Around the World Blog Hop...

I know that I promised a post about the year that was ScrapBeeLicious and while that's still coming, I wanted to write a smidge (okay, a lot) about a blog hop that's been pretty popular over the summer.  The Around the World Blog Hop has bounced around quilters all over the globe and landed squarely in my neck of the woods in September.  I've been tagged by two amazing quilters: Laura at Little and Lots and Sarah at Smiles Too Loudly.  Laura, Sarah and I are all part of the SMQG and though their blogs are amazing and provide quite a bit of inspiration, it's been even more of a pleasure getting to know them through guild meetings and retreats.

So, on with the meaty bits of the blog hop!

1. What am I working on?

I just started a brand new project that's a year behind the crowd - the Forest QAL.  My epic procrastination is not too bad though since all of the tutorials are available for free and there are quite a few finishes to crush on.  That's one of my favorite things about the online quilting community.  You might have missed the boat to do something along with a crowd, but all the information, encouragement, and inspiration is still out there for you to tackle an epic project!

The Forest QAL is comprised of some seriously amazing paper pieced blocks inspired by nature and I'm planning on taking a very muted but maybe not entirely low volume journey through the woods.  I hope that you're interested in walking along with me, because I think this meander is going to talk a loooong time.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?


I don't necessarily think that I'm all that different from the other modern or modern-traditionalist quilters out there at the moment.  I have a really hard time creating original designs and have no problems following some one else's patterns.  I do usually try to flip a portion of a pattern on it's head so that it's uniquely mine.  My Broken Oreo quilt comes to mind - most others were using the larger portions of the herringbone to tell a more monochromatic story, while the sashing was consistently neutral/white or one print of fabric.  Instead, I decided to mix up my sashing colors and keep all the herringbones black and white.  I loved the effect and it definitely stood out in the crowd.  

The same idea with my Little Bookworms quilt - I loved Film in the Fridge's Converging Corners pattern but I sketched it out so that my corner's had matching colors that created scrappy stars throughout the quilt.  All little differences that make my quilts really MINE.

I think the biggest compliment I've gotten regarding my style came from Laura at our BMQG/SMQG retreat weekend.  I was just starting out on my Alphabet Rainbow Stars quilt and when she saw the blocks up on the design walls, she said something to the effect of "Even if I didn't see you sewing these, I would know that this is one of your quilts!"  Maybe because of my well documented love of rainbows, maybe because of the black background, or all the fussy cut alphabet centers, who knows?  But whatever the reason, it made me feel really great that day :)

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

I started my blog mostly because I felt like my Flickr descriptions and show and tell narratives were getting a bit long in the tooth.  While my family loves and is super supportive of what I create, they're not necessarily super interested in hearing all about a project's origins, fabric choices, potential layouts, etc.  So I took a leap of faith, opened a Blogger account and here we are, ONE-HUNDRED-FIFTY posts, almost 500 followers (still small potatoes I know, but it's a LOT to me!), and countless words later!  It's been amazing to feel like part of such an inspiring and welcoming group.  

I just want to make things that are beautiful, tell a warm and snuggly story, and spread around a little quilty love.  Oh yeah, and show off my cute kids whenever I get a chance ;)

4. How does my writing/creating process work?

Sometimes I feel like these posts are a huge dose of word vomit because I just want to tell you all everything about my projects - the good, the bad, and the ugly!  I'm not a stellar wordsmith.  I just want to share and I have a hard time waiting to do so.  If you see a post, it's probably because I've finished something within the week and just can't wait to write about it.  I don't think I'll ever be a blogger with a stash of posts all lined up and waiting to be published.  Maybe that's why I've gone so crazy with Instagram lately - it's instant gratification of the crafty kind!

I know I'm supposed to tag 3 other bloggers, but honestly I think that almost everyone I already follow has been tagged once before my procrastinating butt has gotten on board here!  Ah well, thanks for taking the time to read a little more about me and stay tuned because some fun stuff is coming up soon! :)