Mirror Ball Dot: Summer Release

Aloha All!

I thought as today is a holiday, that I would break away from my normal routine and sit and write a very, very, VERY long overdue and much promised post: 

The release of the second installment of 

Mirror Ball Dot

I held off writing for a while because installment #2 wasn't going to ship until last month, and I didn't and to seem like I was being a tease by showing all these beautiful new colors and wonderful inspirations, and the fabric wasn't available in the stores. Now I am certain that retail establishments are stocking their shelves with the collection that was shown at Spring Quilt Market in Kansas City in May, and might even be available at your local fabric or quilt shop. (There is a store locator link on the Michael Miller Fabrics website that lists establishments that carry Michael Miller Fabrics, but not necessarily Mirror Ball Dot - so be sure to check with your favorite store first.)

I guess I never considered myself someone that would actually attract fans, and all because of fabric. But the unmistakable fact is that Mirror Ball Dot has done just that for me. Part of what I do to stay on top of what is going on with my fabrics is to scour the web looking for images of product using the MBD pattern. 

One of my first connections was with Jamie Mueller, and this is one incredible story of someone who has grit and determination:

"Okay ya'll,
I spoke with the President of Michael Miller Fabrics and BEGGED him to reprint the Mirror Ball Dots because they are AMAZING! I asked if a petition would help and he said yes! So please if you have photos of this fabric upload it and SIGN the petition! I started this POST (discussion). Just leave a comment saying you will sign and I will create a list and email him!! We can do it, he seemed VERY willing to reprint if I got a lot of people involved! :)
Thank you so much!! We can do it!!" October 2010

Thanks Jamie! 

And thanks to Dory! She's started a Mirror Ball Dot Pinterest board!!! 

http://pinterest.com/worthygoods/mirror-ball-dot/

I'm sure she'd love to include your Mirror Ball Dot projects too!

Here is  photo of "My Stash" by Dory Smith Graham of Worthygoods Textiles; Mirror Ball Dot colors from the original release and are only to be found, if at all possible, in very limited quantities and in very specialized venues on the web.

As I have been told, now that the design has been re-released, fans of MBD that have been coveting their stashes are beginning to feel less possessive about keeping their fabrics and have started releasing them from their confinements and using them in current projects.

2 pictures of  "Charlie's  Wobot" at Stitch Outside the Ditch by Elisa Albury.

This is a smart and festive little dress made by Kuky Ideas. You can visit her original post here: Butterick 4919

Unconventional Gift Wrap
Wonderfully creative gift toppers which invoke in me the intricate detail of origami by Wisenheimer Crafts

These are very inspiring as I have always thought of Mirror Ball Dot as being very sophisticated and high tech: round hard-edged circles and a reflective ink but these samples, made by Linda Solovic of Chit Chat from Linda Land show how the delicate hand embroidery reminiscent of red work can temper the look of the fabric and move it into an entirely different realm of sophistication.

This is called A Seasonal Fruit Smoothie by Sew Karen-ly Created. I don't quite know what to say about this except, perhaps. "WOW!"

This is one of those concepts that makes me want to hit myself on the head and go, "DOH!" I think this is brilliant and very classic! You can find the original post here by Rose Hip.

Tammy's Trees by Hadley Street Quilts on her blogpost Mirror Ball Dot Redux. The 7"x10" piece is made all from scraps - see even Mirror Ball is good to the last dot!

 

Stephanie K of Sew With Sass and I have made a real connection regarding MBD. Talk about a devotee... a few years ago Stephanie contacted me to see if there was any more fabric available, and unfortunately for her there was not. But did that stop Stephanie? NO! She went ahead and contacted Michael Miller Fabrics in hopes they might have some fabric, stashed somewhere but alas, there was none. 

But this story has a happy ending - to date there are 20 colors available with the promise of perhaps a dozen or more before the end of the year, or soon to follow. 

And for those of you that wonder about the process of developing a fabric design, here are the photos of the new colors, released last month, as they were received by me from the Michael Miller Fabrics New York office. They are being merchandised with Fairy Frost (also one of my designs) and the Cotton Couture solid fabric collection.

I suppose now you can imagine how excited I was when I received these photos in an email. This stuff is just jaw-drop-on-the-ground gorgeous!!

Please visit the Michael Miller Fabrics website to view thumbnails of the collection by either clicking on the link, or by accessing the collection with the link on the sidebar to the right.

Post 100: Homemade Mustard

Mustard. A condiment. Some of us may not particularly like it but it is a seasoning like any other.

Mustard over ketchup, for me, any day.

I wanted to get my friend Dina some mustards as a "thank you" for seeing over my house in my absence while I was away last month but when I was considering mustard varieties, I decided a better gift was making mustard together. She was excited. Her boyfriend, Joe, was even more inlined because he has culinary intuition...  

Dina, alas, does not.

So, I chose a nice grain mustard... with malt vinegar....

Whole yellow and brown mustard seeds, crushed garlic and malt vinegar are the start

Whole yellow and brown mustard seeds soaking in malt vinegar with garlic for 48+ hours

No project is complete without proper hydration: here a fresh lilikoi cosmopolitan 

The completed mustard after it has been pureed with honey, salt and turmeric

A meal consisting of the home-made mustard with sliced deli meats

A Long Overdue Post: Sea Turtles, Seal Pups and Humpback Whales

This is a quilt made by Suzy Aguirre, of Maui. I have never met her but I do know her sister-in-law Bernadette, who is employed by the USPS as the mail carrier working my postal route. Over the years, I have had bolts of fabric sent parcel post, wrapped in clear shipping plastic. We connected one day when a bolt of my "Surf's Up!" sea turtle fabric arrived. She explained that the honu (sea turtle) had a special meaning for her. It seemed, each time while at the shore, a sea turtle would appear... a sign that was a reminder of her one son, a twin, whom had passed away - swept out to sea by a rogue wave while fishing on the rocks. And if that wasn't enough, several years later she lost her other son who was distraught at the loss of his twin brother.

I gave Bernadette the three fabrics - turtles, seals and whales - and in turn, Suzy made this quilt as a dedication to her two boys.

It's a wonderfully executed quilt, and these pictures really do not do it justice. I am touched that I could be a part of this...

If you look closely you will note the quilting is also in the shape of sea turtles

Honu 'Akala

Pink Sea Turtle.

Sue, of The Needlework Factory, and I discussed sewing the animals on the Aminal Crackers: Water Babies disc in different colors, primaries and pastels.

We never proceeded with the samples but the idea has remained with me. I needed a gift and decided to have the sea turtle sewn out in pinks on a pink/coral tie-dyed t-shirt.

Here are pics of the embroidery in the hoop, on the machine stitching out. There are about 34,000 stitches in the finished embroidery and each takes about 20 minutes to complete.

The foundation of the embroidery, the lightest color, is sewn out first, followed by the second lightest color which becomes the scales and shell

More detail is added with the second darkest color, which is primarily detail on the head

The darkest color is the outline which defines the final embroidery

The eye is sewn in with black, and the finished design on the tie-dyed t-shirt

Amtrak NY Penn Station to Pittsburgh

I'm back on Maui. Getting settled in and reacquainted with everyday life while working.

I did accomplished much when I was in New Jersey, and I could have done more, but it was just nice to chill.

I had hopes of working on the follow up paperwork for the sorbet, which has still been kept active, on the train ride to and then from Pittsburgh, but I just sat back, watched the scenery blur by, took in the mini-dramas of the passengers surrounding me in their seats; I packed my own food so I ate as I pleased and truly feel the 18-hour round-trip from NY - Pittsburgh was overall relaxing.

I went to teach at the Airport Sewing Center the projects I had posted in my June 02 post Recent Projects. I'll post pics from the class and a turtle embroidery in the process of being sewn out in my next post.

These pics were taken through the tinted window of the passenger train.

Leaving Pittsburgh train station

These smoke stacks were part of a nuclear power facility

Red car, red house, gold gilded church roof

 The stripes were created when the mothership landed and deposited the circular alien pods

Stripes 

 Crossing the Susquehanna River on a mile-long bridge

I see a muppet-like tree monster a la Sendak

Philadelphia

Then it was on to Trenton, Newark and New York Penn Station; the subway to the port Authority bus terminal and on to New Jersey to crash...

Paella for Pop, Marsala for Mom

  For Mother's Day and Father's Day...

Seafood Paella with Chicken and Sweet Italian Sausage

 Paella: Cooking on the BBQ the way it's supposed to be done

Awaiting a hungry audience

Here's the recipe I followed for both Christmas dinner and above: Paella recipe from mediterrasian.com (Note: things were changed to my liking, and as were available.

Chicken Marsala

 A pan full of sliced mushrooms

 Mushrooms sauteing

 Cooked mushrooms

 Pounded chicken breasts sauteing in brown butter

 Mushrooms returned to the pan after the chicken has cooked, reducing in marsala and white wine, sherry and chicken stock

Chicken returned to the pan to reheat, and finished with a drizzle of half and half

Hair Today...

...Gone Tomorrow...

Before and after hair cut pics. Don't miss it at all at the moment!