Pear Tree by Thomas Knauer is one of the fabric collections we have not so patiently been waiting on for quite some time. Thomas was sweet enough to give us a sneak peek well before the collection came out and I almost wish he hadn't .. the agony of the wait!!
I've never been what one would call a "creative" person. Artsy and Jenny have never resided in the same sentence ... not even close. Quiet for sure, reserved yep, math-nerd at times, weather-freak most definitely .. but creative, artsy, craftsy nope, nada. But I've always wanted to be and I've always been envious of others who are.
I'm sure a lot of you are rolling your eyes right now, shaking your heads, saying "everyone is creative, everyone can be artsy" but truth be told, I've never allowed myself to be. And this goes way back. I can remember absolutely hating elementary school art class. I mean seriously ... who would rather be taking math speed tests than drawing in art class? Yep that would be me, the math-nerd. The very last art class I took was in 6th grade and I have never looked back.
So what's my problem you may ask? Fear, plain and simple. Fear of being judged and being found unacceptable. Fear of being wrong or doing the wrong thing. Stupid, creativity-squashing fear. Give me a blank canvas and tell me to do something, anything and I will panic. I just can't do it. I wouldn't even know where to begin. After 30 years of holding back, I just can't seem to break through and allow myself to just create. Which makes what I've done this week so out of my comfort zone it makes me ill to even think about it ... but in a good way. I agreed to participate in a Modern Hoop Swap ... please hold while I get sick.
What's a Modern Hoop Swap you may ask? It's where you create a modern embroidery hoop design using fabric, embroidery, buttons, you name it and giving it to whomever you are partnered with. Below is a sample of some of the hoops given in another swap and more can be found here.
We have been fans of Rachel's blog, p.s. i quilt, for quite some time so we were excited to finally order her quilt patterns for the shop. The quilts are so pretty and she makes it easy for you by suggesting mainly precuts.
What a crazy few months we have had! Weeks upon weeks of stressful days has finally gotten us to where we are today ... our brick-and-mortar shop is open and we are having such a blast! {huge sigh of relief}So if you happen to be in the Lafayette, Louisiana area or maybe want to plan a special trip down, we would love for you to stop in and say "hello".
Even though there's still a bunch of little things left to do, we decided to take a break today and do something fun. I chose to grab one of Amy Butler's Barcelona Skirt patterns and picked out some fabric. I've been wanting to make this skirt for quite some time and we finally got the pattern in stock (though we still need to get it online). Actually we have a whole bunch of new patterns to get online ... hmmm maybe I should be doing that instead of cutting out a skirt and blogging about it. Guilt is setting in but I must push through ... the skirt is going to be so cute!!
Thank you to all who entered our giveaway and gave us so many wonderful ideas on how to make our new shop a success! So who's the lucky winner ........ #17 Margie C! Congrats, Margie! We will be in touch shortly.
Even though the giveaway is now closed, we'd love to hear more suggestions. Our goal is to make Lola Pink Fabrics fabulous and we could use your help! The comments received so far have been great and are definitely making us think about how we want the shop set up. Keep them coming!!
I cannot believe we are finally able to make our announcement!! It has been a LONG few months for us filled with stress, worry, excitement, fear, hopefulness, you name it .. we've probably felt it. And now the deal is done, papers have been signed, money paid ... oh my ... did we really just do this?? What in the world were we thinking?? I think I might throw up ........ OK ... don't pass out ... still have the announcement to make .......
... anyone home? If you've visited our blog lately, you've obviously realized we've been M.I.A for quite sometime. It's like a ghost town around here LOL. For that we are truly sorry. That will change soon one way or another very soon. I promise!
Have y'all ever been so excited about something but so stressed out about it at the same time that you just basically become paralyzed waiting for it to happen? We've had an idea of where we want Lola Pink to go and finally put things in to motion in the last month or so. We should know within a week whether or not our dreams our going to come true. And to say I'm stressed out about it is an understatement. In one moment, I'm so confident and sure and then the next, I just think there's no way. The waiting and not knowing may possibly do me in before we get the final answer. For the most part though, I'm just paralyzed holding my breath until we hear something ... anything! We would really appreciate your good thoughts this week. Your good thoughts definitely help get us through the moments of doubt.
In the meantime, we've done a bit of sewing but not too much. We had a very nice wholesale order come in for our Pretty & Preppy baby items ~ yay! And we've both been working on getting caught up on Quilt Dad's Bloggers Block-a-palooza. Although all of my blocks are on the wonky side, it has been so much fun working on them. This is my very first quilt block ever ...
Congratulations to our winners!! #19 Sara gets her pick of either the Lace and Pure Elements bundles and #67 Janessa gets the other. Thank you to everyone who entered!!
Please forgive me for the lack of posting lately. We have been incredibly busy behind the scenes making some life-changing decisions that we will soon be talking all about. Until then, the incredibly talented and super sweet Pat Bravo wants to share some of her fabulous new fabrics with you!
If you're not familiar with Pat's fabrics, you absolutely must check them out! I am so in love with the Modern Affair and Paradise collections. Check out a couple of pictures we took at market:
So this is my first "real" attempt at applique. While I certainly won't be winning any Applique Masters awards, I think it turned out OK .. if you can look passed the wonky antler bits that is.
I've been wanting to do this since we got back from Quilt Market so hopefully now that I'm putting it out there, I will finally find/make the time to do some fun sewing just for me. When I do find/make the time ... this look is definitely tops on the list.
One of the first people we met at Quilt Market was the super cute and super sweet Trish of Two Peas in a Pod. If you happened to miss my blog post on Trish and her Two Peas in a Pod patterns, you should definitely check it out. Trish is one talented momma and we are so happy to be stocking her patterns!
Now, back to the reason for this post .... check out the jacket Trish is wearing ...
... never to travel again without having cute makeup bags to take with me when I have the skills to make cute ones!
I've been fortunate enough to go on some fun trips in the last few months and each time I took along my sad, overstuffed, broke-down makeup bag. There is nothing cute or fun about it anymore but yet there it is every time I go to pack. I mean seriously! The dang zipper broke MONTHS ago but yet I'm still taking it along nevermind that its contents end up scattered throughout the suitcase. UGH!
So today as I unpack my suitcase and gather up my scattered goods, I vow to never travel again without having a proper makeup bag or bags and by-golly they will be cute!
I can't think of a more perfect fabric collection than Modern Affair by Pat Bravo.
Congratulations to #69 Diane and #45 Chigger Hill Cottage! Y'all have won our Pink Fig Patterns and Two Peas in a Pod sewing pattern giveaway! We will be in touch shortly. :)
How is it even possible that Quilt Market was over 3 weeks ago? And don't even get me started on the fact that Thanksgiving is Thursday ... THIS THURSDAY!! Insane. I can't even think about it without bringing on a panic attack. So I figure if I keep blogging about quilt market, then I can just pretend like we just got back and that holiday season is not starting this week. Yea, I'll just keep telling myself that. :)
So, who's ready for another Quilt Market Recap post? Well then, let's get started .... how about we turn our attention to some fabulous pattern designers.
One of the first booths we came across and just absolutely fell in love with was Trish Preston from Two Peas in a Pod and her Sprout patterns.
Congratulations to #6 Jessica!! You've won our Tina Given's Sew Tina giveaway!!
So much gorgeousness in one place! We are such fans of Tina Givens' whimsical, beautiful prints so when we ran into her at Quilt Market, we got a little giddy. She is just as fabulous and fun as her fabrics are.
Show off your talent! We would love for you to join the Lola Pink Fabrics Flickr Group and share all your beautiful creations.
