my favourite mini quilt

Yesterday was my best friend Michele's 40th birthday!  I am sure she loves me sharing that with the world ;)  But hers is extra important to me- she survived a rare SCAD heart attack a few years ago, so after having had to face the possibility of losing her, I am all the more grateful to have such an amazing friend in my life.

For the big 4-0, she put in a request over 6 months ago- admiring the mini quilt I have at the cottage with and Emerson quote, she asked if I could make her something similar with a quote that has been a mantra of sorts for her since her heart attack:

"Do not let yesterday take up too much of today." 

For months I waited for my inspiration to strike.  How to make the quote and the fabric come together into something inspiring and beautiful.  It stumped me.  Then I got to thinking about life, and how we are all made up of these random experiences, some good and some bad, but how they all meld together to form us as a person.  How often it starts out one way and then takes on another path, a diversion.....about all the colours and textures that make up a life.  Kind of magical.

I set out without any end plan.  I just started piecing bits of neutrals together.  Got out some fabric paint and stamps.  Pieced some wonky letters in colours where I wanted impact.   Tried my hand at  some embroidery.  And slowly brought it all together. The more randomness I added, the more cohesive the piece started to look and the more I liked where it was going. And here is the end result!

The quilting included some new frontiers for me, and I went with the same carefree attitude I had with the piecing. I channelled my inner Krista Withers and started filling negative space with swirls, pebbles, lines.  The quilting is dense and the resulting texture is amazing.

Added sections of clamshells and waves and used touches of hand stitching to accent the stamped letters and to outline the pieced ones.

On the back, the London subway map fabric (to represent time she spent living in England). And some hanging sleeves with a birthday message :)  For the binding, I continued with the scrappy theme.

It was gifted yesterday, and Michele declared it was her favourite gift she received (which pretty much brought tears to my eyes).  Then we had a lovely afternoon at the spa....now I am HOPING this is indicative of life in our 40s?!?!

Happiest of birthdays, Michele xoxox

dancing cargo duffle

I made dance totes for my kids several years ago, which I still love.  But The Middle Child has since advanced to a competitive dance troupe, and spends many hours at the studio per week.  She needed a bigger bag for all of her gear.  And a handmade dance bag was one of the only things she requested for Christmas.  Like a crafting mama needs any further prompting??

Then Anna of Noodlehead released her Cargo Duffle pattern for Robert Kaufman.  Not only is it fabulous, it is FREE (thanks, Anna!).  I NEEDED to make one, and A + B = Dance Cargo Duffle.

I modified it slightly, making it smaller in width by about 2 inches, which still provided oodles of room.  I also only did one cargo pocket as I only had a small scrap of my favourite Japanese ballerina fabric left, which I used for the pocket flap.  L-O-V-E. 

The bag is quilted in a quilt-as-you-go manner to achieve its structure.  The top half I quilted in straight lines (well, as straight as I can manage), and for the bottom portion I did a combination of freehand swirls and pebbles.  The raw sedges inside the bag are then covered with bias tape.  I had a half genius idea to cut my lining pieces a half inch larger on each side to allow fabric for fold over to cover the edges without bias tape.  I say "half genius" because if I was really smart, I would have allowed a full inch for a double fold cover….a bit of pulling and coaxing was required, but it all worked out well!

I used a variety of girly fabrics for this bag- a wee floral from Tasha Noel's Little Red Riding Hood, a bit of Aneela Hoey Cherry Christmas, some Camille and Bonnie Bliss, a Riley Blake stripe, and some Essex linen to round things out, all from my stash.  Which I have to say, only encouraged me further to justify my ridiculously out-of-control fabric hoarding….love how I had all these fabrics on hand that went together so perfectly!

I think my very favourite detail is the personalized label on the side panel, using printable fabric.  Super cute and prevents other jealous ballerinas from trying to pinch her bag ;)

All in all, I expect to have a very happy little girl dancing around the tree on Christmas morning!  

a noteworthy quilt

I received a surprise package in the mail from Sew Sisters in thanks for participating in their Kona challenge- remember the pregnant doll tutorial?  Included were some more Kona solids and a charm pack of Noteworthy by Sweetwater.

Now, normally when I get new fabric, it sits out on the kitchen counter awhile so I could look at it, then progresses to the desk in the craft room, eventually to be put away in the appropriate storage bin in the Closet of No Return. Then, much later, I find it, wondering why I have never USED it?

Not this time.

It was no sooner out of the envelope than I tore into it and sewed it into a patchwork baby quilt top.  Just. Like. That.  I kid you not, the top was sewn and pressed within 20 minutes.

While I was at it (and totally because I was too lazy to clean up and put away my machine),  I grabbed a scrap of batting, my 505 spray and a piece of perfectly coordinating Nicey Jane dots (rescued from The Closet) and basted that baby.  Continuing on, I decided to quilt it with some pretty free motion flowers, one in each square, to add a little something to the simple patchwork.

I especially love how the quilting looks against the backing.

The binding is a pink with loopy flowers as well, just made for this quilt.  This stuff is from my local Fabricland, and has been hanging in The Closet since my very first quilt, almost 3 years ago!  I attached it and finished hand sewing it on that night while catching up on trashy t.v.

So there you have it, the story of a quilt, made in less than a day, completely unplanned.  Noteworthy, I think :) 

ode to the sea....

It is mid-April and summer is nowhere to be found in and around these parts.  The snow on either side of my front walk is still tall enough to conceal my Kindergartener, and I am beginning to spend every free moment day dreaming of sun and sand.

I decided to make a little mini quilt, incorporating my favourite summertime quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air."  

That is EXACTLY what I wish to be doing right now :)

I pieced random scraps of blue, using cottons, corduroys, linens, voiles, all adding to the texture, starting with darker tones at the bottom and graduating to lighter shades towards the top.  I added a scrap of precious Mendocino mermaids at the top.  I hand stamped the quote onto natural cotton, using lettered stamps from Stampin' Up and a fabric paint marker.  I cut the rows of blues in curves, to replicate the sea, and then straight cut in the quote pieces.

Free motion quilting was done in a sea colored thread, adding waves, crests and pebbles.

The binding is my favourite part: Joel Dewberry Aviary woodgrain fabric, cross stitched to the front with Pearle 8 thread.  I will be doing this again!

On the back, I added sleeves for a dowel for hanging, stamping my name and date, and what I was doing while I was making it :)

I am so very pleased with how this mini turned out.  As some of you may recall, our family had a summer cottage that was destroyed in a storm a couple years ago.  Finally, the rebuilding phase has begun, and I plan to give this mini a place of honour there when we start again.

I intended to enter this as my Sew Off Home Dec entry for week 2 of the competition.  And I DID make it through the first round- I placed 4th out of 12, with the top 9 progressing!  But, I opted out of the contest.  I am busy with so many other things needing my time in my life, and I realized I don't enjoy being judged for what I make...this is my hobby, my escape, and I want to do it just for ME!  So, thanks for your support and your votes, but this girl plans to stay contest free for the time being!

Wishing you a day filled with sunshine!

Christmas quilt

It is that hectic time of year, where we crafters play elf and try to make things for all the people we love.

I am in that group, of course, but this year, I took a little time to make something just for me and my family.  It's been awhile coming!  Two years ago, I bought a kit for this quilt from Amy at Diary of a Quilter.  she recently made another herself, which you can see here.  Last year I started piecing it, and this year, I finally finished it.  And it was worth the wait.

A simple pattern, but so cheery.  It makes me smile.

I quilted it with swirls, my first time venturing out into this kind of FMQ, and after a wee issue (well, a third of the back was a mangled mess and had to be ripped out), I got my groove and I love the result.  Perfect match for this quilt, me thinks!

I look forward to pulling this one out for many Christmases to come for my family to enjoy.

And one last fun shot- my reflection in my house window as I was walking through the yard, "wearing" the quilt after finishing photographing in the snow :)

And this quilt is my Friday Felicity!  Have a great weekend, friends! And take time to give someone you love a hug...especially your kids, after the terrible tragedy this morning in Connecticut.  May our kids never experience such horrible violence.