{Tap tap tap} ... Is this thing on?

AHH-CHOOO!

Please excuse me whilst I brush all the cobwebs off of my blog and dust the shelves a bit. Wow, it's been a while, huh? Unfortunately, it's already past my bedtime so I can't chat long, but I wanted to let y'all know I'm still here. And I have a LOT of catching up to do and things to share ...

• Quilting bee blocks for January & February
• DQS8 sent & received
• Pillow Talk Swap 2 sent & received
• Some new embroidery pieces for the Hoop Up swap
• My awesome Bee Imaginative blocks
• Working on Rachel's Pinwheel Sampler Quilt-along
• Exciting updates from the Triangle Modern Quilt Guild
• Other various & sundry projects

In the meantime, I thought I'd share another Kindle holder that I made for certain little ginger monkey ... just because she got a Kindle and I knew she'd want to carry it in style. And because she's super cool and I knew she'd appreciate & enjoy it.

Plus, I finally got to cut into my Lush stash. LOVE it.

And here's a fabric-covered Moleskine that I threw in for good measure:

Have a good weekend, all!

Open Source Embroidery

OK, this is weird.

As many of you know, I have a day job. After hours, I have my crafting pursuits. And rarely do the two meet.

Until a co-worker brought this to my attention.

The Museum of Craft & Folk Art in San Francisco recently hosted an Open Source Embroidery exhibit. (It closed last weekend. Sorry for being late to the party -- I've been sitting on this post for a while.)

From the website:

"Open Source Embroidery includes workshops and exhibitions that investigate how the open source software development model has been incorporated into the language of cultural participation. This major exhibition brings together individual and collectively made artworks by artists, makers, computer programmers and html users that explore the relationship between craft and code through social and digital networks. The works experiment with interdisciplinary approaches to modifying patterns, the DIY culture of hacking and sampling in sound, GPS and mobile technologies.


"The Open Source Embroidery exhibition brings together individual and collectively made artworks by artists, crafts people, computer programmers and html users which explore the relationship between craft and code, physical and digital space. The artworks experiment with interdisciplinary approaches to modifying patterns, the DIY culture of hacking and sampling in sound, GPS and mobile technologies.


"Through participatory networks over 500 people from across the UK, Sweden, USA and Canada have contributed their creative skills to collectively make works in the exhibition. Including the Html Patchwork of 216 patches each stitched with their RGB colour code."


Pretty cool stuff, no? I wish I could have seen the exhibit in person. Were any of you left coasters able to check this out?

Tea Towel Tour ... (pssst!! giveaway inside!)

Whew!  Another jam-packed weekend gone by waaaaaay too quickly.  I hope yours was a good one!  Before moving on to my crafty updates, some news: sadly, the Frogs suffered a devastating 5-0 defeat in their season opener.  But since they don't keep score, I guess that doesn't matter!  Still, aren't they the two cutest frogs you've ever seen?:

While Mrs. Quilt Dad was performing her Assistant Coach-y duties, the little one and I explored the soccer fields.  Here's the little bugger when I tried to take his picture:

What can I say?  The little guy takes after his dad!

A few posts ago, I mentioned that I was dabbling a bit in embroidery.  Here's some progress that I've made on the piece I showed last time:

I've been so excited about working on this stuff that I actually went ahead and joined an embroidery swap!  (For those of you who read my blog, that's really no surprise, is it??  : )  Yes, it seems that the bug has bitten.  It's called the Tea Towel Tour and it's hosted over on Craftster.  I first learned about this swap from my crafty pal Rita, and I was excited to hear that another round was opening up.

The premise is simple ... everyone in the swap is placed into groups of 6.  A small towel (or napkin, or apron, or pillowcase, or whatever) travels from swapper to swapper, collecting a small embroidered design at each stop along the way.

Here's my piece.  I started it with a small picture of an octopus, and then bound it with one of my favorite Flea Market Fancy prints.  The cloth napkin is a really soft sage green and the pattern is by Andrea Zuill, who writes the awesome Badbird blog.

I've asked my fellow swappers to stick to an oceanic / underwater theme.  I'm so excited to see what they come up with!

If you want to follow along with the action or check out the work from the prior tours, visit us in the Flickr group.

I'm a researcher by nature, so when I want to learn something new I tend to read as much about it as possible.  I had some leftover gift card balance at Amazon, so I ordered a couple of books to give me some tips and inspiration:

Wait!  What's that?  It looks like I accidentally added 2 of the "Doodle Stitching" books to my cart!  Rather than sending it back to Amazon, I took it as a sign that it was time for a giveaway.

So, if you are a quilter that's been itching to try your hand at embroidery (like I was) and think this great book would give you the inspiration you need to get started, leave me a comment and you'll be entered to win!  Just tell me how you'd like to use your new embroidery skills, or what kind of project you think you'd like to make.  I'll even throw some extra goodies in with the book.

I'll pick a winner (via the Random Number Generator) on Thursday, September 3rd.  Good luck, and spread the word!!

Pimp my Moleskines

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it before but, even though I am not a trained designer myself, I manage a small team of graphic designers in my "real" job. They've been working their butts off lately in preparation for a big event we have coming up in a few weeks, so I decided yesterday to make something for them to show my appreciation.


They are the ones who first introduced me to Moleskines, so I couldn't think of anything more appropriate than some fabric covered ones! I found the tutorial over on Wise Craft. They were super easy and a great use of scrap fabrics. All you need is some double-sided fusible bond. A GREAT Christmas gift idea, I think!


Also, for all you Amy Butler fans out there, Kelly from I Have A Notion reached out to me this weekend to let me know about a fun contest she has going on over at her blog. YOU could be the designer of the name badge worn by Amy and her whole team at the upcoming quilt market in Houston! Besides the awesome bragging rights, if your design is chosen you will also win some of Amy's patterns, stationary, and other goodies.

You can find all the details here:
Amy Butler Tag Challenge

Best wishes for a great week ahead!

Patisserie Kindle Holder

Happy 4th of July (a day late)!! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, whether you celebrated or not. We laid low this weekend -- had some friends over for a cookout last night, and went over their place for dinner tonight. Mrs. Quilt Dad made the cake pictured above in celebration of the holiday ... from scratch! And it was goooooo-ooood. It's a Barefoot Contessa recipe that she got from The Pioneer Woman. She says that Quilt Dad is her favorite blog, but I know I can't even hope to compete with the force of nature that is The Pioneer Woman.

Oh well ...

On Thursday, we decided on an impromptu overnight trip to our favorite beach spot in North Carolina, Wrightsville Beach. The kids had a blast ... it's always fun to experience the thrill and novelty of staying in a hotel through the eyes of a child.



I also managed to get a bit of sewing done this weekend. I recently bought my wife an Amazon Kindle for her birthday-slash-Mother's Day-slash-anniversary-slash-Christmas (need I go on? It's not cheap!) Of course, I had to make another Bookkeeper from the Moda Bake Shop for her to carry it around in. I love this pattern. Plus, I've got to protect my investment!!


This time I made it using a mini honey bun of "Patisserie" by Fig Tree Quilts. It came out much better than my first two attempts ... and more quickly, too!


I showed it to our friends who were over for dinner last night. One of them asked if I would make one for her to gift to her mother, who also just got a Kindle. I had enough Patisserie left to make an identical one to my wife's ... and whipped it up in about an hour last night. I think I've mastered the Bookkeeper!

P.S. There is no question that Roger is a true champion, but I was really pulling for Andy today.

Giveaway Day TODAY!

{Edited to add: it's now 9:45 PM EST on Sunday 5/31 and I am officially closing the giveaway with 439 comments logged! WOW! I'll be posting the winner shortly ...}

In celebration of Sew Mama Sew's May Giveaway Day, I am happy to give away this homemade bookkeeper / Kindle holder. For those of you who are Kindle-less (like me), I will include a Moleskine that tucks neatly inside for you to record your thoughts, ideas, and inspirations.

I made this nifty little bookkeeper based on a tutorial over at the Moda Bake Shop using a Moda honey bun and some scrap fabrics for the lining and binding. If you haven't checked out the Moda Bake Shop yet, head on over to see all of the amazing projects that you can make from Moda pre-cuts (like their jelly rolls, layer cakes, charm packs and honey buns). You never know what's bakin' over there .... ; )

I will also include some extra goodies, like some fabrics and sewing notions. I haven't pulled them together yet for a picture, but I promise they will be good!

Just leave a comment to this post, and I will leave entries open until midnight EST on Sunday, May 31st. No need to say anything other than "hello", unless you have some great ideas for projects you'd like to see on the Moda Bake Shop. I will select my winner via Random Number Generator sometime on June 1st. International entries are always welcome!!

Good luck!

Mrs. Quilt Dad's Coloring Totes

Tonight, we have a special guest blogger here at Quilt Dad! I'm turning the keyboard over to my beautiful, talented, brilliant and witty wife (heretofore known as "Mrs. Quilt Dad" -- we were going to use Quilt Mom but it seems that it's already taken) to talk about her handmade Christmas gifts! Besides, I thought you could all use a break from my ramblings ... ... ...

Hi, friends!

I've been following John's blog quietly since he first started his venture into the blogging community. As many of you know from his early posts, I was the original avid sewer in our house -- it was I who actually had to convince John to invest in our sewing machine and first became passionate about making homemade gifts (at that time, mostly diaper bags, purses, blankets and sock monkeys!)

Unfortunately, first with being a stay at home mom to three children (all under the age of 2 at one point, mind you) and, more recently, after my return to the workforce this past fall as an instructor at our local community college, many (all?!) of my hobbies got put on the back burner. Just like many of you, I suspect, it's difficult to balance work, hobbies, family time, household chores (and, oh yeah, I'm supposed to be working out, too!)

But after spending months eyeing all the beautiful fabrics John has purchased -- and all the fun, wonderful swaps he has participated in -- I finally got motivated to come back to my sewing machine. First, I had to kick John off the sewing machine (not an easy task -- do you guys know that he is 6'4" and built like a football player??) Then, I had to push aside all the quilting projects stacked on our ironing board (also not an easy task -- what have you guys lured him into??) And finally, I convinced John to do our regular runs to Target and various other Christmas errands with all three of the kids so I could have some peace and quiet to work. I'm heartless, right?!?

I've had this pattern for a coloring tote for a long, long time. I decided it was the perfect Christmas gift for the kids. Purple kitties for our Bevin, pink bunnies for Megan and puppy dogs for Sean, of course. Well, if the truth be known (because I know John would insert an editor's note here if I tried to claim otherwise), it had been so very long since I did any quilting that I asked him to do the initial quilting to save me some time and frustration. He's gotten so good at it (and so fast) that I needed him!

Here are pictures of the final products. They were very easy to make -- even for a rusty old sewer -- and the kids have enjoyed using them.....despite their initial reaction on Christmas Day to say "thank you" and then promptly throw them to the side. But, I'll just chalk that up to toddler Christmas excitement.

I'll keep you posted on future sewing adventures. I still have a quilt for my sister that I need to finish up (promised to her last year for her birthday). All that's left is the binding and I'm so rusty that the thought of it makes me want to bury my head in my students' papers! I'll have to get John to give me a refresher course.

Back to Quilt Dad...

Isn't she the best?? : )

Handmade Gifts Finished

I loaded all of the pictures into this post and titled it on December 23rd with every intention of logging back and and writing something shortly thereafter. Well, here it is on January 5th and I am finally getting around to it.

First off, let me apologize for the lack of blogger etiquette and wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Boxing Day (linked because I had to look it up myself), Happy New Year, and/or best wishes for whatever holiday(s) you celebrate this time of year.

Whew. It feels good to get that out of the way!

Needless to say, it's been a whirlwind couple of weeks. The days and weeks leading up to Christmas were kind of a nightmare, due in no small part to the fact that I bit off a little more than I could chew with making homemade gifts (hence the relief implied by the title of my post!). Pictures of all of the gifts I made are at the bottom of this post. I was literally uploading the pictures as my wife and kids were waiting outside in our packed minivan!

On December 23rd, we set off to Greensboro NC to spend the Christmas holiday with my wife's family. It was a nice visit, and my brand new nephew was baptized on Christmas morning. From there, we drove 12 hours up to New Jersey to stay a night with my aunt, uncle and grandmother. On the 28th, we continued on to New York City where we stayed with my mom in Brooklyn through New Year's. On Friday the 2nd, we made the 13-hour trek back to Raleigh.

We had a nice enough trip and, of course, it was great visiting with family. But we decided that this is the last year that we'll be traveling for Christmas. For starters, the traveling is completely exhausting and, even with 2 weeks off from work, we don't feel like we had much of a break. That's a shame.

And more importantly, it's time that our kids are able to wake up in their own beds on Christmas morning and for us to start making our own traditions. I think we've reached a point where it makes more sense for the grandparents to come to us on Christmas, rather than vice-versa.

So that's my holiday break in a nutshell. Now, on to what you really want to see ... pictures!

First up is a pillow that I made for my SIL. She's in the Air Force and lives in California. On my wife's side of the family, we have a tradition where we secretly pick a name for one another (like a normal Secret Santa), but the twist is that the gift has to either be homemade or you have to do something nice for that person. I decided on this 20" x 20" log cabin pillow:


I love this Simplicity fabric and I've been on a tear with it. I made a deal with Emily to buy some of the scraps from her daughter's quilt. Thanks for the scrap bag, Emily -- I'm getting a lot of mileage out of it!

My favorite is the "words" fabric ... I put "family" at the center of this design.

Another of my SIL's got this pillow as her gift:

It's made from another of my favorite lines: Park Slope by Erin McMorris.

The funny story is, I had a FQ bundle from this line on my birthday / Christmas list, and she (not so subtly) hinted that she's love something made from this line for Christmas. The original intent was to make a quilt but ... yeah, that didn't happen. Actually, I got all of the blocks made, but ran out of time to assemble it. Maybe for her birthday. Or maybe I'll just keep it.

A close-up pic ... I've been on a free-motion bender lately!

Another log cabin Simplicity pillow -- this one was for my mom. She had often commented on how much she likes rectangular pillows and wanted one for her couch. So instead of buying her one, I decided to make it!

Again, free-pieced and free-motion quilted. This one features "family" and "harmony" in the middle squares, with some other words scattered throughout.

Remember my Giveaway Day tote bag? Well, it was one of three. The other two were gifted. This one, made from pink and red Swell fabrics, went to my grandmother.

Next, I made an apron for my aunt -- she's an amazing cook and actually wears aprons ALL THE TIME while cooking, so I know this one will get a lot of use. I got the (free) pattern from the Spool Sewing blog (one of my faves!) and used some cool new Debbie Mumm fabrics from Joann's (50% off before the holidays!).

Here's a close up of the front fabric -- ferns and bugs.

A coordinating plaid for the back:

And finally, I gave my grandmother a quilt for Christmas. I figured if anyone deserves one, it's her. I actually started this quilt in my Beginning Quilting class one year ago this month. I pieced it in the winter, basted it in the spring, quilted it over the summer, and finally bound it before Christmas.

(P.S. Don't look for any close-ups of the binding. I machine-bound it to save time, and it did NOT come out very well. Luckily, I don't think it's very noticeable ... but it was certainly less than ideal).

The fabrics are from the Folklorique line from Fig Tree Quilts. Basic rail fence pattern -- hey, it was my beginner's class!

I like that it's kind of Christmas-y, but doesn't have to be.

And that's it! Thanks for looking at all of my pictures -- I know it was a lot, and I am somehow unable to pick only 1 picture of each project! I hope all of your homemade gifts were received as warmly as mine were.