craft south recap

I am embarrassed that it took me a MONTH to gather a few sentences about my amazing, incredible, indescribable weekend in Nashville attending Craft South, with none other than Anna Maria Horner and Heather Ross (insert squeals here).

I attended with my bestie Samantha from Toronto.  We used our 40th birthdays as an excuse to the husbands to do this.  Yes, I have milked this birthday for all it is worth and then some.  I have no shame.  We then got my good friends Kelly (Kelby Sews), Angela (Cut to Pieces) and Michelle (I like Orange, too) to join in the fun.  Kelly lives in Franklin, TN, so we all came a day early and had a girlie pow wow at her house the night before!  So much fun.  Including the incredible quilt swap I talked about in my last post.

( I want everything in Kelly's sewing room. All the things!!)

Friday night, the weekend began with cocktails and appetizers at a local restaurant.  I sat next to Heather (that's what I call her now. Heather.  My buddy.).  You know, no biggie.

And then here is Anna Maria checking out (and COMPIMENTING!) my handmade clutch. Gah! 

Then it was off to the temporary studio to settle in for the weekend.

Okay, I am at a loss for words (weird, eh?). I have stopped and started a commentary about 10 times.   How to describe this weekend?  Essentially, this weekend was 25 amazing ladies, hanging out in a studio full of hand stitched inspiration, in close quarters with my two Quilting Rockstars.  I told my husband that it was like if Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora had invited him to their place for the weekend to jam in the garage and hang out.  Yah.  That cool.

(God, I hate this picture of me.  WHY DIDN'T I TAKE A DECENT PICTURE?!?!) 

We went for dinner at Anna's HOUSE.  I mean, she said to us as we entered, "go ahead and throw your stuff on our bed!"  Talk about down to earth and folksy!  We hung out with her family, who were amazingly welcoming and who actually performed a concert for us- songs written by her eldest son and his friend, along with other favourites, performed by the "boys", Anna's husband and daughter.  Talented and creative just like their mother.

Then Anna Maria and Heather took the time to draw us each a picture of whatever we requested, to embroider later.  How amazing is that???

Speaking of original art, back in January (my, ahem, ACTUAL birthday), my husband had ordered me a Heather Ross custom family portrait for my gift.  I had been in contact with her about it and it was so incredibly great to be able to have her give it to me in person.  I love it so much, and how it captures my family and our life right now, scampering around in the minivan.  I have it framed and on my wall at home.

(I know it looks like Heather is trying to cop a feel in this picture, but I assure you, 

she is far too classy to attempt such a thing)

So we stitched.  We learned. We were inspired.  We laughed.  And time passed FAR too fast.  I gained a love of needleworks that I didn't know I had.  I look forward to incorporating more of it into my crafting in the future.

So, in short, if you ever have the opportunity to attend Craft South at some point, I have one word for you-  GO!!!!!

a pile of finished quilts for the cottage

Of course getting a new cottage last summer meant that I "needed" new quilts for every bed (and any other possible surface).  And it just so happens my girls have a pair of bunk beds in the "girls' room".  Four twin quilts were in order!

I decided to do coordinating but not matching quilts.  They will all be in one room so I wanted a bit of a colour theme but not looking too....orderly ;)  Keeping it carefree! So, I planned two quilts using Briar Rose for The Middle Child's bunks, and then two quilts in a variety of yellows, oranges, pinks and greys for the bunk beds for Last But Not Least.  I got 3 of the 4 pieced by last November's Loon Lake retreat....but then they sat...and sat...

Well,  while enjoying a lot of this over the past few weeks...

....I have managed to baste, quilt and finish these three!

Only one of the Briar Rose ones done, but here it is:

Did a bit of a lattice, and quilted it with an all over daisy and loop pattern.  Bound it in some Flea Market Fancy green seed print and made a simple but cute cottage label, just using a Sharpie.

Then it was on to LBNL's quilts.  I kind of favour these, I admit.  First, a granny square quilt with some stippled quilting:

Loved how the orange binding on this quilt matched the front and AMH back so perfectly.  Again with a label.

And finally, a fun equilateral triangle quilt!  Straight line quilting along either side of the seams for this one.

A happy yellow Kate & Birdie binding and one of my favourite backings...love those big pink flowers! And another label!  Go, Me! ;)

And here are the two coordinating ones together.  Love how they compliment each other.

Phew!  Now it's time to sit back and drink some wine and have a rest, wouldn't you say??  Back to the lake I go!

personalized tote

My friends's daughter is a crafty little thing (and by crafty I mean likes to make crafts, not devious).  I had previously sent her the Crafty Chloe book, illustrated by Heather Ross, as a gift, and decided to make her a Crafty Chloe tote, filled will art supplies, as a birthday gift.

A band of crafty Chloe fabric across the top, and some girly echino polka dots for the body.  Lined with Crafty Chloe, too!

I personalized the tote with her first initial for added fun.  A sweet, quick gift!

sewn: wet bags!

We have a few people in our lives who have had some babies recently or are expecting them soon.  I wanted some simple handmade gifts that would be practical, useful and not too labour-intensive for me to make!  I decided on wet bags- pretty zipped pouches lined with waterproof fabrics, perfect for toting those wet cloth diapers, soiled clothes, or even wet bathing suits.

We took the supplies out to the lake with us, and I was so excited to sew on my new/old table, a banged up antique drop leaf table I scored for $10.  Beautiful and sturdy ;)

The Middle Child wanted to be involved and so she helped choose coordinating fabrics and zippers.  She was so enthusiastic about helping with the sewing and pressing.  In her excitement, about 3 minutes in, she forgot that irons are hot and left it face down on the table......

Grr.  Good thing it was already "rustic."  Took a bit of scraping and four letter words to get the varnish off the iron, but soon enough we were back at it, and made a bounty of bags for the day.  I even pulled out some of my favourite and hoarded Heather Ross fabrics for the occasion! It felt good to USE them.

So here we have it!  I did some larger and some smaller sized bags.

For the girls:

Just love how the "just stay little" made it perfectly onto the handle :)

And for the boys:

The inner waterproof fabric:

Looking forward to gifting these and hope that they will be put to good use!

forty. bring it!

The day has arrived, folks!  The transition has been made.  I am the Big 4-0!

It happened over the weekend.  I have to say, it was painless.  Pleasant, even.  It turns out I am well suited to being thoroughly spoiled.  I quite enjoyed it all, really.

For my last "big" birthday, 30, I had just given birth to Big G ten days prior.  So I was sitting on a donut pillow, bleeding out of my boobies and sleep deprived.  The Hubs and I attempted a brief dinner out ,but I lactated through my shirt about 40 minutes in, so it was anything but glamourous.

But fast forward 10 years, 3 babies, new home, cottage, career partnership and many more notables later, and dang, I think I did it up right!  So far, in my books, forty is pretty AWESOME!

The fun began last week.  The awesome staff at my office punked me, and they did it good.  As you may or may not know, I am a dentist.  So, as is often the case, I had a new patient booked before lunch who had a toothache.  I brought him in and introduced myself and reviewed the chart.  Some history of drugs, lived in a rough area of town...this should be interesting.  But again, I have seen "interesting" before.  Over the course of the 15 minute appointment, the patient swore constantly and was generally neurotic (again, nothing new). Things escalated until, at the end of the appointment, when I told him I could find nothing wrong with his tooth, he starting yelling at me, calling me a quack that didn't know anything, and then he got up and basically forced me into the chair.  By now I was FREAKING OUT inside.  He was fumbling in his pockets, and I was thinking, "Please don't stab me or flash me today." Instead, he pulled out a small cake, candle and lighter, and burst into a song, all about me!!  Yes, he got me good.  Maybe I should have noticed his name was Jack Goff and caught on earlier?  But I fell for it hook, line and sinker!  I have never laughed so hard.  This was followed up with flowers, lunch and lovely thoughtful gifts from my staff.  It was wonderful, and totally ME.

The fun continued with a surprise evening out planned by The Hubs.

A HUGE Hummer limo came to pick us up, and then stopped to collect six other couples, the people in my life that I love (as crazy as they may be).

My outfit was embellished by some necessary additions...

We headed to a restaurant in town to enjoy incredible food and wine, and of course, cake.  Then more wine at the piano bar before we headed home.  Again, spoiled with the gifts.  Wine, jewelry, gag gifts, flowers.  One of my favourites was this gift from my sister- a huge mason jar filled with 40 candies, each with a tag attached- "40 reasons why I love you and am thankful you are my sister."  So precious.  I am happily munching my way through them all :)

From The Hubs and my kids, a very special gift and surprise- a custom family portrait by none other than HEATHER ROSS!!!  Yes, this is a thing.  She does ten per year, and I will be the lucky recipient of one!  So, I will get to WORK WITH HEATHER to plan a hand drawn personal portrait that captures my family at this amazing and special time in our lives.  Eeeeppp!!!  Could life be any sweeter!?!

(photo from Heather's web site)

undone

So much accomplished, yet so much left undone!

Finished my Briar Rose lattice quilt top that I was working on, plus finished another quilt top last week....which leaves me with three quilt tops that need some backs and finishing.

This wee sweater, Coolbreeze Baby by Tanis Fiber Arts (intended for The Plaid Baby!) needs some seaming and some buttons to be in the "completed" pile.

Meanwhile, I am driven to distraction by the adult version for me!

I had high hopes of getting to some of this on my days off this week, but with a string of nights tending to puking kids and one home with me today, I am thinking that I may just come undone myself!!

What I did on my Summer Vacation! by Kristie :)

Well, hello!  It has been a long time.  I certainly didn't mean to take such a long break, but have been busy enjoying an excellent summer and just never really made my way here.  Am looking forward to catching up with you and visiting some of your blogs that I haven't been caught up on in months!  Hope you all are well.  I HAVE been checking in regularly at Instagram, however!  So if you are there come say hello, my user name is Kristieocd :)

Getting right to it- I haven't really done any kind of crafting.  A bit of knitting here and there, but nothing finished to completion.  I didn't even touch my sewing machine for a record breaking 3 months!  But now that we are back to school and back to routine, my sewing mojo has come back with a vengeance.  Hope you have lots to show you soon!

So what DID I do?  Let me bombard you with pictures ;)

The Hubs and I enjoyed a KID FREE (!!) long weekend in Boston, for my cousin's wedding.  It was our first time to the city and I must say I fell in love with the area.

It was a whirlwind visit- a city tour:

A day in nearby Marblehead.  We spent a great day hanging out with my parents, can't remember the last time we got to do that!

Also spent a couple days visiting the beaches and shops in Cape Cod (and eating lobster, naturally), after all the wedding festivities!

Our other big summer event- we bought a cottage!!

If you have been around awhile, you may remember that our previous cottage was destroyed in a flood.  So, after a couple years of waffling on whether or not to rebuild, we opted instead to buy something else in another area altogether, close to where the Hubs grew up.  It is a great place, a 4 season home, really (it's been nicknamed it "The Lakehouse"- very tongue-in-cheek!),  It is on a beautiful lake in the rocky Canadian Shield, and has the most spectacular sunsets :)

We spent a wonderful few weeks, and some weekends, too, at the new place so far and we just love it.  What's not to love?  A gorgeous lake view, sunsets, swimming, boating, water sports, and a new place to make quilts for?  Talk about heaven!  We are very lucky.

So I guess you could say my creative energy this summer has been put to use nesting in our new place. Little touches, here and there, to make it feel like home.  A little painting here, some decorative touches there.  My cottage Pinterest board has gotten a little out of control.

A basket next to the slipcover couch for storing quilts.  Gotta have quilts to snuggle with on those chilly days!

I found a home for my Emerson quote mini quilt near the front door, along with a new twist on a guest book. We collected stones and have visitors sign them with notes about their favourite memories from their stay. We collect them in a large vase for display. It is a great way to make fun "decorative memories!"

I am also collecting wine corks and caps, having friends sign them to remember the glasses shared over sunsets and laughter!

After all, sometimes the memories get a wee bit foggy after a few bottles.....

An eclectic photo wall of happy memories.

But the best part of the cottage is what is outside, not inside!  The kids absolutely love catching all sorts of critters- frogs, bugs, garter snakes and crayfish are hunted down daily, and returned to nature every night :)

          

Swimming of course!

Tubing, waterskiing and knee boarding.

Boats of all varieties.

Fishing (it's all about using the right bait).

Spending time with friends and family makes it all that much more fun!

           


I have a perfect place to do some fabric cutting or sewing:

Last But Not Least lost her first tooth at the cottage!

We re-hung our "measuring oar."  We had a tradition at the old cottage to measure the heights of the kids on it every July, so we reinstated that here. Amazing how they have grown!

Speaking of that, this fall LBNL started grade 1!!  Hard to believe.  Which means (drum roll....) this is the first year that all THREE of my kids are at the SAME school, on the SAME schedule!  No more lunch hour pick ups, shuttling to daycares, etc.  Nope, all in school, all day long (and 2 out of 3 are excited about it ;)

What does this mean? Well, now when I have a day off work, I MAY just get some time for some sewing!  In fact, took advantage of that yesterday, and worked on this Heather Ross Briar Rose quilt top:

Well, that concludes my report on my summer vacation :)  Hope your was just as spectacular!  Looking forward to catching up with my crafty friends!  Thanks for stopping by!  And if I go AWOL again, you can likely find me here: