Catching Up and Catching a Breath

Since I haven't posted here in the last few weeks, I thought I would give you the whirlwind tour of my adventures. . .


For starters, I finished (that's an odd way to start a sentence!) organizing these two fabric shelves in my work room.

You can follow the steps I took here, if you've not already been following along with the Tidy Fabric Club.

From time to time, I may post some updates or stash-busting project ideas, so feel free to join the Tidy Fabric Club here. But just be aware that the regular monthly posts have ended.

At the end of June, I headed up to Essex Junction, Vermont for the Vermont Quilt Festival.

Last time I wrote, I was in process of making little mini quilts of each of the blocks from The FLOCK, so folks at the show could get an idea what they might look like in a quilt. They were all finished in time for the display!

My display (below) featured Your Nest Organizers and The FLOCK Community membership program. Both were very well received at the show and kept me really busy in the booth.

Two very enthusiastic FLOCK Community members, Patricia and Bonny came by and brought their infectious enthusiasm for the bird blocks. And Martha (I hope I recall her name properly) couldn't wait to take Your Nest Organizers home to get stuff organized in her sewing room!

And of course, there was time to look at a few of the quilts on display. I LOVED this entry in the "Happiness Is" challenge area. I love the way Monique did the shadows on each bird! And of course, they're BIRDS(!), so it automatically gets extra stars from me!

Got home from Vermont, packed up the casual clothes and headed to the beach! Cocoa Beach, Florida, that is.

In Florida, it was hot and steamy, with daily afternoon showers - just enough to make my hair unmanageably lifeless. This trip had a business focus - with plenty of room for a little fun on the side. Two days of masterminding with my marketing coach, Diane Conklin, and fellow business owners, shown below (Diane is second from the left) at a local seafood restaurant. Businesses represented in the group: catering, real estate coaching, personal care products, calligraphy and me (quilty stuff).

Florida highlights: Up before the sun to watch the SpaceX rocket launch (wow!), a trip to the famed Ron-Jon retail complex, sea turtle tracks on the beach - it's egg-laying season!

And then back home again where the water lilies were blooming in the front-yard pond.

In the office, The FLOCK duties were calling. . . . first the July bird was announced - Western Meadowlark! (top photo below) Each bird is officially announced about two weeks after the shipment date to make sure all FLOCK members around the world are likely to have received their kit before I let the bird out of the bag (we don't do 'cats' here).

And the August bird had to be prepped for shipment (middle photo). Envelopes stuffed and ready for 'migration.'

Here's a sneak peek of the resulting block from what's inside the package for August (bottom photo). Not giving it away yet! This is a close-up of one of the defining characteristics of our August bird. Do you know what bird it is?

If you haven't already, join The FLOCK here. The next exceptional bird kit ships on or around August 12th.

Last but not least, I made sure to leave a little extra time for my latest stitching addiction - biscornu - odd-shaped novelties that can be used just for fun or as pin cushions. These involve counted cross stitch or blackwork on linen, but biscornu can be made from a variety of materials.

I'm finding the patterns everywhere - charts on Etsy or Pinterest. . . If you haven't heard of these before (I hadn't until I found this book), just google 'biscornu' and prepare to have your mind blown!

They are great for summer stitching or travel.

For the rest of the summer, I'm looking forward to a little time to catch a breath, be boring, and stitch a little. No more travel on the calendar until September. *Yay!*

Happy Stitching!
Joan