From K - Finished Directions Quilt

I recently decided it was high time I started to finish up some of the UFOs that have been slowly piling up in my craft room. My Directions Baby Quilt top seemed like the perfect opportunity to practice some FMQ so I whipped up a back and began stitching.

After a few minutes of deliberation, I started by stitching an orange peel design on the half square triangles to give the quilt some motion, and then later added pebbles along the sashing just for fun.

I used 100% of the materials for this quilt from my stash, and it was a fun challenge.

For the quilt back I pieced a few gender neutral prints together.

When choosing binding, I didn't have enough of any one print to work, so I added three prints that complimented the backing.

This project reminded me how fast and fun making baby quilts are.

I think I need to make a habit of making these types of stash busting, no rules, baby quilts in the future.

 

From A - Heather Ross Rainbow Quilt

Heather Ross' beautiful prints are part of what got me into quilting. Many, many years ago, my local yarn shop brought in a few of her fabrics just to see whether they would sell. My tuition-paying student brain couldn't quite justify buying more than a half yard of two different prints when I didn't even own a sewing machine.

Those two prints got me thinking about sewing and about how much I liked to sew when I was a kid. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that although I loved to knit, I really wanted to be able to sew. When my 25th birthday rolled around, I asked for a sewing machine.

Shortly after that, I bought fabric for the very first quilt I ever finished. It was a whole cloth baby quilt that I made using two prints I bought at the workroom not long after it opened. One of them was a print from Heather's West Hill collection.

 

The second quilt I started with my brand new machine was based entirely around the pink mermaid print in Heather's Mendocino collection. When I finally connected the dots and realized that all of these great prints were by the same woman, she had stopped releasing quilting cottons and I was again perplexed at how to incorporate her work into my sewing.

You can imagine how excited I was to hear of her Briar Rose collection and of the recent reprint of her Far Far Away 2 collection. With a few more years of quilting experience under my belt, I stocked up on prints from both collections with a half yard bundle of each and decided to combine them into my perfect quilt. A rainbow tribute to Heather's amazing work (super lame but I'm sentimental like that) using Rae's Rainbow Quilt pattern as my jumping off point.

Last week, I finished cutting up all of my fabrics and arranged them in colour order.

I started piecing them all together last weekend and I can say that I am already head-over-heels in love with this quilt.

The simple construction really lets the amazing hand-drawn quality of these prints shine.

These collections were made for each other. There is still lots to go on this quilt but it is coming together so quickly since I just can't get enough of this one.

If you're looking for me this weekend, I'll be sitting at my machine.

From K - Travelux Pearl Update (1st Year Reno)

Last April, I shared a project that my husband and I were about to start - a full overhaul reno of a 1972 Travelux camper, which we lovingly dubbed, our Travelux Pearl.

Most of our friends thought we were crazy. We found an incredibly rare vintage camper in amazing shape, and then decided to gut it. Maybe we were a bit extreme, but we decided early on that we wanted something truly our own, and after Year 1 of renovation, I think we are well on our way!

Since camping season is over for us this summer (cooler weather and work commitments are taking over), I thought it was time I share some before and after (year one reno) photos.

Front Banquet - Before

Front Banquet - After Year One of a Renovation

Kitchen - Before

Kitchen - After Year One of a Renovation

Kitchen with Wardrobe - Before

Kitchen with Wardrobe - After Year One of a Renovation

Sofa Bed - Before

Sofa Bed - After Year One of a Renovation

Washroom - Before

Washroom - After Year One of a Renovation

Some of the highlights from Year 1 of renovations:

• Walnut cabinetry (with plexiglass upper sliding doors);
  
• Solid hickory floors and laminate bathroom floor;
• Removed the shower stall and replaced with a wardrobe;
• New countertops and backsplash;
• New high-efficiency LED potlights;
• New upholstery;
• New curtains and throw pillows (not shown);
• New plumbing, holding tanks, tap sets, and water tank gauges;
• New thermostat, switch plates, and furnace grates;
• Painted window frames; and
• Removed old cracked wallpaper.

We still have some work to complete, and are hoping to get most of it done next spring before we roll out to the mountains next summer.

Some of the remaining items on our renovation list include:

• Polish and fix-up exterior;
• Complete kitchen drawer fronts;
• Complete bathroom cabinetry;
• Build cabinet doors for the overhead storage in the end caps;
• Build and install a folding bathroom door;
• Build a custom solid wood table;
• Cover fridge with stainless steel;
• Complete final upholstery

We had such a great time glamping this year. I can't wait for next spring when we can wrap up more renos and hit the road again.

From A - Finished Carnival Quilt

More than two years after it began, I can finally say that this quilt is finished. Most of that time was spent debating how I wanted to quilt this one. In the end, I kept things pretty simple by stitching in the ditch around each block and the first border before adding a simple but sort of fancy border that I can only describe as marquis.

I marked the border by tracing around a kitchen pot lid that happened to be the right size with my trusty blue chaco liner. It actually worked out pretty great and created beautiful smooth curved lines that I would never have been able to manage freehand.

I am especially pleased with how the border quilting worked out in the corners, creating smooth pointy bits that didn't interrupt the flow in the border.

Although I was originally planning something a little fancier for the main panel in the quilt, I'm glad I kept it simple. I think that the simple quilting creates a sense of calm that works perfectly with the overall feel of this quilt.

I backed the quilt using one of the clothesline prints from the same collection that I absolutely love. It was a little too narrow to get the job done so I added a leftover strip of AMH voile. It is so soft. Definitely adding "back a quilt in voile" to the ol' quilty bucket list at some point.

I of course bound in orange plaid since I am powerless in the face of plaid. A pretty big part of me wishes I could bind every quilt in plaid but until someone releases a collection of plaid fabric in every colour, I'm going to have to restrain myself.

Final Quilt Details:

• Quilt Name: Carnival Quilt
• Finished Size: Lap size (a.k.a. 43" x 51")
• Fabric: Various prints from Lucy's Crab Shack by Sweetwater and some Kona White
• Pattern: Carnival Quilt by Jaybird Quilts
• Quilting: Stitch in the ditch with fancy border 

My art director came along for the photo shoot and seemed pretty pleased with how this one turned out. And with that, another baby quilt bites the metaphorical dust. Only 80-billion more to go!

Happy weekend friends. Hope it's a good one!

From A - WIP Wednesday

Finally back from my epic 5-week vacation/delayed honeymoon to Australia and New Zealand, I was so excited to be reunited with my sewing machine that I managed to cover the house in fabric and WIPs in about 2 days. While I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things at home (and get caught up with all of the glamorous things like laundry and housework), I thought I'd share a quick looksie.

On my ironing board: A mix of prints from Heather Ross' Briar Rose and Far Far Away 2 collections that I can't wait to cut up.

On my cutting table: Various Lotus Pond fabrics all cut up and ready to sew into yet another baby quilt.

In my machine: A long standing WIP that I'm trying to finish off.

It's good to be back and hopefully I'll have some meaningful progress to share soon! Linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

From K - 241 Tote

During my last modern quilt guild meeting, I stumbled across some new woven Lecien prints in my LQS that I immediately swooned over. Without much deliberation, I decided I suddenly neeeeeeeded some of it in my life.

Enter Noodlehead's 241 Tote (and my new love!).

While searching for a good pairing for my bag, I kept coming back to a print from Sarah Watson's new line Arcadia that I just adore. Herb Garden in Multi, - I might need this print in an obscene amount of yardage.

With some help from great quilty friends (ie. enablers), I chose two Sarah Watson Arcadian prints for my primary and lining fabric, as well as two Lecien wovens for side panels and straps.

Noodlehead's pattern is so extremely well written and easy to follow, I would recommend it to even the most novice bag maker. I love the finished size, and how easy it is to customize. I am already narrowing options down for a second 241!

Also the lining has little mushrooms. I mean how can it get better than that?! So much whimsy, and I'm lovin' it.

From K - Around The World Blog Hop

Last week Julia of Jada's Quilting Adventures nominated us to host the Around the World Blog Hop, so today I'm going to share a bit more about my current work in progress (while Amanda finishes up her travels down in Australia - lucky lady!).

 

For anyone who is visiting our little corner of the blogisphere for the first time, we are cousins (Kelsey and Amanda) living in different cities (Alberta Canada and California USA), who blog about quilting, sewing, knitting and travel. We have explained a bit about ourselves on our blog before - here is a link for those of you who want to know more about us and our crafting journey.

Now why don't we get to the good stuff and jump right into the questions!

1. How does my quilting process work?

Everyone has their own process, but for me, it always come down to fabric selection. I often have an idea of a pattern or design that I want to make, but it will never ever start until I have settled on the bulk of the necessary fabric to use.

I recently pull a selection of fabrics from my stash (dusty lime, sunshine yellow, gold and mustard) for a baby quilt I was planning, only to realize the next day that it was destined to be a modern maples quilt instead. I added some orange, grape, plum and brown, then tossed in some neutrals, and a new quilt plan was born.

2. What am I working on?

I'm a restless crafter, always needing a few options to choose from. Over the past few years I have learned that I do better with a few rules: a) limit my UFO and WiPs to 3 quilts, 2 knits, 1 bag/garment at any given time, and b) some form of deadline is a must, even if it's often self imposed.

Today I thought I'd share some progress shots of how this fabric pull is sewing up and taking shape.

You might have noticed that when I cut my fabric, a few new fabrics were added to the roster, and a few prints fell off. While I like making an initial pull, I do tend to tweak and refine as I go along. Even the most well curated fabric selections need a little help sometimes so don't hold yourself back if you're second guessing your choices.

 

We chose to bend the rules a bit on this one by deciding not to nominate any one blogger specifically, rather we would encourage anyone to jump on this blog hop who wants to participate. If you decide to join in, please send us the link so we can follow along!