2011 Swaps!

Recently the Portland Modern Quilt Guild did a potholder swap with the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild. I showed the potholder that I made for my recipient Kristin back here. Below is the potholder I received in return from Kathy Hurley. I really love the quilting and the big grommet! 

At our December meeting we had our holiday gift swap. My recipient was Ale. I made her a ticker tape tote bag which I completely forgot to take a photo of. I received this COMPLETELY AWESOME table runner, zipper pouch, scrap bin and pin cushion from Cathy. She really knows my style. She knew that I loved to add ruffles to my quilts and put that super sweet little ruffle on the pin cushion for me. This table runner is PERFECT for my house. It will spend a long time on my table.

Thank you so much swap partners!

Beer-vent Calendar 2011

For the discriminating beer geek, no amount of craft beer awesomeness is too much. Following up last year's Twelve Days of Beer-mas I felt I needed to outdo myself.  I'm still not sure that putting this together and surprising the Mr. Craft wasn't more fun than him receiving it. I am happy to say I was able to enjoy a lot of this gift with him. I put together 24 beers for the calendar and then a bonus three beers for Christmas day opening. 

The back row

The front row

The list in order of days:

1. Dogfish Head Chickory Stout

2. Great Divide Brewing Hibernation Ale

3. Stone Vertical Epic 11.11.11

4. Fire Mountain Brewhouse Hangman Winterfest

5. Hub Abominable Winter Ale

6. Golden Valley Brewing Tannenbomb

7. Ninkasi Imperiale Stout

8. Dick's Double Diamond Winter Ale

9. Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws

10. Oakshire Brewing Overcast Espresso Stout

11. Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale Brown Shugga' Stout Substitute

12. Avery Brewing Old Jubilation Ale

13. Seven Brides Becky's Black Cat Porter

14. Firestone Velvet Merlin Oatmeal Stout

15. Oakshire Ill Tempered Gnome

16. Lost Coast Brewery Winterbrown

17. Heater Allen Sandy Paws Baltic Porter

18. Lompoc C-Sons Greetings

19. Bruery/Elysian/Stone La Citrueille Celeste de Citracodo

20. Laurelwood Gearhead

21. Anchor Brewing Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

22. Ft. George Brewing North V

23. Southern Tier Jahva

24. Shelton Brothers Lump of Coal Dark Holiday Stout

And on the 25th day:

Avery Brewing The Czar

Russian River Brewing Co. Pliny the Elder

Deschutes Brewing The Stoic

A little note: If you plan to make one of these for your beer geek you might want to put the days in order from top to bottom. When opening these some of the top days fell into the holes created by the lower ones that had already been cleared. Next year: beer tree? We shall see! 

I call her The Trophy Wife

I had the amazing pleasure of being able to participate in a Secret Santa exchange with my sewing circle gals, the Yams. This bag was designed especially for Heather, occasionally affectionately known as The Trophy Wife.

I perfected the pattern through many a trial and error and these two were created for my sisters-in-law for Christmas gifts. Mine is on the cutting table now and I can't wait to have it finished!

    

Look for the pattern coming in March!

Completely unplanned, I was also Heather's Secret Santa recipient. She made me a whole boatload of awesome goodies that I'll post about soon. Thank you Heather! It was THE MOST FUN being your partner :)

Behind the Scenes of a Photoshoot

Peacock Lane Snowflake Petal Pillows featured on Sew, Mama, Sew!

Today I have a little tutorial featured on the Sew, Mama, Sew! blog using the AccuQuilt GO! Baby Fabric Cutter. Pop on over there to check out the tutorial and find out more about how I use fabric cutters in my work.

I thought it would be fun to show you here what it really looks like when I take pictures at my house.

Here is the final photo:



And here is what really happened. Actually, there were about a dozen that I deleted right after taking them with a streak running through the middle of the photo or a tail whisping past the edge.

"Oh, and what's that? Petals? Do they move? Do they FLY off the table when I hit them like THIS!? Yep, they sure do. What fun. Oh, did you put me down on the floor so I could run back up at them faster like THIS? Thanks for the help!" (Tulip)

*sigh* (me)

Who, me? What? I'm just sitting here, out of frame, minding my own business.

Beach Weekend Sewing

A few weeks ago I had the awesome pleasure of being able to hit the beach with a few of my Yams. My first project was to do some pattern testing for Elizabeth. This is the Perfect Zip Bags pattern. Elizabeth supplied me with a sweet little pack of fabrics to work with and away I went. Afterwards I played photographer in the yard of our getaway house.


My Perfect Zip Bags



Perfect Zip Bags by Monica, Gabrien and mine

Perfect Zip Bags by Monica

Gabrien also made a sweet little tote bag from a pattern designed by Monica for Better Homes and Gardens. You can find the pattern on their All People Quilt site. I love this sweet little pic I took! The tote is made with Lotta Jansdotter's new line, Echo.

Happy Sewing!

Kansas City, Here She Comes!

Kansas City / Portland - Modern Quilt Guild Pot Holder Swap!

Dear swap partner, I hope you like it.
I sort of love it.
It's wonky and modern and I am in love with the quilting.
I want to make a whole quilt just like it now.
And it matches my vintage dishes perfectly.

*sigh*

Thankful.

This is the Mr. Craft. He's the love of my life. Last month he took me on a little weekend away for my birthday. Our first time away without the children or friends in years. It was absolutely perfect.

I jotted this down while relaxing in the cabin:

"On the huge, snuggly sofa in a tiny, imperfect (and yet SO PERFECT) cabin along Hackett Creek across the road from Sandy River a few miles up the base of Mt. Hood, I sit humbled and thankful.

In the twelve hours we've been away from Portland and nestled into our lodgings under the giant conifers I've already had the pleasure of contemplating the joys of parenting and teaching my children, the love of my marriage, the amazing warmth and safety of my friendships, the nurturing of my creativity and all while snuggled on a sofa, feeding cheese to baby Salmon in the stream, exploring the wooden path to the ridge, gazing out the window at the woodlands, sitting in the lodge-style grill up the road or listening to the squirrels throw nuts at the roof in the early morning hours.

I could not name that many thoughts or sights in the past blur of a normal month at home.

I've thought not just of the smooth, amazing moments in those things, but of the struggles and the defeats and the visceral joy of the accomplishments. If we didn't fall, we'd never know what it feels like to get up and stand on our own two feet, accomplished. If I never crashed and burned, I'd not know healing. If my months weren't blurs, I'd not know the feeling of quiet reflection.

I am but an infinitely small piece of an infinitely huge space. But I feel like a giant. And I am thankful. "