I might have purchased some fabric while in Phoenix

And the pictures below might be of that fabric. But, there was a huge sale at 35th Avenue, so I got the beautiful and whimsical fabrics pictured below for a song - some were as much as 65% off. Here are my plans:

Chocolate ticking for cafe shades;
Peas & Carrots with co-ordinating orange polka dot fabric for aprons

Batik sunflowers and stripes for a small quilt; Batiks and florals for a king-sized duvet cover.

It's hard to accurately capture the beauty of the duvet fabrics. They are subtle and range from caramel-chocolate in color to light beige and cream with light grass-colored and blush accents. Here are some close-ups of the individual fabrics, but honestly, they're much more beautiful than they appear here.

I'm considering using the Yellow Brick Road pattern for the duvet, but I may make some modifications (like perhaps larger blocks) or just create a pattern of my own. Marnie did a very nice createalong post on using excel to design colorwork, which I think could be employed to design a quilt and approximate the color patterns that different arrangements would produce.

And now, for a sewing interlude

Right after law school, I moved to Arizona and started work at a small firm with three wonderful women. We were all crafters - Jack, Jessica and I were knitters and Ellen was a quilter. When I got engaged in the early fall of that year, Ellen decided that as a wedding gift, she, Jack and Jessica would spring for fabric at The Quilted Apple, and she would teach all three of us to make a quilt for my wedding. In between margaritas, episodes of the Gilmore Girls, and some rather intense floor refinishing at Ellen's, we got a fair amount done on the quilt before I left Arizona to join Moxie in LA. Then the quilt languished as our lives went on and we married, bought houses, and changed jobs, but eventually, three and a half years after we started it, the quilt somehow got completed and made its way to me:

The Wedding Quilt

Many hands helped to build this beautiful and cozy blanket. Ellen's mother tied and bound it (and reported that it had to be tied rather than quilted due to the margarita episode). It is one of my most prized possessions, and I will treasure it forever. But here's the real kicker: Moxie, who eschews all things with color, and many things handmade, affirmatively likes it. Shocking, no? But so very, very nice.

I really enjoyed sewing, and made several floor pillows and the occasional curtain. I would even borrow a sewing machine to do some finishing on my knits, but I never had a machine of my own, until Marnie decided to move to Portand and didn't have room to take her machine, or her grandmother's sewing table, along:

The sewing machine and other wonderful goodies.

So now I have two more really special possessions. Marnie is definitely my LA Ellen, and to me, it is much more special to have a sewing machine that was hers than it could ever be to go out and purchase one for myself. And, I have accessories made by friends, too. Notice the wonderful little pin cushion above? It was made by Mary Heather. (As were the cute little shrinky dink pins.) Armed with such great equipment and knowledge from friends, I think I'm ready to go forth into the world of sewing.

And since friends have made this possible, I've decided to pay it forward, and make one of my first projects for an auction that one of our virtual friends is helping to pull together to benefit a really neat Portland project, called Cafe au Play. Who knows, maybe someday I'll end up there and have a chance to take advantage of this wonderful cooperative venture. I clearly have plenty of reasons to visit.

If you haven't yet, please go visit Larissa's site. She is collecting aprons to auction, and I just know that many of you guys can whip out an apron in no time flat. While you're there, grab a button:

Finally, I have some wonderfully fashionable fabric to show you:

Cowboys and Kittens and Koi, Oh My!

Marnie was so impressed with my impeccable taste when I chose the kitten fabric at the Santa Monica Fiber Fest, that I felt she deserved something equally special for her Christmas present. She has gone so far as to coin the phrase "It's so kittens and koi" to refer to instances when people that she otherwise considers tasteful deviate so far in their choices that she just isn't quite as sure about them anymore. I believe the cowboys suit her recent bent toward the manly men. I'm thinking a Brokeback pillowcase may be in order.

P.S. Fear not, Larissa. I promise not to make you a cowboy apron. I understand that Cafe au Play is a family establishment.