Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Karen's Lattice Class at City Quilter

Karen is teaching this class at the City Quilter this month!
If you haven't taken a class with Karen,
you really should try it out!  She is tons of fun and a very good teach.



Monday, September 29, 2014

Craft Hope Challenge!

As I mentioned at the guild meeting, Craft Hope (an organization I have supported in the past by making soft toys, quilted bags and aprons) has just launched their 25th project - We Are Kenya.

From the Craft Hope website:
"We Are Kenya is an organization who believes that one way to change a society is to change the future of it's youth. They are a nonprofit dedicated to feeding and educating sweet children in the slums of Soweto, Kenya. Soweto is the second largest slum in Kenya and home to We Are Kenya. Soweto is a large slum whose people daily struggle with sickness, crime, hunger, and hopelessness that results from severe poverty. In a slum where many children have one or no parent, the daily quest for food supersedes any hope for education."

They are asking for many different kinds of items for the children and young people they support, including soft toys, knitted/crochets hats and scarves, and the project closest to my heart - reusable cloth sanitary napkins. As someone who has had the privilege of an extended education well into my adult years, it breaks my heart to think that others eager to learn might be stopped by something as simple and natural as their monthly cycle.

I've put together a few links below with free tutorials describing multiple different methods of making cloth pads. The basic ingredients are usually 100% cotton fabric plus some 100% cotton absorbent fabric such as flannel, terry cloth or cotton batting, with the potential to add in a waterproof/resistant fabric such as PUL or micro fleece. I'll leave it up to your judgement which pattern and materials you think would work best. Many patterns include some form of wings with a snap fastener. I have purchased snap pliers and about 200 snaps and would be happy to install them for anybody who doesn't have this doo-dad.

The deadline for sending items to Craft Hope is November 15th, so if you'd like me to install snaps and mail them off together please bring your napkins to the next meeting! You are of course welcome to mail anything you make individually.

Thanks for taking the time to do this!

Tina

TUTORIALS:
http://mabewithlove.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/cloth-pad-tutorial-exposed-core-overcast-edge/
http://www.millennium-ark.net/News_Files/INFO_Files/menstrual.html
https://sites.google.com/site/shewhorunsintheforest/0011
http://www.daysforgirls.org/#!days-for-girls-patterns-and-instructions/cz7w
http://www.kamsnaps.com/How-to-Make-a-Mama-Cloth-Menstrual-Pad-63.html

EDITED to add: I asked and Craft Hope/We are Kenya would also like waterproof bags for carrying the napkins if anyone feels so inclined :)

Sunday, September 28, 2014


Good Morning!  I'm still inspired by all the great quilts guild members shared yesterday - great meeting!  As requested, here's the link to the Seaside Stitches Fabric Box tutorial that led me to create the 5 boxes above, with more on the way... 
WARNING:  This is addicting as a) they are quick, easy and super cute and b) you somehow end up feeling that using (2) 10" squares of fabric and batting from you stash creates a fabric deficit so great that it can only be filled by buying at least a 1/2 yard of new fabric - perhaps Melanie Testa's Meadowlark??  Or something from GothamQuilts.com??  Oh - one comment - on step 7 remember that the fabric that is folded into the middle will be your outer/bottom of the box fabric.  Also, at that step, I stitched closed the open edges of the little 2" triangles that are formed, as they become folds inside the box and I didn't want stuff getting stuck in them.  Personal choice! 

Progress...

I was so sorry to miss the meeting yesterday! I look forward to any posts folks can write about it...

In the meantime, though, after a few weeks of no progress, I finally finished piecing my green section yesterday!
In just an hour or so it should be joined to the main piece. I have a few more things in mind for this quilt, but I still hope that I have a finished top to show next meeting. Until November...

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Michele and Bernadette

So I realized oops gotta get two pink envelopes complete and no clue what to do...

The squares were so cute I didn't want to do much... So with some fabric and some sharpies I went to this simple diddy..

And then I had another that had to be done.

I had pulled these cool scraps and then this one was born...
 
So I am sure with their collective
Creative magic... It is going to be a stunning final piece...

See you all soon.

E

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Caught up....

So the original bee's are a still going strong... So I shall post my July and August blocks...

July was for Judith.... She wanted fans and had certain requirements... So now of course I want to make a set as well... So many options with the layout...




And then for August Kim W... Wanted a 3-color modern sampler and then whatever you desired to make if you chose to with the rest of the fabric....

So mine was called puss in the woods...
(No clue why? Lol..)


And then I just started stitching and ended up with this beauty...

Now I have an idea for my solids... But I will be sooo wanting to add a print in there... Who am I kidding... Lol

Okay now I have to redo an idea... 😁 and see what happens.

Btw I finally finished this one... After years... Now just need to bind it..

She is called "The Release"...

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Festival International des Textiles Extraordinaires

Here is a link to one of many pages about the festival.  You can see the quilt that our guild donated:

Déjeuner sur l’herbe | FITE – Festival International des Textiles Extraordinaires
If you click on a picture it will enlarge.  There are other pages with photos but nothing
would load on my computer.

To view the entire program of events:

 Program | FITE – Festival International des Textiles Extraordinaires

Sunday, September 7, 2014

The recent heat and humidity inspired this igloo for Maria.
It was great fun to make - have been wanting to do a house block for a log time - thanks for the opportunity.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Lucky 13 Bee

  • A Treehouse Block for Maria



Of course you can tell that I had fun with this!