Fabric Tuesday...Part Three

Welcome to FABRIC TUESDAY part 3

We have really had fun with the linky parties...keep em coming!

Here are Meg's darling house blocks for our August girls. We shipped them right on August 31st. Now we should both be getting our September packages of fabric in the mail any time! Just like Christmas! How fun is that?

Meg is in town I was able to help her a bit with her blocks. I still feel like I have alot to learn, thank goodness both of the people wanted freestyle/wonky houses, or they may have been mad at us...

I love the cute girl in the windows... and the cute owl on the roof...

Meg got bold here and went for the double roof. Super cute huh? It is fun to play with other peoples fabric choices...

On to FABRIC TUESDAY... You know the drill, but here is a refresher...

Link up a recent craft project that uses fabric.

Mention us in your post with either a link or make it easy and add the button to your blog sidebar and you won't have to remember each week. ***You can take either of our buttons on the sidebar.***
Psst...there have been a few not linking back to us,(why no love?!) and we don't want to be mean and delete, but we are going to have to start :(

Follow us, we follow back :) But please comment telling us you did so!

Oh and comment on each other, that's so much more fun right??

Look what Megan and I got...

Okay, this made us giddy. (lots of things make us giddy when we are together and Megan has been in town for over a week, and has over a week more!)  First I apologize for the photos, we have to craft late (due to the miniature humans that live with us and demand our attention) thus, no natural light...  Anywho...

Our first shopping stop was The Material Girls Quilts in South Jordan Utah. We LOVE the owner Nadine. She gave us our start in selling patterns. She told us she would buy them before we even made any! She just gives us confidence boosts all the time. She also gave us the NICEST letter of recommendation to get into Quilt Market... Plus she is super funny and fun to be around.

So we saw this intriguing little brown bag gem in the corner of her shop. I had seen them before but never purchased any because I was scared it would be scraps from the bolts that never sold due to their ugliness. But with Megan there and her encouragement, we decided to go for it. 

When we opened it we were giggling so hard. We were super happy! We want more of them!  Look at all these fun prints! There were only a few prints we didn't like which we will tie in a cute bow and give our Mother for her birthday...so nothing lost there.

There is enough Riley Blake to make a Halloween runner for each of us!

There is probably over 6 yards of fabric in here!  Hopefully you will see some finished projects with these prints in them sometime soon.  Thanks Nadine!

Creative Chicks Collegiate Quilt

We got this cute quilt submission from Emily of Creative Chicks. It made us giggle.  Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks of silly (at the time genius) ideas and laughs at them later!  Their blog is run by three cute sisters and they have a variety of interests and projects ideas, it's a fun blog so check them out!

Twelve years ago when my husband graduated from college I had tons of ambition and minimal quilting knowledge. But, I decided that my husband needed a quilt to celebrate his graduation! I designed a quilt, bought and sewed the fabrics and then put it away to finish after we got "settled" into real life. The more I learned about quilting the more I realized that my original idea was NOT going to work AT ALL. (It was basically a huge applique quilt with iron on lettering.) Plus, in all my graduation excitement I was making it to fit on our queen-size bed! (Like we're going to want to have collegiate themed bedding...The thought of that still makes me laugh!)

My husband had known that I had this unfinished quilt but he never did see it. He wanted to be surprised when it got finished. At least once a year for the past 12 years he has asked when he's going to get his Aggie Quilt. I would just laugh and say "Someday..." Last year when I made this quilt for my sister he really turned up the heat by asking "Are you ever going to finish MY quilt?" I would just smile sweetly and say "Yes, dear! It's on my list."

I had a goal of getting the quilt done in time for Christmas 2009. Since my original idea was no good (and ugly), I've had to come up with a new design. When I came across this quilt I knew I needed to copy it for my husband. It is so fantastic!!

I tried my best to sew it without my husband knowing a thing. I sewed during the day while he was at work and then made sure it was all put away before he got home. Well, life got in the way and I ended up only giving him the unfinished top. (I know, kind of lame...) He was REALLY surprised and excited none the less.

After Christmas I was able to quilt it up and finish it off for him. Now that it's been done for several months I am happy to say that my husband uses his quilt as much as I'd hoped. A few weeks ago I put it in a quilt show. It was gone for about 14 days. He asked me everyday when he was going to get his quilt back! Now that it's back he's a happy man! :)

Quilt Pattern: Plain Spoken from The Modern Quilt Workshop book by Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle

Thank you so much for your submission!  I love this quilt, it is most definitely manly!!  I may have to give it a try for my honey too!  And same colors! :)

Make sure to stop my Creative Chicks and check them out!

The GracieJane Project

Barbara from the GracieJane project is, well, amazing. She's one of those people that you automatically admire for her willingness to give of her time and talents, as well as the initiative to get it all done. I'll let her tell you her story and what she's all about.

I am a fairly new quilter within the last 2 years or so and since starting I have constantly been looking for ways to create things of meaning for others. The GracieJane Project is named for my niece who came into this world at 36 weeks, but only 3lbs 14oz. While she spent a very short time in a neo-natal unit, she was and continues to be a strong and healthy girl who just turned two on August 27th.

As a the mother of a healthy from the start almost 4 year old, and new baby, I can't imagine the fear that must go with having a child in medical distress. It is my hope that The GracieJane Project's mission is to provide a piece of comfort and tenderness in the form of mini quilts to infants staying in the neo-natal intensive care unit and their families during a time of immense stress.

I am really thrilled to be able to share this project with others and maybe even inspire some of you out there to give. I love using modern fabrics, I want these parents and little ones to know that they are not just thought of after the fact with prints that I would not use myself for a gift or for sale. I want them to feel like this is a treasure, just as their little ones are to the world.

What can you do? The hardest part of the project is of course the cost so donations are the only way I can continue. The master pattern uses 2.5"x5" cuts and so charm packs are a perfect donation and one pack can make 2 quilts. I have been backing the quilts with cream coloured flannel so they are the softest possible when coming in contact with these little babes. Batting is always useful and truthfully a jelly roll or a layer cake would be an overwhelming gift. We would also welcome donations of quilts made with the pattern on the site. Blog about us, talk about us, send me words of encouragement! Everything helps.

Our first donation was of 7 quilts on August 31st.  This is the unit we will be donating to.

NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT (NICU) - FOR PATIENTS AND FAMILIES

The NICU at St. Joseph's Health Care is the regional level III NICU program serving Southwestern Ontario. As part of the tertiary care perinatal program, we provide care for critically ill and premature newborns born at our centre and transferred in from the Level I and Level II hospitals throughout the region. The NICU is a 42-bed unit of which 26 beds are designated Level III and 16 beds are designated Level II. We care for 600-700 newborns each year in the NICU with an average length of stay of 17-18 days ( range 0->150 days). Care is provided within a developmentally supportive, family centered framework.

The NICU at St. Joseph's is part of a network of 7 tertiary care NICUs across Ontario. While our primary responsibility is to serve the region of Southwestern Ontario region, at times we are called upon to accept infants from other regions when one or more of their Level III hospitals is closed.
 

 

A huge thank you to Megan and Heather for giving this project the wings that it needs to soar.

Barbara I cannot wait to hear how it all went donating, I bet it was a very touching experience.  As a mother of a sweet baby girl who initially was very sick at birth and sent to the NICU I know that a sweet beautiful quilt at her side would have eased the pain just a little bit more.  Thankfully she is a healthy, stubborn and adorable 3 year old girl today.  I admire the work you're doing and I encourage all of our readers to check out the GracieJane project and donate in any way that you can.