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.

More About QuiltCon

Before I start, I'm going to make a confession: when QuiltCon was first announced, I was all over it. Then I got cold feet when the registration day approached. I was actually on the fence about making the effort financially and personally to go. But boy oh boy am I glad that I decided to Just Do It. If you were on the fence this time and decided against going, I can tell you that it is a fantastic experience. Even if you don't take classes - there was so much to see and hear and do.

So having said that, here are the many, many high points of the QuiltCon experience for me.

People. When you read a lot of blogs, you get to "know" a lot of bloggers. And when you blog yourself, you connect with readers and followers. The experience of meeting those people face to face is absolutely wonderful. You are already friends; being able to hang out in person is the icing on the cake. Having the opportunity to do that is one of the fabulous things about a get-together like QuiltCon. I won't attempt to list all the people I met because I'll surely leave someone out. But I will say that I really appreciated hanging out with Jackie and Jules at the 80s Dance Party. We all COMMITTED to the theme, let me tell you:

(left to right: Jackie, me, Jules)

My look is brought to you by Value Village (except the jacket, which I actually wear unironically, minus the shoulder pads). I found the high-waisted red jeans for $8 and just had to make sure the legs were properly pegged. Jules' hammer pants were purchased at K-Mart where, I assume, they are bought unironically by poor teenagers who don't know any better. Because honestly? I went though high school and university in the 80s and it just wasn't a good time for fashion. At. All. But back to those hammer pants. Things of beauty. Truly. Jackie rocked the neon pants and acid wash vest. And crimping (when you have enough hair to do so) was mandatory, obviously.

I think all of us Introverts were really tested, having to interact with people all day long (we like it, but it's draining!). But being surrounded by others who share your passion for quilting and fabric and sewing machines and patterns really makes it so much easier. People were so warm and friendly, too. 

Food. Deeelicious food in Austin. I had the obligatory BBQ at Iron Works around the corner from the Convention Centre and it wasn't that great. I suspect strongly it was because we got there at 9pm. Here's a shot of our gang including Leanne, Jackie, Marianne, Niki (who is vegetarian - again, sorry about that Niki!) and Jules.

I also had some fabulous Tex Mex, and a Vietnamese Bahn Mi sandwich that was a real stand-out. And last but not least, Indian food from G'Raj Mahal. Fantastic. Also, a lot of beer, wine and cider over the 5 days. 

I'm kicking myself for not working harder to find a nice local coffee shop, settling instead for some good ol' Starbucks each morning. Next time.

Workshops/lectures. I was lucky enough to get into Denyse Schmidt's zippy pouch half-day class. Super fun - she is very down to earth and practical. Very kind as well. I'm a fan.

My zippy pouch in better detail:

We used Denyse's scraps (!!!!) - the dark browns are kimono silk!! I was the lucky winner of the class giveaway - two of Denyse's patterns (which she autographed for me!!!) and a pack of oversize fabric charms from her newest fabric line Shelburne Falls. There are a lot of exclamation marks in this paragraph - it's indicative of how excited I am by the whole experience.

I also took a half-day workshop with Angela Walters who is hilarious. Hilarious. Also very down-to-earth and kind. (Check out her lecture in the Craftsy QuiltCon lecture series - her talk is just like how her classes are). I used a longarm quilting machine for the first time. Good thing I have nowhere to put such a thing because honestly, I could see getting verrrrry used to being able to quilt my quilts that way. Don't get me wrong: my "skills" need a lot of work but it was fun to put some new designs into practice. Here's a shot of my work:

I also took a full-day workshop with Sherri Lynn Wood based on her Mod Mood quilt technique. This was the class that made the deepest impression on me (in a good way), so I'm going to save it for another post to make sure I do it justice.

The lectures I heard were great, too - Thomas Knauer, David Butler (showed up for the beefcake; stayed for the content!) and Denyse Schmidt were stand outs.

Quilt Show. Bigtime wow here. The quilts were all incredible, and it was particularly fun to see quilts in person that I'd only enjoyed online. Some were larger than I thought, and some were smaller. All were even more beautiful in real life. This Flickr set has a good bunch of photos from the show (and they're properly  attributed which is a nice plus). I cannot even begin to express how thrilling it was for me to see my quilts hung in the show and then honoured with ribbons. Bohemian Confetti even showed up in the introductory video to the Craftsy QuiltCon lecture series!!

So there you go, some of my musings about QuiltCon. The next one's in 2015 (location TBD, maybe Austin, maybe elsewhere - the MQG is going to survey members so keep an eye out) and I do recommend trying to attend. It's quite a trip.

QuiltCon

I'm back. It was absolutely everything I hoped it would be and more. I met friends for the first time in person, I made new friends, I learned, I created, I laughed, I danced...

I only took a few photos with my little point and shoot camera before it died (grr) and then I switched to my iPod touch (but they're on Instagram - my handle is felicityquilts - and I am trying to figure out how to retrieve them). There are a lot of great blog posts out there with photos of the quilts in the show (start with Leanne's and click through the links she has).

Which reminds me. BOTH of my little quilts won honourable mention ribbons. I was stunned to hear they'd been accepted to the show so I was in complete disbelief when I was told I'd won a prize. Then I learned that I'd won two ribbons. Pinch me!

I'll definitely be back with more but now I need to unpack and come down to earth!

5 things...

There's a QuiltCon linky party going on over at the Modern Quilt Guild blog. Those who will be at QuiltCon are posting their photo and answering the question "5 things you might not know about me."

Okay, first? This is me:

Fabric makes me dork out!

Now, for the 5 things you might not know about me (I'm trying to find 5 new things since answering this on Instagram):

1. Like my fellow VMQG member Holly, I have ties to the US via a parent - my father is American but has lived in Canada since before I was born. All of my siblings moved there after university; some live in/near Philadelphia, and others live in Baltimore.
2. I left home after university, but stayed in Canada - Vancouver, to be exact.
3. I'm the Social Media coordinator for the VMQG, which means I do most of the blogging and some of the facebooking and little of the tweeting for the guild. I love being involved - it's such a great way to get to know people I'd seen at meetings. If you're lucky enough to have one, I highly recommend taking on a volunteer opportunity with your local Modern Quilt Guild.
4. I have a really loud laugh. It's been known to startle small children and make them cry.
5. I got my first ever manicure at age 33 (for my wedding).

So who else is in? Come and play along and tell us about yourself!

Friday Felicities

Hello, friends!

I'm very happy that today is my last day of full-day workshops - another next week but at least I have a breather before then!

My *actual* felicity for today is that my guild, VMQG, was featured on Vancouvermom.ca! Nice things said about us and there's a little blurb about me personally which is pretty cool too!

Here's to a great weekend (lucky girl that I am, I'm spending it at one of Krista's day retreats)!

Friday Felicities

Short and sweet today (just like me! HAHAHA) - my Friday Felicity is that I'm gearing up for a very busy week next week, delivering 4 more full-day training workshops that I've spent the last few weeks developing. It's "work" work, yes, but I feel very fortunate that not only am I employed and able to support my family, but I'm doing work that I am enjoying immensely. This break from my regular job has been rejuvenating, exhilarating and exciting. I'm feeling particularly grateful for that.

How about you? What's making you happy?

Blogathon Canada 2012

Greetings! I'm delighted to help kick off Blogathon Canada, organized and sponsored by Sew Sisters Quilt Shop a wonderful business run by my high school BFF Judy and her sister Karen. Blogathon Canada is a week-long online party celebrating Canadian quilting bloggers, and I'm honoured to be one of the stops along the way.

I'm Felicity. I've been quilting for over 10 years but when I discovered the online quilting community, I truly felt like I'd found myself as a quilter and it kicked my passion into high gear. I started blogging in January 2010, and it has literally opened up a whole new world of friends and inspiration. This mini quilt is my first "modern" quilt and I haven't looked back.

Here are a few of my other "makes"

"Rainbow Sampler"

"In a (Solid) Pickle"

"Helen Keller Wisdom"

"Sea Glass on Sand"

When I stumbled onto the online quilting community, I had no idea that incredible inspiration and friendships lay ahead of me. I started following a few blogs, then followed links to other blogs and next thing I knew, I had joined the VMQG, and became close friends with many fellow quilters whom I never would have met were it not for the internet. So check out the links to lots of BC quilt bloggers at the end of this post, and their links and so on and be inspired! Be sure to stop by Cathy's too - she's the other Blogathon Blogger for today. The Blogathon button at the top of this post and on my sidebar has the list of all of the Blogathon bloggers for the week - check 'em out!

Before you go, though, would you like to win a little something? I thought so! I chose this cute little combo from Sew Sisters' fabulous offerings. A metre of some fabulous Keep Calm fabric from Timeless Treasures plus 4 coordinating solid FQs will go to one lucky reader.

As usual, I've kept the entry process simple. Just leave a comment. One per reader, please. The giveaway is open to International readers, and please please please make sure that I can easily get your email address if the Random Number Generator chooses your number.

Giveaway will be open though the Blogathon. I'll close it off on November 24th at around 9:00 pm Pacific and announce the winner soon thereafter. Good luck!

Check out these BC Quilt Bloggers!
Silver Thimble Quilting

Holly's Red Bike

Stacey in Stitches

Poppyrint

The Zodiac Quilter

Hilltop House Creative Works

Adventures in Life

Art by Rhoda Forbes 

Artisania

glitter, vinyl and thread

Happy Sew Lucky

Momiji Studio

Patchwork Pottery

Paul's Block Party

What Comes Next?

Red Spotted Patch

If I missed you, I apologize! Please add your blog in the comments.

Friday Felicities

You won't be surprised to hear that today, what's (still) making me happy is last weekend's retreat. I got to meet a great bloggy friend in person.

Kristie knit me the gorgeous cowl I'm wearing - aren't those colours perfectly "me"?

And we got to shoe-shop together!

And I got to make stuff for people I care about!

A cover for a close friend's (giant) KitchenAid stand mixer in progress. Needs binding.

And I laughed till I nearly peed my pants (no photo for that one).

How about you? What's your Felicity this Friday?

Friday Felicities

Happy Friday! It's been quiet here this week - the long weekend threw me off the routine and my sewing suffered a bit. But I managed to pump out a cute little mug rug:

I was heavily influenced/inspired by Krista's gorgeous improv flowers (I'm still sad that I was out of town when she did a workshop on this technique for the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild!). I tried a few new FMQ designs with Aurifil 50 weight in a red/orange/yellow variegated colourway (#4657) in the petals, and stippled in the green background. Scrappy binding and it's all set to go.

My felicity is hearing G say at dinner last night, "OK, Three Good Things: Daddy, you go first." Three Good Things is my family's version of Friday Felicities. I instated it when talk of school seemed to be exclusively a litany of negatives from little G. It's true that she was struggling to find her place in the social hierarchy of the Kindergarten girls -- there are only three of them and the other two know each other from being in the morning preschool class together so G was odd-kid out.

I didn't ignore her anxieties about her classmates, but I really, REALLY wanted her to get in the habit of focusing on what went well each day so every night at dinner, we each take turns telling our "Three Good Things." I was so thrilled when she initiated it for a change, and I was delighted to hear her first Good Thing was that "school was great!"

Gratuitous Mama and G photo. 
Note: if I thought for one second that I could get away with leggings like hers, I'd be all over them.

Happy Weekend, all!

Friday Felicities - Thanksgiving Edition

Happy Friday! It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canadia (rhymes with Cascadia), as my american brother-in-law likes to jokingly call it, which means Monday is a holiday. Yay!
I have a very soft spot in my heart for Thanksgiving for a few reasons: it involves turkey, gravy and dressing/stuffing; the weather is usually marvelously Fall-like and you already know how I feel about that; and finally, K and I got married on this weekend 12 years ago this Sunday! So, yeah: love me some Thanksgiving - it's definitely a felicity for me.

Another felicity I would like to share is something you've read about here a few times - about twelve times to be exact. The Stash Trad virtual quilt bee ended this month with Cindy's Granny Says Boo! block. Stash Trad was a sew-from-your-stash bee, a feature I enjoyed immensely. Each month's "queen" got to choose the block and specify a colour scheme, and the rest of us sewed her the block using our own stash.

The variety of blocks I got to make over the year was pretty impressive. Check it out:

1. Cracker Scraps for Angela, 2. Pine Tree block for Krista Poppyprint, 3. LynneBobSquarePants for January, 4. Arkansas Traveler, 5. Winged Square for Amy, 6. Radiant Ring for Elizabeth (Don't Call Me Betsy) - April, 7. colourful churn dash, 8. Stash Trad June Crown of Thorns, 9. Whirling Star for Kati Stash Trad, 10. Lone Starburst for Brioni, 11. String Star Stash Trad, 12. granny says boo! for Cindy Stash Trad

One or two caused me some heartburn (Arkansas Traveler and String Star, I'm looking at you), but the year was super fun and definitely stretched my piecing skills. Plus, I got to know my fellow sewists better - what's not to like about that? So, what about you? What were your felicities this week?

Friday Felicities

Ever wonder how the idea of Friday Felicities came to me? Well pull up a chair and grab a cuppa something: you're about to find out!

A while ago I watched a really interesting TEDx talk by Shawn Acher about something called The Happiness Advantage.

He turns conventional wisdom about seeking success as a means to achieving happiness on its ear and suggests that no, we should be seeking happiness first to put our brains "at positive" vs. negative, neutral or stress to maximize its capabilities and thereby increase our success.

Acher posits that you can train your brain to be at positive by doing just three things every day:

- write down three new things you are grateful for, to form the habit of looking for positives vs. negatives.
- meditation, to reduce the effects of what Acher calls our cultural ADHD - the constant influx of information/noise/etc.
- random act of kindness, to reach out and spread the happy.

The concept of seeking the positive vs. the negative really struck a chord with me, and I wanted to spend some time on a regular basis thinking about the things that make me happy: the felicities in my life as it were.

So that is what Friday Felicities is all about! And it really does work - as Friday approaches, my mind turns to ponder the question of what made me happy this week and I really do focus on the good as opposed to the crud.

My felicity this week is....the look of pure joy on my little G's face as she greeted her teacher on the first day of school. Friends, that look was a major "Mama moment" for me - one that I will never forget. Probably because I literally felt my heart swell as I saw her.

Walking to school on the first day

Have a lovely weekend!

p.s. I'm thinking about making Friday Felicities a linky party thingamahoo. Would you be interested? Let me know in the comments.

I'm Moving!

Gotcha! Not moving houses, but moving my blog.

I finally registered my own domain (www.felicityquilts.com) and Blogger appears to have a process for handling everything - followers, RSS feeds etc.

But I am a bit worried that because I am hosting my new URL somewhere other than the Blogger/Google - affiliated (owned?) GoDaddy, my new posts at my new URL won't get sent to my followers' readers/RSS feeds/etc.



So if a new post doesn't appear in your reader or your RSS feed or whatever means you have of getting my blog updates within the next couple of days, please refresh your feeds/subscriptions and look for me, okay? Thank you! I'll be posting about a finish and you won't want to miss it (sneak peek above).

Happy long weekend in the meantime!

Friday Felicities

My felicity today is reading! I love to read, but my time to do so is pretty limited.

I used to read on my short (25 minutes door to door) commute to work when I worked out of our downtown office. I even perfected the art of simultaneously walking and reading so I could squeeze in a couple more pages to and from the subway.

But in April, our department got moved to the company's head office building. The upside is it's closer to home so I can walk or ride my bike along Vancouver's stunningly beautiful seawall, but I usually ride because I can get to work in 15 or so minutes (door to door) vs. a 30 minute walk that can get a bit sweaty (TMI!) in the warmer summer months. Unfortunately, reading and walking the seawall results in my feeling motion sick - I think it's the small bricks used as pavers because I see them out of the corner of my eye as I'm reading. Strange, I know, but there you have it.

Sadly, I have not perfected the art of simultaneously cycling and reading. So that means I have to carve out other time to read and I'm still struggling to do that because that "other time" is my sewing time.

I did get some fabulous quality reading time on holidays last week, and I read The Town That Drowned written by Riel Nason, who is a quilting blogger!

Source: itunes.apple.com via Felicity on Pinterest

I. Loved. This. Book. So warm, so lovely, so touching. Typically Canadian in its beautiful sense of place, this novel is a coming-of-age story and so much more.

Have a lovely weekend!

Friday Felicities

Today, my felicity is Family. My littlest brother turned 30 this week. We 5 siblings were born 3 to 4 years apart so J arrived on the scene when I was in High School (*so* humiliating for my 14-year-old self to have a newborn baby brother!).

When I left home in Toronto to go to grad school way out here on the West Coast, he was only 9 years old. I made it a point to stay in touch with him - and since that was before widespread use of email and all that, we exchanged letters. In the mail. Paper, envelope, stamp - the whole bit. It was lovely.

I adore all my siblings but J and my other brother M (the youngest kids) are the ones toward whom I feel very motherly. Probably because I did a fair amount of sibling-minding! Truth be told, they're the reason I didn't rush to have my own children; I sort of knew what I was in for. Ha!

J and me, circa 1984. He gave me a framed copy of this photo as a wedding gift. Love that kid.

Have a great weekend!

WIP Wednesday

Summer: busier than every other season - amirite?

This past week has been consumed with Christmas in July stitching. That's all done and the post is ready to go live on the 26th so on to new sewing.

I taught my first workshop this past weekend, and we had a lovely time. I stitched along with the workshop participants so I could demonstrate each step. I finished this quilt top, thereby increasing my WIP list (oopsie!):

It's going to be another charity quilt and it is going to be quick to finish, so I'm not too concerned. Plus, it was fun!

So as I said on Facebook, "I fought my serger and I WON!" The threading was giving me some grief, but I persevered and stitched up this cute skirt for G out of some jersey I had laying around.

Lettuce edge fanciness:

I googled "circle skirt" and went from there - you basically cut a donut whose inner circle is your kid's waist size and add a waistband made of a rectangle stitched along the short ends then folded in half. I used the serger for everything. Easy peasy (once the serger behaved, that is). 

Not much else to report, but I am pleased with my progress given that the sun is here, and the livin' is easy(ish). I say "ish" because keeping a 4½-year old entertained is surprisingly difficult. Or maybe it's just *my* 4½-year old. Same diff.

Thanks for stopping by! Go see what's happening at Lee's (another fun guest blogger!) and Monika's (buuttons in sidebar)!

Friday Felicities

Today's felicity is a Feature! The Needle and Thread Network is a blog that features Canadian fibre artists and creative stitchers or sewists via a weekly linky and regular Friday Features.

Today's my Friday! Come on over and check it out!

Since sending in my information for the feature, I've been pondering what else you might not yet know about me.

Don't I look happy with my Kona Solids charm pack? (Photo by Sonja Callaghan)

Keeping with the F theme (Friday, Felicities, Feature...) here are FIVE things that you may not know about me:

1. FOUR: the number of siblings I have (two of each), of which I am the eldest.
2. FRENCH: language in which I received 100% of my education up til Grade 8. I then went to a French Immersion high school and continued on to do my undergraduate degree in French Linguistics at Glendon College, the only bilingual post-secondary institutions in Ontario (so classified because every single student is required to take at least one course in French and English).
3. FIFTEEN: the number of years I've worked for my current employer, a Vancouver-based financial institution. Time flies!
4. FORTY: my age when my daughter was born. There are definitely advantages and disadvantages to being an "older" mother.
5. FAVOURITE: food is anything Italian; colour is whatever my mood or current project dictates; drink is coffee or wine; music is dependent on the situation (I'm loving Coeur de Pirate right now); sound is ocean waves or a thunderstorm.

What you will see me doing a lot: laughing. Photo by Sonja.

Have a great weekend!

WIP Wednesday: Nothing to Report Edition

I spent the last 5 working days edumacating myself in preparation for some training that I will be delivering for work in the coming months. I took two courses on Instructional Design as it relates to facilitating adult learning. The experience definitely got me excited about further developing these new skills. As an added bonus, I gained a lot of insight into planning my first-ever quilting workshop (!!!) in which I will be teaching my (soon to be published in PDF) Easy Going Modern pattern.

In one course, we had to come to the first class prepared to give a short (five-minute) presentation on the topic of our choice. Since there wasn't much work-related that I could teach to non-bankers in five minutes (oh, darn), I decided to do something related to quilting (shocker!). My session was entitled "How to Make a Quilt" and I made up this mini sample that showed a quilt in various stages of completion.

Trust me, five minutes go really quickly, so I was only able to touch on the highlights - choosing fabric, cutting, stitching, assembling the top, layering the top with batting/backing, quilting and binding. It was very well-received.

Made Some Progress On...

Alas, the courses took all of my spare time and mental energy so nothing sewing-related got done except that I started work on the other pouch I'm making for the VMQG/PMQG pouch swap. That's some original Flea Market Fancy right there, oh yes it is. The green fabric is a really nice linen.

There will be some stitching around this lonely hexie to fancy it up.

Didn't See Any Action:

Everything else. That will change soon, though - I have another all-day Quilt By The Bay day retreat coming up (yay!). Much sewing will be done.

Linking up with Lee @ Freshly Pieced and Monika @ The Needle And Thread Network ('specially for Canadians - have you checked it out?). I love my Wednesday routine! :)

Friday Felicities

It's a Felicity for me to be able to use my hobby to do some good in the world. One of my 2012 Quilty Goals is to make a quilt for charity, and when I saw Lynne's post, I jumped on it like a duck on a junebug (that expression is further proof that I am, in fact, becoming my mother who used it all the time).

Lynne at Lily's Quilts is putting together a group of quilters to make quilts for the UK-based organization called Siblings Together. Siblings Together is dedicated to promoting positive contact between siblings who have been separated by care. The contact is generally achieved during holiday camps, and the idea is to set a foundation for continued contact. Further, Siblings Together educates social workers on the importance of sibling family contact.

The organization's goals really spoke to me for a couple of reasons. First, I have 4 siblings (2 sisters and 2 brothers) whom I absolutely adore. Even though I live far away on the other side of the continent from all of them, I truly couldn't imagine my life without them. And second, my niece lost her (twin) sibling when my nephew died about a year and a half ago at age 3½. The quilt I make will be dedicated to our beloved Ben.

Won't you join us? You can make a block or a quilt or a backing or donate fabric or, or, or....! Lots of details here in the Flickr Group.

Have a wonderful weekend!