Friday Finish: Christmas Quilts

My grandchildren love having Christmas blankets through the holidays. Years ago I made several out of the same pattern, Just Can't Cut It (available here). It's a super easy pattern, goes together quickly and is perfect for those larger scale prints that you don't want to chop into tiny pieces.

Charlotte and Levi each already have a Christmas quilt, so this was the year to get Gabe and Ella covered up.

I had started the blocks for Gabe's quilt last year, and then time got away from me. This year I was able to finish his, and in the space of a couple hours one Sunday afternoon, chose the fabric and completed Ella's quilt too.

Gabe's quilt is mostly red and green, but I didn't have enough of any single print for the border, so it was fun to make a scrappy border.

Years ago, probably over ten years actually, I purchased 3 1/2 yards of the cutest Christmas fabric and I have been waiting, and waiting, for the perfect project to use it. Gabe is already quite an artist. He loves drawing, and I knew this was just the right backing as it looks hand drawn.

Ella loves pink, so I gathered all the pink Christmas fabric I could find. Cute nutcracker fabric and gingerbread houses seemed like the perfect choices. I used a couple of non-traditional fabrics in her--the cherries, which included some chocolate covered cherries, and also some hoarded Sandi Henderson Henna Garden in the red and pink colorway. Because all the sweetness needing a little toning down, I chose brown for the inner border, just like a ribbon of chocolate.

These two were beautifully quilted by Darby, with super speedy turnaround time.

I had a hard time finding a good place to photograph them, and the lighting was not ideal, but I was anxious to deliver the quilts.

I hope these quilts keep them warm and remind them each of how loved they are.

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, TGIFF, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and Fort Worth Fabric Studio.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Name Game (The Pretty in Pink Special Edition): Pink Suede Shoe

I've been waiting for this edition for a long time, so I'm very excited to have the colorful person behind Pink Suede Shoe here today.

I first stumbled across Erika's blog about four years ago and became an instant fan. While she no longer writes her blog (check it out anyway because there are some great tutorials there), her instagram feed is full of the most beautiful pictures. If you aren't already following her, run over there right now (@pinksuedeshoe)!!

She loves color (especially PINK) and donuts! Her Saturday morning pictures of donuts always make me SO hungry.

And Erika sent me lots of pictures to share. So let's get started.

How did you choose the name, Pink Suede Shoe?

Well, when my daughter was about 6 months old I was just coming out of the new mom funk. I wanted something that I could do to keep me from turning into a person I didn't recognize. I felt like being a mom was taking over my whole personality, and I felt like I was losing myself. I needed something, ANYTHING, to remind me of who I am, what I love, and what I am capable of outside of my role as a mother. I decided to start a blog.  It was National Pink Day, June 23, 2009. My sister and I were throwing around ideas and checking url's to see what was available. I knew I wanted it to have pink in there somewhere, and she came up with pinksuedeshoe. I bought the URL that day and started my blog. 

For a few years I had a new blog post everyday, but it has been nearly 4 years since I updated my blog at all. Instagram killed it. I'm ok with that. I like the IG format of short captions with photos. I've been on IG for over 5 years and it's a great outlet for me to share what I am working on without spending too much time writing posts, or feeling the pressure to keep up with the  demands that blogging and reading blogs can bring. 

Were there any other names you considered, and if so, can you share them with us?

I don't remember any other specific names I had considered at the time. I've considered changing my IG name several times, but never found the perfect one that was available both as a URL and an Instagram account. Since I don't use my real name ever on the internet, it's been tricky to try and find something that represents me, is unique, and of course is available in the format I want. Some of the names that have been on that list are MakeItPink, PinkOrPie and MyFriendsCallMePink. But for one reason or another I have never made the switch. 

Now that you are known as Pink Suede Shoe, are you happy with it, or do you wish you could change it to something else?

For 7 years I've had the name pinksuedeshoe. And I'm mostly happy with it. It could of course change at anytime. I am not in love with it, but it's a good place holder until I find another name. I have a new project in the works, and if all goes as planned I could have a new name and website and Instagram before the end of the year. Of course, I have said that for a lot of years. But hey, maybe this is the one! 

NOTE: Since this post was originally written, Erika has a new venture called Sew State University, with website and patterns coming soon. Also, they have some great t-shirts available already. You can get more information at @sewstateuniversity.

Thanks for playing along this week, Erika!

Friday Finish

Last week I attended a two-day workshop at my favorite local quilt shop, Authorized Vac and Sew. The instructors were Latifah Saafir, co-founder of the Modern Quilt Guild, and Jenn Rossotti, who lives about 30 minutes away from me.

I had just returned from being on vacation for two weeks, and the thought of trying to gather supplies and choose fabrics for the projects seemed a bit overwhelming. And then I got a reminder call from the store--the only thing I needed to bring was something to snip threads. What??

In addition, it included lunch and snacks.

My first session was with Jenn, who taught "quilt as you go" hexies using the Accuquilt. If you follow Jenn on Instagram (and you should, @jennrossotti), you have probably seen both of these. I love the method, which involves cutting a smaller hexie and same-sized piece of batting, glue basting them together, then centering them on a larger hexie, folding over the excess and stitching. Then you can either sew your hexies together by hand or on the machine using a specialty stitch. Jenn had lots of great hints. I'm waiting for the arrival of Alison Glass's latest line because I think these would look amazing in something BRIGHT!

The next day I was in Latifah's class.

We each had a machine that did machine embroidery, and for the first hour we watched as the machine did all the work.

We could choose one of three words for our pillow: love, peace or hope.

We each had a little kit of Latifah's newest fabric line called Grafic, which is based on urban images. It's a very cool fabric line and I might have done a little shopping later in the afternoon and purchased a fat quarter set of the entire line.

After the embroidery was done, we made a strip of flying geese, sewed the top together and did organic grid quilting. I love the way it turned out.

Latifah even autographed the back of the pillow.

It was lots of fun. And I finished something!

I'm looking forward to more events like this at AVS. They are expanding their store and it's going to be very bright and modern. This is what you will see when you step inside.

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, TGIFF, Fort Worth Fabric Studio and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Name Game (The Pretty in Pink Special Edition): Pink Penguin

After a detour into a travelogue, we return to our regularly scheduled program of quilting and creating.

October is associated with an emphasis on breast cancer awareness, and along with that, the color pink is often associated with breast cancer awareness.  When I revived my Name Game series awhile back, I had planned ahead to feature blogs with the word "pink" in them during the month of October, and I'm thrilled with the three people who will be featured in the Pretty in Pink series this month.

First up is Ayumi Takahashi from Pink Penguin. I have been a fan of Ayumi's work for years.

I would love meet Ayumi in person. I adore every single thing she designs, her patterns as well as her fabric. I'm glad I had the foresight to hoard her hard-to-find line, Lighthearted, and I'm sure I could sell it for a pretty penny. But of course I'm completely unwilling to do that as I'm pretty smitten with it.

So while I have not met Ayumi in person, I feel fortunate to have the connection of being in a collaborative book with her, Make It, Take It, by Krista Hennebury. (That great tote on the cover was designed by Ayumi--it's a really fun project.)

Ayumi has also written her own book, Patchwork Please! with many wonderful projects in it. Highly recommended!

Before you read the answers to how Ayumi chose the name for her blog, I want to first show you a picture of the quilt I made for our granddaughter, Ella (with help from friends in two bees I belong to).

In her book, Ayumi has a block called "Books for Baby," which always remind me of the Golden Books I grew up with.

Even though I still have to add the binding to the quilt, Ella has enjoyed looking at all the "books" in her quilt. I'm sure it will be a special quilt that she will enjoy for a long time.

Ayumi, how did you choose the name for your blog?

Back when I started blogging (in a different blog) for the very first time, my husband who was my boyfriend then was frustrated with the amount of time I spend on my laptop doing some 'blogging stuff.'  He once made fun of me, saying 'You must be writing a random comment like 'I like pink penguins too!'" This cracked me up! I knew Pink Penguin has to be a title for my new blog! And I certainly love the color pink and penguins and wish pink penguins existed! ;)

Were there any other names you considered, and can you share them with us?

Hmmm.. I didn't think of any other names. 

Now that you are known by Pink Penguin, are you happy with it or do you wish you could  change it to something else?

I am happy with it. I think the sound of Pink Penguin gives some whimsical, lighthearted feeling, the way I feel when I create something and I hope it does for others too ;)

Thanks for being here today, Ayumi. Whimsical and lighthearted are exactly the words I would choose to describe you. 

Ayumi is so creative and yet such a humble person, which comes across in everything she does.

If you haven't had the opportunity to check out her blog, I hope you will take the time to get to know her. Besides her creations, you won't want to miss pictures of her adorable children. 

I hope you come back next week to see the second installment of the Pretty in Pink series here on The Name Game.