- I saw the sign-ups for the Bee Hive Swap in time this year, and got in! :::happy dance::: So excited!
- My own swap group that I’m running liked it so much that a bunch want to do it again next year! So, busy with setting that up at the moment.
- Yeah, two year-long swaps…talk to me at the end of next year. 🙂
- I wrote up an exhaustive inventory of the many works-in-progress taking up space in my craft room, and then hammered out a plan to plough through almost all of them in the next year.
- The first WIP that will reach completion as a result of my awesome new plan is probably a pair of socks that I started back in Australia.
- A newly-finished pair of socks right now is kind of perfect, given that the snow has started. I was actually thinking the socks would be a Christmas present for someone dear to me, but my feet are freakin’ freezing, so I’m going to keep them. Mwa ha ha.
- The second WIP that will probably get finished is a baby boy quilt I started almost eight years ago.
The kid in this photo is Penguin, who is now nine years old. She’s drinking from the mug I received after giving birth to Junebug, who is now seven-and-a-half years old…
- It’s funny how you can start a project with so much excitement, but with each passing year of not completing said project how much that excitement turns into resentment and shame. So much so that I definitely don’t want to keep the quilt when I’m done, but fear the repercussions of giving a new life an item infused with so many negative feelings from myself. The act of giving wipes off all the bad juju, right? Right?
- I’ve also fleshed out a “Baby Gift Flowchart” to help me decide what to make for tiny humans on my radar. In this age of social media, I find that I’m inundated with the awareness of many a pregnancy, and the baby-lovin’ crafter part of me really wants to make something for every one of them. However, given the physical limitations of time, I can’t. So I came up with a way to shrink the pool a bit and ease my conscience. A line had to be drawn somewhere, or I’d never be done with making baby gifts.
- I’m currently aware of nine pregnancies, and of three women trying to get pregnant. That’s twelve impending births in the next year. My flowchart narrows the gifts down to five recipients, which is still a lot, but gives me back a bunch of time. I am raising four children of my own…
- My son broke the teeth off of the zipper of his winter parka the first day he wore it. Of course. Even better, he broke off enough teeth that the actual zipper pull fell off, too. So, instead of working on WIPs, my time is needed to repair a zipper in a parka.
- Once again, making plans is a dumb idea.
Winner of Art Gallery Fabrics Fat Quarter Bundle
Thank you all so much for your kind words and well wishes, each little comment cheered me greatly.
Without further delay, I’m excited to announce that our winner is Shannon W. who said that she’d love the Arizona Triangle Token Metallic in her bundle.
Thank you again for all your comments, and I hope you all were able to download the free Welded quilt pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop without problem. I can’t wait to get the green light to go ahead with it once my foot heals up–looking forward to sharing that finish with you in the future!
Congratulations, Shannon W., I’ll be in touch with you so we can get your bundle out the door quickly!
AGF Stitched with Kimberly: FREE Welded Quilt Pattern and GIVEAWAY
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 free 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.
Autumn Socks
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!
Autumn Meal Planning
The kids are back in school, the house is quiet enough to allow for thinking again, and the mornings are getting a little cooler. This means that it’s time to think about food. I don’t know what it is about feeling the weather start to change, but some impulse just gets switched on in me to start reorganizing my pantry and kitchen cupboards…and then I start to think about soups, and roasts, and spices…and then I can’t stop myself from poring over my cookbooks.
And then the Autumn Dinner & Breakfast Menus happen. Mmmm, apples, pumpkins, and cinnamon.
I was talking about my method of meal planning with a friend a few days ago and she demanded that I share it once I got it typed up, so here it is…enjoy!
So, yes, a month’s worth of meals…and then I repeat it TWICE so that it’s actually three months’ worth of meals. Favorite foods go into the “Week #1” slot because a quarter is actually 13 weeks long, so that week gets four times at bat. I like my autumn meal plan to end with the week of Thanksgiving, so that I can start my winter meal plan with the Christmas season, so that means this year I’ll morph into my autumn cooking on Monday, August 31st.
Mondays and Tuesdays are all crock pot meals because we’re busy after school or have something happening close to dinner time.
Wednesdays are “easy to make” or “uses leftovers” because I have church responsibilities on some Wednesdays, so I need extra time for last minute prep and the like for that.
Thursdays are my “I have time to cook awesome food” days. (I really like good food.) I try to choose one weekday each quarter that I’m going to zealously protect from outside interference, and I really like it to be Thursday. Then I’m home all day for the most part, I have time for more involved recipes, I do a lot of my crafting, AND Thursday is the night before all the week’s homework is due, so the kids need to be home for that. No outside activities on Thursday, and our tummies are full with good food so we can crank out a solid homework session after dinner together. (I also try to have a dessert on-hand as well…it works well as a carrot for tough homework sessions, or as a treat for us all not killing each other over math homework.)
Friday is Date Night, either at home or out on the town, so Michael and I eat grown-up restaurant food and the kids get to have the food they love that Michael and I don’t want to eat.
I love alliteration, so Saturday is “Soup, Salad, or Sandwich” dinner day. I usually make some sort of soup stock on Saturday morning from all the peelings and ends of vegetables I’ve used in the past week (I keep them in a container in the fridge), so soup is a natural next step for dinner.
Sundays are “Mexican Sundays,” which is something we started while we were in Australia and couldn’t find any decent Mexican food. It was such a huge hit that we’ve kept it up since we’ve returned, even though I’m getting a little sick of it. The kids love it, so it keeps being a thing.
And I’m trying something new this autumn by having a breakfast menu too:
I don’t have a breakfast listed for the fourth Saturday, mostly because I can’t think up another potato-based breakfast, but also because I’ve decided that a “free day” might work nicely.
I do have themes for each day, which has worked well enough in past years, but I find that I’m in a bit of a rut with breakfast now, and there’s always some really great recipes that I just don’t think of at 6:30 in the morning, or while I’m making up my shopping list, so this menu plan will help me realize my dream of pumpkin waffles and apple cinnamon everything in the mornings.
Mondays: Oatmeal. I don’t know why, that’s just how it’s always been in our house. The kids don’t like it much anymore, so I’m trying some new flavors and combinations in the hope that they’ll re-convert. I try to serve some sort of yogurt or nut alongside for extra protein.
Tuesdays: Eggs
Wednesdays: WAFFLES. I’m obsessed. (And, hello, alliteration!) We usually have some bacon with them, too.
Thursdays: Omelettes
Fridays: Pancakes. And sausage links.
Saturdays: Potatoes. Michael loves potatoes for breakfast, and I don’t, so this is my special “I love you/Happy Getting to Stay at Home Today” gift to him on Saturdays.
Sundays: Muffins or quick breads. I love muffins and quick breads, but I’m too busy during the week to make them, and they’re not the most filling, but I do have time on Saturdays to bake and then they’re a lifesaver as we’re getting ready for church in the morning.
AND, because I always get to the end of autumn and realize that, once again, I did not make that scrumptious-looking Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust, I’ve made up a treat plan, too:
I’m pretty excited about the pumpkin cheesecake and the crème brûlée–I have wanted an excuse to buy ramekins and a kitchen torch for so long!
It’s a lot, I know. And usually by this point in the conversation people ask me why I do this, and the answer is super simple: So I have more time to craft. And I get to eat good food. I’ve found that the more organized I am in regards to the daily things–food, clothes, cleaning–the more time it frees up for the creative things, which are some of the more exciting parts of my life. I don’t see the need to re-think dinner every day, and I’d rather use that brain power for creativity. My kids are better behaved when they’re well-fed, I feel and think better, and we’re a much happier family.
BUT…I’ve also learned to be very realistic with myself in regards to meal planning. There are (usually, about four) back-up meals in the freezer for days when everything falls apart (read: sick kids, and I’ve been washing sheets continually since 3am). And if I notice that a day in the week ahead is all sorts of busy, like those freak show days that end up having dentist appointments and parent-teacher conferences together, I schedule us to hit a drive-thru because it’s stupid to make things harder on an already difficult day. Then I don’t buy the food for that meal at the grocery store that week because we’re not going to use it. Good adulting takes a lot of work, but also a lot of honesty with ourselves, and the ability to cut ourselves a little slack when things get a touch crazy.
So that’s it for now. I do still have to come up with sides and the weekly grocery lists. (All my grocery lists DONE for the next three months! Woo hoo!) I’ll work on those over the next week when I have spare moments. Food, done.
Tutorial: Trapunto Quilting
As promised last week in my unveiling of the Snowflake Trapunto pillow, here’s a tutorial on how to do trapunto quilting.
Trapunto quilting, or “stuffed” quilting, is super simple. In fact, you’re probably just going to smack your forehead with the palm of your hand after reading through this tutorial. Long story made short: You quilt something in your normal manner, and then go back and stuff a little more fluffy stuff into parts that you want to puff out more. Continue reading
Snowflake Trapunto Pillow
If you’ve been following me on Instagram (@thatcraftycara), you saw my announcement a few weeks ago that I was asked to be a “Fabric Ambassador” for Calico Cat Fabrics. My first “assignment” arrived a few days after the announcement: a rollie pollie of the “Forget Me Not” fabric collection by Sue Daley and made by Penny Rose fabrics.
My knee jerk idea for the fabric was to add a little red and go the patriotic route, but I knew I couldn’t get something made up fast enough for the approaching Fourth of July weekend, so I didn’t want to spend my time making something that would then sit in a box for a year.
So I sat that little roll of fabric on my cutting table and we had a showdown.
The fabric won.
Exasperated, I went to bed.
But the next morning…ah, dear readers, the power of the early morning walk. I had too many ideas, and I eventually had an epiphany regarding how to deal with these cuts of fabric that will be making their way to me: Forget that it’s an assignment and act like it’s a gift. THEN make something that I’d want to make, rather than what I thought others wanted me to make. I mean, I was selected for the role based upon the things I was making for my own amusement, so it’d probably work out well to keep up with how I was already doing things, right?
I asked myself what I would make if no one was ever going to see that roll of fabric ever again, and a vision flashed through my mind. The blues of the fabric collection made for a good snow-themed project. Never mind that it was June, the fabric wanted to be used for wintertime purposes. So I listened to the fabric, paired it with a fat quarter of white-on-white snowflake print, found a quilt block with a large chunk of negative space in its center (“Star and Chains” from The Quilter’s Cache), and plunged forward.
I’d seen mentions of “trapunto” quilting, or “stuffed quilting,” in random corners of the blogosphere, and I’d always thought it was pretty, and I thought the technique would make for some extra prettiness on this particular project. It wasn’t hard at all, and I’m totally planning on using this technique to beef up some of my future quilting projects!
I chose a simple snowflake shape for the trapunto portion of the pillow:
This pillow used five of the fabric strips from the roll, leaving sixteen left over, so I have a second project in the works using up the other sixteen strips. I thought I’d make a second pillow at first, but I’d used up most of the dark strips on this pillow alone, and I didn’t want a pillow with less contrast. So, I’m dusting off a pattern I’ve had my eye on for a year and giving it a go with the leftovers. Two projects from one little rollie pollie!
Thank you so much, Calico Cat Fabrics, for allowing me the opportunity to work with you and to stretch my creative muscles a bit. I’m looking forward to our future projects together!
And, yes, I’m writing up a tutorial about trapunto quilting that I hope to share with you next week! See you then!
Linking up with:
Link a Finish Friday @ Richard and Tanya Quilts
Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
Junebug’s First Quilt
I shared a picture on Instagram a few weeks ago of Junebug holding up her completed quilt top. It was supposed to have its binding by that time, but my back had flared up earlier that week, so the binding had taken a back seat. Ever since that day, Junebug has “reminded” me that her quilt needed binding. Continue reading
I’m Not Quite Dead Yet
Yes, it’s been rather quiet for, you know, two months, but I’ve been here, stitching and stitching amongst the chaos that has been my life. My kids have been a bit of a handful for the past two months, which has left zero time for blogging. There was a broken foot, then an infected toe that went unreported until it was very bad, a 2 a.m. mad rush to the emergency room for croup…and then all the fun of “end of the school year” happened, and now it’s all about summer art camp, a suspected case of appendicitis for one of my kids this morning (turned out to be a stomach virus from…yeah), and softball all the time. But that’s life with kids, right? It all just kind of caves in on you sometimes, and you just keep your head above the water the best you can.
But the crafting still happened behind the scenes, and I was able to post bits and pieces of it on Instagram, which has garnered a little bit of notice in recent days, much to my delight.
I’ve been working away on my Farm Girl Vintage quilt blocks:
And I’ve gotten a start on my Sleighbell Sampler Quilt from the Winter Wonderland book:
I’m also in the homestretch on the Star Spangled Diamonds Quilt, which hit its first year mark on Memorial Day. Softball season affords me a lot of “sitting around” time to work on it, and it’s growing steadily through each game.
My softball girls!
Here’s hoping that the children have gotten all this daredevil craziness out of their systems so that I can resume with some regular posting, like, NOW. Happy summer!
What Do You Think of When You Hear “Patriotic, American, Fourth of July?”
I’ve been spending more time with the Star Spangled Diamonds Quilt, and I’m running out of white prints for the stars. More fabric cutting was obviously in order, and I am getting rather tired of the white prints I have been using this past year, so I called Miss Junebug down to the craft room to pick out some new, interesting fabrics for her quilt.
You think I’d learn to stop asking for her input…
…although, truth be told, I am rather pleased that she stuck to the color theme this time.
Her reasoning for picking the snowman fabric, delivered with one hand on her hip and the other hand waving in the air as she explained: “It’s my quilt, and I like snowmen. Besides, you’re Canadian, so that means I like snow a lot more because I’m your daughter.”
[Insert image of me making my “I’m trying to look serious while dying inside from laughter” parenting face]
This quilt is ridiculously unique. Just another reason to keep on with the handmades.
She likes it.
That Crafty Cara 