Ray of sunshine

It has been raining here for 2 days straight. Hard. So hard that I was thinking I might need to put my crafty skills to use to build an arc. Soccer tournament cancelled, basements flooding everywhere (not ours- by a hair, thank God!). Gloomy.

And then....remember that Anna Maria Horner order I mentioned? Well, I took my little Canada Customs bill and went to the post office and paid up- and brought home my own little ray of sunshine. Who said money can't buy happiness?

All of this fabric was bought BY me FOR me for Mother's Day. Earmarked to specifically be used to make quilts for ME- though it may be years before I have time to get to it all! But that's okay, in the meantime it makes me happy just to look at it. I had gone to town- I bought the zig zag quilt kit, made with the Gold Folks line. The colors are beautiful, and I can visualize snuggling up with it at the cottage with a cup of tea and good book.

Then, the Little Folks line. I love the buttery feel of the voile, so many had blogged about it and it did not disappoint. I could pet it all day! And such vibrant colors! I had been inspired by Ashley's string quilt made with this line on Film in the Fridge, seen here. I don't know if I will make one in the same style or another, but I know with this fabric, it will be gorgeous.

Ahhhh, the high that comes from fabric!

Oh, and by the way, rainy days means crafting time....another baby quilt almost completed! Hopefully binding will be done this week. I think it is my best yet!

Kristie

Feelin' Hunky Dory

Well, it was not the best day...started at 4 a.m., involved brattier-than-normal kids and house cleaning. Then I was sour because I was out and missed my highly anticipated delivery of Anna Maria Horner Little Folks fabric (a present to me from me for Mother's Day) and the delivery slip indicated that I owe over $50 (!!!) in duty charges! Stupid Canada Customs. Anyways, I needed a pick-me-up, so I grabbed some left over chocolate cake from last night's baby shower (yum) and headed to the computer and the Noodleheads blog, where I found the gathered clutch tutorial. I was envying Kathy's clutch the other night, and she told me about the tutorial....anyways, I had to have one. And, now I do!

I plan to take it out on the town tonight for date night with hubby (yikes! The sitter is due in 6 minutes, so I better wrap this up!). Anyways, I made it out of a beautiful linen, and some scraps of Moda Hunky Dory fabric left over from my next quilting project. It is lined with the pink dot fabric from the same line (not shown here). My one modification was a wrist strap- again, I have to credit Kathy with this bright idea, although I did it slightly differently than she had (I just cut a 14 inch by 2 inch piece of Hunky Dory, added some interfacing, sewed it wrong sides facing along the length, inverted, pressed and topstitched along each length). I am so pleased with the end result! If you want one, too, check out Anna's Noddlehead blog- you won't be disappointed.

Two more quilts

I thought I would add a couple more quilts I have completed recently, both in baby size. The first is the "Cruzing" quilt, made with the wonderful boyish Wheels fabric by Riley Blake. My girlfriend and coworker, Trish, recently had a baby boy named Cruz, and I figured with a name like that, he needed a car quilt! Cruz's nursery is quite modern so a traditional style wouldn't do, so I went with a very random strip quilt, lots of color, and I love how it turned out! On the back, I made a little "road" of cars zooming by, and framed it on wither side with some lovely blue solids from our local fabric store, dark enough so that it can be rolled out on the grass for Cruz to snooze on this summer in the sunshine. I quilted it with straight horizontal lines following 1/4 inch from the ditch on either side of each strip- very simple, but manly :-)

The second quilt is again for Quilting for Babes, the charity run by Kathy at Magnolia Designs to donate quilts for babies and their families in the NICU at the Children's Hospital here in Winnipeg (see her blog at http://magnoliadesigns.blogspot.com/search/label/Quilting%20for%20Babes to learn more). As it is my goal to try out a variety of techniques, for this quilt I did a disappearing 9 patch pattern using a charm pack of Moda Frolic fabric, and then framed in a border of solid green. I quilted it with a diagonal grid pattern, and backed it with a bright turquoise floral local fabric. The binding for both of the above quilts were finished by hand in a chocolate colored solid. While this was not my favorite fabric in all honesty but I like in the end how it came together, and it is cheerful and bright- I hope it will bring some cheer to its recipients.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Kristie

My First Quilt

I have been so inspired by a variety of friends of late, and their beautiful quilts, that I thought I should give it a try. My girlfriend, Kathy, recently started a charity, Quilting for Babes, where quilts are made and donated to sick babies in the NICU at our local Children's Hospital, and I thought I would like to contribute a few in thanks for the health of my three beautiful kids. This quilt is the first of those- and the first quilt I have actually ever made! While I have a few more under my belt now, this quilt will always be special to me. I learned so much making it, and I feel so good knowing where it is going- I hope its bright colors, which remind me of summer and sherbet, will brighten the day of a sick child and their family, and give them some hope. Love and prayers went into each stitch. It was made with fabrics from my local fabric store, and quilted with a meandering horizontal pattern and I just love the informal look, it suits this modern-style quilt well!

I am sharing this quilt with the community at the Blogger's Quilt Festival- please go check out all the amazing entries! http://www.amyscreativeside.com/2010/05/bloggers-quilt-festival-spring-2010.html.

Kristie

I'm blogging!

Well, not that I think anyone cares, but I am now a Blogger. This move was inspired by all the amazing crafting blogs I have been stalking lately, to fuel my multiple crafting obsessions out there. So, naturally, I needed a place to post pictures of my results- bragging rights! I don't promise to be consistent, but here I go!

Kristie