christmas in july + rekindled friendship

I'm not a huge fan of Facebook these days, but I will give props for it's miraculous way of reconnecting you with people from your past. My dad's corporate job had us jumping around a bit when I was growing up and there are several best buds who I've lost touch with along the way. 

After moving from a suburb of Philadelphia, PA to one near Memphis, TN, I was the new kid in mid April of my sixth grade year. Talk about culture shock! Amanda and I were fast friends, we'd pass notes in class and hang out at each others' houses doing hair and makeup. She was the first friend my mom parents let me to go out into the world alone with, we hit the mall and felt like rockstars carrying around her mother's cell phone, something no one our age had at the time. Ah, memories! 

We both moved away a couple years later and despite her love for stationary and writing letters by hand, I was a horrible pen pal and we eventually lost touch. Fast forward ten years and we we're Facebook friends, though it wasn't until recently that we really reconnected, over quilting, of course! 

She's relatively new to the making part but has loved the art for a while, so we've been feverishly texting back and forth about fabric sales and sewing technique and patterns we like. Here's where that stack of fabric comes in. A few days ago we both decided to make modern plus quilts using Jeni Baker's free tutorial. We each pulled fabrics from our stashes and have started cutting. 

I've gone the "Christmas in July" route, hoping the "in July" part will encourage me to finish it quickly, considering it's almost August. Follow Amanda on Instagram @graccieone to see her fabric pulls, as well as several other really awesome projects she's working on. She's a natural and I think it's so awesome that quilts brought us back together. Gives me the warm and fuzzies!!

Hope you all have a wonderful day :D