Friday Favourite - Lotta Jansdotter Cake Stand

Behold the cake stand. Take note that it is empty. Very empty. It should not be empty. Yesterday was my birthday and there was no cake. I am about to go rectify that situation by baking my own cake. In the meantime, however, I can admire my favourite cake stand. So much Lotta Jansdotter goodness from Fishs Eddy. It almost makes up for no cake. Almost.

(Lest you think I am embroiled in a hug of self-pity, just know that I really just like cake. A lot.)

Portland

I went to Quilt Market last weekend and took precisely 7 pictures inside the trade show. But I did take a lot during my wanderings around Portland and teaching at Modern Domestic. Two reasons, I was feeling very reflective while there (oh, that work/life balance thing) and I met with Susan the first night and she clearly rubbed off on me.

Good-bye Kathreen

Sad news in the crafting world today. Author, designer, quilter, blogger and force for all, Kathreen Ricketson died tragically. The woman behind Whip Up and author of some pretty cool books was on a year long adventure with her family, backpacking around Australia.

I had the pleasure of working with Kathreen on occasion. I greatly admired her career trajectory and found inspiration in her quilting and writing. She will be missed by many.

Please take a moment to learn more about her and her family. If you are so moved, there is an education fund already started for her children, details here.

Even though the chances are slim that we will ever meet all the people we know on-line, it is not our place to dismiss the connections anyone makes this way. Even if you never exchange an email, a blog comment or anything more than an Instagram like, this is not to say that you don't feel some inspiration, ire, delight, or joy when the other person shares details of their lives. And if you are the one sharing, remember that there are other people on the outside looking in, intrigued by your life. We can respect that relationship, but we also embrace it. So when losses happen, even from people we've never met, they can have profound impacts beyond those who are ready to give out literal hugs.  Kathreen will be missed by many.

Circles Inside a Pieced Background

More circles going on here. Shocker!

Someone in my Craftsy class asked about doing inset circles inside pieced backgrounds. I promised to try and let them know how it worked. What a fun experiment! I took leftover blocks from the Denyse Schmidt class at QuiltCon. No one claimed these early improv efforts and I couldn't let them go to waste. I took them with no plan and here they are.

As you can see, the blocks were not the same size. I created a random circle template and used it on both blocks. So the circle is the same size, but that's it. I'll likely trim things down and sew the blocks together. After I make more, of course.

And, for the record, it totally works to use a pieced block as the background.