{~*Serious!*~}

in

This morning Ashleigh came over & we had a serious business meeting. We mapped out our 2011 goals. Planned an advertising budget. Put the finishing touches on some patterns. Took a ton of photos. I made her granola. We drank HUGE iced green teas. And listened to the new Decemberists cd on repeat.  SO perfect for a Wednesday!

The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery is totally my favorite creative outlet. It lets me spend time with one of my closest friends AND create CUTE things. So really, a win/win sitch!

Today we took the photos for our newest pattern, Hoop Travel Bag. Ash has been asking me to make her one for a while...and I've been putting it off. But I made one for Karyn in the meantime as a bday gift. So Ash decided to grab the bull by the horns and wanted me to teach her how to make one so she could have one for herself and one for her grandma who cross stitches & is in the hospital.

But Ashleigh doesn't live near me! She lives 45 minutes away when she's at school and 2+ hours away on the weekends. I'd planned on just making her a little tutorial and skyping it to her. But then Karyn encouraged me to write the pattern up. And voila! We have a new CUTE pattern. Once I made one out of the new Birch camper fabric for Ashleigh, I knew I needed a new one...my current hoop bag is Halloween themed. So I cut into some very precious Greenfield Hill & Kokka double cotton gauze. Then I made a Kokka & shot cotton bee one! Seriously, the combos are ENDLESS. I think I'm going to put the bee one in the shop if anyone is looking for a hoop bag but doesn't sew (or just loves bees!)

One thing I hear a lot of is how people are scared or hate zippers. Nooo way. Zippers are SO easy and painless. Once you do the first one you'll be wanting to put zippers on EVERYTHING. This pattern has color photos explaining how to insert a zipper so you'll be a zipper sewing guru in NO time! I go step by step and it's FUN. You'll be so proud of yourself & grinning once you do it!

Ash also very kindly worked on my blog for me. I tried to do something this summer & accidentally deleted my ENTIRE list of friends. I'm not so tech savvy. But she helped me put some buttons in my sidebar...next up is re-adding my pals.

Also, tonight is the last night for signing up for a  slot in my e-course and let me say two things:

1: I can't believe how many people have signed up. I'm SO excited & VERY flattered. Seriously.

2: This is going to be SO fun. SO SO SO fun!

After Ashleigh left I spent the day building the flickr group and working on the pdfs. I've been taking photos, writing a LOT and basically, I want people to love quilting as much as I love it. It bums me out when I read about folks who are burned out, intimidated or feel like they can't keep up with other people. I want to show you that it's a-ok to take your time on something & find inspiration all around you! Plus you'll create a quilt that is uniquely you! And that's what counts! Sign ups will end tonight at midnight!

Can I show you some stuff that's inspiring me lately?

I'm off to read for a little bit before bed! Night everyone!