Long weekends and short deadlines

Hello everyone and Happy Holiday Weekend to you all. I find myself busier this weekend then most due to the little man's Valentines Party on Friday, the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild meeting all day Saturday, swimming and LEGO Movie today, and no rest for this lady with extra days off from school for the President's Day federal holiday and a flex day out of school on Tuesday. Goodness, it's a good thing our annual quilters' retreat is fast approaching because I am going to need three days off after all this!

I have been happily knitting and quilting away since my last post at the beginning of January, completing the second Globetrotting BOM inspired by Venice. I have been to Venice once back in 2002 with my husband, though he was then my boyfriend. We did a month long tour of Europe via train, hitting cities like Paris and London, Amsterdam and Zurich, and ending in Venice and Rome. It was magical and a trip I hope to repeat with my husband and son someday when little man is older and better able to enjoy museums.


I also managed to complete a quilt of my own design for my son's PTO to sell. The funds are for the school so the children do not have to sell magazines or wrapping paper. I called it Hand Burst and will put together a quick tutorial. It's super simple and going to a good cause.


As other projects are completed I will continue to update my FO page. Right now I am thinking I might try to complete at least one quilt a month for all of 2014. Wish me luck and happy holiday to you all!

The first 7 days

At the end of last year I was amazed by how quickly 2013 seemed to pass by. Wasn't it just yesterday we were all doing Scrappy Trip Along quilts and getting our Pay it Forward 2013 lists filled? And now it's 7 days into 2014, that's a whole week!

And what a week it has been. I managed to compete my Japanese X & + quilt, Beautiful Mess, a set of pillowcases, and a few miscellaneous other items I cannot post just yet [they are gift sensitive]. Here are a few images of the quilt and the pillowcases. I used the tutorial from City Stitches for the quilt and the pillowcases are just the regular old one yard pattern.

I hope everyone else had a rocking holiday season and that the new year has started off well for you.

Charley Harper Zippered Pouches

I just finished uploading four Charley Harper Zippered Pouches to the shop.  These zippered pouches are made using 100% organic cotton, a line from Birch Fabrics. The designs are inspired by Charley Harper.

Each pouch is fully lined, uniquely quilted, and soft from added batting. Take a trip over to my Etsy shop to see what is available. Birch does a fantastic job and is one of my favorite fabric manufacturers.

Organize

I am in the process of getting this site organized.  After reading an article that interviewed a number of the quilting community's most prominent bloggers, I decided to clean up this site. I want to just trash all the old posts but that's not fair to my development as a quilter or a blogger. I cannot improve and grow if I do not have a record of where I have been.

As the month progresses, check back for additions to all the pages and posts here. In addition, I am going to be coordinating this blog with my Instagram feed and Facebook page. There does not yet exist a kBear Craftology Facebook page but it is on the list of things I have planned. I am also on Pinterest and Flickr as Ayragon if you want to look me up and follow there as well.

Preparing for August...

...and a month of abstinence. Who, what? That's right, I am going to abstain in August from the following:

• buying fabric [either in a shop or online]
• buying yarn [either in a shop or online]
• buying misc stuff and supplies I do not immediately need [either at Target, Joann's, or wherever]
• buying food that is not on my grocery list
• buying take-out [I will make meals for the entire month]

and if all goes per my plan, I will have less in the kBear Studio by the end of the month and more space for fabric and a new cutting table. That's right, my friends, kBear Crafts Etsy Shop will have fabric to sell in pre-cut bundles and limited by-the-yard bolts in the beginning of October [if all goes according to plan]. I am going to sell Michael Miller, Riley Blake, Westminster/Free Spirit Fabrics, and Cloud9 to start. Within 2014 I want to expand to other manufacturers. That's the big new for this fall.

Too much stuff in here!

For today I have been working on a number of projects. There is now two rows of my brother's Simple T-shirt Quilt completed! He's probably snorting beer through his nose in shock at even the mention of that quilt, let alone photographic proof of progress.

I tried my hand at a t-shirt dress using a neon and gray jersey fabric I've had for a while. It turned out pretty good for a first time, but I was sadly reminded of how much weight I need to lose when fitting the dress before adding sleeves and hemming. So, it's now on a hanger in my closet to remind me to do my daily exercises and to stick to my diet. But here's a look at it so far.

Made a size 6... too bad I'm a 12. Doh!

I finished my July-August swap for FRMQG. It was an "ugly" fabric swap, so we each brought a piece of "ugly" fabric to the July meeting, swapped, and were tasked with making a block out of it. At the August meeting our swap mama, Michelle, will collect the blocks and they will be turned into one great big charity quilt. I am adding some orphan blocks to the one I am turning in for the swap since I am trying to clean out my studio.

It's been so long since I actually last posted that I need to mention a few sort-of housekeeping type things. First, I am on Pinterest now. It's one more thing to suck my time but it is nice to see some of the things my friends are into and it's less work to post a photo and link than it is to Instagram or Facebook.

As for Instagram, I am closing in on 300 followers. I have an idea for something when I get there, a little give-away contest for everyone and a prize for the 300th person. I am very grateful for all the followers I have and really value the correspondence friendships I have made through Instagram, so thank you all for taking an interest in me and the stuff I do.

The last thing on my list to post today is Pay It Forward 2013 progress. I have made one person's item of the 12 on my list... and it's nearly August. Pathetic. I am way off the ball on this one, so here's a little something I am making to send out to one of my recipients, a Lily Bowl made of fabric. The pattern is by Michael Pacey and it's just too pretty. I think I will make these as "Thanks You" gifts for my son's gymnastics instructors and swim instructors. Just beautiful.

That's it for this monstrous post. Tomorrow I want to be just as busy, maybe get some more Simple T-shirt Quilt completed or who knows. I do know that because of the purchasing freeze in August, I may have overindulged a bit this past weekend, so there will be some new items coming via Happy Mail this week. Check the Instagram feed for those pictures and for the 300 Give-Away!

Cheers,
Meg