I have the coolest friends - Tori writes another book

My friend, Tori, rocks.

But if you're a long time reader here, you know that. Tori and I met in college - we had our painting studios next to each other, and then when I was a textile designer vacating my Santa Monica position for the same job in Chicago, she was my replacement. So we sat next to each other, two engaged girls, planning our weddings and traveling together as little textile designers to exotic locales - like sweaty mills in Georgia, meetings in Seattle, conventions in Chicago and one fun trip to Vail.
The next few years, we were peers - working with each other over a long distance... both loving design, but rapidly growing more and more tired of corporate life and we both ended up leaving our jobs and starting our own design businesses within a year.
Tori started her stationery company which has really done some amazing things over the past 5 years.
In her journeys, she's also been able to meet some other incredibly amazing stationery artists and after realizing how the word about them needs to get out, she wrote her first book - Today's Top Stationery Designers. It's great! What a beautifully published book and a great resource for both inspiration and some fun places to shop.

Tori has followed up her first book with a second now. And it's equally as wonderful.
I really loved reading about the artists - their inspiration, how they got started and seeing the images about their design spaces - aren't we all wanting to peek into creative studios?

Don't I have good reason to be proud of this creative author?
I think so.  She's always been the one to keep me inspired and informed about design trends she sees... Now she can inform you too.

Neighborhood quilt is done!

It's done!
And there are far more than 12 women represented here. My bee gals made the amazing blocks, but it feels iike about 20 other people helped too. A friend gave me many of the fabrics, a neighbor gave me the binding fabric, my LAMQG gals helped contribute pieces for the final block at one weekend sew and at another sew I found many hands helping me baste as time ran out against the clock.

I stippled the entire thing on my small machine at home. I won't win any awards for how the stippling came out, but I am also not ashamed of being a newbie to the process of machine quilting a queen sized quilt on a tiny home machine.

I love this urban neighborhood.
My husband is begging that we switch the current quilt off our bed and he's promised to help make the bed if we put this one on it instead.

Here's one Alissa took of me presenting it at the guild last night too. It felt so fun to share it with the people that it really means something to. I feel so supported by my guild friends.