Quilty Afternoon....

Working on another baby quilt... and I've officially decided that the most difficult part of making a quilt is making the decisions!

As you can see below- I'd already finished three sets of the blocks when I was trying to choose more fabrics. Normally I choose them all at once, but in this case I've already finished two other blocks- but then decided that I hated them and took them apart... now I'm trying to decide what to replace them with...

Alright, decision made...

And now we're in the "Wait and See" stage where I lay everything out on a table, and spend a couple days walking into the room, looking at the blocks and walking back out. In about 48 hours, I'll either decide I love it and move on to quilting, or I'll hate it and we'll go back to the drawing board!

This photo is awful- the lighting is bad... but I do think I'm leaning towards loving it. My quilts always take a little time to grow on me, but I've yet to finish one I haven't absolutely adored in the end... so I've got big hopes for this little guy!

I buy every pattern this woman makes...

Because they are gorgeous... and so well written. Also, she emails them to you, so there's the instant gratification factor. Did I mention they're gorgeous?!

Mix Tape Quilt Pattern, available from OhFransson.

Ira Glass & This American Life

Sometimes things just fall into place... like last night my boyfriend and I popped in our brand-spankin new copy of the This American Life television show (season #2!), then this morning he sent me a link for an interview with Ira Glass (the host of both the radio & TV versions of TAL), and then to complete the trifecta, I stumbled across a link in Something's Hiding in Here Blog to make your own Ira Glass's glasses.

Well now that I have a crafty tie-in, I figure the message is that I need to share with you my love for This American Life.

TAL is originally a radio show, broadcast on NPR out of Chicago. If you're a public radio junkie like me, you've likely heard it weekends on whatever your personal NPR station of choice, between Weekend Edition and Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me! (both of which I highly recommend!)

However, if you're less into NPR and more into your iTunes, don't worry, there's a free podcast weekly.

The basic premise is that every week (since 1995!), Ira shares a short story that intoduces a theme for the hour-long program. The rest of the hour is a collection of 1-4 different stories told by real people, about things that have happened in their lives based around that theme. The stories are almost always riveting. You laugh, you cry, you see a new perspective on things you once thought you understood. Sometimes they do specials- like a couple done recently on the economic crisis, where they interviewed people involved directly on Wall Street, and those effected directly on Main Street. I learned more in those two hour-long segments then I have in 6 months of trying to desperately follow and understand the news from a myriad of sources.

I find myself constantly sharing these stories with friends and family. My boyfriend and I listen to the podcasts in the car on the weekend- sometimes more then once they're so good.

And then a couple years ago the show made the leap to television. They continued the radio show- much to my relief, because they understand that TV isn't necessarily better, its just different. Some stories lend themselves to being seen- and Ira & the producers on TAL have really figured out the formula in season 2.

So grab some scissors, make yourself a pair of uber-nerdy Ira Glass glasses, and download a podcast or two. I promise, you'll be hooked.

Snow Kisses

It just keeps coming down around here... the two-legged family members are tired of the cold and snow... but for the four-legged furballs, it just never seems to get old.

Here is Zack giving Kaya some brotherly kisses... I think it was about 3 seconds before he tackled her and stole her toy. Gotta love big brothers!

Fabric Shop Recommendation

With everything going on in the economy, plus some personal finance stuff, I've been trying to cut way back on my fabric shopping habits. It would probably be less painful for me to cut back on nonessentials- like food, air and water, because there is nothing I love more then getting the new lines in-hand as soon as they're released. I could spend an entire day washing, pressing and organizing my new editions... and then of course it takes forever to get the strength to actually cut into them! I know, I'm a little crazy, but I just love fabric. I blame my Memere (French-Canadian word for Grandmother), she's got a serious fabric problem that she instilled upon at a young age!

Well anyway, I'm starting to feel a little bad that during these lean times I'm leaving my absolute favorite fabric shop, fabricworm, out to dry... so I wanted to take a minute to recommend them to you! If you are looking for the latest, greatest, and most reasonably priced fabrics by Heather Ross, Heather Bailey, Alexander Henry, Amy Butler, Erin McMorris, Jay McCarroll... or patterns by Sandi Henderson... or tons of others, then fabricworm is the place for you.

Cynthia, the shopkeeper, is a stay-at-home mother that is using etsy to make a living (how many of us dream of that!). She puts together the most amazing collections of quarter, half or full yard fabric pieces, sometimes covering an entire line and sometimes combining lines in ways that you can always trust will look amazing when they arrive in the mail (don't you just hate when fabrics look like they will match online, but in-hand look awful together?!).

And perhaps the best thing about her, is that she is always more then happy to make a change to an order or fulfill special requests. When the new Amy Butler home-dec line came out- she even sold me 4x4inch swatches of every single fabric in it, so I could play with the designs on my furniture and decide which ones I wanted to use!

Oh, and right now she's selling Amy Butler's Daisy Chain at $7 a yard, while supplies last. That's the line I'm using to make this quilt...
Happy shopping!

Good Folks - by Anna Maria Horner

The newest line from Anna Maria Horner, Good Folks, is an excellent followup to the gorgeous Garden Party line, and would be a fantastic collection to use while exploring her recent book, Seams to Me. I love everything this woman does!



In her words: Good Folks was inspired by various sets of things, but all of the notions in my mind had kindness involved. Odd? Perhaps. But can't think of how else to say it. Old European linens. Family. Hand-loomed wool bedspreads. Meals. Fields. Embroidery. Needlepoint kits that I spent summers in Greece as a child occupied with. The icons of the village churches. Layer upon layer of mismatched bed linens piled on top of my floor palette in the upper room of my Yiayia's house to keep me warm even though it was the middle of the summer. Tablecloths drying in the sun. Memories of what my cousin's dowry of linens looked like. All the details. All the work. All the warmth. All the good wishes. Weddings. Wine. Love. Goodness.

Coraline

I am so very excited!

Jay McCarroll - Garden Friends

Wow, its been awhile huh?!! The holidays around here have been crazy… in between the normal family get-togethers, shopping, cooking, etc… we also had to plan a 5-day trip to Boston for a conference the day after Christmas, the repeated issues with my car (you wouldn’t believe the story if I told you!), and then finally, an absolutely horrible head cold/sinus infection for me. Right now my craft room has been turned into the “room where I stash things I don’t have time to deal with, like wrapping paper and extra boxes from Christmas”, and little else.

But I’m not going to stress about it. I have a list of “need to finish” projects looming over my head, Christmas gifts that were given in DIY IOU style… but they will wait patiently until I’m not longer under the weather, and possibly more importantly, until we’ve had time to even take our Christmas tree down!

So in lieu of any projects, finished or otherwise, I want to talk about Jay McCarroll.

To be quite honest with you, I live under a cable rock. Our staples are Law & Order SVU, House, and whatever special is on History International or National Geographic at the time. When we do get into a prime time show, its invariably after the buzz has died down and we can watch the season on DVD through Netflix. Maybe we’re just perpetually one step behind, or maybe it’s because we just can’t be tied down to a weekly TV schedule, but either way… I have never seen a single episode of Project Runway, a show in which (I'm told, and Google has confirmed) Jay McCarroll was a winner.

He’s recently come out with a fabulous new fabric line, which I HAVE heard of, and which I’m utterly enchanted by.

It’s called Garden Friends and its full of crazy little characters that will have you laughing in some cases, and if you’re like me, scratching your head in others!

Here are a few of my favorites, together:

I love this little guy... I've dubbed his look "Kitschy Steampunk".

Some fantastic "Doodle Birds"...

And the head-scratcher... an LSD Bunny print? I love it. I think.

Snowpuppies!

Winter doesn't officially start until tomorrow...
But after having 11+ inches dumped on our house, I'm willing to greet our great cold season a day early. And so are our little snowpuppies!

This is our first big storm since Kaya came to live with us. I was excited to see how she might react- and I was not disappointed!

Like I did as a child, she sees the snow as one huge excuse to romp and play... sticking her nose into the snow and tossing it upward with a swing of her head. She even got me & her big brother Zack to join in the fun. Usually he & I both prefer to stay inside where its warm and dry... enjoying the beauty of the snow- without all the cold...

But who can resist this face?!

Sunflower Bag

Quite awhile go a friend of mine asked me to make her a bag... the catch? She wanted me to use an old family cross-stitch project as the center of the bag. Eeep.

It took me forever to work up the courage to start on the project- and even throughout, I was terrified of accidentally cutting into the cross-stitch (which is beautifully done, btw!). I even managed to do the whole thing in such a way that if they happen at any point to want to free the cross-stitch from the bag, they could without damaging it. That was important to me, just in case!

It also took me forever to figure out the right way to do the project... I didn't want to simply make a bag and sew the sunflower to the front... so I made a sort of quilt block out of the sunflower piece, and four pieces of fabric framing it. Corduroy, to be specific. I felt like the cross-stitch needed a heavier, more textured fabric for its frame.

I even branched out and used strap buckles for the first time... once I started the whole bag sort of designed itself in my mind, and then went off without a hitch. I am so pleased with the result!!

Coping...

Things are always hardest around the holidays, I find. Its like taking all of the stress in your everyday life and turning it up a notch.

And then turning it up another notch.

I saw this photo today, and fell in love... its by Robert Socha Photography. Available on etsy, here.
The title says it all, I think...

"Coping"

An early gift...

The holiday season is alive and well in our house tonight... egg nog, Christmas shows...

And a puppy just begging for an early gift...

Luckily I was prepared, and pulled out a little stuffy with "Naughty" on one side, "Nice" on the other. Guess which side Kaya preferred?

But doesn't she look appreciative? What a smile!

But she spent all day playing in doggy daycamp- and care barely muster the energy to play with her new toy...

Good thing it functions as a pillow too...

Sweet dreams!

Felted Gnome

Kate over at two little banshees felted this little dude recently...

I'm just head over heels for him... I'm also half-convinced I could head out into the woods of my backyard and find one of these guys hiding among the mosses... anyone up for a hike?

Brick Path Quilt

Today was the first significant snowfall of the year... the this is the view from my craft studio window...

The perfect afternoon for some quilting... which I haven't had time to do since I finished my "Apples and Pears" baby quilt last weekend (which the recipient seemed to adore, btw)...

This quilt is going to be a Christmas gift, if I can get it done in time... the finished size will be around 6 feet square... my largest project so far, by far!

Its a collection of Amy Butler's Daisy Chain fabrics... using her free Brick Path Quilt pattern.

I've been waiting to try this one out for awhile now... but man, it is large... I finished all of the cutting and about half of the piecing today... the countdown to Christmas has begun!!

FINISHED!!!! (with pattern link & review)

I've finished it!!! The baby quilt I started on November 16th (two weeks is a record time for me, btw, nothing like quilting on a tight schedule!)... is officially done!

In case you haven't been following from the beginning, it is the quilt pattern from oh fransson that I first introduced here. I just love how it turned out, and I recommend it to anyone (especially since at the "download and print it yourself" price, its a steal!).

The piecing was very forgiving- the pattern actually calls for 1/2 an inch to be cut from each side of each block after its been stitched together- and I found this completely negated any little issues I had with matching up my pieces exactly. I may even try to work this trick into any future quilts I make...

The binding is the best I've ever done- but it was the one part of the quilt I didn't enjoy doing- as I had to finish it by hand. Terrible on the fingers- but it just looks so professional and gorgeous- I can't come up with a better way!

Oh... and one significant change I made to the instructions was the back. The original calls for you to quilt the top to just the batting, and then add a super-soft minky backing to the quilt when you add the binding. Since I've recently gained access to a long-arm quilting machine that requires a three-part sandwich (and won't let me just quilt the top to the batting), I decided to do mine in the more traditional style. I'm sure the minky back would have been great though. I also skipped the applique because I didn't want to either quilt over the design- or stitch it on after I quilted and have the stitches show through to the back. This issue doesn't come up if you use the originally minky-backed pattern!

The one change I might consider for future quilts is adding 1/4 inch to the sides of the blocks that end up on the edges of the quilt. I know its such a little thing that would add SO much confusion to the cutting and piecing stages- but I don't love that the blocks around the outer edge end up with one side thinner then the others... am I just being WAY too picky?

My next project...

Only an hour or two from finishing my current quilt... and I'm already prepping my fabric for the next one...

This one will be based on Alexander Henry's "2D Zoo"... such a cute & fun fabric!

Binding...

Man do I hate sewing by hand...

But the results on my binding are just so very worth it...

Much better then I could have done by machine... so my fingers will pay the price- ouch!

Crafternoon!

Yesterday I was lucky enough to have three fabulous & crafty ladies over for an afternoon of food, fun, and of course, crafts!

Tracy, Nici (of ArtShapedWorld) and I made faux-quilted holiday ornaments from scrap fabric & styrofoam balls...

As Nici demonstrates here, the first step is to use a sharpie to divide your ball into 8 wedges... then you use an exacto knife to make deep cuts on those lines...

Then you take your leaf-shaped piece of fabric and using the back of your knife, press it into the cuts you've made...

Tracy is showing us that here on her gorgeous ornament... I just loved this one, so retro-modern! The fabric she's using are all Chez Moi by Moda... and they match her shirt pretty well too!

When you're crafting, even a mess can look beautiful & inspiring!

Here are two of the ornaments that I made...

And the very talented Nici's collection! She's so great with embellishments!

Sarah was working on some crocheted Christmas gifts...

Some very lucky recipients if you ask me... can you believe she only picked up her first hook this past summer?

How I spent "Black Friday"...

Almost finished now... just the binding to go.

I'm thankful for these cookies...

Sure, they’re delicious. They’re soft and moist and oh-so-chocolately. But that’s not why they make me so very thankful.

These cookies are a (secret) family recipe- specifically my boyfriend’s mother’s recipe. And I’m thankful because my wonderful boyfriend (of just over two years) has come into my life, cookie recipe in hand, and made it better. In fact, he’s made it amazing, wonderful & perfect.

And so these cookies, once served only at his own family’s holidays, have now started making appearances at my family celebrations. My father, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmother- they all enjoy these delicious treats, and as they do, our families are brought together. My family becomes his, and his becomes mine. We all become connected.

Just another way my life is sweeter since he came along.

Thank you so much!!!

Thank you all for encouraging me to move forward with this quilt... after a couple days of soul searching, I decided that so many experienced crafters can't be wrong! Besides, I really do love this quilt, and I'm now quite sure that its my love for it that is making me second and third guess myself...

Nonetheless- I went ahead tonight and sewed those blocks together and now it is looking just gorgeous!!

So thank you all for your support, opinions and comments. I appreciate them all so much!

Oh, and when is blogger going to come up with a fix and make it easier to actually reply personally to all the great comments I get?