September 2015 – That Crafty Cara

I was asked to participate in the latest Art Gallery Fabric & Fat Quarter Shop Stitch Along with Kimberly blog hop!

Check out this video explaining the FREE Welded quilt pattern:

The Fat Quarter Shop has also made up some kits for us to purchase, featuring that lovely Artisan fabric line by Pat Bravo:
Welded Quilt Kit
Backing Set for Welded Quilt

As part of participating in this blog event, I got to see the pattern before it was distributed, and I got to choose any Art Gallery fabrics that I wanted to use to make up the pattern…how cool is that?!?! I waited eagerly for the precious fabric to arrive, did a little dance at my mailbox when it showed up, and dashed home to pre-wash it like all good little crafters do…

And then I broke my foot.

Because I’m Cara, and that is what I do.

And, because I’m Cara, I really did experiment with the idea of pushing through a broken foot and sewing my quilt anyway…which lasted about the amount of time it took to move my fabric from my cutting table to my ironing board and I tripped about seventeen times. As much as I love quilting, “death by tripping over iron cord” is really not the way I want to bow out of this world.

A sad email was then written to the Fat Quarter Shop. *sniffle*

A very kind response was received. *smile* The folks at the Fat Quarter Shop are so very nice.

I am really bummed that I couldn’t make up a quilt to show you, because the Welded pattern is super cute, and I was really looking forward to its assembly.

But, even though I don’t have a quilt to show, I DO have a lovely, lovely giveaway to offer: a fat quarter bundle of your favorite Art Gallery fabrics!

To enter, simply leave a comment on this blog post telling me at least ONE (1) Art Gallery fabric that you would choose to have in your fat quarter bundle if you won! Also make sure to include a way for me to contact you if you win. (Not sure which Art Gallery fabric you’d like? Visit the Art Gallery Fabric website or Fat Quarter Shop’s Art Gallery section, drool a little bit, and then come back here to leave a comment.)

Giveaway is open to US and International commenters, and will close on Friday, October 2nd, 2015 at 11:59 pm MDT. I’ll post the winner here and on Instagram (@thatcraftycara) the next day.

A huge thank you to Art Gallery Fabrics and the Fat Quarter Shop for inviting me to be a part of this Welded quilt pattern release; it has been a lot of fun even without being able to fully participate! I’m really looking forward to sewing up my own quilt once my foot has healed!

And be sure to stop by some of the other blogs featured on the Welded blog tour:

John of Quilt Dad
Kitty of Night Quilter
Dana of Old Red Barn and Co.
Michele-Renee of Quilt Matters
Corey of Little Miss Shabby
Christina of Sometimes Crafter
Sinta of Pink Pin Cushion
Jess of The Elven Garden
Erica of Kitchen Table Quilting
Svetlana of Sotak Handmade
Jemima of Tied with a Ribbon
Katarina Roccella
Caroline of Sew Caroline
Riane of Vessel Quilts
Megan of Quilt Story
Kaye of Miss Print
Natalia of Piece N Quilt

I can’t wait to see what everyone has made!

Click here to access your copy of the FREE Welded quilt pattern.

The upside of having a broken foot and not being able to use your sewing machine, drive a car, or basically do anything is that it gives you more time for handwork-style crafting like knitting, which I’ve neglected for the past year during my sewing obsession. I started these socks while we were living in Australia last year, hoping that they’d be ready for Thanksgiving; but they weren’t and it was OK. They’re ready for this year’s feast.

I finished the first sock while we were in Australia, but didn’t get around to casting on for the second sock until July of this year. Our family went to Lagoon, and seeing how I was still recovering from back surgery and banned from all the rides, I set up camp and watched over all our stuff while my husband escorted the kids around the park.

I then worked on it mostly at physical therapy appointments for the rest of the summer, and finished it up on a lovely autumn day spent doing archery amongst the changing colors of the leaves in the mountains. These are the autumn-est of socks.

I’ve procrastinated writing up a post about them because I haven’t wanted to model them–I’ve got a boot on one foot for my stupid broken metatarsal, and I had to have something done to a toe on my other foot because my feet are just whiny little pansies right now. But I know, from previous experience, that I’ll just never get around to writing a post if I don’t do it when the finish is still fresh in my mind, so foot modeling with a broken foot it is!

Fabulous.
Just fabulous.
Limp down that runway.

I roll my own eyes at myself. 🙂

Hopefully, next week’s check-in appointment will find me wholly healed and then I can ditch the boot. *fingers crossed*

The yarn is Manos del Uruguay’s Alegria in colorway “Ceibo.” I knit these up for my US Size 10 feet and have quite a bit leftover. I may even weigh the leftovers at some point so I can really know just exactly how much is left over.

I used Diane Soucy’s “Beginner’s Lightweight Socks” pattern, which is my go-to pattern, even though I really wish I could get the Yarn Harlot’s “Sock Recipe” to work for me…I mess that one up in some little way every single time, so I went with my tried-and-true pattern.

Pretty autumn colors. Yay!

Click here to view this project’s Ravelry page.