5 things about me...

 I'm linking up for Quiltcon so we can all snoop get to know each other a little better before we're all a big mob of laughing screaming fabric freaks. 
 Let's see...

1. I once had a job in San Francisco where I dressed up in clown and flapper costumes handing out fliers downtown just to see what it would be like, it's not fun. 
2. I am 50% Norwegian.
3. I've been baking gluten free for 19 years. 
4. I moved to Portland in 1993.  
5. I have been sewing since I was little with my Mom but didn't start quilting until 2009 and I've been hooked ever since. 

 See you in 3 weeks!
  Pétra

Auction Quilt #1

The last two years I've been making a quilt for my children's school auction and this year I'll be making two one for each school. Luckily the auctions are about a month apart so I'm not doing them both at once. I am so excited about the first one and have been working on it for the past two days. I'm using Melissa Lunden's pattern Grand Junction which I have really enjoyed working with. 

For my fabrics the focus is the Architextures line, but I added a few other prints. The grey leaf print is from Simply Color, the small dots are Garden Pindot by Michael Miller, the trees are Green by Print & Pattern from the City Center line, and Kona solids. 

The quilt consists of 24 blocks and I've finished the first half of them so it's coming together pretty quickly.

This is the pattern isn't it cool how the squares all weave together! My friend Nancy will be quilting my auction quilts again for me this year which just makes them so much better. I can't wait to share the finished quilt with you. 
What are you working on this week? 
Pétra

Cowl Party

If you say Cowl a few times in a row it really sounds pretty weird but I am addicted to them. I dusted off my knitting needles a week ago pulled out some yarn from that other stash I have and decided to make a new one. I've been planning to share and then I noticed there have been some other cowl posts popping up in my feeds so I thought I'd compile them for you. Then I thought well I should do a little linky party. What do you think? It's cold out and we can't always sew while we're watching Downton Abbey or Girls, has anyone else been knitting? Try a cowl! I found my pattern by doing a little google image search and found this easy great pattern by Diana at Knit and Bake. She has a gorgeous blog and being a photographer (of amazing people!) her photos are dreamy. My husband is out of town so my cowl photos were taken with me holding my camera out with one hand so not ideal! I modified my cowl to have random stripes, my yarn was pretty chunky and I wanted it a little loose around my neck so it's bigger then Diana's. I love how it turned out and it's reversible!

Here are a few of the cowl posts that have been popping up. 

 Anna at Noodlehead is new to knitting and made a beautiful grey cowl.

 Karen at Blooming Poppies just started a cowl with a sunny yellow yarn. I am looking forward to seeing the finish!

Teje at Nero's Post and Patch made a cheery rainbow cowl which Nero models so well. 

 There are cowl patterns all over the place so you should be able to find one that suits you. They are a quick knit and you don't need a lot of yarn. So pick up your needles and join in! Do a blog post or just put up a link to a photo. I'll keep it the party open until Sunday so that gives you plenty of time to knit one up. I think I'll go back in time to my previous work when I made knitting needle holders for stores and whip one up for one lucky participant. You can choose between a Project Pouch or a larger needle roll up. 

January Book Club

I'm sitting here eating leftover gluten free Rum cake from book club last night, it was at my house we each get to host once every 14 months or so, yumm this cake is good! Our book this month was Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. The book was good which wasn't surprising since it's #3 on the New York Times Best Seller List and has been on the list 32 weeks. I don't usually read mysteries or thrillers and that's one thing about a book club, it gets you reading things you never would. The book is about a married couple who is about to celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary when the wife goes missing. The narrative switches between the husband in present time and the wife's diary. There are twists and surprises in the book and I found myself trying to figure out what they were going to be and I was never right. I really enjoyed Gillian Flynn's writing style and I think the plot and twists were really smart. My disappointment is I didn't really like either of the main characters by the end of the book. While I don't think we were necessarily supposed to like them I really enjoy books more when I like one of the main characters. That being said it was a book I couldn't put down and while I cringed at times I enjoyed it, hmmm what does that say about me?! 

February's book is my choice. I don't know if you remember way back in May for my Sew Mama Sew giveaway I asked for book recommendations. Well I received so many good tips and this one was Esther's from Happy in Red. She is a journalist and has a beautiful blog where she writes about crochet and sewing. She recommended Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan. Here is a little of the description "Berlin,1939 The Hot Time Swingers, a popular jazz band, has been forbidden to play by the Nazis. Their young trumpet-player Hieronymus Falk, declared a musical genius by none other than Louis Armstrong, is arrested in a Paris café. He is never heard from again. He was twenty years old, a German citizen. And he was black." I've started it and I'm already wrapped up in the characters!
Now if you're like me and can read more then one book in a month I have a second pick Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate) by Gail Carriger. This one was recommended by Jen from Papillon Playground. Jen is a quilter, sewer, and busy Mom. Jen said Soulless was silly but surprisingly good and when I found out it was set in Victorian England, the main character was soulless, and it had vampires and werewolves in it how could I not read it?!
I hope you join in this month! 
 Pétra 

12

Over the holiday weekend my oldest turned 12! It's hard to believe and it's what is always said but how did it go by so fast?! While we're seeing some typical pre-teen behavior we're also blessed with glimpses of his kind heart and occasionally complete cooperation. Here are a few recent photos.

 The kids take tap at his school, this is his final performance for the semester.

 He loves the dogs

Crazy birthday fun!

He's starting to find his style which he says is his long hair not his clothes. He did ask for and get yellow suspenders for his birthday, he is a trendsetter or really secure and I'm proud of him either way. 

Happy Birthday to my wonderful son!

Pétra

PMQG MEETING

Last night was my first PMQG meeting where I wasn't on the board. I can't deny I was pretty excited to be able to sit back and not have to do anything but it turned out I was a little sad as well. The year went so quickly and I was so fortunate to work with a great team. I don't think I would have really gotten to know some of them so well and I am happy to have spent so much time together. Thank you Susan, Heather, Ale, and Nancy for a wonderful year! 

At the start of the meeting the new board thanked us for last year's service with mini quilts and Sew Mama Sew gc's. The new secretary Amber made me this beautiful one! There's a typewriter get it : ) I love the colors, prints, and the Essex Linen Cotton which I have been meaning to try. 

Have a great weekend. It's Avery's 12th Birthday so I'll be busy busy! 
 Pétra

Busy Week of Sewing!

I had a busy week of sewing last week and it made me so happy!

 Our guild is participating in the MQG Madrona Road challenge. I received the prints above along with Cotton Couture Straw and added the Cotton Couture Vanilla and Orchid. The colors are truest in the above photo that was taken with the benefit of a little daylight. After putting the fabric up on the design wall I did a little sketch and started sewing. 

 Here is my finished top. Part of our Guild's challenge was to incorporate a word or our own story of some sort. After reading Violet's story on the Memoir print Stitch by Stitch spoke to me the most so I printed it onto the top. 

A little back detail.

I've also been knitting a little with the kids so I pulled out some old yarn from my stash and decided to make a striped cowl. There seems to be a little bit of a color theme going on around here. 

Next I will be starting on my first auction quilt of the year. I am going to use this great pattern Grand Junction from Melissa Lunden. Also this week I'll be making my first bee block for Bee PDX. This is my first bee and I'm excited to get started. I'll share more on that later in the week. 

Pétra

Make Art

For New Years this year we went to my Granny's house in AZ. and I found this mural I'd never seen before MAKE ART not war. The not war part is important but MAKE ART really stood out to me, the aloe vera plant helped with that. I've mentioned Granny's house before because it's such a special place to me as it was special to Granny. I've been going to the house since I was 6 (so a long time!) and fell in love with the desert right away. The area has changed a lot over the years but the house still feels the same. This trip I was really inspired by all of the art around me and came home with some new fabric design ideas as well as quilting. Look at this beauty my Granny used to wear. It's a full length skirt all patchwork. After my Granny passed away my sister and I went through the closets and luckily we saved some pretty amazing cloths. 

 I can't resist a good sunset photo this is the last sunset of 2012. Here's a little comparison playing around with Instagram. 

No filter

 Instagram Hefe filter. I think I like the blues in the original better. 

I couldn't resist sharing a little late night New Years dance party photo. My daughter is the one with glasses and I can't get over her pose. You can really see all the kids have their own style, my son is in the hat behind my daughter. The rug is another example of the art all around at the house. My Granny designed it with her brother who was an architect just for that space wouldn't it be a nice quilt! Some day I would love to go stay at the house longer to sew and draw, it might be awhile but I will do it eventually.

This week is the kid's first full week back at school and I have so much to do and share I can't wait! 

Pétra

Goodbye 2012 Hello 2013!

Quilts

Happy New Year! 2012 was fun, busy, and full of surprises. I'm looking forward to continuing the momentum in 2013. When I started this post I began to feel a little down about not completing as many quilts last year but then I kicked myself in the ass (at least in my head)! I accomplished a lot in 2012 and I want to be kind to myself in 2013. In 2012 on top of being a Mom and Wife I was on the PMQG board, I helped with our school auction and Art program, I started a new career path in fabric design, I went to Sewing Summit, Quilt Market, and the Northwest Modern Quilt Guild meet up, I was in swaps, blog hops, blogged on two blogs, I was in a book club and a movie club, and I read 19 books! I am a little worn out and I think it shows but I'm happy so that's what I'm keeping in my heart when I look back at 2012. 

Mini quilts and runner

Oh the swaps!

In 2013 I'll still be working towards my fabric design dreams, volunteering at my children's schools, and joining in my first bee! I am making some adjustments to better manage my time and plan to be quilting more. What are your plans for the New Year? 

 Pétra