A quilt for Kyle...

Beki from artsy-crafty babe has a fun cute blog. She is a crafty to all sorts of projects, photography, decorating, cooking, jewelry, knitting, gardening...whew! That is my kind of girl! She makes and sells darling purse patterns through her etsy shop. Cute!

Last week Alex came home from school with a note from his teacher saying that one of his classmates lost everything in a house fire.  Alex was quick to tell me, "mom, he doesn't even have a book sack!".  As a first grader, all this info is a bit difficult to process.

The note went on to say that the school was having a donation drive, but if we had any ideas for the class to do something special for their classmate, that would also be appreciated.

Well you know me, my mind immediately turned to what can I makefor this boy?  What can I do with the kids for this boy?  A quilt seemed like an obvious answer.  A quilt that every kid in the class could contribute to.  As soon as I could, I emailed Alex's teacher with my idea and thankfully she loved it.

The next day I sent to school with Alex some fabric squares that had been ironed onto freezer paper (much easier for little ones to draw on that way) and some fabric markers.  My only instructions were for the kids to draw Kyle a happy picture and sign their name.

Oh my goodness, the pictures I got back were so sweet!  I can't help but smile when I look at them.

This weekend I got busy on the quilt.  My original plan was to border each drawing with a colorful print and back the quilt with a solid gray, but after making block, I decided that was a bit much.  I didn't want to detract from the drawings at all, so I alternated a solid gray border with a print one, then I threw in some white to make it all pop.

Using gray on the front meant that I didn't have enough for a solid back, so that got pieced.  I personally like a pieced back better anyway, so that all worked out.  

I'm so happy with how this turned out!  My quilting is wonky and I machine stitched the binding on entirely, but in this case, done is better than perfect.  Tomorrow I'm sending this quilt to school with Alex to give to Kyle.  I sure hope he likes it!

Mamaka Mills custom memory quilt, for a family...

Mamaka Mills is a recycled fabric and custom memory quilter. She made this darling quilt for a family who lost their 5 year old daughter using her clothing and other fabrics sentimental to them.  You can read more about this family here.  I think this is such a sweet service for families. So special... Be sure to check out Mamaka Mills Blog.

This is a custom memory quilt that I made for a family using lots of recycled clothing and very sentimental fabrics. As you can see in this pic, a lot of the clothing was vintage, belonging to a couple generations...

There were pieces of clothing as well as bits of fabrics from old sofas, curtains and handmade items that were of sentimental value to the family...

I had to first interface the clothing that was knit or too weak to withstand quilting. There were also some old fashioned swimming bloomers (lined with a waterproof plastic) that I had to attach some non woven interfacing to.

I then started to cut the pieces into strips and proceeded to sew!

I then finished the quilt with a double heart pantograph, of their choosing.

The border was done with clothing from their young grand daughter, 

who had passed away the previous year.

On the back of the quilt I used some of their old t shirts that I wanted to keep whole instead of cutting them up into small strips.

I think this quilt came out beautifully and the family was so happy with it when I was done. :)

Live a Colorful Life...

I happened upon Cindy's blog, Live a Colorful Life, about a month ago.  She sells adorable things in Etsy and creates many amazing quilts!  Her quilt, One in Every Color, caught my eye and so I asked if we could feature it, which she kindly agreed!  Here is her story:

Linking at amylouwho

Some quilters love half square triangles, and Rita, who makes phenomenal quilts, highly recommends them for their "therapeutic benefits."

Unlike Crystal, who not only dislikes piecing HSTs, she also dislikes making HSTs. And that's okay, because there are lots of other things she really likes making and her quilts are equally amazing.

I think I fall halfway between the Rita and Crystal. Making this many HSTs can have a tendency to make me really crabby tired, preventing me from calling them therapeutic. In fact, I have occasionally sought temporary solace with a glass of wine. Which in turn makes it really difficult to sew HSTs. So maybe there are other issues to be explored...

Anyway...when they were all done, I was in love with this quilt.

Over a year ago, at quilt camp in 2009, I started making this quilt. It was originally destined to be a baby quilt. Until I realized that each block took nearly a day to make. There are LOTS of HSTs in this quilt.

Jessie was at that quilt camp and threw in her bid as recipient of the HST quilt. Then she added her little happy dance. What else could I do? Her happy dance makes it impossible to say no to her.

I got the pattern from American Patchwork and Quilting in 2009, or late 2008 I think. I actually ordered a kit. The fabric is from an American Jane line.

I changed my mind at the last minute about the binding, and ended up using Pez from the Peas and Carrots line, and doing bias binding. Also not a fan of making bias binding. But in this case it had to be done. And it was worth it.

Saturday was Jessie's bridal shower. I think she is pretty happy with the quilt. It's nearly One in Every Color.

And that made me happy as well.

Thank you Cindy!  Just looking at all the bright colors makes me happy as well!

linking at amylouwho