Filling the Hole

Do the things you make reflect your style? Do you set them out and display them proudly in your home? Typically, I don’t. Sad, I know.

If I had to name my home decorating style I suppose I’d call it traditional-eclectic..mostly it’s just ME though..but the majority of things I make are either country or cutsie. The reason that is is because I feel that most fabric collections are either country or cutsie. From my stand point, there’s a hole in the fabric market. If you want traditional style fabric you have to buy that really thick home decor stuff. That’s perfect for curtains and seat coverings… but not quilted wall hangings or throws. If I made a quilt out of that stuff I think it’d be a bit too bulky, kind of like tapestry and honestly, well, it would look a little dumb.

So, when I spotted this quilt I knew instantly I wanted it.. knew just where it would hang. It is so right for my home. This fabric collection, Lantern Bloom, is amazing. It’s art on fabric.. not a pattern repeated over and over. In my book, Laura Gunn, the creator of this beautiful work, hit a perfect creative mark. The colors are bright and fun but yet are still very “grown-up”.. They’re not vintage or retro or have that 70s feel to them. I know that’s popular right now but what about the rest of us that don’t really want to relive the past?

I have most of these fabric colors spread throughout my home as accents..the orange, blue, brown, cream, green..So obviously I love them.. but to have them all together..WooHoo! She’s a genius. If I had tried to do this, well, it would have been a mess. But she picked just the right shade of every color..and tada.. perfection!

So, like I said, when I spotted it I knew I wanted it. I waited until the fabric shops started receiving their shipments from Market.. and just when I was about to sit down to figure out which fabrics I needed to buy.. Laura puts up the link to the free pattern. (Can you hear the Angels sing?) Immediately I reached for the credit card .

And when the fabrics arrived? Well, let’s just say I was not disappointed. I was home alone so there was dancing and singing..and lots of little giggles… like Christmas morning.. You fabric junkies know what I talking about .

And that “Christmas Morning feeling” resurfaces every time I sit down to work my quilt.

I love this fabric collection and my soon-to-be new quilt! And I think Laura Gunn is so very in-tune with today’s fabric market! She’s filling the whole that everyone else has missed. Love her!

Five and a Half Knitters

Guess what? I actually went to the World Wide Knit in Public event that I talked about! I had a lot of fun too! There weren’t too many of us, only six..well, truth be told, I only count as half a knitter.. I have much to learn yet…But these ladies were all so nice and very tolerant of my inabilities. Here’s some pics..

The projects they were working on were just amazing. Two were making little girl knit dresses (using two different colors.. I can only dream of knowing how to do such a thing), baby hats, scarfs, gorgeous blankets, and socks. And guess what else? They meet every Tuesday night and they invited me to come along. Yeah! This Fall they have plans to teach everyone to knit socks. Another Yeah!

Friends that knit, this is so exciting. I’ll have someone to talk to about where to buy yarn, which needles are best, free patterns, cool websites…

Craft Hope

While hopping around the crafting blogs I spotted a sidebar button that I’d never seen before.. so I clicked it and low and behold it introduced me to a lovely lady and her daughters who are making a difference in the lives of little children throughout the world. The idea is very simple.. encourage crafters to do what they love and then to donate a piece or two to their cause. I think most of us want to help others and don’t mind a bit to to spend a little time making something to donate..it’s the leg work that stops us.. finding the charity, making the contact, having enough items to make it worthwhile, and so on.. So sadly, we never do it.. but that’s where Craft Hope comes in.. they do all the hard stuff.. All we have to do is make the stuff and send it to them.. Easy as pie, right? They don’t care if you have one item to give or a hundred.. When we all come together, it’s enough.. So, immediatly I knew I was on board. The project they’re working on now is for The Miracle Foundation. They’re asking for handmade blankets, beanies and booties. If you think you might be interested stop in and check it out.. If blankets, beanies and booties aren’t your thing or maybe currently you just don’t have the time? No problem, they introduce new projects all the time. You pick the projects you have time for and skip those you don’t. So I encourage you..Go, check it out! Craft Hope – spreading seeds of hope one stitch at a time.

There Was a Crooked Man, and He Went a Crooked Mile

Here’s Block number 3.. she’s crooked and I’m annoyed.

It’s easy to see here in this picture but I didn’t notice it with the real thing. I thought I pinned all the pieces down just so.. but obviously not. I haven’t decided if I’m going to pull it apart yet. I don’t really have perfection issues with my sewing. I tend to think the imperfections are what makes it fun…a quality I got from my grandma . We’ll just have to wait and see how I feel about it after I finish a few more blocks.

I have made a mental note to focus a little more on the piecing though. I might be inadvertently maneuvering them as I stitch them down. Like I said, I thought I had it just so..but when I finished.. mmm, not.

Oh, Happy Day!

I’m so happy! Look at this lovely fabric. It’s gorgeous! Yeah! It’s Laura Gunn’s debut fabric line, Lantern Bloom, and I’m in love!! I forced Aaron to look at it, talked it over with my mom, showed pictures of it to one of my girlfriends, and made two co-workers go online to see it. Of course none of them could give a can a beans about fabric but they all humored me..well, except for Aaron.. he just rolled his eyes. I think he’s far removed from all my “crafty-crap,” as he calls it. I don’t care, this fabric is yummy! I wish I could lay out of work and spend the day with it.

Just Hoppin’ Along…Without a Clue

Bunny Hill’s free BOM…We’re half way home with block #6. Wait a minute… It’s June and we’re half way home? You mean half of the year is already gone? Can you believe it? It seems like an eternity waiting for BH’s new block to be posted on the 5th of every month.. and now here we are.. half finished? And doesn’t it feel like we just finish up our Christmas crafts? Honestly people, where does the time go? Now that I’m realizing that half the year is gone, I’m also realizing that my “Goals” for the year are far from being accomplished. Sigh… I’m beginning to think that I need to stop taking on new projects and start sticking to the ones I’ve already got planned…or maybe I just need to look into joining some sort of craftaholic anonymous meetings. I’m seriously way too in love with making things.

In Public?

Yep! It all happens June 13th & 14th and 20th & 21st. I had no idea this was an upcoming event in my area, let alone a world wide phenomenon..Well, phenomenon might be reaching a bit.. but it is world wide. A friend of mine sent me a link for the info in my area and I’m thinking about going. It’s totally out of my character to “go out” on my own. I’m a very shy person by nature and crowds are not my thing.. so just thinking about entering a room with a bunch of people I don’t know kinda makes me anxious. But, I really, really want to find some friends (the tangible kind..no offense to any of you wonderful bloggers out there ) that enjoy the same hobbies that I do. Sewing, crochet, knitting.. it’s all stuff we do at home..by ourselves. I want to do it in public and with friends! And that is exactly why there is a world wide knit in public day. You can check it all out here……….. Anyway, I don’t wanna chicken out.. I really wanna go.

Home Alone

This weekend I was home alone for a total of 30 hours. And I enjoyed ever single minute. Last week’s VBS confirmed what I already knew… I am not a go-er. By Friday I had a sore throat, black circles under my eyes, and my stomach was upset. This girl needs her downtime. So to have 30 hours of quite time was just what the doctor ordered. I spend most of it cleaning my filthy house.. but I didn’t mind because there were no interruptions and everything I put up stayed up…there’s nothing more frustrating than putting away seven pairs of shoes only to come back downstairs an hour later and see half of them back out. Gggg, I hate that.

So, the house was cleaned.. and later that evening I found time to finish up my second Ice Cream Block. I still find it hard to believe that I never attempted applique until this year. And now..once I start a block I have to make myself stop. Who knew I’d love it so much? I should probably be practicing free motion quilting too. Once I get these blocks complete and put together I’ve got to know how to quilt them correctly, right? To do..to do.. I’ll get to it sooner or later.

Other Commitments

Fatigue          is creeping         in   …    this week is officially Vacation Bible School at Church and I’m a “helper”. So here I am, leaving for work at 7am and not returning home until after VBS at 9:15pm. Poor pitiful me, right? Nah, not really… once I’m there I love it.. It’s just getting myself there that’s the challenge. I doubt I’ll have anything crafty to post this week; once I get home, I’ll be hitting the shower and then the bed, Zzzzzz, then the alarm clock to do it all over again. Is anyone else on this schedule? I’ll catch you gals next week.

Going With the Flow

Let me say straight up that I really love it when a pattern comes together perfectly.. no seam rippers or re-doing. Using a pattern eliminates a lot of headache in the long run.. But, on the other hand, I really, really love piecing things together to make it look like I think it should look. For me, this “piecing” is one of the most fulfilling aspects of the creative process. Yes, it’s often frustrating but in the end the rewards are so much greater. To be able to stand back and look at something and say, I made that totally on my own…what great satisfaction. And this need to be on my own is one of the forces behind a new quilt that I’ve finally started. I’ve been playing around with it in my drawing journal for a while…ever since I was bitten by that applique bug (thanks to Bunny Hill’s free BOM – I love her!) It started with a root beer can on my kitchen counter and from that I’ve come up with nine different blocks.

This would be the first completed block. It’s not the original root beer-inspired block..that one’s next..this block was the largest, so I picked it first. I can see that I’m going to experience some of that frustration I was talking about because of my different block sizes.. but I’ve already started to think about how I can make it all work.
(big huge sigh with a little grin)…The process… it makes me happy.