The wedding quilt is finished!

I've spent nearly every spare hour these past few weeks stitching on this quilt, which I can finally reveal to you! It's an exciting day when a quilt's done, mingled with sore fingers and pride. And I'm really, really happy with this one -- super-snuggly, just the right size for sofa sitting and curling up in style.


I made this quilt as a wedding present for a very dear friend and her husband. It was started many months ago just after they ran away to Italy to get married in a fabulously romantic rush. (A proper elopement.)

I had already decided that red would be the main colour, when she and I went for a shopping spree in Amitie one summer day. She oohed and ahhed as I oh-so-casually unrolled bolts of red fabrics across the table. 'Ohh, this one's nice! What do you think of this one?' Apparently, she didn't suspect a thing: I'd already bought half of the fabrics and had them in my bag. Little did she know that we were choosing the other accents to go with the red and large print floral. Should it be dark blue? Grey? Or even sage green?

I settled on a scheme of red and white with little bits of pale blue. Sky blue, a lovely colour.

And then the sashing: I'd been thinking very dark grey, or that sage green, even maybe a linen or linen blend, but the black with a subtle pattern, well, that just sang.

So, lots of hand quilting in sweet silver perle thread, a backing of black and white check, and a white bird appliqued on the back as a label. Red, red binding. A red, black and white quilt to go with their modern apartment and their big red and black Italian poster. Yay!

I was sewing the last stitches on the bird label today when she arrived. Oops! After the presentation, I had to take it back and set the last few stitches. But that's quilting to deadline!


Faithful to the end. >Toby thinks: Perhaps jumping on the sofa right now would be a BAD idea. Can I have a biscuit instead?<

Whew. Now I can concentrate on trying to get ready to travel halfway around the world. Only 6 more sleeps!

B

Sleepy Sunday

Ribbon that's good enough to nibble...

Sweet stitching, working on a project I can't show you yet (she reads the blog), drinking tea with a lovely friend while kids go wild on an old pogo stick out in the yard. They're popping up and down on the path and they occasionally hit the grass, where the pogo plug takes out a round ball of grass and dirt. Surreptitious looks at us inside, pretending we don't notice as they quietly pat the grass and dirt back into place. Nice kids, her pre-teen and a friend.

I've had a headache all day and it puts me in a dreamy space. Not unpleasant, not really, apart from the ache and the way things sort of -shift- as I look at them. Won't be on the computer for long.

But what I have been doing is astounding me with the beauty of what people create. Look at this.

Illustration by Finnish artist, Hanna Konola - whose quiet little people are deceptively simple.

And this, also by Hanna Konola.


And so many things at the Buy Olympia site - such as

- Papercuts by artist Nikki McClure, who inspires and delights with her intricate and quirky 1930s-looking papercuts of people, trees, and the world.

- Or these gorgeous cards from Jill Bliss and Saelee Oh. How tempting to order up big and have them delivered to my North American address, for happy hopping all the way home with me...

And planning for travel. I've been researching gorgeous crafty destinations in the Seattle area, as it turns out I'll be there for the weekend, the weekend after next.

Hunting online for markets, studios and interesting places. Finding out about neighbourhoods (seeing as I choose the hotel, I'm choosing one somewhere near a good market, right?) And great suggestions would be welcomed! (I've never been there before and so it's a solo craft adventure while Mr Tacc admires aero-planes.) I find a weekend on my own in a new, foreign city inspires me with equal parts anxiety and glee. Excitement at exploring; fear at not knowing how things work and where they are, but mainly concern that I would miss something WONDERFUL, AMAZING, FANTASTIC.

Do you get like that at times, too?

On my desk

I've forgotten what day of the week we do this, but this is a recent picture painted and drawn with a crafty soul in mind.

I wanted to paint it as if the sun was shining through the tree and it was a brisk spring day. The house was in a photograph of -- San Francisco, I think. I look at this and see how far I still have to go -- but a lot of distance covered, too. Halfway towards a goal and walking steady.

Inspiration and some aspiration have been coming from UPPERCASE today. Have an explore. I'll be showing some of my favourites this weekend.

--

Just joining in My creative space for the first time in months! Much more gorgeousness over at Kootoyoo.

Fun for me

I love buying myself presents. Today I wandered to the station and missed my train, so of course I just *had to* go in and explore the lovely shop in the Degraves St Subway, The Cat's Meow.

I saw many things I liked very much, but I'll be wearing my one of these tomorrow. Yay, Friday! Hoorah, pretty crafty clothes.

Tirrah, me luvs!

Toodle pip and what not, this is the Queen.

Hellew, hellew, that's the Royal Queen in the back, doing the Royal Wave.

We have just enjoyed ourselves immensely with the sewing peeps (I mustn't say plebs, so they tell me) at their dainty little shack, which is frightfully marvellous dreamy little place called Sewjourn.

(Hem, hem - whatever happened to simple names like Balmoral, wot? You could have a place called Sewmoral and then they wouldn't do all that silly business with the red wine and cackling over faintly off-colour jokes. Not morally lady-like, we can't help but feel).

Be it as it may, we are reliably informed that what happens at Balmoral - er, Sewjourn - stays at Sewjourn. I shall not pass judgement on the contents of the recycle bin at the end of the weekend

>crash, clank - sound of another gin bottle being chucked onto the pile< -- Whew, it's too exhausting being Queenie. Here's a quick picture show of the weekend's delights. The moral ones, that is. The mornings of looking at the view.
The days of sewing and talking, and the afternoons of messing about.

Bev and Serena: Hey, if we get a picture of our reflection in the window and the mirror ALL at the SAME time, that would be COOL!

Them: Didn't you say you were making tea?!? Come on, where are those hot steaming mugs of fuel for sewing superstars?

Us: ...oh yeah.

The evenings by the fire...

... my, my, I think the censors had to edit out some bal-morality problems with this image for the poor blogless Queen.

And finally, the product of a busy weekend:


And with borders on, resting on the sofa -- oh no, we have to pack up and GO!


What a great weekend, and a lovely, talented bunch of ladies.

Wonderful.