McCaroll Fabric Find

Ask me if I ever heard of Jay McCaroll, or Project Runway, or any pop culture reference within the last seven years for that matter.  And I will decline without defense.  For these have been years of intense regimen and order (medical school, residency and childrearing).  But ask me if I will stay up surfing the web for modern quilt blogs, leaving all discipline behind, and do it on a regular basis.  I will happily admit it.  

So tonight the Modern Quilt Guild led me to the website of Project Runway fashion designer Jay McCaroll, who has designed some of the most fantastic quilting fabric lines I've seen since Kaffe Fassett.  Granted Fassett has years on McCaroll, but I think this guy has real potential, and can't wait to get one of his lines pieced together into a funky quilt for our home.  

See McCaroll's link on my Regular Reads

Jay McCaroll Center City Downtown

Jay McCaroll Center City Midtown

Boys Should Be Boys

On this still Saturday night I got a few blocks pieced together, listened to some country, and am ending with a chapter of another Meeker must.  Boys Should Be Boys is the answer to all those pressing questions about raising a son today.  She discusses the devaluation of masculinity, noxious pop culture and the divorce of children from their parents today.  And then she goes further... she tells us how to turn it around, how to get boys back to the forest, and dirty and running and jumping, and just growing up happy and healthy.  Ditch the ipads, video games, computers, the hyper-scheduling of extracurriculars, and just be together.  The more time spent engaged in activities apart from parents, the worse off they are.  This is demonstrated in the astronomical increase in ADHD and other learning disabilities among boys.  Go fishing, read aloud, chop wood, paint a fence, whatever, just do it together, because our boys need it.  Oh and one more thing, they need a father.  More than anything in this world, they need a man to lead them from infancy to adulthood, and to set an example of how to be a strong, caring man who is in touch with himself and with his world.  A son is his father's apprentice.  

Read about it here.

Fabric Frenzy

As are most New Years, this one has renewed enthusiasm for projects started (but never finished!) months, or even years ago.  With family and friends passing rites all around me, a few special ones deserve recognition. I've found a few unique fabric lines over the past year for several quilts I have in mind.  I think back to their energetic patterns frequently while away at work.  And when my moments of solace allow, I'll do some cutting or sew a few blocks together.  Stay tuned for what will be of these beauties.

Dragonfly Daze collection by Laurie Godin

Kaffe Fassett, floral and paisley

Buried Treasure

My latest treasure is a blog/biannual magazine called Flea Market Style.  This rad resource is full of fun, funky DIY projects, photos and travel trips to worthy flea markets around the U.S.A.  And I love the fact that it's a physical magazine I can hold and flip through, published only two times a year, and will require me to travel to the newsstand to buy (can't subscribe online).  

The incorporation of vintage second-hands adds heart and soul to any lifestyle.  During our years in the Bay Area we never made it to the Alameda Antique Fair (AKA Alameda flea market).  Although I live with few regrets, this may be one of them. FMS is going to turn that around!  Check it out right here!

Thanks DFL!

Mothers-in-Law Know Best (Sometimes)

 And so it's a New Year, and of course I couldn't let my last day of vacation escape without a crafty project.  My mother-in-law reminded me of a simple craft that she did as a Girl Scout.  Now I too made the promise and lived under the law, but never knew of this fun ornament technique using Christmas cards.  And in true Glass Collector spirit, a project that recycles the holiday spirit sent by others simply can't be beat.  

I used this simple Martha Stewart method to assemble.

Happy New Year!

Girl Scout Promise

On my honor, I will try:

To serve God and my country,
To help people at all times,

Girl Scout Law

I will do my best to be
Honest and Fair,
Friendly and Helpful,
Considerate and Caring,
Courageous and Strong, and
Responsible for what I say and do,
And to
respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout.