The Common Threads Virtual Quilting Bee

I alluded to an exciting development in my "Good Bye, I am leaving for Argentina and you can't stop me" post but didn't want to get into too much detail since it was still in the planning stages. But now that we are in full force, I am going to spill the beans.

On one of my many online craft/quilt/sewing surfing adventures, I came across of group of women that started an online quilting bee. I couldn't believe what a brilliant idea it was, and then I saw the blocks getting made, I had to physically restrain my heart from beating out of my chest. They were gorgeous, original and inspiring. Of course, my first reaction once I got a hold of myself was "how can I get myself invited into this quilting bee?"

Since it had already started and these women didn't know me, I realized that my getting asked into that specific bee wasn't likely, but I also realized that maybe, just maybe, I could start my own. I started asking around to my crafty friends, was turned down by a bunch of you (you know who you are) and was so excited when two awesome ladies agreed wholeheartedly.

A three person quilting bee just wouldn't do so I pulled out my ace in the whole. I tried to be cool when I emailed my online crafting buddy but I was so nervous. What if she thought the idea was stupid? What if she didn't think my quilting was up to her level (because her stuff is so dang good)? I hit send and waited. Thankfully she was interested and went on to mention that she had a couple of friends that she wanted to invite.

The next thing I know, I am part of a thirteen person online quilting bee called Common Threads. We are going to do one quilt a month for 13 months. I now get to know, work with, and learn from these amazing, talented women.

You can follow the button on the right side of the page to the Common Threads blog. We also have a flickr group for even more pictures documenting all of the blocks and quilts as they develop.

This is so exciting! Dreams really do come true.

Here Comes the Bride

's maid purses...

It is funny that no matter how long I have been sewing and how many purses I have made, I still get a little nervous when I make a custom purse order, especially for a wedding. But as usual, all that worrying was a waste of time. Theses seven clutches turned out so cute. AND I finally figured out a stabilizer for the clutches besides purse frames.


After a little online sleuthing, I found something called plastic canvas. It is plastic meshy/griddy material that is used for needlepoint. It turns out that it is also perfect for stabilizing a fabric purse. It is flexible and can be easily cut with scissors but really gives the bag some much needed structure. I still used fusible interface on both the exterior and lining fabric but the plastic canvas really did the trick. Just check out the posture on these beauties.

I experimented on a sample bag to work out the kinks and lucky for me, since now I have a new clutch too.

Argentinian Adventures

Hello again! I am back from an amazing trip to Argentina. It was really better than I imagined. And true to my word, I went immediately to the Once, the garment district in Buenos Aires. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, although deep down, I was hoping it was something like New York's garment district. It was in the fact that once you are in it, there is shop after shop of fabric stores. The presentation was very different though, with giant rolls of fabric. I was a little overwhelmed to say the least, but the adventure was a lot of fun.