Road Trip Case

The Road Trip Case is a really fun, practical project for the Rainbow Loom lover ("loomatic" as G says) in your life. The pattern, by Anna Graham (Noodlehead) , is very well-written with good diagrams.

I was a teensy bit afraid of the vinyl, but it all worked out beautifully. The pattern deals with it in a very simple, clever way. I put some clear tape on the bottom of my presser foot for when I was sewing on top of the vinyl and it was really fine.

I quilted the exterior (not that you can see the stitches) and used a variety of bright, fun fabrics.

G loves it and immediately filled the clear pocket with all of her Rainbow Loom makes. Success!

This is a Q3 Finish Along finish - yahoo!

Around the World Blog Hop

So the Around the World Blog Hop appears to be sweeping through the blogiverse, and I got tagged by the lovely Leanne of she can quilt. Leanne is a quilty friend I met via blogging and whom I've had the pleasure of meeting in person as well. She makes really beautiful things and has been rocking the quilt show circuit lately - racking up some sweet ribbons and prizes. Rock stah!

The rules of the blog hop are that I'm to answer some questions, and then tag three bloggers who would then participate by answering the questions, and tagging three others and so on.

It is a good way to discover new blogs, I concede. I'm not so much into the "tagging three others" business so I'm going to cheat a little and direct you to the very talented Leslie who blogs at Leslie Unfinished - check out her blog to see all the wonderful projects she shares. I have it on excellent authority (i.e. Leslie) that she's been tagged to participate in the blog hop and so please do go visit her on the 15th (or before! or now, and again on the 15th!).

1. What am I working on?

I *just* finished a very long-time WIP (seriously - we're talking 4 years) and I feel so liberated! I am not shy about abandoning projects that don't work anymore, but because these blocks were made for me by others as part of a bee, I felt it behooved me to find a way to finish the project.

Now that that quilt is done, I've turned my attention to an overdue project for my nearly 7-year-old daughter: a carrying case for her Rainbow Loom (Road Trip Case pattern by Anna Graham/Noodlehead).

I need to get that done before the pattern for her "Elsa" halloween costume arrives and she starts hounding me about it. She's quite the taskmaster!

2. How does my work differ from others'?



This is a really tough question! I don't usually make quilts based on patterns, and even if I do use a pattern, I'll often make fabric choices that are unique to me so most of what I create tends to have my own spin on it.



I'm way too cheap to buy fabric full price so I rarely - if ever - work with the very latest fabrics, and I almost never work within one single line of fabrics unless it's a specific challenge because fabric-choosing is one of my favourite parts of the process (exception: Wonderland by MoMo [I don't know why]). I don't think I've yet reached the point where my work is a defined style, and I'm not even sure that's where I want to end up. I just make what I feel like making.

3. Why do I write and create?

I create because I need to - I sew pretty much every evening - once my daughter's in bed, I spend at least 20 minutes (my personal daily goal) and often up to two hours sewing. It calms me, it centres me and it makes me happy. I really feel it when I haven't had time to sew. I feel agitated and unhappy when I can't get to my machine.

As for the writing, well, that really seems to have tapered off, mainly because of other commitments: home, my guild, work etc. I do blog when I can and I'm always grateful for those who read and take the time to comment (another thing that has tapered off for me). For me, the making part is my priority, and I will usually choose sewing over blogging.

4. How does my writing/creating process work?

It depends! If the thing I'm making is for someone else or for a specific purpose, the planning/thinking process is a lot different - and usually much, much longer - than if the project is one that I'm making on a whim.



I made Sea Glass on Sand because those little blue/green triangles (shards from another project) really wanted to be made into something. Ditto some leftover bits of fabric from a mini quilt - I couldn't throw them out so they got made into this mini:

On the other hand, this commission quilt was planned based on fabric I had on hand and my client's request for something traditional but not too old-fashioned.

What every project has in common, though, is that I'm making. Always making. I make things to be admired, used, loved, worn out, remembered by....but I'm always just making.

Okay! So I said I wasn't going to tag people and make them participate, but how about I give you links to three blogs that I enjoy and I think you will too:

• Carly at Citric Sugar makes gorgeous and original stuff and is hilarious to boot. Also Canadian, which: yes!
• You likely already know about Krista of Poppyprint - she's very skilled, very creative and a great friend too. (A fellow Canadian and VMQG member.)
• Last but not least, another Canadian and fellow VMQG member: Janet of What Comes Next? I credit Janet with helping me over my fear of FMQ feathers ("Just start. Just try it. You'll be great."). Her FMQ is inspiring!

Thanks for visiting and to Leanne for asking me to play along.

Love is All Around

This is one of my oldest WIPs. In late 2010, I asked my bee-mates from the Sew & Bee Happy bee to make me Circle of Geese blocks. I tucked them away until I joined the Finish Along and took stock of my WIPs and made a plan to tackle them.

When I pulled out these blocks to work on them, I realized why they'd sat. Such is the challenge with bees - the quality of the blocks you receive can definitely vary. And so these blocks proved to be quite challenging to work with. A traditional setting, even with sashing, wasn't going to work.

I thought about putting the Circle of Geese blocks at the centre of some scrappy log cabin blocks. At one point, Quilt As You Go occurred to me, and then I remembered a block that I'd pinned for my DIY sampler by toefeather, and the layout was perfect!

I did do QAYG, following Marianne's tutorials for stitch and flip strips, as well as how to join the blocks using wider joining strips. I chose a backing fabric that would blend nicely when all the pieces were put together.

The quilting is quick, simple, organic straight lines using white Aurifil 50 wt, which is a dream to stitch with. I used it all throughout this quilt's construction.

The QAYG technique definitely doesn't save time, but I must say that this is the squarest quilt I've ever made so there's that! The binding was chosen by G and deemed appropriate for the quilt's recipient: her 5-year old cousin.

The finished quilt - before washing - is 60" square. I'll likely use the QAYG technique again - it certainly makes handling the bulk of a large quilt a lot easier. I'm happy to have a Q3 FAL project done.