yay for grassroots fundraisers! yay for hope!

if you're like me, after seeing images of the horror going on in haiti, you feel so antsy wondering what to do to help.  it turns out there were two women feeling the same way who started
'craft hope for haiti'.  i am humbled by their innovation and hard work...

it's an etsy shop (online) where you can go buy crafts, and all of the money gets donated to doctors without borders!  all of the crafts are 100% donated by very talented artists. there's some great stuff in stock!

so y'all go buy something, and if you're crafty, you can donate something! just click on the image below to get started.

good morning,

i just got a question from a lovely woman in mar del plata argentina, asking to see the finished quilt of the image at the top of this blog.  the answer is- i don't have one.... (arrrgghh!)  i was in such a rush to finish it before a good friend of mine took it to argentina for me, that i didn't take a final picture!

the pattern was inspired by one of kaffe fasset's designs, but done with a completely different arrangement and construction methods.  i have made many of these quilts in different color combinations.

here is my favorite:

it's a quilt for my daughter olivia, made from her baby dresses and quilt bunting.  see that many of the fabrics are oilily, which was my favorite place to get her little dresses (on the clearance rack at the outlet.)

here it is, again in layout form before assembling the blocks. (twin bed size)  of course this quilt is extremely sentimental, but apart from this,  i was quite pleased with the final color combo, etc, .

i know olivia agrees.  she has slept under this quilt every single night since it was finished!

this quilt was a baby sized quilt made for my dear friend emily's baby graeme.

                                                                                                                                                                 detail of graeme's quilt

one of these quilts (done in a warm color scheme) was featured on the set of Puntas y Puntadas, a wonderful needlwork based show filmed in argentina and shown all over latin america.  it was a very proud moment for me!  thank you, cecilia, for making this happen! (do we have a photo???)

ladies, don't let a quilt leave your hands without taking (several!) photos!

patricia, muchas gracias por tu interes! me alegro mucho que sigues el blog! espero que desfrutas esta entrada, dedicado especialmente a vos!

besos, julie

places to get (more) fabric

happy wednesday,
just wanted to share a few of my favorite places to get fabric:


gloriouscolor
equilter
hancocks-paducah
fabrics.com

i also get A LOT of my stash from the local thrift shops! yup, especially in the men's section.  men's dress shirts come in all kinds of crazy, stripey, colors, and are usually 100% cotton (always check).  i shop on discount day. i take the shirts home, wash them in hot water, and throw them in the dryer.  when i get a good pile of them.  i deconstruct them while i'm watching tv in the evenings.

now sometimes, my husband will pilfer one in my pile that he thinks will look good on him.  usually tho, they are too big, since i try, whenever possible, to buy the xl or bigger to get the most fabric! ha!

first i take off the bottom hem. then the collar and cuffs. then i cut off the sleeves and cut off any seams. then cut off the button plackets and the seams in the body of the shirt.  i save the now seamless fabric pieces, the buttons, and the long, skinny bottom hem.

i have been rolling up the hems into a big ball, which i continue to add to- why, you say?  i guess it's so my husband has evidence of just how many shirts he didn't manage to steal... tee-hee!

sometimes i find a women's cotton dress, or if i'm really lucky, a kimono to cut up.
keep your eyeballs peeled!

after all, that's how patchwork got it's start- from clothing scraps!

hello cat owner/quilt lovers,

or should i say, quilt owners/cat lovers....

do your cats do THIS to every new quilt?

does every quilt gift you make come with a side of cat hair??

are ANY of your supplies sacred?

do you forgive him for anything 'cause he's just so cute??

join the club.

(this is for you, elsa!)

believe it or not, none of these pictures were posed

happy wednesday,
thanks to all of my friends who took the time to check out my blog!  as per several requests, i'm posting a few photos of the bags i like to sew:

these i call asian fan bags

these i call my 'mother of all bags' bags, 'cause they measure a monstrous 27" by 27"!

hello toads!

this was my son's idea for greeting my fellow bloggers. just had to share (you'd have to know how much we love toads around here... it's a total compliment...)

thought today's post would be about the recently made quilts i took for gifts to argentina:

Sofia's quilt for her room make-over

twin size, inspired by technique explained here at film in the fridge but with my own tweaks concerning the ends of the blocks

Denise's quilt for her room make-over

also twin size, inspired by technique explained at film in the fridge

Ada and Rody's quilt

sofa size, inspired by this tutorial by crazy mom quilts here 'cept i kept the border zig-zaggy and just put a binding on it (ok, that sounds like a certain beyonce song- 'if you like it then you bettah put a binding on it...!) 

if you're wondering, negotiating all those points wasn't too much harder than doing the corners on a squarish quilt- just more time consuming!

made 2 of these, one for Sandra, and one for Eugenia

sofa size,  this pattern was my own invention using a paper foundation technique.

so my friends were wondering how i got 5 quilts done in 6 weeks. . .

  see my secret weapons above!! ironing  elves! everyone should have some!

we told all the quilt recipients olivia and liam helped with their quilts, which made all parties very happy.

 

ooh, and before i forget,  there was one bag-

maxi-bag made for adela

size: 20" by 27"

this bag was made from fabrics adela collected from family members plus strips of denim

welcome to my blog, fellow toderas!

welcome to my blog.  todera- what is a todera, you say??  todera is an invented spanish word for a woman who does everything...

i must give the credit to my friend cecilia koppmann of buenos aires. (in cecilia's case, it takes one to know one!)  we like to do LOTS of different crafts- a bit of everything.  a friend of hers declared that we must be 'toderas'.

i immediately loved this term!  first, it's so true. can never just focus on one craft- so i do them all! plus, it sounds like toad, my favorite animal in the whole world. double plus- it's an actual place in japan- and i love all things japanese- especially the crafts!

ok, now that our term is out there in cyberspace,  three cheers for all of you fellow toderas out there!!

stay tuned for more posts, pictures, and tutorials!