My Inner Martha & L-O-V-E

In November of last year, one of my dearest and most fabulous friends got married. It was a wonderful celebration, full of tricky weather, and some of the most witty & creative people I've ever met. We had a ridiculous amount of fun, and I'm hoping that the bride & groom have a wedding party reunion every year (I suppose this is called an "anniversary") so we can recreate the magical fun that was had by all. (Did you catch that part, Alicia?) Before I continue, have a look at the darling, radiant couple, dancing a very saucy little tango at their reception. Also, you can't so much see this in the photo, but the beautiful bride literally had crystals dangling down her back. She really thought of everything, even back decor:

This was a very special wedding for both Dan & I. Not only did we get to leave The Kidlets behind with grandparents (our first weekend "away" in......oh gosh, years), but also Dan had the honor of performing the marriage ceremony, and I had the honor of being the Matron. Of honor. There was a lot of honoring going on.

Of course I wanted to gift them something special, but as the day got closer, I began to panic. Why hadn't I planned better, and thought of making them super unique, like a quilt (because I'm totally a quilter, remember?) months before? The registry items were rapidly dwindling, and nothing was exactly grabbing my attention. And then I came across an idea on Amy Butler's website. Well hello, gorgeous WALL ART!!! And then the crafting voices spoke to me. I will channel my inner Martha Stewart and craft them a wedding gift!

For those of you who just got uncomfortable with the thought of me crafting, I'll come right out and tell you (spoiler alert!) that it actually turned out fantastic! I could tell just by reading the pattern that not only could I actually pull this off, but I could also do so in a couple of days. And that's exactly how much time I had before it was time to hit the road for wedding weekend extravaganza. One of my charms is my ability to thrive on impending deadlines.

The first step was choosing the various fabrics I was going to use. Moment of truth: this step took me longer than all of the steps combined. Is there a medical diagnosis for people who cannot make decisions, especially in fabric stores? I walked around and pulled fabric bolts off the shelves and then walked away, around in a circle, back to pull off more bolts, then back to study the pattern for hours. It's really difficult to make such important decisions when in the presence of so much beauty. Sue me.

Ultimately I decided that almost half of my fabric choices would come from my own fabric stash at home, because they're the ones I liked best. Go figure!

Here, I've made a verbal and monetary commitment to the following fabrics, and thus began the unfolding of the Amy Butler "LOVE" wall art wedding gift. I love how happy each of the fabric choices are, and while they're a far cry from "match-y-match-y", they all go together so nicely:

Next it was time to print & cut out my pattern, tape it together, and assign fabric to each of the 4 "LOVE" letters. This was also one of those steps that took way longer than the entire project. Who knew cutting out letters was such a time commitment?:

Next, I cut out my letters and laid them out to make sure I was still in L-O-V-E with them. I was. Can you blame me? Have you ever seen such beauty in the form of letters?

Once I was able to finalize my letters, it was time to build the frame for the stretched canvas that would lay underneath the fabric background. I won't lie; this was one of those moments that a man sure comes in handy. And when I say "man", what I really mean is "man plus 2 kiddos", as this quickly became a family project. The family that crafts together, stays together! (right?!)

Any time Daddy pulls out the hammer, the kids flock to him.

 The look on Ben's face says it all: Isn't Daddy the greatest frame builder you've ever seen? And Ella's like, "This is more fun then I know what to do with, so I'll just sit here with my darling tummy and look cute."

The next step involved some tricky canvas stretching + stapling + background fabric stretching & stapling. But I didn't take pictures of that step, so just imagine me stressing out and trying to make my staples even and getting nervous that I was going to somehow break the beautiful frame that my husband had just assembled. Silly me- not even My Inner Martha could break that frame. Here's the finished product:

Up close & personal:

Cute, right? The Bride (who lives many hours & hours away) claims it now hangs in their bedroom, and this warms my heart a million times over. I hope it serves as a reminder to L-O-V-E each other every morning they wake up together.

Feel like making your own pretty wall art? Here's the free Amy Butler pattern for your creative crafting pleasure. Have fun-- and seriously, if I can do this, really a-n-y-o-n-e can. For reals.

I'm a Quilter!

I realize there are more pressing matters that deserve my undivided blogging attention (namely that camping trip that I SWEAR I really did take, as well as that 2,000 mile road trip to New Mexico we just recovered from), but I felt it necessary to announce something that is rare, and therefore something I am quite proud of: I finished a project! A quilting project! I can quilt! I'm a quilter!

Please feel free to now douse me with gold stars and smiley face stickers, because one thing that is NOT a strength of mine is the ability to finish something once I start it. Just ask my husband (or parents or friends...), I'm sure he has a hidden notepad somewhere entirely devoted to keeping record of the projects/ideas/rooms to be painted that I never actually completed. I probably make the highly organized, "type A" sorts of people break out in nervous, aggravation-induced hives while in my company. It's my gift.

But I digress.

Remember when I first began this adventure, just about 6 months ago? Well, I learned many things back then. Namely, quilting is a very difficult task in and of itself. Like, you have no idea. Unless of course you've quilted, then of course you have a VERY good idea. But if you are like I once was, a girl with a romanticized vision of what quilting would entail, let me do you a favor now, and rain on your flowery creative quilting parade. Quilting is approximately 1,000 times more involved than I thought. Even when I was 7/8 of the way finished with the project, I STILL had no idea how much more time I'd be forced to invest. But throw in a toddler and a preschooler who want to be VERY involved in their Mom's quilting process, and then the whole thing becomes more difficult than trying to understand a single word that comes out of Ozzy Osbourne's mouth.

Does it sound like I'm complaining? Because I'm not, really I'm not. Yes, it was a ton of work, but the second part of this is, OH MY HEAVENS! How I loved the process, and even more, how I loved the final moment of completion! Remember: completion is not something I often do, so perhaps the giddiness is on a grander scale than your "average" quilter. Either way, all I know is, if you are ever lucky enough to receive a homemade quilt from someone who loves you, please fall on your knees and thank them profusely (especially if it's from me), because that person loves you enough to endure hours upon hours upon hours of thread/sewing/bobbin/binding/batting/stitching in the ditch madness.

So. Allow myself to introduce you to my quilt. Go on, be friendly and say hello:

Did you want to get up close & personal with her? Do it. I don't mind. In fact, I insist.

My darling mother-in-law (a.k.a. The Quilting Queen) kept talking about how important quilt binding is, and how it can really frame your quilt and make it *pop*. I'm so glad I listened to her! Isn't the binding the cutest? And did you take notice of my decently sewn corners? NOT EASY TO DO, MY FRIENDS!

This picture is for those of you who want to see more of the binding. Bless you. Also, I found "stitching in the ditch" to be nearly impossible and almost cause for a stronger eyeglass prescription, so instead I stitched near the ditch. Good enough. As my mother-in-law says, if a person riding by on a horse can't see it (the "flaw"), then don't worry about it! She always knew what to say to keep me going!

At first I really wanted to give this away to someone, but then I realized this quilt is like a piece of history for me. My very first quilt- sort of like my first lost tooth, or my first cut tendril of hair, or my first pedicure. I love that this summer has been full of so many "firsts" in my world. At 31.5 years old, I didn't know I could have many more firsts.

So no, this quilt won't be going anywhere except on the couch with my loved ones & I. Even Ben seems to appreciate it, and rolled around on it for almost 15 minutes tonight while singing an original song (though I think it was possibly inspired by Katy Perry) entitled, "Mommy Made A Quilt & I Like It". Awesome.

My Very First W.I.P.

(That's Work In Progress for those of you who aren't familiar with production-type lingo).

Did I mention to y'all that I started making a quilt? Or maybe I'm already getting ahead of myself. Did I mention to y'all that my very loving and generous (and incredibly gifted) mother-in-law gave me a beautiful Bernina sewing machine for my birthday a few years ago? She did. It was probably the most exciting thing I've ever received in the mail. It's beautiful and has been very forgiving and patient with me. I've done lots of little projects over the years, but I've been so busy birthing and nursing babies that I've never really had the time or energy level to do something on a grander scale.

But 2010 is going to be my year, baby! Break out the thread and bobbins!

So, as I was saying, I'm in the process of making a quilt. My very first one, and I'm very emotionally involved and attached to it. It's not going to be the most amazing quilt you've ever seen, but I'm pouring lots of love and honest effort into it. Did you ever see that movie Like Water for Chocolate? It's a pretty weird little movie so I'm not exactly recommending it. But what I remember and loved the most is that the main character does a whole lot of cooking fabulous Mexican food, and all of her desires and wishes are translated into her medium- her cooking. So, when she's sad, her tears inevitably drop into the food she's preparing, leaving those who ingest the food weepy and full of sorrow. When she is feeling full of love and passion, those who ingest her food are hit with an overwhelming desire for love and uncontrollable happiness. I'm kind of hoping for the same thing here- that whoever uses the quilt feels all warm and fuzzy inside because of the love I poured into making it. Either that, or I'm hoping they won't notice what's sure to be dozens of novice-like errors.

If you're wondering if I'm tackling this project with a plan, YOU BET I AM! For the most part, I'm taking an ample amount of naivety and combining it with my very hopeful recipe for success:

Take the support and encouragement I've received from this woman, my mother-in-law (the quilting QUEEN!)

ADD the inspiration from some of her most beautiful pieces of work:

 

Plus my choice of fabrics

 

All sewn into a billion rows

Will hopefully yield SOMETHING like this in the end (thank you, Amy Butler, for making such pretty fabric):

 

Pretty cute, right? I'm staying positive. I'll keep you posted. Unless something goes terribly wrong, then I'll probably deny ever having started this project in the first place....