Buntings!

Here's another preview of some of the items I'll have for sale this Saturday at Barton Open School's Handmade Art from the Heart event. Bunting banners!

Owls

Rainbow hearts

Guitars

Pinky flowers

Sock monkeys

Sweets

Have you noticed that bunting banners are everywhere? I'm guessing this is the year of the bunting - especially on Etsy.  Does this mean the year of the cassette tape is over? And is it safe to assume that the year of the owl is long over? Those of you who spend any time in the crafting world will know what I'm talking about. I can only hope that a few people (like me) still like owls because I have lots of owl fabrics in my stash....

Are you ready for V-Day?

Hey friends, if you're a local I hope you'll come to my next sale on February 12th at my sons' school. It's a fundraiser for Barton's after school tutoring program. My 2nd grade son's teacher organized this event. She's a sewer (sewist?), too. Dawn makes cool yoga bags, snack bags, super hero capes and a million other things. But this is no two woman show! There are 37 crafty vendors at this sale, plus live music, dance, and food (including chocolate!). Come make a day of it. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

I've been sewing like a mad fool for the last month. I've made lots of bunting banners, zipper pouches, tote bags, handy dandy cloth napkins for kids, a handful of aprons, plus mini quilts and throw quilts. See, I really have been busy!

Here's one of the many zipper pouches I'll have for sale on Saturday.  I'll share more photos as the week progresses (assuming we ever get natural light around here again).

See you there!

What's black and white and fun all over?

Are you a quilter living in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) area? Have you heard about the Minneapolis Modern Quilt Guild?  We're an exciting bunch and we're always happy to get new members. Our group completed a polka dot project last year, we did some philanthropic sewing around the holidays, and now we've got a fresh challenge for Spring 2011. You can participate even if you can't make it to our next meeting!


Here are the details:

SWAP
Start with two (or more) fat quarters that "read" BLACK, WHITE or GRAY. Print should be in these colors, too. No solids, please.

Wash fabrics.

Cut into strips that are 3 inches wide/ 20 inches long. You should end up with 5-6 strips per fat quarter.

We are swapping 10 strips - 5 from two fabrics. If you submit more, you may duplicate fabrics. (Each swapper will use at least two different fat quarters!) - You will get the same number of strips that you swap.

The swap will happen at the February 17th meeting. 

CHALLENGE
Once you have received your swapped strips, add one additional SOLID fabric to finish the "top" of your project. (You may add others for your backing and binding!)


Bring your finished product to the May Minneapolis Modern Quilt Guild meeting.

Can't make it to our next meeting but still want to participate? Send an e-mail to Elise at elisepeters@mac.com and she will send you her mailing address. Send your fabrics strips and a return envelope with postage to her before Tuesday, February 15th (packages must be received by that date).


Now I'm off to raid my stash in search of black, white, or gray prints. I'll share my picks soon. In the meantime, check out the blogs of some of my fellow Minneapolis Modern Quilt Guild-ers, Badlands Quilts, Sewtropolis, and CraftyMSP.


Happy crafting!

Merry Fibers

I never revealed my finished Tufted Tweets mini quilt. Do you want to see it? Drum roll please....

I added a hanging sleeve to this one so it can be used as a wall hanging or a doll quilt. This mini quilt and the others are now or will soon be available on my Etsy shop.

The other thing I've been working on lately is sewing bags. I used to make and sell many bags, but ever since my third child arrived it's felt more like a task than a pleasure. Here are the first bags I've made since July.  Believe it or not, I'm anxious to get started on a few more! The owl and bird bag have both been purchased but the little acorn bag and the bear bag are still available.

Finally, for those of you who live in the Twin Cities, I just took a bunch of children's napkin sets over to The Linden Tree in Minneapolis.

You'll also see two of my lap/toddler quilts at The Linden Tree. Remember these?

Please check out the store if you're in the neighborhood. Melissa, the owner, carries lots of fabric and beautiful handmade items by local artists and crafters.

Wishing you very happy holidays,

-Annik

Winter Wonderland or Siberian Labor Camp?

I had big plans for the weekend. My quilts and napkins were for sale at a holiday boutique.  I was hoping to stop in at the monthly Quilt-in to do some hand sewing. Bags were cut out and ready to sew.  Mother Nature had other ideas, though. Namely, a massive snow storm that left 17.2" of snow on the ground.

High winds caused drifting and packed the snow which made it very hard to clear off sidewalks and driveways - let alone streets.  Our city was brought to a standstill. Cars were stuck everywhere. Some people just gave up and left their vehicles in the middle of the street!

It took over an hour for this guy to get his car out of the middle of the street. He parked it in the wrong direction and left it. One of many.

I bet I shoveled for at least 4 hours this weekend plus about another 2-3 hours for my husband. The sad thing is, we're still not done as the mini van remains covered.

The kids had a blast playing outside, though. And now our backyard (which was previously flat as a pancake) has multiple sledding hills!  And I must admit that I enjoyed helping people push their cars out of our snow-packed intersection.

School was canceled today which never happens in Minneapolis/Minnesota, especially for a storm that stopped on Saturday night. Maybe I'll put the kids to work shoveling...

The Evolution of a Quilt

The evolution of a quilt in photos.

Started out as a wee bundle of fabric

Big print = big blocks

A sashing we will go, a sashing we will go...

The binding makes the quilt

My baby is all grown up

Mini Quilts Revealed

How was your Thanksgiving weekend? Did you get lots of sewing and crafting done?

We loaded up the mini van (despite the promise of an ice storm which made for slow and scary travel) and headed to Nebraska to visit the in laws for Turkey Day.  The kids love seeing their many aunts and uncles and cousins. I love having so many helping hands. It was a WARM and relaxing weekend. My lovely sister in law even helped me with my holiday sewing. Score!

During those many hours of football I managed to finish hand sewing the binding on the 4 finished mini quilts. Ready for the reveal?? Notice how my model (my oldest son, Alex) starts out enthusiastic but quickly becomes bored with his duties.

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While in Lincoln, I checked out the famous Cosmic Cow quilt shop. Is it really famous? Not sure, but every time I'm in Nebraska somebody tells me I need to check it out. So, I finally took the pilgrimage and Holy Cow - what a shop. I've never seen such a small space so packed with fabric but also so amazingly organized. Why didn't I take photos?? I was too busy having heart palpitations, complete with tunnel vision. I bought a bunch of Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope.  Photo to come.

FYI: my mini quilts will be for sale next Friday and Saturday at the Art on Garfield holiday boutique.