At Long Last: A Bit of ME, Out in the World

Happy Happy December, all you lovely holiday crafty warriors, you! 

As the snow begins to fly here in my cozy little woodsy world in Southwest Michigan, I’m forever flabbergasted by how quickly each year passes, and also how this glorious quilty journey of mine continues to evolve in such magical directions. This time of year always seems to involve my wrapping up not only physical WIPs in the form of quilt projects, but also mental ones. It involves putting a bit more of what’s *in here* out there, as a way of clearing out the craft closet that is my creative brain for making room for what’s ahead in the new year. It also involves a whole lot of reflecting, because when we reflect over the past, it can help us set a productive course for the future.

As most who have been around my creative world long enough know, I have a voracious appetite (growing sickness?) for scrap quilting, and fat sixteenths are my jam. In my mind, they’re just the right-sized scrap for my ability to use each fabric in a few places throughout my project for continuity, while preserving the happy, scrappy vibe I love. Having said that, that’s assuming everyone reading this knows what a fat sixteenth is. For those that don’t, poof. Here you go:

To be clear, I’m not here to suggest that I ‘invented’ this MOST perfect scrap size of all time, but I can say that since stumbling upon it several years ago (whilst randomly lopping a yard of fabric into fractions one day, trying to assemble a cohesive scrappy quilt kit), good ol’ serendipity was most certainly at play. Right this minute, I almost can’t remember my life without these happy, scrappy little logs of love, which have been a staple in our shop for years now.

For short, we call them Bits, and as shown, we’ve been rolling them and bundling them with like colors, curated palettes, and sometimes full collections of designer fabric lines for almost as long as Serendipity Woods: The Fabric Shop, has been around.

So now that I’ve gone off onto this scrappy BITS tangent and brought everyone up to speed about fat sixteenths, that’s not what my post is ultimately about today. It’s about reflecting, remember? And also maybe a little something more, just for you, which I hope might give you a reason to keep reading.

(did someone mention something about FREE? Don’t worry, I’m almost there, but first, a couple more pics so the complete drifty-drift is a little clearer…)

Well, friends – all this time I’ve been basking in my love affair of making scrappy quilts designed by some of the most amazing designers in the industry – but I’ve also had some designs of my own percolating too. Without sharing too much of the top-secret details coming soon, let me just say that I hope you’ll stay tuned 2022.

In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy a little sneak-peak-project I’ve just finished featuring a new a recently introduced palette-based bundle, known as ‘Pleasant Palettes for Pretty Patchwork.’

Off the top of my head, I can’t say how much more we have in stock of all the 40 fabrics in this fabulous bundle, but we’ll keep it going as long as we can. Be aware, the kit included the bundle (which utilizes just a small amount of the fabrics in this bundle – with plenty to spare for making other projects or adding to your stash). Also Background, Binding and BATTING, since I seem to accumulate a good amount of extra batting bits from my long arming projects. I may as well share them for your small project! The backing isn’t included in the kits, but I’m betting you’ve got a 29″ x 25″ piece of something cheery you can use, don’t you? I hope so.

Anyway. Again. Happy December. I hope your early days of the upcoming long winter months are meeting you with peace, calm, and hope for a new year ahead. I also hope you’ll keep creating from your soul and tipping your head to the the sun in your sky, every time you might just need to feel the extra warmth on your cheeks…even when things are feeling a bit dimmish and chilly.

Sending you love and creative vibes from the Woods.