Maya was well on her way! Such talent!

And as if things couldn't get better, ya know who else was at the workshop??? YA, Ms. Sis Boom herself! Now Jennifer, we're supposed to be making handbags, not uh...fancy summer dresses!
Seriously though, it was such a wonderful joy to meet Jennifer Paganelli. She is so nice and so much fun and we totally clicked from the moment we met. She showed me some beautiful quilts that Nancy Geany had made from Jennifer's new line So St. Croix — which is just gorgeous. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out. She's giving away 5 yards of it (in 1 yard increments) on her blog. Head on over and leave her a comment. I did! Nancy was with us today too and it's a good thing we had a project to do, otherwise I think all we would've done is talk and laugh!

It was a great day and thanks to Make & Mingle, not only did we make new handbags (or in my case a new hat), we also made new friends. What could be better than that? I wish Maya much success as she follows her dreams!!

Me, Maya & Jennifer