My next craft project

We should all do this. And then probably send the results to regretsy.


I'm partial to the chick tips, myself.

one stitch at a time..

Lovely ladies!

I FINALLY have something to share with you all. 4 years in the making, I have finished a quilt - 2 quilts, actually! Not the quilts I set out to make when I purchased the fabric in Edmonton, but quilts all the same.

I had initially bought the Timber line to make a big quilt for Tyson and myself,...in 2009.

...Then I scaled that back to a 'curling up on the couch' quilt for me,.... in 2011. In 2012, I cut a bunch of the fabric for said quilt, and in 2013, I finally decided that I NEEDED TO FINISH A PROJECT and scaled it down to a baby quilt for a friend and put the darn thing together....

BUT FIRST, a week before I finished that quilt, I managed to assemble another one, for yet another friend (Miranda), who (shocker) is having another baby.  This has been the story of my life lately: Friend gets preggo, Maria plans celebratory quilt! Maria cuts fabric for quilt. Maria becomes indecisive about entire quilt-making process and puts fabric away, Maria decides she hates sewing, Friend delivers happy healthy baby, Maria is over joyed for friend, but sends sleepers/receiving blankets/onesies because quilt unfinished in pile under bed.

This repetitive cycle had to stop. For a myriad of reasons (many of which we should discuss 'in person' with tea), I needed to finish a gift for a friend and her baby.

Nothing motivates me like a hard deadline. And I don't mean a due date. I mean a baby shower. One where you have to show up with a gift or fear intense ridicule from friend and friend's mother/mother-in-law. So I set to work on this:

 

Which became this: 

I was really happy with the outcome and I think Miranda was too.  The fabrics I used were all from my stash and included some of the timber line, some Amy Butler, some Joel Dewberry I think, and some leftovers from table runners and purses that I made a million years ago.  I was stumped when it came time to quilt the thing, and time was running out (at this point, I had 2 days until the shower), so I asked Linnea.  She came to my rescue and suggested the wavy line quilting, and I'm sooooo glad she did. It was perfect! Easy, quick, and complemented the subtle 'nature' theme (birds, leaves, flowers,.. waves!).  The back was just a cream flannel - nothing fancy, but the quilting looked great on it.  I didn't have any fabric that I wanted to use for the binding, so I ended up just using some pretty blue bias tape.

I hand-stitched the binding on during a February blizzard, cats curled up next to me, Downton Abby on the tv, fire in the wood stove, cup of tea on the coffee table. It was sensory heaven.

Which brings me to quilt number 2, the Timber quilt. After finishing Miranda's quilt in record time, I felt like this came together pretty quickly! I wanted this quilt to be random and linear:

And I think it turned out great :)

Again, for convenience and speed, I quilted in random wavy lines and used a cream flannel on the back.  I have a friend in mind for this quilt, but for now, I'm keeping it on display so I can enjoy it for a little longer.

After a challenging Fall, completing these quilts has been so therapeutic for me. It took me a while to get to a place where I wanted to be creative, but having surmounted that obstacle, the reward of crafting has been tremendous. There is a great deal of peace that can come from making something from nothing - the order of measuring and cutting, the visual pleasure of piecing together beautiful textiles, the hum of the sewing machine, the repetitive rhythm of hand-stitching. I'm glad I found my way back to something that makes me so happy.

Much love from the east coast,

maria.