HAPPY HOLI-DIY | a recap of my craft night at Anthropologie

Last night was so much fun - I hosted an event at Anthropologie (you may have heard about it, ha) and to top it off two customers thought I worked there because I "dressed like it" and I had a "great outfit." Two of the greatest compliments of my life right there. Oh, and my mom and aunt came out to support me and they were like my personal fan club so that was nice, too. Hopefully everyone who came to the event had as good a time as I did! We made initial ornaments that do double duty as gift toppers, and a few industrious people even made enough letters to make a word garland! Check back tomorrow for the tutorial. Here are a bunch of photos of the event... much thanks to Matt who stopped by for a little while to capture these images for me. 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Most of all, thanks to Anthropologie for having me and to everyone who came to the event! Hope we can do another one real soon :)

HAPPY HOLI-DIY | a craft night with Anthropologie & me!

I have such fun news to share today! I'm excited to announce that I'm partnering with Anthropologie and hosting an evening full of crafting and snacking at my local store in Garden City on December 18th. We'll be making yarn monograms which can be used as ornaments or gift toppers, so come on by and craft with us! 

There are two one-hour sessions and space is very limited so if you'd like to join us, email anthroevents@anthropologie.com soon to reserve your spot at the workshop! Please include your preferred session time in your email. Hope to see you there! 

it's a plane! | a quilt for Will

Another quilt finish! I've been whipping them up lately. This one was for my friend Keri's son Will who is almost two months old now. His nursery, although a blank slate as of now, will be decorated with a vintage airplane theme in mind, so I picked up a US Navy commemorative fabric that I found on Etsy.

The pattern is a modified large log cabin block, and when I say modified I mean I calculated my measurements wrong and had to make it work. Oops! Math was never my best subject.

I chose graphic red and blue fabrics to complement the airplanes - some chevron, polka dot, and a weird red pattern that reads as a stripe that I think is Flea Market Fancy. When I came up short with the design I had sketched I decided to add some red, blue, and tan seersucker, too. I couldn't believe how soft the seersucker made the quilt - so much more cozy than regular quilting fabrics and absolutely perfect for a baby. I definitely plan on using more seersucker in my quilts.

The back is a simple patchwork using scraps from the front. I think almost all of my quilt backs end up being scrappy. It's always fun to deviate from the pattern on the top and come up with something completely unique while using up some of the scraps!

I quilted along either side of the seams of the log cabin squares to echo the pattern on the top of the quilt, so it looks pretty random on the back. 

Stripey bindings are one of my favorites, and this red seersucker didn't disappoint. Hopefully Will is as happy with his quilt as I am!

elephants and polka dots | a quilt for Avery

Yesterday I said goodbye to this pretty quilt and sent it off in the arms of a mama awaiting the arrival of her second daughter. I think this quilt is my favorite one yet (I always seem to think that), but I know it's going to be well loved.

Thanks to my brother for helping me get a few shots of the quilt while we were out shopping last week :)

It was inspired by little Avery's nursery - soft yellow and pale gray with an elephant motif. I loved picking out the fabrics for this beauty. They're all from Pink Chalk Fabrics and fabricworm.

 Simple gray binding ties it all together.

And if any of you are wondering, I used this pattern from Fresh Lemons. Now on to the next baby quilt! This season has me busy busy busy...

a belated birthday quilt

In October my mother-in-law celebrated a milestone birthday and she asked if I would make a quilt for her redecorated bedroom. Well, really she asked for a quilt and then told me it could a birthday gift. 'Sweet,' I thought to myself. This year's gift was clearly a no-brainer. Little did she know that it would come closer to being a Thanksgiving gift than a birthday gift. Oops! 

She had the floral fabric left over from the newly reupholstered cornices and the solid green was a remnant from the trim on a set of pillow shams. Since the fabric she gave me to work with was all home decorator I stuck with that weight for the rest of the fabrics I chose. All are from Joann, even the prints she gave me to start with. 

I didn't have a pattern in mind when I began the project, but the size of the oddly shaped floral fabric remnant dictated how I would begin. Basically, I was forced to cut the floral fabric into twenty-two inch wide strips that were really really long. I cut the strips into more manageable pieces and ended up with nine rectangles, about 9" by 22." 

I brought them along to the store to pick out some coordinating prints and solids and chose a stripe in the same colors, a brown and cream print (does anyone know if that one has a name?), a solid blue, and a solid brown. Each fabric was cut into strips of varying thicknesses. Then I laid out three of each fabric into three columns, playing with the design until I was happy with it. 

The back is the same blue from the front, and you can see a tiny triangular label in the bottom right corner. My mom helped me with the free motion quilting since she has more experience with it, her machine is better equipped to handle it, and she knew I was anxious to get it done... this being December. And my mother-in-law's birthday was in October. I think the quilt ended up measuring about seventy inches by fifty something. I'm so precise.

The quilt is bound in the main floral print. Let me say that making a quilt out of home dec isn't the easiest thing to do. That was one thick stack of fabric when I was binding the corners. 

Ezra was keen on interrupting my quilt photo shoot and insisted on incessantly poking his Grandma's gift with a stick. My little boy is already obsessed with sticks.

{couldn't resist posting this photo of his chubby hand}

under the sea and dreaming

Finally, my mendocino quilt can be laid to rest.  I started it over a year ago and made some mistakes while piecing the back so I put the whole project on hold indefinitely.  It's much more fun to make progress moving forward rather than backwards, which is another type of progress in quilting, I suppose.

This quilt was made with no one in mind and I don't think I'll be able to part with it because I love Heather Ross's funny mermaids and octopuses too much.  

I'll save it in case we ever add a baby girl to our family, and if not then I'm sure I'll be able to find a good home for this bright blanket some day.

Part of me wishes I saved the squares that I used on the back for another project so I could spread the mermaid love around, but it's too late so I guess I'll just have to enjoy them where they are.  They definitely add some interest to what would otherwise be a rather plain pink backing.

The binding is my least favorite part of this quilt because I decided to use my least favorite fabric for it - orange seahorses floating among tan seaweed in a brown sea.  

Regardless of my feelings for the binding, I love the way this quilt came out and am glad that I get to keep it!

automatic confetti

I was working on a project for Ezra's room last week and I realized that the scraps are instant confetti.  I wanted to save them for Ezra's birthday party but Matt talked me out of it.  I guess I'll just have to make more come October! Can anyone guess what I was making?

bare walls

'Bare' is the only way to describe nearly every wall in our house.  I've talked about this before but still really haven't done anything to remedy the problem.  Here are some ideas from around the internet that I'm thinking of replicating for our home... 

punch collage via Ali Edwards.  maybe stars for Ezra's room.

log cabins via martha. for the living room, over our couch.

alphabet print via kind over matter.  for Ezra.

message board via moxie home. for the craft room.

portraits via Eden Lang. for the living room.

chevron on canvas via decor8. for the dining room.

Recommendations for affordable wall art, either DIY ideas or for purchase, are welcome!

square one

I started quilting after taking a course in batik at RISD's apparel and textile design department.  My mom and I took the course together and spent an afternoon carving stamps, printing our fabric with wax, washing it in dye, and then marveling at the gorgeous patterns and colors.  We ended up with lots of fabric and nothing to do with it because at that time neither my mom nor I were that into sewing.  I had made one skirt and my mom hadn't sewn anything since I was little.  We didn't want to waste the fabric though, so I asked my sewing teacher for ideas and right away she suggested I make a quilt.  It seemed like a good idea because then I would be able to preserve the fabric in a keepsake.  Off I went, cutting, sewing, stitch ripping, pulling my hair out... you quilters know how it goes.

I ended up having to buy a yard of two of fabric in order to fill out the quilt.  Any of the prints that have a white design are the fabrics dyed by me and my mom.  The multicolored fabrics were purchased at Just Fabrics, one of my favorite local fabric stores.

The quilt is backed in a large scale batik that Lorraine, my teacher, had just laying around.  She pulled it out as soon as she saw my fabrics, knowing it would be the perfect addition to my first quilt.  

I didn't know anything about labels then so I recently wrote my name and the season in the corner on the back for posterity.  

Not only did I not know about labels, but it seems I didn't really know about quilting.  This "quilt" is essentially a patchwork blanket.  I didn't do a lick of quilting. 

When Lorraine asked me if I wanted to bind the quilt I'm pretty sure I looked at her with an expression of shock and horror.  I just spent hours sewing the squares together and she was telling me I wasn't done yet?!  I had no idea what binding entailed and after Lorraine described it to me I declined, knowing I would have been in for hours more.  Instead of binding I stitched all around the edge with this fancy option my machine offers.  Pretty, but never again.  It took ages and miles worth of thread, and now I know that binding is a cinch when compared to all the other aspects of quilting.  

I'm so glad that Lorraine suggested I make a quilt with my batik fabrics.  Not only did it provide me with a way to showcase them, but I was introduced to quilting and now I'm hooked.  Lorraine, if you're reading, thanks!