Craftopotamus

One Stitch at a Time

2012-01-07T11:38:00.000-06:00

It's been a little while. I needed to take some time away from blogging over my semester break to take care of my family. I finished one Christmas gift over break, but neglected to take any pics of it. Other than that I've been working on a few random projects, mostly of the portable variety.

Earlier in my break I had been searching some sweater patterns on Ravelry and then several blogs and searches later I found some beautiful images of granny square afghans.

I also had some scrap yarn all sitting next to each other in these pinks and mauves and browns that looked really pretty together. Thus, another project was born.

Of course, I have had to buy a bit more filler yarn to pull it together and to ensure I had enough.

They're REALLY addicting.

I've been carrying this basket with me all over the house in my free moments, trying to whip up just one more... I've got quite a stack going at the moment.

I'm hoping this will be an easy project to just work on a little at a time, whenever I can get to it. On Monday I start my last semester of school and between classes (including my master's project), a new assistantship, my internship and my family I am really not sure how exactly I'm going to pull it all off. I think I will probably working basically 6 days a week to pull it all off.

So if you don't hear from me much over the next few months you know why.

Up for Air

2011-12-04T15:57:00.000-06:00

This past week was high tide for my semester and I survived.

A friend of mine was helping to host an auction for a friend of hers so she could help raise money to adopt a child from Haiti.

I'd like to be able to live my life and say that, when push comes to shove, I am never too busy to help a friend. This baby quilt was my donation for the auction. I pulled it out of the dryer and made it to the auction in time, and survived my week of deadlines and was happy to be able to do both.

It was roughly 40" square with white flannel alternating with the "Spring Fling" Moda charm squares on the front, fleece on the back, extra-loft batting, and satin blanket binding.

One last week before I can see this semester in my rearview mirror and, let me tell you, that is a view I am looking forward to.

Apple Baby Quilt

2011-11-06T14:00:00.004-06:00

I know I've been unusually quiet over here for a while. I'm taking 4 classes this semester, still working at my internship, and have been working a few hours a week as well and will basically be underwater from now until the first week of December. But I have been occasionally working on a knitting project that is slowly making progress and every now and then I have been able to quilt.

I have to admit, this time it was because I was under the gun. A baby shower kinda snuck up on me when I wasn't looking so I had to come up with something fast. Fortunately, I had already set aside a pair of prints that I was in love with... the rest of the fabrics I pulled out of my stash.

The solids are all flannels, the back is fleece.

When I found this apple/bird fabric at a quilt shop a couple months ago I fell instantly in love with it and bought a couple yards of this and it and a coordinating bird print (the outer border).

I didn't have a ton of time (I started this baby on Friday and finished it last night - I think that was about 48 hours) so I decided to let the pretty prints do all the work and keep it simple.

I'm pretty pleased with the results and I think it's future owner will be too. When this post goes live, I'll be at the shower. :) I threw in a couple taggies too, of course. Hope you have a beautiful Sunday!

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Recycling Blues

2011-10-28T09:29:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to participate in another Blogger's Quilt Festival!

For those of you who read my blog regularly, this is not a new quilt. I was really hoping to finish a new quilt for the festival, but it just wasn't in the cards for me this time.

Instead, I am linking up our families favorite quilt. I designed it around the idea of using a pile of blue fabrics from my stash in addition to some upcycled fabrics. The quilt includes some upcycled work shirts belonging to my husband, some old jeans and a bunch of non-standard quilting fabrics. Unfortunately, one of those fabrics in particular did not work out as planned.

See that shiny fabric (roughly in the center)? The one to the left of my husband's initials from his work shirts?

It was a Chinese brocade made of polyester/nylon. I knew it probably shouldn't have gone in the dryer, but... well... sometimes these things just happen. And sometimes they happen more than once. I didn't realize when I made it that it would become the house favorite and greatly abused. It has been used as a picnic blanket, a throw, a dog bed, it's gone camping...

... but the dryer has destroyed that brocade and, clearly, it needed a rework.

But what to do? How do you fix an old quilt? I really didn't like the idea of trying to somehow replace all of those pieces. Should I try and patch it? Then I thought about how hideous a patch would be. And then I thought some more... and realized that an applique is basically a fancy word for a "patch." Eureka!

So, I carefully went over the quilt and marked every troubled seam and tear with a pin (and made them really obvious so I wouldn't miss any). Then I dug out the only applique template I own.

After I sewed them all down by hand, I quilted over the top of each applique to help give the underlying fabrics a little more stability. It worked.

I think I like this quilt more than some of the others I have made because it was a product of truly leftover and used fabrics, more like how quilts used to be made long ago out of whatever fabrics women could scrape together. That fact that it is a bargello doesn't hurt either.

Did I mention that this quilt is much loved in our house?

When I spread it out in the grass to photograph it originally, I only had about 3.4 seconds to snap pics before my son came running over to make use of it. It sort of became a great big bulls-eye.

Oh. And it also climbs trees.

I've washed and used the quilt dozens of times now since I added the applique hearts and it is holding up beautifully and is still the most well-used and well-loved quilt in our house.

I hope you enjoyed my entry to this seasons BQF... and I can't wait to see all the other beautiful entries!

Bits of my weekend, in reverse

2011-10-17T22:27:00.000-05:00

So, this is how my weekend ended. At approximately ten to midnight on Sunday.

My mom and I took my son to take some fall pictures a bit north of us and then hit up a quilt shop on our way home.

At the quilt shop my son found this frog plushie that was made up at the shop. Well, the plushie wasn't for sale, but the pattern was. So, of course, I bought the pattern. And somehow promised to make him right away even though all I wanted to do was go home and continue working on my lone star '30's quilt.

Cotton Ginnys Hopsalot is now finished, including a few creative liberties, but that frog really did a number on my sewing room.

Fluff and destruction everywhere.

Early on Sunday I was able to get some fall photos in, even though it's not quite peak colors. Love the reflection of the sky in the one above.

Oaks and maples and lots of sky.

But even with all of that picture taking and frog making, this is what I spent the bulk of my weekend on. I finished sewing the inner lone star and set it too. This was a picture before I trimmed it to the right size. Now I just have to make what feels like a thousand blocks of 2 inch squares to make basically a 2 foot border all the way around it. And I'm thinking of trying my hand at trapunto in the white blocks, as if I haven't already bitten off more than I can chew. Should be a fun ride.

And, yes, I can see where I stretched the seams (badly) on that star. I may or may not fix that. I am a big believer in the idea that quilting and washing a quilt does wonders at hiding lots of flaws like that. At least I made some headway. Oh, and I also bought 4 fabrics to piece the back with - I am planning this quilt to be about 108" square, so that means I needed a lot of backing fabric.

On my design wall

2011-10-10T07:32:00.001-05:00

There is life in my sewing room again! Not one, but TWO (non-baby) quilts in the works. I am working on killing two birds with one stone with this one. Finally digging into my ridiculous stash of '30's fabrics that I've been hoarding AND conquering my lone star fears.

I found a PDF tutorial by Kaye Wood that has been enormously helpful and it's coming along pretty well so far. I just love strip piecing.

Other than when I my helper is "helping." Those are a pile of 2 1/2 inch strips ready to become a large scrappy border for the star. And by "ready" I mean as soon as I kick her off of them.

And this is another little number I've been working on involving another out-of-control stash of leafy prints. I have enough to make two larger quilts out of the fabric I have set aside for this one. I'm currently held up, though, as I wait for one last 1/2 yard of Kona Tangerine to show up.

Urban Utility II

2011-10-08T20:48:00.001-05:00

Well, it took me long enough, but I finally finished Urban Utility II. It only took me 4 months to get around to finishing up the quilting and the binding. Oh well.

I know it looks a LOT like the first one, but it's arranged a little differently and I changed up the quilting ever so slightly.

Still love the color combos. And here's my favorite part...

Are these jellyfish awesome, or what?! My son likes them so much he was trying to convince me that they are the front of the quilt. As for myself, I can't get enough of them.

There was such a long gap between when I started quilting this and when I finished that I ended up putting the wrong color thread in the bobbin. At first I was disgusted with myself, but then I took a look at it again and decided I kinda liked the different colors so I ended up using black, grey, and blue thread for various parts of it. It's only on the back anyway.

BTW, we still have our hummingbird plants out... we haven't see any today, but we spotted one a couple days ago (hummingbirds, that is).

Just to prove that the two sister quilts are different, you can see them side by side. They are remarkably similar, but if you even knew how many hours I agonized over the placement of each square in relation to the others you would die laughing. Seriously.

<< Urban Utility II

Urban Utility I >>

I'll be linking this up at Met Monday and a bunch of other awesome link parties... go ahead, check 'em out!

Little Red Sweater

2011-10-05T07:27:00.006-05:00

This sweet little number was another ravelry find. It's the Chevron Lace Cardigan and the pattern was free. And for you die-hard knitters out there - don't freak out - it's crochet.

Generally, I think that knitting makes for prettier stitches, particularly for clothing. But I have to say that I love this pattern. In fact, after finishing this one for myself I made a couple other version for kids which I'll share in later posts. I actually haven't been knitting for all that long, but I've been crocheting for a loooooong time. It was the first craft I really took to for no particular reason that it was the first one that I really learned well enough to read patterns. At any rate, when I found this pattern on ravelry I was hooked (ha!) since I am WAY faster at crochet than knitting.

I used Bernat Satin in red. I've been trending away from acrylic yarn in general, but I really loved this particular shade of red and I made the sweater because I needed more red in my wardrobe because I have a couple pairs of red earrings that I had nothing in particular to wear with.

Anyway, it was a fairly straight-forward pattern... top down construction and easy instructions. I made it in the 42 inch bust size and it fits nicely (I'm generally a medium).

I went for the gold buttons because they worked best with the earrings I was trying to get more use out of. I love the collar on this sweater...

I'll be linking this up at Met Monday and a bunch of other awesome link parties... go ahead, check 'em out!

Gaia shrug in Kashmira

2011-10-03T21:16:00.001-05:00

This was a very rewarding little project. I found this pattern on ravelry... it's the Gaia shrug. I have to admit that I didn't buy the pattern... I looked at it generally got the idea of what she'd done and just took a chance.

I used three skeins of Kashmira yarn by Sensations held together. I really like this yarn - it almost has a springy quality to it. It isn't quite as lacey as the original is, but it has a lovely drape all the same and wears really well. I knocked this out in two days on vacation and would definitely make another in a heartbeat. Fast and easy.

I crocheted the decorative edge, basing it off another pattern I have. It's super cute on and a pretty flexible piece. I've worn it alternately over a tank top and a long sleeve t-shirt, depending on the weather and found it comfy either way. Love it!

I'll be linking this up at Met Monday and a bunch of other awesome link parties... go ahead, check 'em out!

Cardboard box or kitchen appliance?

2011-09-26T12:12:00.001-05:00

It's been rainy and grey the last couple days here so we've been doing more indoor activities with my son.

And I finally made a low-budget version of something I've been wanting to make my son for a little while - a kitchen set. Originally I wanted to make one out of a refurbished end table like I've seen out in blogland, but lack of tools and budgeting have held me back.

Instead, I just decided to repurpose a cardboard box. This particular one was a diaper box, but as you can see it has been reincarnated as a hardcore stainless steel appliance. It only took some silver spray paint, my hot glue gun, some painter's tape, and a little less than $20 in random "hardware."

A plastic valve, an elbow joint, and a little cap underneath became a faucet and a 15cm round baking pan became a sink. Don't forget to wash your hands before you start cooking!

A pair of wooden cabinet knobs became the oven and stove dials.

A 6-inch burner pan and 3 jumbo craft sticks painted black for a burner.

Another cabinet door handle and a dishcloth for an over door handle and a dish towel.

And, for a little extra storage (because what chef doesn't need more storage), three cup hooks to hold a set of pots and pans.

Tip of the day: if you try this do not use clear packing tape - use painter's tape. The spray paint will not adhere to the packing tape, but does adhere to the painter's tape. Use a hot glue gun to seal the various parts to the frame where necessary and for added stability and extra masking tape across all the seams helps a lot too. I know that typically you'd think that cardboard wouldn't hold up for long, but those diaper boxes are pretty sturdy. I think we'll get plenty of use out of this one.

Not the clearest picture, but here's my little chef in action - baking an orange and an ear of corn for me.

The plastic basket of fruits and veggies was $5 and the set of pots and pans were $12.88, both at Wal-mart.

I'll be linking this up at Met Monday and a bunch of other fun link parties...

Taffy Rainbow

2011-09-18T16:40:00.001-05:00

I'm going to try something novel and write a post! How crazy, right?! Don't freak out.

Believe it or not, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I've been doing the school thing and the work thing and I've been doing a little crafting here and there.

This particular quilt is for my brand new niece. I called it "Taffy Rainbow" because I made it from a strip kit that was called Taffy.

Just can't seem to get enough of bargello quilts.

Here's a snapshot of the back. I struggled a little with the first thread I picked out... too think. I think the back up thread worked out just fine.

And this was the first time I had done pieced binding and I love the effect. It was just the right tough for this quilt, I think.

It felt great to get in some quilting since I've mostly been knitting and crocheting a lot late. Hopefully I'll get some posts together on some of those other finished pieces.

Oh, and don't look now, but here's that new little star! Love her!

Linking this up to Met Monday and lots of other fab parties... check out my Linky Parties tab!

Basketweave Knit for Baby

2011-08-08T06:34:00.006-05:00

This little number is where the bulk of my spare minutes in July were directed. I carried it with me back and forth to school or whenever I went somewhere that I wasn't driving and would relax to a few rows in the evenings.

I came up with a fairly straight forward basketweave knit pattern and did the borders in a seed stitch.

I used size 9 circular needles (36" because of the size of it) and Sensations Simplicity yarn in Cream (3 big skeins).

It's a little bigger than a square yard and it turned out super soft. I'm kinda in love with it. It has a lovely drape to it and it washed perfectly. And the project really turned me back onto knitting, not least of which because it seems easier to steal a couple of minutes here and there and on the fly with my schedule than it is to get into my sewing room.

This one is also for a boy, but hasn't been gifted yet, so I can't say more than that. Can't wait to get it in the mail! I'm linking this up to lots of the fab parties in my Link Parties tab, including Met Monday!

Flannel Owl Baby Quilt

2011-08-07T15:32:00.001-05:00

Here is one of those baby quilts that I have finished recently. The top is all in flannels and the backing is fleece to make it extra snuggley. Spell-check doesn't seem to think that "snuggley" is a word, but I bet you catch my drift.

I came up with the pattern on EQ7 - pretty simple, but I wanted to highlight the owls, of course. I also skipped the batting because I find that with fleece for a backing fabric, batting can make it too heavy.

Here's a decent shot of the quilting - I find "puzzle piece" quilting is pretty fast. It took me maybe an hour to cut the fabric, 2-3 to piece it (I had some alignment issues), 1 hour to quilt it, and another 3 or 4 to bind it. Reasonably quick.

And I used satin blanket binding 'cause the babies love it. This one is for a boy, but the quilt hasn't been delivered yet so I can't say for which one in particular.

And here's the back. Now I just have to get it in the mail, along with a couple others. :) Linking this cuddly one up to lots of great parties, including Met Monday! Check out my Link Parties tab!

Vegetables in the Garden

2011-08-01T11:01:00.000-05:00

Let's take a walk through my vegetable garden. I know I've said before that the flowers are all the work of my mother, but I personally prefer to plant something that is going to give back something to eat - so I did. The eggplant this year have been super productive. We've already made eggplant curry and eggplant casserole.

And we've only harvested one yellow squash so far, but it was huge and, as you can see, there are a bunch on the way.

Here we have some yummy grape tomatoes...

And some yellow cherry tomatoes. I'll be making tomato jam with these in another month or so when we have more than we can easily eat.

Green beans! Basically once a week we have been able to harvest enough to serve at dinner - delic!

And I love the tendrils they send out.

I planted butternut squash (above) in between the tomato cages and the green bean trellis and it turns out they have also made good use of the trellis.

And have taken over part of the lawn as well... we're mowing around them.

Cantaloupe.

Watermelon... these have also overgrown their boxes and moved into the surrounding lawn. I think in another couple months we'll be overrun.

Zucchini... these have also been way bigger than the ones you find in the store.

Arugala (nice and peppery) and, finally...

Swiss chard. Every other day or so we cut a bunch of the last two, add some of those tomatoes, and maybe some avocado and croutons for a delicious lunch salad. Great stuff. Now I'm hungry.

What Happened to July?

2011-07-31T12:52:00.000-05:00

Clearly, July got the best of me. Basically I was swamped. A recap goes something like this:

My desktop died causing me to have to finally break down and buy a laptop
We had guests in town for a few days over the fourth of July and my son saw his first fireworks
My husband and I spent a weekend at the Dave Matthews Band Caravan
My son was sick for two weeks with a nasty cold and ear infection
I volunteered at a conference
I spent an unimaginable number of hours in and around creeks, detention ponds and wetlands, helping with the inventory for my internship (which is watershed planning)
I had to give a presentation for class
I wrote an essay a week for my summer class
I finished three baby blankets and a small pile of taggie blankets
The vegetable garden has been going like gang busters

I think that about sums it up. Here are some pics of all of that.

My boys on the Fourth of July...

A turtle out in the watershed and I think the berries below are nightshade.

A pretty frog. No idea what kind.

American hazelnut. By the way, I can now identify a handful of native species of plants as well as a bunch of non-native and/or invasive ones as well.

A green heron.

Dragonfly.

I'll post these separately, but here are the three baby blankets I finished. I will also post all the pics of my garden and vegetables separately.

The two quilted ones were both super fast and done in maybe a couple hours each over weekends. The knit one was what I carried with me and worked on the rest of the month.

The nice thing is I have so many babies to make gifts for that I can post these and there is no way their respective mothers could figure out which one they are getting. Total incoming baby count currently at 11. Yes, eleven. Between now and January.

Taggies for everyone!

And here is the fabric I have set aside for another baby quilt. This one will be a bargello.

And last, but not least, I have one more essay, one more class, and one more day of tromping through creeks before my family and I get my first and only true vacation of 2011. To celebrate I finally got around to my first mani-pedi of the season (ridiculous). Does this color say "vacation" to you?

Garden Tour

2011-06-27T09:47:00.000-05:00

Between my internship and classes I've had very little time for blogging in the last week.

But I have been working feverishly on a project...

... except it's for the handmade gift exchange so I can't share my progress with you.

Instead, I have a tour of our garden for you. (I took the pic of the irises earlier this year - they're long gone now.)

Can't claim credit, though. This is all my mom's handiwork.

Look! Squash!

I did actually plant a bunch of vegetables...

... not much to show yet, but as soon as there is I will have pics.

Love the trellis.

The peonies are also long gone, but they are one of my favorites. They remind me of my grandfather - he always used to plant these.

Baby Gift Sweat Shop

2011-06-20T21:27:00.000-05:00

The other day my sister asked me if I could make her daughter a tactile blanket (like a Taggie). "Sure thing," I said, since I always love adding new projects to my W.I.P. list.

Then I started thinking about all those pregnant women in my life...

... and turned my sewing room into a sweat shop of epic proportions for making baby shower/baby welcoming gifts. And sort of went a little crazy and may have added way more ribbon to my stash than I could possibly use in a lifetime of making these things.

There are a bunch more planned, but I figured I'd show off a few just for fun.

Probably should have ironed them before I posted them, but since I hate my iron you know that wasn't going to happen. :) Some are cotton, some are flannel. Most are backed with fleece and one is backed with this jersey knit I had on hand. These are great for busting through your fabric stash and remnants.

Chalkboard Closet Doors for my Son

2011-06-14T08:49:00.000-05:00

We moved in with my parents a few months ago to make things a little easier as I finish grad school, but until recently my son's room has been woefully neglected. I've finally started sprucing it up a bit.

Part of the problem has been that while I have wanted to paint a mural on his wall, there was no available surface. Two walls have that wood paneling and the other two have this horrible texture (BTW, if you know a cheap DIY trick for removing texture from walls, please share it with me). That left the closet.

The chalkboard that was in my last post - my son loves to write on it. All the time. So much so that I rarely get to use it. I decided he needed one of his own.

I took down the old closet doors, which had this beat-up map glued down on it as long as they've owned the house (which is quite a while). I gave them two coats of chalkboard paint and then painted this mural over parts of the chalkboard surface with acrylic paints.

I also gave the mural part 2 coats of clear poly-coat varnish so that it would hold up to the abuse of a two and a half year old.

I added a couple cup holder hooks and a pair of $1 metal buckets from Target to hold the chalk and the eraser. I also bought a pair of matte black closet door handles and I had to buy one more tube of brown paint - otherwise everything else came out of my stash so I think the whole project cost me about $12.

Above is what it looked like before I "cured" the chalkboard surface (if you haven't used the stuff, that just means you rub the side of a piece of chalk all over the surface so that things erase more easily from it).

And here it is after it was cured and with the closet door handles in place. I had a little fun myself before he got to it.

He'll see it later today and I am pretty sure he's going to love it. :)

Wading in W.I.P.s

2011-06-12T15:09:00.000-05:00

Five weeks into summer and I am just hitting my creative stride. And I am up to my ears in W.I.P.s.

Urban Utility II has been sitting around for the moment.

I plan on giving this lifeless sweater dress a face lift.

The as-of-yet unnamed art quilt is in a holding pattern because I need to basically take everything off from this point and start adhering the bigger pieces to the fabric so I can start sewing them down.

My top secret handmade gift exchange project is in the works.

And this is a sneak peak at a project for my son that I will hopefully be able to post later this week.

And this... *GASP* ... is what my sewing room looks like at the moment and that's a problem (BTW, don't start cleaning and reorganizing unless you can do it all in one shot because walking back in on this is daunting).

It's a problem because I start class again tomorrow. And I should have a minimum of 200 pages of reading and a paper to write every week. And my internship is about to ramp up in hours. And not yet on my WIP list is the 400 baby quilts I need to make for all the pregnant women in my life. And the only thing I want to do right now is anything on that WIP list and NOT the readings I am supposed to be doing for the first day of class tomorrow.

Ugh.

Winner for the 2nd Craftopotamus Quiltaway!

2011-06-10T09:00:00.002-05:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in my giveaway for Urban Utility I! It was a ton of fun reading all of your comments here and on facebook and meeting a bunch of great "new-to-me" bloggers out there.

Now, just one little click of Mr. Random Number Generator and ...

... we have a winner! Ladies and gentleman, the quilt goes to...

Super congratulations, Marsha from Santa Rosa, California! I'll be putting your brand new quilt in the mail as soon as I get your address.

And to all of those who didn't win today, I really really wish I could make one for all of you. Seriously. You all are what makes blogging worth while. Besides, you never know when I'll give another one away...

In the meantime, I've got to get back to working on my gift for my Handmade Gift Exchange partner... so exciting!

Easy Breezy Beaded Scarf Tutorial

2011-06-07T12:18:00.000-05:00

I love accessories. Scarves especially. I found this lovely fabric at JoAnn Fabrics and wanted to turn it into a scarf, but I also wanted it to have a little more body to it, so I invented this beaded scarf.

It's really easy and could be done with any fabric and beads. So easy, in fact, I wrote a tutorial for you.

All you need is some fabric, beads, and matching thread. The piece of fabric I started with was "58 x 46" (it was the end of a bolt) and I used 42 beads. Probably a package of 40 to 50 should work out perfectly or whatever you have in your stash.

I wanted to make the most out of the fabric I had without putting a seam in it, so I cut a large piece from the center and on the bias (roughly 20 inches wide, but I didn't measure it), like this...

You can save the two corner pieces for your stash. Then I used my sewing machine to stay stitch all the way around the edges of the fabric:

Now make a rolled edge stitch by hand along the same edge. All you do is fold the edge under twice along the stay stitch and loosely stitch it in place.

I tried to do this part by machine, but the fabric didn't cooperate and I thought the hand stitching looked better.

Now I'll show you how to make these beaded gathers.

Thread your needle with a long piece of thread, but don't knot the end. Start from the back of the fabric and bring your needle through to the front...

Now weave the needle back into the front of the fabric about a half inch away and then back through again another half inch away...

Now slip a bead on the end of the needle.

Then weave the needle back in and out of the fabric again, keeping the stitches about a half inch apart.

Carry the stitch to the back again...

Then flip the fabric over and pull the thread through.

Pull the thread tight and make a knot. Then make two more, just to be safe.

Snip the ends about a half inch from the knot.

Flip over the fabric again and... VOILA! A beaded gather!

Now repeat all over the fabric, but space them out so that they are in rows about 6 inches apart and stagger them. I alternated rows of three and four gathers, like you can sort of see in this really sad drawing...

Maybe this pic is more clear?

A bunch of beads and gathers later and... HOORAY... you have a new beaded scarf!

Shades of Blue

2011-06-04T14:45:00.002-05:00

I have been wearing a ton of blues and greys this summer. Seriously, half my summer wardrobe is either grey, dusty blue, white or navy (or some combination of those). But I have found myself short of matching jewelry.

No longer.

I made these... a bauble and button set - bracelet and earrings. I just used a length of chain for the base, a pile of jump rings and a bunch of buttons and findings. And a clasp and ear-wires, of course.

Then I indulged in what might arguably be my favorite part of blogging - setting up some ridiculous scene of inanimate objects and taking four thousand photos of them. All on the macro setting. Because, seriously. What jewelry of yours just spends time hanging out with a pair of wine glasses? Yeah, that's what I thought.

For real. My entire wardrobe right now is in these colors. It's like I just showed you the inside of my closet.

Now I am going to go put them on and maybe I'll take them off in the fall.

Hey! There's still time to enter my QUILT GIVEAWAY (oddly enough, in a remarkably familiar color scheme)... just click on the button below!

Linking up to Met Monday and all the awesome parties in my Link Parties tab - check 'em out!

A Little Progress

2011-06-03T09:02:00.000-05:00

Okay, so maybe I went to a quilt store and picked up a bunch of new batiks and thread for my as-of-yet-untitled art quilt and maybe I started cutting out pieces of those fabrics and arranging them on my quilt wall.

Nothing is sewn down yet, the pieces are just clinging to the fabric. The non-existent branches for some of those leaves will eventually be sewn in with thread. And I think that darker blue sky swish in the upper left corner will probably get edited out because I think it is a little too blue.

I think my next step will be to cut out the pieces for my little stone wall and then I might start spray basting some of those pieces down. I think I'll stitch some of the bigger pieces down straight onto the fabric and then put on a border, put the layers together, and then do a bunch of quilting over the top, including stitching down the leaves and eventual birds and stuff. But don't hold me to any of that because I am totally winging it.

Work and an Idea

2011-06-02T09:11:00.000-05:00

I've been working on Urban Utility II this week. I wanted to quilt it differently than Urban Utility I, but my attempts involved a lot of seam ripping. It will be a little different, but not much.

Seems it may be time to clean my machine.

Did I mention I love my new walking foot?

And then there is this...

I am going to attempt to turn this drawing I did last night, or a version of it, into a wall quilt. Totally not sure how I am going to make it happen, but I feel like I need to branch out a bit with my quilting and try my hand at an art quilt. I am absolutely going to make it up as I go. Wish me luck!

And don't forget, my quilt giveaway is still going on. Click HERE to enter.

Bunnies and the Handmade Gift Exchange

2011-06-01T09:17:00.000-05:00

While playing outside with my son the other day, we came across a nest of bunnies.

But he was a little preoccupied with his latest fort.

Apparently, that quilt just can't stay away from trees. There's no hope for it.

And yesterday I signed myself up for Craftaholics Anonymous' Biannual Handmade Gift Exchange. I am so excited! I've meant to do this the last couple times it came around and either just missed the deadline or was swamped with school. This time I get to play - Hooray!

The 2nd Craftopotamus Quiltaway!

2011-05-27T00:01:00.004-05:00

One year ago today...

I started a blog named Craftopotamus.

Time sure does fly.

Over 41,000 pageviews, over 400 followers, a couple dozen features, 3 Blogger's Quilt Festivals, and 2 semesters of grad school later, I'm still in it and loving it.

In celebration of creating, blogging, and all of the wonderful people I have met along the way, I am giving away another quilt.

This one, in fact. It's called Urban Utility I. That's partly because it was based off of the City Tracks pattern in Cherri House's City Quilts book and partly because some of the colors and quilting remind me of those utility blankets that are used for moving furniture. And the "I" is because I am working on "II" as we speak, but I'll be keeping that one for myself. :)

This quilt is my first foray into solids and I have to say, I am hooked. I bought myself a Kona solids card and haven't looked back.

It's also the first time I've done any straight line quilting that wasn't done by hand. It is crazy to me that I have been quilting for almost 6 years, I've done tons of meandering quilting and designs, but have only just now bought myself a walking foot with a guide. It's almost embarassing! The finished quilt measures roughly 58" by 75" and is made with all cotton fabrics and batting.

I tell you, I just love this creative journey and having such a great way to share it. Every day I am amazed by the warm and genuine bloggers I have found on my journey and am continually inspired by YOUR work. The talent you all have is amazing. And thank you for following along with me, even when grad school gets the better of my time.

So, are you ready to hear the Quiltaway rules? They're pretty simple.

You have 5 chances to enter. Each comment is considered an entry (no more than five per person):

1. Leave a comment about this quilt or what you might do with it if you win it or about what blogging has meant to you.

2. Become a follower. Just leave a comment, whether you're a new follower or old, just saying that you are one.

3. "Like" Craftopotamus on Facebook and leave me a comment here to let me know you did (or that you already have). Follow the button for a quick link...

4. Share this post or the Craftopotamus link to this post on your Facebook page (and then come back here and leave me a comment saying you did.

5. Blog about this quiltaway or post one of my buttons (located in my sidebar) on your blog. Let me know which you did and post the link in the comment.

Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you by email! This quiltaway will run from now through Thursday, June 9th at 9:00pm. The winner will be drawn by random number generator and announced Friday, June 10th at 9:00am.

I'll be linking this quilt up to lots of my favorite link parties including Amy's Sew & Tell and Met Monday... be sure to check out my newly remodeled Link Parties tab and all the awesome inspiration you can find at all of these parties - you won't regret it!

GOOD LUCK!! I hope YOU win!

Fresh Out of the Dryer

2011-05-26T11:18:00.001-05:00

There is little better in life than pulling a fresh quilt out of the dryer.

The second Craftopotamus Quilt Giveaway is just around the corner. Are you ready?

Craftopotamus is on Facebook and Another Quiltaway!

2011-05-25T09:13:00.000-05:00

Craftopotamus now has a Facebook page! Click on the button below and "like" the page to follow via FB!

Meanwhile, it is pouring here today!

Good thing I have some binding to work on for the quilt I am giving away on Friday...

Oh, did I forget to mention that I am giving away another quilt on Friday? Opps! Silly me.

Dreaming in Blue and Green and Grey

2011-05-23T08:31:00.001-05:00

Do you know that feeling where you are pretty sure that you couldn't possibly think about something more than you already have? Where some small part of you knows that you have gone down the rabbit hole of over-thought and is lost?

That's where I'm at with these blocks. They have been arranged and rearranged and rearranged again, starred at until I was cross-eyed, trying to find just the right balance of color.

So far, I am enjoying my foray into solid-color quilts. I may even have plans for another.

AND, my Recycling Blues quilt was featured over at Marvelously Messy yesterday... you can check it out here! I feel like I've been following Missy FOREVER... love her creativity and her blog!

A Walk Along Spring Creek

2011-05-19T21:19:00.000-05:00

"Folding Screen" - Blogger's Quilt Festival

2011-05-13T14:08:00.002-05:00

Hooray! The Blogger's Quilt Festival is here again! And I finished my latest quilt just in time.

It's called "Folding Screen," because that was what I was going for... a Japanese folding or rice paper screen.

Originally, I had contemplated several different patterns for this group of fabrics that I collected over time, but they all involved cutting up the fabrics too small to make good use of all of the bold prints.

So, I took a different (for me) tactic and thought about what kind of pattern I could come up with that involved large pieces, including the panel and a bunch of fat quarters. I chose grey for the "structure" of the folding screen because it worked well with all of the purples and pinks and I thought that black would be too much.

The fabrics themselves led me to the idea of trying to recreate the geometry of a folding screen. And the fabrics also dictated the quilting designs as well. I pulled the design from the swirls in the water in this fabric.

Here it is from the back...

Someone's always trying to get into my photo shoots.

This quilt has really helped me see that a quilt does not have to be complicated to be pretty and that the fabrics should really dictate a quilt. That probably doesn't sound like much of a revelation, but I have a way of complicating things when left to my own devices. :)

The final quilt is 88" by 104" or roughly for a queen-size bed. I made it for my sister and her husband and hope they'll enjoy it for years to come. And I hope YOU enjoy the rest of the Blogger's Quilt Festival!

I'll also be linking this up to many of my favorite Link Parties, including Met Monday! Enjoy!

"Recycling Blues" - Revisited and Revamped

2011-05-10T17:06:00.001-05:00

I originally finished and posted this quilt about a year ago. I designed it around the idea of using blue fabrics from my stash in addition to some upcycled fabrics. The quilt includes some upcycled work shirts belonging to my husband, some old jeans and a bunch of non-standard quilting fabrics. Unfortunately, one of those fabrics in particular did not work out as planned.

So, I carefully went over the quilt and marked every troubled seam and tear with a pin (and made them really obvious so I wouldn't miss any). Then I dug out the only applique template I own.

After I sewed them all down by hand, I quilted over the top of each applique to help give the underlying fabrics a little more stability. I think it worked.

Did I mention that this quilt is much loved in our house?

When I spread it out in the grass to photograph it originally, I only had about 3.4 seconds to snap pics before my son came running over to make use of it. It sort of became a great big bulls-eye.

Oh. And it also climbs trees.

And just a reminder... the Blogger's Quilt Festival, hosted by Amy's Creative Side, starts on Friday! I'll be working into the wee hours to finish another quilt by then and I can't wait to see what everyone else will post!

I'll be linking this up to all the fun parties on my Link Parties page including Met Monday! Check 'em out!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T09:56:00.000-05:00

A few blooming hearts...

... my favorite blooming tree...

Birds at the feeder,

and strawberries on the way.

It's a beautiful time of year. Happy Mother's Day!

Last of the Bulbs

2011-05-05T20:07:00.000-05:00

I see a great batik quilt in the colors of these tulips in particular...

Time for Crafting

2011-05-04T13:57:00.000-05:00

Dear sewing machine, how I have missed you! I hope you enjoyed your vacation, because it is time for you to get to work again.

Now that my semester is over I can finally start making time for you...

... and all of the projects I have planned.

Maybe, just maybe, I'll even have enough time for another giveaway...

Green Eggs & Ham

2011-04-24T09:50:00.000-05:00

Urban-Inspired Quilting

2011-03-30T18:38:00.001-05:00

A few months ago, during the last Blogger's Quilt Festival, I won a $20 gift certificate to Pink Chalk Fabrics (an online fabric store). I loved all of their fabrics and just could not decide what to get and never got around to using the gift certificate. The other day I remembered it and started hunting on their site again and came across this book:

City Quilts, by Cherri House.

I ordered it and I am in love. It pretty much perfectly marries my two loves - quilting and urban planning. It has 12 patterns in it, but also tons of great tips on designing your own quilts, choosing color palettes, and particularly promotes the use of solid-color fabrics.

Now I have to admit, prior to acquiring this book I had no interest in solids other than for sashing or to set off a whole bunch of crazy prints. But after pouring over this book I think that I may be starting a new chapter in my quilting adventures.

Literally four days after this book came in the mail I ordered a butt-load of solids from Hancock's of Paducah and already have a plan for them.

This is a version of one of the patterns in the book called City Tracks. Cherri made her version of in some beautiful reds and oranges. For some reason I can't get past this grouping of colors. I was inspired by the colors of glass found on high-rises and sort of grey smoggy colors of late winter in Chicago.

I still have to finish my folding screen quilt, but this is what I'll be working on next. In the meantime, I think the book is fantastic and inspiring. Happy quilting!

Building a folding screen

2011-03-28T08:36:00.000-05:00

I've made some progress on my latest quilt over the last week.

The finished quilt will measure 88"x104" and should nicely fit a queen size bed.

All four panels are finished and connected; now I just need to add a 4" border of that same gray all the way around to finish the top.

Scrappy Afghan

2011-03-25T11:06:00.001-05:00

I finished my son's afghan last week, but am just now getting the time to post it.

It turned out to be a great stash-buster and my son loves it.

He's had this Spongebob blanket that has been his comfort blanket since his first birthday and as soon as I finished this one he decided that he wanted this one with him at night instead. Quite an honor, let me tell you. :)

I just love the way all the random colors came together. Looking at all that leftover yarn I really didn't think it would turn out as nicely as it did.

And since it's all acrylic yarn it washes beautifully and is surprisingly soft.

Update: You can find more about the pattern I used to crochet it here. Basically, it's a (slip stitch followed by a double crochet) repeated all the way across one row; then you double crochet in every slip stitch and slip stitch in every double all the way across the next row. And repeat!

I'll be linking this up to a few of the great parties in my Link Parties tab as well as Met Monday!

New Quilt in the Works

2011-03-10T20:35:00.000-06:00

Some of you may remember me playing around with these fabrics a while ago... I have since decided that a lone star quilt just isn't they right use for them. They are mostly big prints and I even have a panel that I wasn't making use of in my original idea. So, I went back to the EQ7 drawing board and came up with this...

I based the structure of the blocks off of a Japanese folding screen. I have it planned as another queen size quilt at 88" by 104". The grey borders and columns will be 4" wide, finished. The large blocks make for fast piecing and cutting which is exactly what I need right now.

These will be the center two panels, so that when it lays on my bed, the crane panel will be seen as a whole. The next two panels will have more of the green and yellow fabrics, but still have lots of the purples and pinks.

Progress on the Stashbuster

2011-02-19T12:44:00.000-06:00

Mini Double Wedding Ring

2011-02-07T07:00:00.001-06:00

I bought a pattern for this mini Double Wedding Ring (the finished top is 29" square) at the Rosemont Quilt Show last year only to realize that I hate paper piecing. Fortunately, my mom came to the rescue and offered to piece the top for me with the scraps from my Wright's Window quilt (bottom photo).

Here it is, ready to quilt. I started drawing some circle chalk lines on it thinking that was how I was going to quilt it, but I'm not so sure I like them. I am also not sure when I will be able to finish quilting it, but hopefully some day soon.

When it's finished it will hang above my bed and hopefully be a nice compliment to my quilt.

Physical Planning class

2011-02-04T06:24:00.002-06:00

One of my classes this semester is basically about hand drawing urban design site plans. Later we'll be combining our renderings with some computer programs to make them look professional. In the meantime, the first couple assignments were just to get us warmed up and actually drawing.

Both of these were drawn from pictures I already had. The top one was taken in Lubeck, Germany, probably in 1997. The second was taken on Chicago's north side at the corner of Clark and Halsted. Both are ink on paper.

An Update on Life and Projects

2011-02-02T10:22:00.000-06:00

A couple weeks ago I decided I would crochet a blanket for my son that would use up all of my worsted weight scrap yarn. Here is where I am at with it so far.

Lately, school has been pretty intense and it looks like it will remain that way through this semester. Originally I planned on basically closing down the blog until May, but I think for now I will leave it up. I just don't have the time to craft like I would like, but that said I do have projects in the works and things to share. I just won't be able to post quite as often and will have to rely on scheduled posts and older projects I haven't shared. And I also expect that finished projects will be few and far between over the next few months.

At any rate, this is a nice low maintenance project that is a great use of yarn that wasn't going anywhere. The pattern from an old Leisure Arts crochet pattern book of mine called Afghans on the Double. All of the patterns in the book are based on using two balls of yarn at the same time. For this afghan I am just using one at a time because I don't need it to be super big. The pattern is called "Fireside Throw."

I have one other Leisure Arts crochet book and they are basically how I taught myself to crochet when I was in college. The back of each book has detailed pictures explaining each stitch which made it super easy to teach myself.

By the way, the reason I have time to post today is because most of Chicago looks something like this...

Even adults enjoy a good old fashioned snow day once in a while...

Sweet Pea

2011-01-27T06:30:00.032-06:00

This last weekend I hosted a baby shower for one of my best friends. She's having a little girl.

When I started trying to nail her down on a color scheme or theme for the baby room, she told me "oh, I don't know... I was thinking maybe mauve and brown and cream and maybe some sage green for contrast... and nothing too babyish. I want it to look old-fashioned."

My mom had picked these out for me on her own and when I saw them I knew they'd be perfect. I just tried to keep the pattern as simple as possible.

I used an all-over meandering quilt pattern to soften the look of all those squares...

Here's the label... sorry for all the "blur."

I based the name off of the colors of the fabrics rather than the fabric patterns.

I hope it will keep her baby warm and bring her comfort.

Hat & Scarf

2011-01-25T06:32:00.021-06:00

I finished the hat that I knit to go with this scarf... now I have a set!

No pattern. I just looked at a bunch of patterns of hats and just sort of winged it. At one point I realized it was going to be too huge so I had to go out back and rip out a few rows to reduce it, but now it fits me perfectly. It just covers my ears and fits loosely enough that it doesn't destroy my hair for the rest of the day.

Love, love, love this yarn. I have one ball of it left. Still not sure what I'm going to do with it...

Knit Cowl

2011-01-23T11:51:00.000-06:00

So I've been a little behind with blogging lately, but here is the cowl that I knit up with that lovely Spring Garden hand spun yarn I bought from Zibeline Knits.

I love the way it turned out.

No pattern, as usual. Just knit in the round on circular needles, size 15.

Just love the texture and feel of this yarn. Couldn't be happier with it. And not only is Keya's yarn fabulous, but she's got a great blog too.

1930's Prints

2011-01-10T19:57:00.000-06:00

Someone must have thought I was a good girl this year, because I got this for Christmas.

It's a bundle of 50 (that's right, fifty) feedseed fat quarters.

I've been wanting to start a collection of these for a while and now VOILA - here it is!

I'm thinking something bed-sized. Like another 100 inches square. And, clearly, scrappy. Really scrappy.

AND, I got a snazzy new camera. These pics aren't even in decent lighting conditions... hopefully I can show off its abilities better soon.

Ruffly Scarf

2011-01-06T19:48:00.000-06:00

I finished this ruffly scarf that I started for myself. I made a matching hat for it as well, but haven't had a chance to get pictures of it yet.

I found this yarn at a knitting shop in Breckenridge, Colorado and it was love at first sight. I'll get picks of the finish set soon. I may even knit up a pair of wrist warmers too... I think I might have just enough left.

Calico Cats Under Paisley Stars

2011-01-05T12:37:00.001-06:00

This is a quilt I made for my mother-in-law as a Christmas present. It's been in the works for a while, mostly because I got distracted by other projects.

It was inspired by two different blocks from the Quilt Maker's Gift. The nine-patch block is called Puss-In-The-Corner and the star is called Friendship Star. The names of the two blocks were what guided me to the seemingly complicated name for the quilt - Calico Cats Under Paisley Stars. "Calico cats" for the the puss-in-the-corner block made of varying colors and "paisley stars" for the friendship star block and the multitude of paisley prints in the quilt. We'll just chalk it up to "creative liberty." :)

I quilted it myself on my machine with a puzzle-piece design everywhere except the stars, which I just outlined. I used a variegated thread in similar colors as the fabrics.

Here's some of the quilting from the back.

A folded shot...

... and the label...

More details...

Here is shot of the back of the quilt with the sun shining through from the other side. Just kinda liked it.

And the totally gratuitous rolled-up shot.

Hope you all had happy holidays! Linking up to lots of fab parties including Met Monday - check out my Link Parties Tab.

Happy Holidays!!

2010-12-23T16:52:00.000-06:00

I don't know about you, but this particular moment is one of my favorites of the Christmas season. That moment of total relief when the last of the presents are wrapped. Phew! Now I can start enjoying the holidays!

I have several finishes I'd love to share with you, but since they are mostly gifts, I won't be posting them just yet. Craftopotamus is getting a holiday too, so the blog will be back sometime during the first week in January 2011! Happiest of holidays to all of you!!

Santa's Workshop

2010-12-17T12:17:00.000-06:00

Santa's workshop, AKA my craft room, is BUSY as always this time of year. I have pics of some works in progress for you...

This is a scarf that will have a matching hat and that I had hoped to finish as a Christmas gift, but will not make it. Both ends of the scarf with have that little ruffle on the end.

Here is a shawl that I finished last night. There is a slight variegation from pink to aqua blue, but it's subtle so it doesn't show up in the pic well. I need to make a pin to go with it still.

And these are a pair of booties that I made for my son, but I still need to sew some faux suede on the bottom. They're to slick for tile and wood floors as is. I might add some more decorative details as well.

I stitched up some of my new Spring Garden yarn to get a gauge on size 15 needles. My latest plan is to make a cowl with it. I'm going to try and hold off on starting this one until after Christmas. Can't wait!

And just to break up the yarn fest, I've also made some progress on this quilt. I'm hoping to sew these blocks together some time over the weekend.

Am I the only one who manages to over-commit herself EVERY holiday season?!

For the Love of Wool

2010-12-14T09:18:00.000-06:00

After months of drooling over the amazing yarns in Keya's shop, I finally broke down and made a purchase from Zibeline Knits. Don't you love her labels? The top yarn is a sock weight yarn called Marina. I plan on knitting a scarf, hat, and socks for Kenny from them after the holidays.

Love the colors...

And this one is called Spring Garden. I am swooning over it. I love the combination of the yellow and deep periwinkle blue. The wool came straight from the sheep, then she spun it and dyed it. This type of thick and thin yarn is my favorite... they produce such beautiful textures.

When I was done winding it into a ball that I could knit with, I noticed my hands had a fine layer of lanolin on them. I wish I could afford to knit with such pure wool all the time.

It will probably become a scarf sometime after the holidays, although I'm still thinking about it. At this point, my craft room is stacked with Christmas gift projects. I hope to post an update on those in the next couple days - it'll probably make for a long post. :)

Glass Holiday Ornament

2010-12-11T12:08:00.001-06:00

This was originally a guest post featured on Haul Out the Holly last week...

I've whipped a quick and easy Christmas ornament tutorial for you. You will need:

1 package clear glass ball ornaments

tinsel, garland, paper craft shred, yarn, etc. to your liking

paint markers or sharpies

either ornament hooks or ribbon

(ignore the spray paint, I ended up saving that for another project)

Start with one so-boring-you-can-hardly-see-it clear glass ornament.

Remove the top...

Stuff it with paper shred, or cut up tinsel, garland, yarn, etc.

For this one, I used green craft shred. You may want to use a pen or a knitting needle or something along those lines to distribute the stuffing once it is inside the ornament. Then, replace the top...

Use the paint markers to personalize them any way you'd like.

Make a few more... here's one with cut up icicles.

You can even decorate them with simple pictures... anything you can draw... I don't have one, but I bet some of those vinyl decal things everyone else seems to have would also be great here... For this one I stuffed it with cut up pieces of red metallic garland.

You can use an ornament hook to hang them or make a ribbon hanger.I just used ornament hooks because these are going on my tree, but if their for a gift you may want to snazz them up with ribbon.

And that's it! You're done! Nice and easy!

The last one on the left is one that I filled with blue yarn. I hope this gave you lots of great ideas!!

I'll be linking this up to many of the awesome parties in my Link Parties tab, including Met Monday... check 'em out!

Haul Out the Holly!

2010-12-04T09:42:00.000-06:00

Hey everybody! I'm guest posting today over at Gwenny Penny for Haul Out the Holly... stop by and check it out!

And just for fun, here's a pic of my son enjoying the first snow of the season this morning...

One of a Kind

2010-12-03T13:56:00.000-06:00

Dear blogland, I apologize for my brief hiatus, but grad school got the best of me these last couple weeks. Fortunately, I only have one paper left this coming week and then the semester is over and I can get back to exercising my creative energy.

I did get a chance to spend a couple of hours at the One of a Kind Show and Sale in Chicago at the Merchandise Mart yesterday. It was amazing. I really didn't realize how huge it was going to be and the talent pool for this show is just awe-inspiring. Unfortunately, I did not think to bring my camera. Such a shame too because there was some beautiful art as well as some amazing fiber artists.

But I can share with you some things that I bought at the show!

I took the opportunity to do a little Christmas shopping at Blush Envy's booth while I was there...

Brandy's jewelry is amazing. These flowers are all hand-crafted from paper and you'd be surprised at how durable her pieces are! Her Etsy shop will reopen in January, but if you get a chance to get to the show you should definitely check out her booth. You can also find her on facebook here.

Another Christmas gift... the detail is incredible...

And, of course, I did a little Christmas shopping for myself as well...

This is one of her "dainty" rings. It perfectly matches a sweater of mine.

This next piece I found at another vendor there that happens to be a Chicago artist. Her name is Carrie Notari of Notari Studio. She's got some pretty neat pieces and I bought this one for myself...

Check out the back... it's a domino! LOVE!

The One of a Kind show was really amazing and if you live anywhere near Chicago try and sneak in a visit. It runs through Sunday and you will not regret it.

Also, just a reminder that Haul Out the Holly is going on now over at Gwenny Penny. Check it out! My tutorial will be featured there tomorrow...

Snowy Pine Cone Christmas Ornaments

2010-11-22T09:51:00.001-06:00

I'm in the final push of the semester at school. In the next 10 days I'll be coming up with about 35 pages of reports and papers. Should be a good time. In the meantime, I hit a wedding in Florida this weekend, finished my tutorial for Haul Out the Holly (no sneak peeks, but I'll let you know what day it will be showing), and came up with this quick and easy Christmas ornament.

Supplies:

a pile of pine cones (you can gather them or buy a bag)

ornament hooks

white spray paint

hot glue gun

Now I have to admit, this isn't an original idea, per se. The year before my grandfather passed, he went out into our backyard and gathered up a bunch of pine cones. Then he attached bent paper clips to them and strung them up on a string in our basement. He spray painted the tops white. I still remember them hanging there. Apparently, crafting must run in the family. A day later he hung them on our Christmas tree. They look phenomenal, but that was almost two decades ago now and the ones we have left are a little worse for wear. So I made another batch and am sharing them with you here.

The first step is to bend one end of the hooks into a flat little shape, almost like a "c," and then hot glue them to the tops of the pine cones. You'll need to hold the hook there for a moment until the glue hardens a bit.

Do that for all of your pine cones and then string them on a line of some kind once they're totally dry.

Now just spray the tops with the white spray paint. You can get the most natural result by spraying all of the pine cones from directly above. You don't want to cover them entirely... just make them look like the snow fell on top of them.

And that's it!

I would have loved to include a picture of them on my tree, but as a rule I don't put mine out before the day after Thanksgiving. But I really love having a bunch of the same ornament to hang all over the tree amidst all the other ornaments because it really helps give it a more cohesive look. And these go with just about any tree decor because they look so natural. Enjoy!

I'll be linking this up to all the fab parties under my Link Party tab, including Met Monday!

A Feature, Some Fabric and a Future Felt

2010-11-15T14:20:00.000-06:00

My button jewelry was featured over at Pinkapotamus today! Thank you! Amie Ann started a new Monday party a few weeks ago... you should check it out. I added her super cute button to my Features page...

I also keep forgetting to mention that I actually won something from the Blogger's Quilt Festival. HOORAY and super huge thanks to Amy for hosting the festival! I won a $20 gift certificate to Pink Chalk Fabrics. It's a lovely online fabric store and I have to admit that I've been struggling to decide just what I want. I think I will probably get 4 charm packs of this fabric collection...

It's called Dream On by Urban Chiks and I kinda like it. It's sort of retro/happy/sweet and the colors are great. I think with four packs I could make a decent sized quilt with some sashing or something... what do you think?

I've been tossing around lots of ideas for quilts lately, but have had no time to make any serious progress in that department and won't for a few more weeks. Ugh. But I have finally acquired all of the things I need to get started on my Christmas tutorial for Haul Out the Holly. Now I just have to carve out a little more time...

And I have made some progress on my felting project.

Clearly, it's not felted yet, but it will be one day. I still need to make it about 3 times the size it is now. My intention is to make a messenger bag styled back pack. After I make this one big long piece, I will felt it, sew on some sides, add a lining and straps and some buttons and hopefully it'll all work out. I'm positive that doesn't make any sense without a pic, but I have to get back to paper writing so a sketch will have to wait. It looks great in my head! :) LOL.

Button Bracelet and Earrings

2010-11-10T16:44:00.002-06:00

With how short my crafting time has been lately, I've switched tactics and have been trying smaller projects.

I stashbusted to make this bracelet and pair of earrings. It only took about 2 hours total for the project, but I worked on it in little chunks as a study break.

The buttons came from my stash, but I think the bulk of them came from one of those packs they sell that has a bunch of plastic buttons that are all in similar colors, but different styles and sizes. The jump rings were probably about a quarter inch in size and are a heavier gauge wire. Their are also a few random beads and findings thrown in and I used a silver-plated toggle clasp because I can't get braclets on and off unless I use them.

And, obviously, I used a pair of earwires for the earrings. Both pieces making a lovely, quiet clicking noises. I don't know why I like that, but I do.

One day I will finally break down and buy some jewelry displays...

Linking up to many of the fabulous parties in my Link Party tab, including Met Monday and Show & Tell Friday! Check them out!

Butterfly Journal and Haul Out the Holly

2010-11-07T11:18:00.001-06:00

A friend of mine just celebrated a birthday. I was able to make her a quick journal the other night. The pictures aren't the greatest because I forgot to take them until after I'd given it to her. I actually took all of these with my cell phone in a parking lot. Here's to improvising. :)

Just like when I made my Field Journal, I started with one of these (for more explicit directions you can check out the earlier post)...

I covered it in fabric, added some graphics, courtesy The Graphics Fairy, and a few odds and ends to get this...

Here's the back...

And the inside cover... the interior fabric is a brocade.

I also alternately stamped some of the actual pages as well...

I also wanted to let everyone know that I'll be participating in an awesome upcoming event...

It will consist of 12 days of holiday tutorials from 12 amazingly crafty bloggers. I'll be working on my tutorial behind the scenes till then. You can get more info by clicking on the button above. Can't wait and I hope you get a chance to check it out!!

I'll be linking this up to many of the awesome parties included on my link party page, including Met Monday! Check them out!

Felting and a Feature

2010-11-05T12:50:00.000-05:00

I have really been enjoying the Blogger's Quilt Festival this week and it was a ton of fun to participate. My Waves of Gratitude quilt was featured on Stephanie Lynn's Sunday Showcase Party this week as well. Thank you!!

I have loved every one of the comments on that quilt, too. If I haven't responded to your comment directly, it's only because grad school is hitting the home stretch for me and my work load has increased significantly. Probably my blogging will be a bit lighter through the first week of December because of it.

I have been transitioning into making Christmas presents as well. Mostly still in the planning stages as of yet, but I have been trying to make myself a felted school bag. I've never felted before, but I started with some Paton's Classic Wool Roving in a couple different colors and have started experimenting.

I started by basically crocheting a potholder-sized test swatch because I needed to figure out how the pieces would be shrinking. This piece measured 8.25 inches before felting.

Then I threw it in the washing machine (warm water and detergent) with some laundry and then dried it on hot. This is what I got...

It shrunk a bit, but I'm really glad that I did this swatch first because I learned that it did not shrink as much along the height of the stitches as it did on the width. The length decreased to 7.5 inches and the width decreased to 6.75 inches. Interesting...

I may actually try running through the machine again to see if I can make the stitches even less obvious.

Originally I was envisioning a bag that had maybe a checkerboard pattern of grey and blue blocks with black dividing each of the blocks, but now I'm thinking maybe stripes... I may also switch to knitting and see what kind of changes that produces. We'll have to see.

Waves of Gratitude

2010-10-27T20:11:00.006-05:00

I am so happy that it is finally time for another Blogger's Quilt Festival! Hooray!

I think I may have mentioned a couple weeks ago that I am obsessed with bargello quilts. I made my first early this year. This is my second and I just love the combination of the smaller pieces and the wave effect of the fabrics as they move through the quilt. It will not be my last either.

I picked out the majority of the fabrics in one trip to the fabric store. It makes for a long trip, but for me it is really important to have all the fabrics together as you pick them out so you can more easily eliminate ones that don't belong and make sure one will flow well with the next.

As usual, I did not use a pattern. Basically, bargellos are made by sewing strips of one width together in some order and then cutting the sewn together strips again in the other direction at varying widths. I cut the first set of strips at 2 inches (so the finished width would be 1.5") and then cut those pieces again anywhere from 1" to 4". When you piece the strips together, you just stagger them by one block. For this particular one, I added one more step by having the image turn back out on itself from the center. They're not nearly as complicated as they look - one day I'll write a pattern or tutorial for it, but probably not for a little while.

It took me quite a while to decide on how I would quilt it. I wanted the quilting to have curves to soften the geometry of the piecing and I also knew I wanted the quilting to follow along the waves. In the end I decided on feathers.

I wasn't sure I'd be able to pull it off, not having a long arm, but I'm happy with it. Which is good, because I almost ripped it all out on several occassions.

The quilt measures roughly 67" square and I backed it with flannel to make it extra snuggly.

I named this quilt "Waves of Gratitude," because I actually made it for Quilts of Valor. Their mission is "to cover all service members and veterans touched by war with wartime quilts called Quilts of Valor. This foundation is not about politics. It's about people."

Throughout the quilting process, even as I was first choosing fabrics, I was thinking about the person that would eventually get to take this quilt home. I can hardly imagine what they may have seen or done in service of their country, but I thank them for it. And I probably won't ever meet him or her, but hopefully they will know that they are appreciated.

Now that the quilt is finished and I've taken what feels like 4,000 pictures of it, I'll be taking it to my friend, Rita, who runs our local Quilts of Valor group called LOLQOV.

I'll also be parading this quilt all through blogland via some of my favorite link parties, including Met Monday! Check out my link parties page - they're all awesome!

And I can't wait to check out all of your entries in the Blogger's Quilt Festival!

Catching up & Carbon Neutral

2010-10-26T07:02:00.005-05:00

My Upcycled Baby Quilt was featured on Under the Table and Dreaming last week! Thanks, Stephanie Lynn! I'm sure you're familiar with her blog, but JUST IN CASE you're not you should go check it out - it's gorgeous.

I also have been cleaning up my blog over the last couple weeks. I finally posted some dedicated pages and organized all of my link party buttons. I'm a big fan of link parties and there's not a one that I participate in that I don't also love the blog. If you're ever looking for a great party, just check out my Link Parties tab.

I also wanted to take a minute to share something I think is pretty cool, particularly if you're interested in environmental issues. While blog surfing recently, I came across this button...

... on Zibeline Knits. It caught my curiousity and leads to a site that will plant a tree in honor of your blog, thereby offsetting the carbon emissions produced by your blog. Now, frankly, I have no idea how much carbon emissions my blog produces, but I do think it's pretty cool that there is now a tree planted in Germany in honor of Craftopotamus.

Which leads me to my next point. When you click on the button, it will take you to button page that is in English, but the rest of the sight is entirely in German. Don't freak out! You can use google's translator to translate any of the pages by just copying and pasting the text into the translator. I went to the "Dein Sticker!" page, filled in 4 lines of info and that was it. I wasn't sure if it was still going on so I asked them about that in the message field. When I got the response back last week saying that my blog was officially carbon neutral, the woman said that they still had trees looking for sponsors. Go claim some trees, people! :)

And since I just don't believe in posts without pictures, I'll share this one with you...

That, my friends, is the first quilt I ever started (technically the second one I finished). It is 120" square, which is kinda crazy for a first quilt, but I think I've mentioned that I like to jump in head first...

Making Progress

2010-10-25T08:31:00.000-05:00

I've been working pretty hard to get this quilt finished up for the Blogger's Quilt Festival later this week. A week ago, I signed myself up for Amy's One Thing, One Week Challenge with the goal of finishing the borders on the quilt and getting the quilt sandwich together.

And I made my goal! Not only did I get the layers together, but last night I was able to finish the quilting and am already working on the binding. I am pretty excited!

I took this next one while I was working on the quilting...

I think that's enough peeking for now. I've got to get back to quilting and paper writing!

Fabric Love

2010-10-20T22:29:00.000-05:00

So these are just a few swatches of a stack of oriental prints that I've been ~~hoarding~~ collecting for a while now and I finally have enough to start planning something out.

I scanned them all into my computer and then uploaded them to Electric Quilt 7 (EQ7) and started to play. I came up with a couple versions of what I am envisioning, but there are no guarantees that whatever I finally end up making will even remotely resemble either of these. That is the beauty of the planning stage - anything is possible. And I'm still not sure this is the best way to show off the fabrics... we'll see.

So... a scrappy version:

And a more ordered version:

What do you think? I like the second better, but it will be more complicated to ensure that I have enough of each fabric since the bulk of them are fat quarters. I think it should work though. The center of each of these is 72" square the way I've been playing with it, but I could make it a more manageable wall size (like 48" square). I just have a feeling that if I ever actually make a lone star quilt that I'll want to have it on my bed. Of course, I already have two finished queen size quilts for my bed so I really don't need another one, but it sure is nice to have the option... I always gravitate toward bigger quilts - I think it must be a form of self-torture.

Of course, something with large blocks would showcase more of the fabrics and be easier, but I kinda like the juxtaposition of modern fabrics with traditional quilt patterns.

Anyway, just thought I'd try and share part of my planning process - it's the part of quilting that I think I enjoy the most. Any suggestions are welcome.

Prairie Star Quiltfest

2010-10-18T07:04:00.002-05:00

Have I ever mentioned that I love bargello quilts? I went to a local quilt show this weekend, the Praire Star Quiltfest, and was thrilled to find these. I don't know what it is about bargellos, but I could just stare at them for hours. Love them!

Love the fabrics and patterns of these two (above) and also thought they were unexpected.

This lovely quilt was made using fabrics from clothes the designer found at a thrift store! Way to upcycle! And her embellishments are just lovely.

Um... Wow.

Ditto.

This next group of five is all about bold colors and high contrast...

This was a huge cathedral windows quilt (easily a queen size)...

I think the color placement in these are just amazing...

I think the quilting on this next one is just divine.

And a few more that were just too good to pass up...

And last, but not least... my local Quilts of Valor group, LOLQOV, had a booth at the show. You can see Rita in the pic - she is the head of our chapter and is a glowing new grandmother to a beautiful baby girl.

And if you are wondering what quilt I am desperately trying to finish for the Blogger's Quilt Festival, here's a hint: it's one I've been working on for Quilts of Valor.

Getting excited...

2010-10-15T09:14:00.000-05:00

It's coming, y'all! The Blogger's Quilt Festival, hosted by Amy's Creative Side is just around the corner. The festival opens two weeks from today. It's a juried festival and you can link up any quilt, you just need to write a new post for it the week of the festival and link back to the festival. It's super easy and a great way to see tons of super inspiring quilts and some amazing quilters around the world! The last one was prompted me to start this blog so, of course, I'm super excited! For more details on entering click on the button.

I'm hoping to finish one of my UFO's in the next two weeks (while simultaneously writing two big papers for school). Should be a fun filled couple weeks!

If you're a quilter I hope you consider entering or at least checking out all the beautiful entries once the show starts - it really is fantastic and provides loads of inspiration.

Upcycled Baby Quilt

2010-10-13T19:14:00.002-05:00

Finished!

I made this quilt for my son using a bunch of his old t-shirts and onesies. It was my way of holding onto those memories a little longer in a way we could all enjoy.

I made it basically like you would make a t-shirt quilt except I opted not to fuse the shirts because I wanted to use really thick batting to give it a really poufy look and wanted to retain the "give" and stretch of the t-shirts as much as possible.

From each onesie or t-shirt (I used 48) I cut two 6 inch squares. Then I separated them into lights and darks and paired coordinating fabrics into four patch blocks. THEN I spent about 3-4 hours arranging them on my design wall in a way that made me happy (basically keeping similar colors adjacent as much as possible). After that I sewed the four patch blocks together.

Sewing with the unfused knits was a little tricky and involved some patience, but I wasn't too worried about everything being perfectly aligned because I figured the batting would disguise any irregularities and I was mostly right. I also couldn't stick to a strict 1/4 inch seam because the knit kept getting pulled into the machine so it was more like 3/8 of an inch. The finished quilt is 44" x 66". I used two layers of the highest loft batting I could find and tied it in the corners of each block using a coordinating yarn from my stash. I bound it with satin blanket binding (just cause it saves me a step and I'm lazy like that). The finished quilt has the feel of a comforter. Theoretically, the blocks should tighten up a little more after it's washed and dried and should make it look nice and fluffy (I'll let you know how it washes).

My son loves it. He like looking at all the different images on the front and pointing out all the animals he knows. AND he likes the back. I wasn't sure what I was going to use as the backing fabric until I got to JoAnn's, but as soon as I saw it I knew there was no turning back.

Buzz always wins. :)

Linking up to many of the awesome parties in my sidebar including Sew & Tell Friday and Met Monday... check 'em out!

Project Peek

2010-10-11T16:37:00.001-05:00

Here's a peek at what I've been working on this weekend. It's a project I've been planning for a little while now. It's an upcycled quilt made from a bunch of onesies and t-shirts that my son has grown out of.

I took this pic while I was pinning the quilt "sandwich" together.

Hopefully, I'll be able to finish it sometime this week. I'll post more pics and details when it's done. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Stashbusting Sweater

2010-10-06T16:43:00.000-05:00

A little late for Stashbusting September, but I finished the sweater for my son none-the-less. Officially, this is the first sweater I've ever finished! Yay, me!

Since I didn't use a pattern, I did the best I could with sizing. Not bad, but the sleeves are a tad too long and the body of it a little wide. I intended it to be large on him so he could wear it for longer... I'm interested to see how it will wear over time.

Again, this was my first attempt at fair-isle knitting (using two different yarns at the same time) and I kinda like it. Getting the tension right took a little practice, but it wasn't nearly as complicated as I thought it might be.

If you have boys, I don't have to tell you what it's like to try and get a decent photo of a moving target. The first day I tried to get pics of him in it outside and he took off on me to go play with these girls down the street - way more fun than mommy with a camera.

A Thomas book got him to sit still long enough to take these. The sleeves are rolled once in all of these pics.

Some Cameos from the Wedding

2010-10-04T19:49:00.000-05:00

I had the privilege of helping the bride get ready, so while she was in the shower I was able to snag some of these detail shots.

This one is a shot of the porch of their cabin. It had a great view of Lake Michigan.

The bouquet.

Ready and with a Rolls Royce waiting. Oh, did I mention that I got to ride with her to the church in that Rolls Royce? Since I was in it I don't have pics.

Their reception was at a beautiful country venue that included an outdoor tent space and a renovated barn.

Each table was set with a different pair of salt and pepper shakers from the collections of both the bride's mother and grandmother. They rented the vintage china and stemware.

The centerpieces were all different as well... this was one of my favs.

And the hair jewelry in action, as promised.

It was a really special wedding and absolutely beautiful from start to finish.

A Labor of Love

2010-09-30T22:26:00.000-05:00

I mentioned a few posts ago that in addition to making my BFF her hair accessory, she also asked me to make her guestbook. What I haven't mentioned is that she gave me an old, wood-bound journal (blank) that belonged to her grandfather that she wanted me to turn into her guestbook.

Above are the before pics. It's hard to tell in the pic, but the pages were already too brittle to use for something that she planned on keeping for a long time. She also gave me some leaves and some old lace that I was free to use or not depending on how things went. She is a huge fan of texture when it comes to art and their wedding has also focused on the fall leaves and colors of the area (in Michigan, along the lake). She also didn't want me to decorate the wood cover itself (can't say I blame her).

Now, when I took this project on, I kind of had an idea in my head on where I wanted to go with it. It involved using some art paper I already had and playing with watercolors to give the pages a little color. I also planned to use some of the leaves, but then realized that if I were to decoupage them down to the pages they would probably crack or peel as the pages were turned.

Watercolor + art paper + decoupage = giant FAIL

No pics of giant fail for you because I was just plain disgusted. Utterly discouraged and determined not to let my BFF down, I moped for three days and then I marched right on over to my favorite art supply store and got lucky. And by lucky I mean I talked to no less than four different workers there and found the perfect paper to turn this project into what I had imagined in the first place. Now, I know that I wasn't supposed to shop for Stashbusting September, but pretty much this is a commissioned piece so I'm over it. Plus I have so many other projects started for Stashbusting September that I am just going to continue to stashbust on my own probably right up till Christmas.

Now that I've gotten all that off my chest, here are some "after" pics...

Clearly, I blurred out their last name above. This is the inside cover. The paper is made from tree bark. It has a fabulous texture to it and it brings in the whole nature theme and trees without any mess.

She also has this crazy fixation with anything copper, so I added just a touch of it in the form of some acrylic paint. :)

Here are the pages the guests will actually sign on. I tore them along a straight edge so that the pages would have rougher edges. The paper itself has texture, but it's much more smooth than they look here. I bought a pair of prismacolor, fine-line markers in black for the guests to sign with. They write perfectly on it without smudging or bleeding.

Love the leaves.

These last couple shots are my attempt at showing the soft edges that the torn paper produced... it feels almost like cloth.

And with that I am going to go start packing because we leave tomorrow for the wedding!

Bridal Hair Accessory

2010-09-28T06:02:00.002-05:00

One of my dearest friends is getting married in a Roaring '20's style wedding this weekend. While she was trying on her dress, she also tried on several different hair accessories, mostly involving feathers and sparkles and some netting. The prices, though, were pretty steep. I jumped at the chance to make a hair accessory for her.

I'm sure it will look prettier on the actual bride rather than on me and since I'll be the one helping to put it in her hair I will definitely be able to do a better job of pinning the netting in the back to make it look rounded (I pinned it into my own hair blindly because I'm impatient and didn't want to go hunt down a second mirror).

It will also look better on the bride because it is meant to be worn on the left side of her head, where her part is. Mine is on the right. Her hair will also probably contain some sort of styling product and not be sporting my "wash and go" look. :)

I started with a small oval of felt and sewed the tulle down to that first. Then I spaced out the feathers and glued down just the tips with my trusty hot glue gun. Then I hand sewed all of those beads to the felt in such a way as to cover up the ends of the feathers. I started with the pearl beads, arranging them as I went, and then went back and filled in with the crystals afterward. When I was happy with how it looked (and so was the bride) I glued the felt onto a metal, clip-style barrett.

Maybe I'll get a couple pics of the bride wearing it this weekend. :)

Harvest of Quilts

2010-09-26T16:10:00.000-05:00

This weekend I got to steal a couple hours away from studying to go to another local quilt show. This one was called Harvest of Quilts and was put on by the Heritage Quilters Guild of Lockport, IL. I always gather a ton of inspiration at quilt shows and this one was no exception. I love the way the color fades out toward the middle of this first quilt and the simple geometry of it. I also like the geometry of these next two.

Thought this next one was a great way to high-light oriental fabrics:

The tan/brown fabric in the left-most corner of the square above is one that I used in the first two quilts I ever made and a fabric that I love.

This next one really inspired me. I've been contemplating a long-term, hand piecing project that would use up a ton of scraps. I haven't settled on a pattern yet, but this one was done all by hand. It's called "Omigosh" because that's what everyone says when they look at it. I think the note said it had over 10,000 pieces. Insane.

I thought this next one would make the cutest, sweetest baby quilt for a little girl... love all the ruffles. Very innovative.

And, speaking of innovative, this next one looks like it is an appliqued medallion, but was actually painted using fabric paints! Brilliant and wins extra credit in my book for avoiding applique (sorry, Marjorie!). One day I will get over my fear/dis-like of applique, but I'm not there yet. :)

These next two are totally different, but great medallion quilts none-the-less. I've always wanted to be able to make a fusible version of the first one in particular.

These next ones were made by a friend of my mother, Gail Stepanek. She is an amazing, award-winning quilter (and happens to be super nice). The second pic is a close-up of this first quilt.

This last one is fairly straight forward, but I really just couldn't get past it when we were at the show. Something about the color and fabric combinations, the geometry of it, and the quilting just made it really stand out to me. I always think of how I might have done a quilt differently had I done it myself, but I thought every element of this quilt was exactly how I would have done it.

The pics a little dark, but when I tried to correct it the colors didn't look right. Can't explain it - just love it.

I lost track of the deadline for this show so I didn't get to submit Wright's Windows - a shame because there were several winners in each of several categories, as opposed to only one big winner like the Batavia Quilt Show a couple months ago. I would have stood a much better chance, I think.

There were lots of other great quilts, but all the pics make for a rather huge post. Hope you enjoyed the show!

I was featured over at Gen X Quilters!

2010-09-24T08:31:00.000-05:00

The fabulous AnneMarie of Gen X Quilters interviewed me today for her Follower Friday Feature. I'd love for you to check it out... just click here.

Her blog is really great and high-lights lots of quilters with a more modern, independent flair. She's also made some pretty great things herself. Go check her out and feel free to become a follower - I promise you won't regret it and if you're a Gen X/Y Quilter yourself, you can add yourself to her blogroll!

The Quiltmaker's Gift

2010-09-23T20:02:00.000-05:00

When I quilt or create, I pull inspiration from all sorts of places. The Quiltmaker's Gift, by Jeff Brumbeau and Gail de Marcken, has inspired me again and again. I am fortunate enough to get to share a love of quilting with my mom and one of my aunts. A few years ago, while my mom was visiting her, my aunt showed her this quilting book and immediately my mom knew I'd love it. As soon as she got back from her trip she ordered The Quiltmaker's Gift and a couple companion books for me and I have been inspired by them ever since.

The Quiltmaker's Gift isn't a quilting book in the usual sense - it's a fairy tale written for children. It is a beautifully illustrated story about a quilter who teaches a greedy king the joy of giving. As the story unfolds, each page high-lights a different quilt block. I have to admit, even though this is a book my son loves to have me read to him, I keep this one in my craft room. Too many times I found myself trying to sneak back into his room to get it while he was napping.

My mom also gave me The Quiltmaker's Journey, which stars the same quiltmaker, but in a different fairy tale, and one of the two quilting books that were based off of each of these. The first is called Quilts From the Quiltmaker's Gift and the second is called More Quilts From the Quiltmaker's Gift. The quilting books give patterns for many of the blocks found throughout the fairy tales and also has beautiful quilts that people have made after being inspired by the books.

Together, The Quiltmaker's Gift and The Quiltmaker's Journey have inspired two quilts that I have made. The first one I made for my sister's new baby earlier this year...

Please excuse my baby and the cat butt in the photo. I made this quilt before I started blogging and had literally JUST finished the label and snapped these pics before running to catch a flight out to meet my new niece.

This was one of my first real attempts at both hand applique and meandering quilting. I named the quilt "Peachy Tea" because all of the fabrics were in peach tones and the pattern it was based off of is called "Tea Leaf" in More Quilts From the Quiltmaker's Gift. Note: this quilt was based off of the Tea Leaf pattern, there is not actually a pattern for this exact quilt in the book - I made it up (particularly the border).

Not the best pic, but this is what it looks like hanging above my nieces crib.

The second quilt is still a work in progress, but I designed it using two different blocks that are high-lighted in the books.

This block is called Pussy in the Corner...

And this one is called Friendship Star...

Here are a few pics of how it will look once it is all sewn up...

The Quiltmaker's Gift also inspired me to not only want to give that quilt away on this blog, but it has also helped me to realize how much joy I get from making something with my own two hands for someone else as a gift. At some point in my crafting I realized that the pleasure that I received from purely giving something to someone, without putting a price tag on it, added way more joy to my life than if I were to try and sell my things. Now don't get me wrong, I'll sell some of my art and jewelry from time to time, but for me it has generally proved more trouble than it was really worth and had a tendency to make my crafting feel more like a job. I think that is sort of why I've been dragging my feet on starting my own Etsy shop. One day, maybe, but not just yet.

You can find out more about all four of the books here and also can find them on Amazon here. And just so you know, I was just looking to share some inspiration - I am not in any way affiliated with or trying to make sales for these sites. :)