mr. monkeysuit

popping in

I'm just popping in to say hello. Hello. I landed a fun but quick turn around commission through Etsy so I am super busy with that. These photos have absolutely nothing to do with the commission just a little something I am working on...or at least I was, everything has been shelved for the next few days.

I am loving this color combination right now. Something about the cool sea shore aqua combined with that slice of fresh orange just hits all the right notes with me. Is it shouting summer to you too?

Hope you are all having a good one.

one more quilt and then I'm out of here.

Just look at that loose thread. Boy, is that going to drive me nuts.

Crib size bird quilt. Lots of different bird fabrics, including some of my favorite vintage fabric that probably deserves a post of its own. Concentric square quilting, duh? I really am so unoriginal. Backed in the same fabric as the borders in the squares. And even the binding has little birds on it.

So that's me for the week. We are heading off to Cape Ann for a few days at the beach. Floyd is wicked excited about it. He keeps saying it's 'awesome'...are we really there again already? Will the 80's never release their steely grip?

So wish us luck on our long, long drive and I'll be back later next week.

Awesome.

vintage sheets quilt

A while back I was lucky enough to meet Vicki from Hollyhocks and sweet as she is she gave me a gift which included some vintage sheets, handily cut into 7" squares. But ahh what to do with them?

I alternated the sheet squares with some pink polka dot fabric. I didn't want to use anything to busy that would distract from the gorgeousness of the sheets.

I backed the quilt with some larger polka dot fabric. Some similar fabric found its way into this lovely pink creation. Must be something in the air.

I used a cute Liberty fan print fabric for the border. I know I have to say it every time but, I LOVE LIBERTY FABRICS. There is nothing like them.

The quilt measures 38" x 74". I used the Denyse Schmidt Quilts book to look up the measurements but clearly I was not giving the task my full attention. They give two measurements, one for the size of the mattress and one for the size the quilt should be. No prizes for guessing which one I used. So instead of being a proper twin size i.e. 64" x 87", this is a small twin quilt....or a lap quilt.....or whatever.

The thing is I used all but three of the squares that Vicki gave me so if I had made it any bigger I would have run out of squares. Synergy, right folks?

This was my first time using a free motion stitch on a bigger piece. I used what I think is referred to as a meandering stitch. Andy calls it a wibbly wobbly stitch. Same thing. I had a little trouble at first keeping all the stitches an even size but it got easier as I went along and dang, it is quick. I never understood what all the fuss was about free motion quilting, but I tell ya', I'm a believer. I think I quilted this whole thing in about two hours.

So, a big thank you to Vicki for the lovely gift. I am excited for her to open her own etsy shop, where I am sure she will have enough vintage goodies to bring a tear to your eye, but I think she may have some more pressing issues right now. Namely the arrival of twins later this year. So exciting!

We've been having the most wonderful weather so we are out into the garden this weekend to scoop up the millions of helicopters in our newly landscaped lawn. Wishing you a sunny weekend!

dolly and mr. bear OR what to do on a rainy day

For optimum enjoyment while reading this post put on your best Julie Andrew's British accent.

I say Mr. Bear what frightful weather we've been having.

I should cocoa Dolly. We've had to have all our picnics inside. Nevermind, it is supposed to warm up this weekend.

Well Mr. Bear it will be nice to get out into the woods and luckily this picnic set folds up.

And it even has its own bag.

Daaaang! I should write scripts.....or go into sales. It is hard to know which one I would be better at isn't it?

Hope you like the new teddy bear's picnic set and that as Mr.Bear and Dolly would say, you've all had a very jolly weekend with lashings of lovely sunshine!

not just any old quilt

This quilt was commissioned through Etsy.

It wasn't the easiest quilt to make and it isn't necessarily my favorite quilt I've made but perhaps it is the most special quilt I've made.
 
I finally figured a way to photograph my quilts front on in full. It involves bulldog clips, an old door and some (hopefully) disconnected cable wires. Bulldog clips and electricity. That's safe, right?

I did a bit of Denyse Schmidt style random piecing for the back. I think the back might actually be my favorite side.

I did stitch in the ditch quilting on this one. Squares, naturally!

Why is this particular quilt so special?  A soon-to-be mama contacted me via Etsy and said she was expecting in August but both her parents had passed away. She had some kept some of her dad's flannel shirts and wondered if I could use them to make her new baby a quilt.
I felt really honored that she picked me to make this quilt. It wasn't the most straight forward project (I hit a few bumps with combining the various textures and styles of fabrics) but it is definitely one of the most rewarding. This kind of work sums up for me this whole craft movement. It is something that is re-purposed, has sentimental value and could never be mass produced.

I hope this quilt lasts more than a lifetime, that it passes from this baby to the next baby and hopefully on down to the next generation with words like, "Do you know that these were your grandfather's, your great-grandfather's shirts and we made them into a special quilt for you when you were just a baby?"
I guess this story really resonates with me because my father died when I was eighteen. I wish I had something tangible that I could show to my kids that was his. Something that could somehow communicate who he was and what he was like. But of course what I really wish for, with all my heart, is that I could show my kids, him.

tree quilt

I have been working on this quilt for a very long time. I found it hard to finish because I just didn't know how I wanted to quilt it. I finally settled on clouds which you can't really see in the longer shots.

This is actually a picture of the quilt on its side, it should be this way round....

The binding is a Liberty print from a couple of years ago that I love. A gift from someone small (you know who). And the inspiration for this quilt came from the book, Treelets by Jill Bliss and Shinpei.
I don't know if it is available anymore but here are a few scans. It is a really beautiful book and I am really glad I've got a copy.

Speaking of books I plan on doing a big book review this week of all the great things I have been reading. So according to my usual accurate time keeping you can expect to see that sometime in June then.
Happy Monday.

Update: I meant Happy Tuesday. Of course, I knew that.

Not red, strawberry quilt.

scarlet?

rose?

ruby? magenta? fuchsia?

cardinal? vermilion? crimson?

Alright. It's red.
But tomorrow a different color. I promise.

new quilt, old quilt, small quilt, big(ger) quilt

I made this little doll quilt last year. 

I kept thinking about it and how cool it would be as a crib size quilt. So I made it and here it is.

If you asked me whether I liked the colors orange or yellow I would honestly say I am not such a fan, though Andy's favorite color is in fact orange, I have never been too partial. But something about this combination of fabrics works for me. And I do really, really love that vintage owl fabric which alas is running in short supply now.

This is only the second quilt I have made to be sold and it is currently up in my etsy shop. Yes, I finally did it and like the razor sharp business woman that I am, I started listing just in time for everyone to be broke after the holidays. *Pure genius*, I know.

Any road up. There it is, my etsy shop on the sidebar and I have to say I am kind of loving it. There is no pressure to fulfill orders or make huge batches of things. If I make something and I want to try and sell it then there it is but equally if I want time to focus on other things, say for instance an 18-month-old who thinks that 4.30am is a good time to wake up and who has four fangs (that is the medical word for them, right?) coming in at once and a 3-year-old on school holidays who is having a bout of cabin fever, (this is just a for instance of course) then no problem, I just don't make anything.

That is kind of cool isn't it ? I think etsy speaks to a generation of crafters who either have a full time job or full time family but that just want to make something. It feels old-fashioned to me. Like there are a bunch of women at home making things to sell in the market for some extra income. I like being a part of that.

Plus my horoscope in People magazine said this year would be a good time to start business ventures.

So there you have it. I rely on a trashy gossip rag to make career decisions.

At least I have moved on from the magic eight ball.

matching doll quilt

Cissie has a little friend who comes over a couple of times a week who is particularly fond of this little set-up. Not the dolls, nor the bed, nor the blanket but the pillow. She loves the little pillow. She will happily chuck out the dollies out of the stroller and gently place in the little pillow which she then pushes round the house with more than a little glee. So when it came to making her Christmas gift, the choice was obvious.

It just so happens, this is the same little girl who received this quilt, so of course I made it to match, despite the fact that I still don't love bright colors. But who amongst us could resist matching quilts, right?

simple quilt

Thank you, everybody, for all the quilt love. I had no idea whip up included me and was pleasantly surprised to find the quilt was a hit in blog-land. And thank you also to angry chicken for the mention, I'll have to admit now to buying both the Jen Corace prints (but I did really need them for my study, love).
Moving on.
Here's another very simple quilt that is no longer in our house.

I didn't do any piecing on this one at all. It is just two yards of fabric, a layer of batting, hand-tied and backed with a wool/cashmere blend.  Very warm and cozy and not at all itchy, like I thought it might be.

I added a few pieces of colorful fabric in the binding.

And just as I was about to pack the whole thing off with Floyd to school. I noticed a hole in the back, suspiciously like a moth hole. There's a matching felt appliqué on the back now. Flippin' moths they may have done me a favor, it looks so darn cute like that. Still, that is no invitation for you moths to come back for more.

The boy of course loves it. Trains and cars, he couldn't be happier.

fairytale fabrics quilt

I love, and have so many of, those very cutesy Japanese fairytale fabrics, plus so many other cute conversational prints but sometimes they are hard to place in a project without them taking over. So I decided to dedicate a project to them.

It is larger than a crib quilt but not quite a twin size so lets just call it a throw, shall we ?  It was originally intended for Cissie's room but it has worked its way into the living room as a kind of snuggly. Perfect, because it is getting colder here.

I quilted it in straight rows and concentric squares. You know how much I love them. I wanted to keep it very plain to showcase the fabrics so the alternate squares and rows are in a solid off-white Kona cotton. The colors are definitely more spring than fall, most likely because I started it in the spring.
And here it is in all its glory (dang it is hard to photograph quilts, any tips ?).
I really love it.

quilt prize

Sorry about the prolonged absence....blame her. She came for a week and we had the best hanging out crafting time I've had in ages. Thank you Auntie Little.
A long long time ago I promised this quilt to the winner of a prize draw on mr.monkeysuit. So here it is,



Sorry it took so damn long. Seems like I'm on a roll with apologising so if anyone thinks they are due an apology now is probably a good time to let me know.

wip quilt

Well, at least I have moved on from yellow even if there are still owls in it. This is my current wip quilt for Soph, who won the draw last week. I love the colourway she chose, it was definitely my favourite of the six and I love the way this wonky quilt is coming together. No promises, but it may even be finished sometime this year. (only joking Soph, hopefully it'll be done in a couple of weeks)

In other news....I want this tea towel.

Gorgeous isn't it? Its available at Rose and Radish which has some very beautiful things. I can totally justify paying $16 for a tea towel, especially as it isn't in the least bit likely to go near any dishes but I am kind of squeamish about paying $9.89 to have it shipped.
No doubt I will overcome that obstacle soon.

Oh, and of you haven't already done it get on over to the Softie Awards and vote, there are only a couple of days left.
One of my favourites is bella dia's tea cozy, love the colour combinations and this guy is divine. So wise and slightly intimidating.

part two of three

I think someone might be watching you.



This is actually a small doll's quilt, roughly 20" x 24". I loved making it, it was really a one day project and I just felt good the whole time I was working on it as though the stars were aligned for this particular project. I also loved the fresh spring time feel of the colours. It is the second part of a present and there is one more part to be completed before it is ready to be sent off. There are some antique doll quilts here, I especially love this one and the colours are kind of similar to mine though this one is way out of my price range. There is a lot more stuff on that site which is worth checking out. There are a couple of books on amazon.com that I have never looked at but look quite interesting on the subject of doll's quilts.
I used a lot of vintage fabrics in this quilt so I think I will have replace some of my stash. Conveniently Superbuzzy has a fresh new crop of fabrics. Did I mention how much I love my husband?

baby shower quilt

this is one i have been working on for a friend's baby shower. i let her choose the colours and then set to work. i have to admit these are not really my palette of colours...(for me, think of anything in the sludge, mud, greyish-green spectrum) but i am pretty happy with how it turned out. i learned a lot doing this quilt and my mum taught me some things, long distance via the phone. anyone who has the patience to talk me through how to turn corners with seam binding when i keep saying 'wait go back to the beginning, i don't understand' deserves lots of credit and probably some money for the phone bill.

i also made the bib and the turtle to complete the package.

first attempt

so mr. monkeysuit is up and running but i am lost in a quagmire of computer jargon. (hey bud, i hope you understand how to use this better than me.) to get me started i am posting my son's first quilt, not actually made by me (but by a good friend) which he has had on his bed since he got it.

It has faded a little bit becuase it has been washed A LOT.

She also made the little turtle as well from this book .

Okay so this isn't as hard as I thought all of ten minutes ago.