Handmade Happiness

Sometimes there are people that come into your life that are so special, you don't know how to express your love in any way other than making them a quilt.
Of course, I would love to make quilts for everyone I love, and I hope I get to some day.  Like for my grandmothers, and all my aunts.  For my cousins and all their children... maybe one day.
But sometimes, the timing is just right, and you'll find yourself with a person, an event, and just enough time to make them a quilt. 
Little B lives next door. 

She and George get along pretty well and her family has taken us in, treating us as one of their own, inviting us to every family party and making us feel not so alone out here. 

So when the invitation came for her birthday party a few weeks ago, I knew this was the year I'd make her a quilt.
I had some maverick star blocks in my UFO pile so I pulled them out, made a few more, squared them up, and added some sweet sashing.

 A big pink border and some swirly quilting and I had just the quilt I needed.  I won't lie, it was tough to get it pulled together in the 10 days I did.  I stayed up too late a few too many nights and for as happy as I was to quilt, I really think I should sleep more to keep my family happy. 

It didn't end up very big, just big enough for a little girl to cuddle under. 

I'm having fun reworking old UFOs this year.. it's making me look at my stash and quiltmaking in a new light and it's been refreshing.  I also like making smaller quilts (wasn't I complaining about that the last time?), they are just so much more manageable for the amount of time I have now.  Big projects seem so overwhelming and... messy.  I do want to get a new quilt (king size) on our bed before the end of the year, but we'll have to see how our routine changes when the school year begins.  For now, I'll keep piecing hexagons to keep my fingers busy, enjoy the quilts I have around me, and keep daydreaming of all the other things I hope to make someday.

Bee blocks

I'm frantically trying to get caught up on my bee blocks before we head off to Greece at the end of the week.. (wait, I didn't post that "how the hell am I going to fit all this cr** in the suitcase?!?" post yet, did I?)
Here are blocks I finished over the weekend:
A wonky star for Carole..

And a signature block for Maureen.. (I was in the mood for a house block)

And in case you haven't seen already, I'm guest blogging over at A Few Scraps today (talking about EPP, what else?), hop over and say hi!!

Simple squares

I've been working on a pattern (in my sketchbook) with 3.5" squares for nearly a year now.. This week I decided to take George and throw a bunch of them up on the design wall..

 Working on it for 4 days now, and it's starting to turn into what I had imagined.  Cheerful, lots of hidden surprises.  The squares aren't pieced yet, and ever time I leave the sewing room I close my eyes and hope that the wind (or ceiling fan) won't blow them all off the wall. 

I've been pulling fabric from the depths of my stash for this one, all those novelty fabrics that I never use, and as I look around the room, I realized that I have A LOT of fabric.  Not too much, but I really better start making more quilts, like, right now.  How did this happen?  I haven't been intentionally buying for stash in a lonnng time.  Does the fabric multiply while I sleep?  I should start sleeping in the sewing room to stop that from happening..

Embrace what you have

And love where you are in life.
I had a very wonderful day yesterday doing all sorts of things I love and as we drove home (singing along to the radio) I realized there's no place in the world I'd rather be than here, nothing else I need in my life than what I have around me.  I haven't felt so peaceful and satisfied in a long time. 

But there's more.  It's about embracing what you have.  Using the things and fabrics you love.
I had the chance to sew with Victoria for a few hours after our meeting yesterday and I limited myself by only bringing an armload (I was going to say "handful" but that's a lie) of fabrics and working from there.  I didn't know what I was making, I just pulled and cut from these fabrics that I had been hoarding.  fabrics that I feel capture my personality, express where I am now, and really represent me as a quilter.  Some of these precious fabrics have been holed up in the closet for years.. enough.  When I look at the quilts on our beds I think what I love about them is the fabrics.  So the quilts I want to be making have to be made of something I already treasure, treasure so much that I am willing to take time to transform it into something useful, something new to have and hold. 

I don't know where this piece is going, and it probably won't go anywhere for a while (I really need to buckle down with that school work..) but I'm glad I had a chance to spend time, sit and get to know another quilter a little better.  There's an awful lot behind the quilts, behind the blogs, that can't be gained without real interaction.  I have felt puzzled lately about the role the internet is playing in society these days, and on a personal level, the ways in which it has shaped my life over the last 10 years  (college reunion coming up.. is this why I'm all the sudden so reflective?).  Of course it is a way to connect with people-- new friends and old, but so many of those "connections" are just superficial.  It really takes effort to push beyond that, building friendship still takes time.  I think the internet, the sheer vastness of it, enables people to spread themselves too thin.  To try everything, to read every blog.. what are we left with?  To many ideas and a stiff neck.  I feel better since I've pulled back in the last 6 months, selectively reading and participating (in quilt blogland mainly, and other social networking as well).  Trying to find focus that makes my time online more meaningful to me.  It's nice when someone mentions drama in the online quilting community and I'm completely oblivious.  (Yay~ I didn't waste my time with that headache!) but I digress..

When you spend time with people and learn what is important to them, it gives you a lens through which you can take another glance at your own situation.  A guild meeting and a few hours spent with V, and I have gained a new appreciation for all the mundane things that my life is made up of.  Thanks guys.

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

Whew, I made it!  I hate being late to the party, but considering I had to bind this before a proper photo shoot and then write the post, I'm quite proud of myself for getting it all done on the first day of the festival.

 I made this wall hanging for my cousin's dorm room.  She's planning to double major in biomedical engineering and discrete mathematics.  I asked her for a 3-6 letter word that I could sew into a piece of fabric art for her room, I was thinking something cheerful along the lines of "hope" or "dream" so I was a bit surprised when she said "logic" or "entropy".  I told her I'd do "logic" because it has less seams..

I made her pillows in the same colorscheme last year.  It's my grand plan to help her make a matching quilt for her first apartment after graduation (but that's still a ways off..).  I like making mini quilts like this (and this one I made for Shannon) because they go together in no time and provide quick pick-me-ups for the recipient.  It's a nice way for people to know I love them. 

                          

One of the neat things about finishing this project in a rush today was that I found a new space in my house to take good quilt photos!  I just taped this to the closet door in the guest room and poof!  I set the timer and took a bunch of pics of me under the quilt, but my assistant kept moving the camera at the last second.  The "logical" solution?  Grab the kid to get in the photo.  :)

As I was sewing down the binding I thought that maybe I'm getting tired of that particular shade of green.. but then I realised I was wearing it, and it's the same color I painted my living room, so.. I guess subconciously it's just one of those colors that I'll always come back to.  Do you have any colors like that?