Jaybird Quilts: February 2012

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The auction has started!

Here is a direct link to my quilt in the Team Ashley auction.

I was shocked {happily shocked} when I discovered that my quilt already had 50 bids!! You guys really are amazing.

For those of you who didn't see my post last week... I have donated one of my quilts to the Choose Joy Auction & Benefit. You can read all about it in my original post here.

The who/why/when and inspiration for the auction.

This post has FAQ on the auction.
You can see a sneak peek of some of the items here.

100% of the money raised is going to help Ashley in her fight. Team Ashley has donated their time and is not taking any salary or compensation from this auction. This is currently the only auction endorsed by Ashley and Lil Blue Boo.

There are hundreds of items in the auction so I encourage you to check it out & help in any way you can.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Scrap Sunday - My Bee Beautiful Quilt

Welcome to the second Scrap Sunday. Every Sunday I'll be posting what I'm doing in scrapbooking... or what scrappy quilt I'm working on. If you are working on Project Life, scrapbooking, or a scrappy quilt please link up at the end of this post.

I had planned on showing you I'm using Project Life to catch up on scrapbooking, but instead I'm going to show you a scrappy quilt I worked on yesterday.

Back in June of 2010 I sent out the following piles of fabric to the members of Bee Beautiful along with directions on the type of drunk love inspired blocks I wanted.

I don't have a good reason for not finishing this quilt back in 2010. I got busy... and it ended up being put neatly in a bin with all the additional scraps. My Bee members made 22.5 blocks so I didn't have much left to do at all. I was inspired yesterday to pull it out and finish it. I made the additional 2.5 blocks. {Natalie made a half block with the scraps she had & I finished it.}

I spent most of yesterday on this quilt. I cut & added the sashing and borders. I used Aqua Kona Crush. Robert Kaufman isn't making Kona Crush any longer so I'm glad I saved enough for the quilt! {I had put it away with the blocks... woo hoo for being organized!}

...and now the quilt top is done!

I'm SO happy with it.

Since this quilt also matches my new room... I think I'm going to have to rotate using my new Come What May quilt with this one.

Each of the Bee members also made a siggy block. I pieced them all together inside of navy quilter's linen. This is the start of the back. I'm not sure what my plan is for the rest of the back yet...

This is my leftover pile of Neptune scraps. I might incorporate more of them into the backing, or I might just save them for another project.

I even have the binding ready. It is made from leftover Jelly Roll strips & was actually a present from Allison. Years ago we both were hooked on Neptune at the same time and she created way too much binding... close to double of what she needed for a Neptune quilt and decided to give it to me! Thanks Allison! :-) I miss you!!

See you back here next week for another Scrap Sunday!

Here's a button for you!

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If you want to show something scrappy you are working on leave a link in the comments. I'm running late this morning & can't get the widget working... once I get it fixed I'll add your links.
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Saturday, February 25, 2012

A rare chance to own one of my quilts.

Cancer sucks, This much we know.

It broke my heart last fall when I learned that Ashley Hackshaw, the brilliant creative mind behind Lil Blue Boo, was diagnosed with Cancer. If you have been reading my blog you know that I've been touched by cancer too much. I lost my best friend Lauren in 2006, ten days earlier I lost my advisor Brian to Lung Cancer, my mom's friend Linda is fighting the fight, & my nephew Elijah is also in treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. {and those are just the stories I've told you}

I finally got to meet Ashley a few weeks ago at CHA

So while my heard broke for Ashley, it also filled with JOY when I saw how much the creative community online came out to support her. Ashely has decided to CHOOSE JOY throughout this crazy ordeal and has inspired so many people. The very moving video of her shaving off her hair has had over 35,000 views.

Treatment is expensive and Ashley needs our help. She'd never ask for it, but a great group of her friends started Team Ashely and have planned an auction to raise money.

The who/why/when and inspiration for the auction.

This post has FAQ on the auction.
You can see a sneak peek of some of the items here.

I knew I wanted to help so I decided to donate one of my quilts to the auction. Since I don't sell my quilts this is a rare opportunity. There will be over 300 items in the auction so I encourage you to check it out on Monday and help in any way you can.

The quilt that I have donated to the auction is Dot Party.

It is one of the samples shown on the pattern cover.

It is approximately 66" x 85" {Twin}

Fabric is Daisies & Dots by Piece o' Cake Designs for Robert Kaufman.
The background fabric is Chocolate Kona Crush which is no longer available.

I designed, pieced and quilted this quilt.
It was back before I started having Angela do all my quilting.

Details

Fabric is Daisies & Dots by Piece o' Cake Designs for Robert Kaufman

& Chocolate Kona Crush from Robert Kaufman

Pattern - Dot Party

Quilt Designed by me

Quilted by me

Started on 8/27/10

Finished on 10/27/10

Quilt measures aprx - 66" x 85"

You can also help by purchasing one of Ashley's patterns.

My sister-in-law Karin has been making adorable dresses for my niece Aliyah from some of Ashley's patterns. This dress is a combination of the Recycled T-Shirt Hoodie & Recycled T-Shirt Sienna Dress patterns.

This dress is from the Recycled T-Shirt Sienna Dress pattern.

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I'll post a direct link to the auction as soon as it goes live.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Scrap Sunday - Project Life in its most basic form.

Welcome to the first Scrap Sunday. Every Sunday I'll be posting what I'm doing in scrapbooking... or what scrappy quilt I'm working on. If you are working on Project Life, scrapbooking, or a scrappy quilt please link up at the end of this post.

Today's post is about Project Life in the most simple & basic way. If you don't know anything about Project Life I suggest checking out this slide show.

Project Life is a simple & yet brilliant way of memory keeping developed by Becky Higgins. The key is that you don't need scissors, glue, papers or anything that you need with traditional scrapbooking. That doesn't mean you can't incorporate the two... but for those of us {like me} who are super busy it gives us the chance to have a beautiful way of capturing memories without the mess and the stress.

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This box is all the "supplies" I have for my Project Life kit.
It holds a date stamper, one ink pad & a bunch of assorted pens and journaling cards.

So how does it work?

Simple.

Print a photo, write a journaling card & put them in a page protector.

Repeat over & over all year long.
I found the KEY to success for me was to work on 1-2 weeks at a time. This way I didn't feel overwhelmed that I had to "catch up" on months and months at a time. {Of course the move made this a bit crazy at times... but you get the point.}

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I was motivated to make a Project Life binder last year for one simple reason. I LOVE my blog, but often I'm working on something months before I can show you. I decided that my Project Life binder would be a way for me to document what I was working on when I was doing it... along with my thoughts. Below I have 7 of my layouts from last year. I included progress photos of quilts, photos of my studio, my family, my house... just about everything. Below each is a bit of a description for some of the elements of the page.

I didn't reveal Off the Rail until March last year, but I was working on it in January. I had just finished Raspberry Dessert in January but couldn't show it until March 29th.

I didn't release Come What May until October last year but I actually was working on it in January! I was also finishing bee blocks & making chocolate.

I love having the everyday things documented.
Photo outtakes... projects that didn't work out... my messy studio!

I was finishing up Fast Forward in January even though I didn't show it until March. It's also funny to look back and see all the snow & ice on my car... none of that in California now!

See that photo in the top right.. I love that I have a snapshot from when Candi & Tricia came over in February to help me get my patterns done in time. We were working on Firecracker & Unwind. {The blurry stuff in the bottom is just things that haven't been finished yet!}

This week I was working on Hugs & Kisses and Carnival.

This week I went to a Philly Modern Quilt Guild meeting & finished Carnival and Plaid Parade. I also attempted to get a pattern cover for Firecracker.

By the middle of the year the book ended up being less about quilting and more about moving. If I hadn't been working on Project Life I don't think I would have been so aware of capturing moments like this one above. It's me in my room with the last of my things. I was sleeping on a mattress on the floor & sewing on a card table.

This was the inside of the POD storage unit I used to move across the country.

This photo is a snapshot of the first time I got to visit the new house.

I have LOTS of different Project Life binders for various things. Next week I'll tell you how I'm using Project Life to catch up on scrapbooking.

Products used {Note last year I used the Amber collection but since that sold out already I'm giving you the links to the colors currently in stock. I'll warn you that things sell out fast. I won't remove links of sold out items so that you can bookmark them if you want for when they are back in stock.}

Design A Page Protectors	Core Kit - Clementine	Core Kit - Cobalt
Photo Pocket Pages Designs A & D	Clementine Binder	Cobalt Binder
Big Variety Pack of Photo Pocket Pages	Scrapbook Dividers	Ali Edwards 365 Days Photo & Journal Overlays