Creative Genius -- Bree's Summer Dress

My cute cousin Bree came over to play games at my house one night and left with several yards of fabric and the ideas for some new projects. Bree is one of those creative geniuses that looks at the fabric and then comes up with her own design for her project and makes up her own pattern as she goes along.

For this fantastic summer dress, Bree used a print from Lizzie House's Red Letter Day, Walk In the Woods - Yellow and the coordinating Dimples in Black print from Andover.

Bree made a big move last week. She left home and moved to New York City to start her first semester at the FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology). Here's to a long career in fashion, Bree!

Strip by Strip -- Kaia's Quilt

Look at this beautiful quilt one of our customers made! Kaia created this fantastic bedspread using jellyroll strips (2 1/2" x WOF) entirely from the Good Folks Line.

Thanks for sharing your project Kaia!

Quilt Evolution

After laying out my Wildwood quilt about four times, I've abandoned my original idea. The latest version just made my heart happy, though. I'm going to start sewing now so I don't change my mind again.

Three Days of Paradise

This has been one crazy summer. I decided to cap it off with what sounds to me like the best vacation ever.

I just arrived at the Marriott Mountainside Resort in Park City for three days BY MY SELF! I'll be here three days and I brought fabric and the sewing machine and a 12-pack of Diet Coke. My plan is to get two quilt tops finished by Saturday. But if I don't, don't think less of me. I plan on getting caught up on some sleep and spending some time in the mountains (thanks to my friend Heather LaPerle for the Deer Valley lift pass!).

As my two projects come along, I'll post pics.

The first one I'm planning to tackle is something I've been kicking around in my mind ever since our Wildwood line by Erin McMorris arrived. There is one pattern of oversized flowers that I've been in love with from day 1. I've got in mind to use a one yard cut as the center of a quilt and add a mish-mash of 2 1/2 inch strips from the rest of the line (sometimes called jelly roll strips) around the center until it is twin-size. It's going to be kind of a trial & error process because I haven't been able to find a pattern that is exactly what I want. I'll just make it up as I go.

The second quilt is Christmas quilt that I bought the fabric for last year. I had such good intentions of getting it finished and giving it away last Christmas, but it never happened. Now I'll make it up and keep it for myself.

Charm Pack Bags by Emily Magleby

Nothing makes my day like seeing what one of our customers created from fabric we sold. Our new fabric friend Emily Magleby made a few amazing bags from charm packs. The top bag is from the Anna Maria Horner line GoodFolks and the bag below is from the Erin McMorris line Wildwood.

A charm pack is a set of pre-cut squares that are 5" x 5". The set includes two squares from every fabric in the line. We sell them for both Good Folks and Wildwood for $10 each. If you're interested, go to our Etsy site and send us a message and we'll set up listing for your purchase. Or you can always email us: twobirdsfabric@gmail.com.

Thanks to Emily for sending in the pics! We would love to see what you've created too. Please email photos of your projects and we'll feature you on the blog.

Two Birds Take Flight

There is something special about living on a street of homes built in the 1950's. Maybe because the homes are considered small by today's standards, or maybe just because it's enjoyable, there seems to always be a gathering of neighbors in the middle of the street. We talk about everything from why my lawn is brown in spots to how big the 3-year-olds are getting. I love my street. My house is the fifth house on the right. If you go down four more houses, you'll meet my friends Amanda and Jeremy Coon. Over the years, I've had a lot of conversations in the street with the Coons. At some point, the conversations went from being about lawn and kids to fabric.

Amanda and I both have a bit of a fancination with fabric -- for very different reasons, but more about that in subsequent posts. Jeremy has no facination with fabric itself, but is taken in by any quirky endeavor that seems like it might possibly be successful.

So, from the street our little fabric venture was born. One day we just decided to take the leap. Amanda and I, the two crazy birds, started researching fabric lines and decided on about 70 bolts of fabric. We both fell in love with Erin McMorris's Wildwood, Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks and Lizzie House's Red Letter Day.

As the fabric started to stack up, we decided we needed a big debut. Provo, Utah is home to America's Freedom Festival. The timing was perfect for us to book a booth for the three-day 4th of July fair. We loaded up all the fabric, samples and project kits and set up shop. Our booth, tucked in between a puppet vendor and two tattoed girls selling religious art was a hit. We met hundreds of new fabric friends at the festival and made a huge dent in our initial stock.

Most of the people in my life are scratching their heads and thinking, "Fabric?!?" But with each new sell on Etsy and every person who comes to my house to look at bolts of fabric for a special project, I get so excited! I love working through process of fabric selection and seeing the wheels of creation turning in minds of my new fabric friends.

Talking about the fabric with my friends on line and in person is like standing in the street chatting with my neighbors. My street has expanded to include the creative quilts, baby nurseries and dresses with ducks right along with the shrinking -- finally! -- brown spots on my lawn, lemonade stands and 3-year-olds learning to ride bikes.

As we grow and progress, watch our blog for more stories of what all of you are doing with the fabric you buy from us. We'll be posting pictures and stories of our projects and yours.

-- Carol-Lyn