Tag Archives: donation

The Art of Action

April 7, 2017 kittywilkin 19 Comments

When my local friend Kim told me about an art auction she was organizing to benefit the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), I knew that no matter how much I had on my plate, I wanted to make something to contribute. I finished just under the wire, but was able to finish this 6″ hoop for the Art of Action, which will take place tomorrow in Bangor, Maine. Don’t worry–I got the hoop to Kim earlier this week so that she had time to hang it!

This hoop primarily features a quote that has become a war cry that helps women honor their strength and their ability to fight for what they believe in, and I added freestyle embroidery flowers for a light aesthetic touch.

My goal was to make it bold and strong, yet pretty at the same time. Rosie the Riveter meets a lovely sunlit tea room.

This was the first time I actually wrote on a hoop before stitching, but I knew with lettering I wanted it to look perfectly centered, and advance planning was necessary. I printed the quote I wanted in the fonts I wanted, held it up to a window with my cotton and steel background fabric held on top, and then traced it with a regular pencil. I’m really high-tech here, as you can see.

The stem stitch “Nevertheless” was fairly straight-forward, but by golly, that cursive “she persisted” was tricky! Nevertheless, I persisted. I give mad props to those of you who hand embroider lettering regularly! It’s not for the faint of heart.

Overall, I’m happy with the lettering even though it’s far from perfect. I ultimately outlined the thicker parts of each letter with backstitch, and then went back over the entire thing with satin stitch to fill in. Some letters are more rough than others, but that’s all part of the charm of handmade, right?

My favorite part other than the message and the really good letters (there are a couple!) is the bunch of flowers at the bottom. The french knot lavender flowers are so much fun to stitch, and I love the look of the tall, single chain stitch flowers. I used 12wt Aurifil thread for all of the stitching, and as usual, I’m quite happy with the thickness and silkiness of the stitches.

I finished the hoop with a felt backing, blanket stitched in place and embroidered with a very simple signature and date.

If you are in the Bangor, Maine area tomorrow evening, April 8, 2017, please come by the Art of Action Auction, a silent auction of art to benefit the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) taking place at 58 Main, a pop-up event venue in the heart of downtown Bangor.

The juried art show will be auctioning more than 60 pieces of art and works at varying price points done by Maine artists, living, working or with roots in Maine. This grass roots effort is intended to promote Maine Artists, bring the community together and safeguard individual rights and freedoms. (Information from the Art of Action website) I’ll see you there!

Linking up with Finish it up Friday, since every finish deserves a bit of celebration.

Paper piecing, Quilting, Sewing

Make Earth Day Every Day: Grow Pillow

April 22, 2016 kittywilkin 13 Comments

Earth Day has always been one of my favorites days. I strive to fully embody the “Earth Day is Every Day” ideal with my day to day life, from adopting a whale in third grade and frequent stream clean ups as a child, to majoring in environmental science in college, to aiming to instill a love and respect for the earth and all its creatures and functions in my children. The earth is our home, and it is our responsibility to help nurture and care for it. Today seemed like the perfect day to share my newly finished pillow featuring my bean sprout foundation paper pieced pattern.

I’m calling this pillow “Grow” and it will be donated to a fundraiser auction/raffle at our local school. The theme for the fundraiser is “Growth & Gardening” so it fits perfectly!

I used my coveted Carolyn Friedlander bright green Architextures fabric (Robert Kaufman) for the sprout, with little leaves of lime linen leftover from a previous project and a dotty dark green that was in my stash, but has no selvedge. A light turquoise modern Indah batik by Me + You (Hoffman Fabrics) makes a perfect summer sky for the background. Alison Glass Sun Prints 2016 Sphere (Andover) as the border rounded out the pillow nicely. It’s bound in the remainder of the lime linen blend and backed in that same mystery, beautiful dark green fabric. I quilted the pillow front with coordinating 50wt Aurifil thread in 2800-Mint Ice, since it blends right in with both the background and the green bean sprout.

I was hoping to release the Bean Sprout Pattern today, too, but lo… life got in the way and it’s not quite ready yet. Soon, hopefully. The pattern finishes at 12″ square so I added 2″ borders all around to bring the pillow to 16″ square.

I also inserted my very first hidden zipper in the back of this pillow, which is SO exciting! I used a fabulous tutorial by S.O.T.A.K. handmade and it worked like a charm. I am definitely installing hidden zippers in the backs of all of my pillows from now on.

Now that this pillow is finished and photographed, it will be delivered to my daughter’s school for their annual fundraising auction/raffle. Last year’s donated project taught me a lot about the art of giving, and this year’s gift seems no less serendipitous. A quilted item was needed for a growth-themed fundraiser, right as I had tested my bean sprout pattern–perfect! I’m curious to see what next year brings, and I hope this pillow is able to raise some money for our local school!

I’m linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday, and TGIFF, since a finish ALWAYS warrants celebration! Now, off I go on a hike to celebrate this gorgeous Earth Day! Head on outside and love your mama!

Life

March Finish {ALYoF}: Dr Seuss Diamonds Quilt

March 27, 2015 kittywilkin 11 Comments

I managed to finish my March goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes quite early, so this is just a recap for the sake of linking up and meeting my March goal requirements. I basically began and finished the Dr. Seuss Diamonds quilt during the month of March, which is nothing short of amazing! It just goes to show how much tiny little windows of progress add up to a completed project. As I’ve said in previous posts, I made this quilt as a donation to a fundraiser at my daughter’s preschool. Each grade put together a basket to be either auctioned or raffled off at a Poetry Jam that took place last night, and the Pre-K’s basket had a Dr. Seuss theme.

dr seuss quilt displayed for raffle — Here is my quilt, displayed under clear plastic (!!!) with the rest of the epically awesome Dr. Seuss raffle basket items.

I’m happy to report that the fundraiser Poetry Jam went really well! The school raised over $700 from all of the baskets, which for a small rural school of only 50-60 students is pretty stellar! One of my daughter’s preschool friends won the Dr. Suess basket (and quilt), too, so I’m happy that it will be well loved. I have no idea how much the quilt and basket helped earn, but the ticket box was stuffed to the brim with tickets. I’m pleased as punch at the outcome.

If you’d like to see more about the quilt, visit my post Friday Finish: Dr. Seuss Diamonds Quilt, or to see progress read When Duty Calls: A Dr. Seuss Raffle Quilt or Dr. Seuss Flimsy Finish.

I’m linking up with A Lovely Year of Finishes, and I’m plotting what project to choose for April! I’m on a roll so far!

Design, Quilting

Delight in the Little Things

February 18, 2014 kittywilkin 3 Comments

At the end of last year, I joined a 12×12″ Art Quilt group on Facebook, just in time for the word “delight”. The idea behind the group is that they post a word each month, and members design and create a 12×12″ art quilt inspired by that word.

I am always inspired by the tiny bits of beauty in nature.

Thinking about “delight”, the first thing that came to mind was “delight in the little things”. I started brainstorming what that would mean in terms of a small quilt. I have a penchant for color gradient aesthetics, and since 12″x12″ is relatively small, I thought this would be a perfect time to make a quilt out of 1″ squares. I have always delighted in the little amazing miracles found in nature, so I knew the natural world had to be a part of my quilt. Sunbursts and the play of light on the world, reminiscent of laying in the grass looking up at floating seeds glinting in the sunlight as they swirl in the wind (an activity frequented by my kids and I during the warm summer months) was the ultimate inspiration for my quilt. Enough talk. Here’s my process:

After cutting all the 1.5" squares, the next task was to lay it all out and find a pleasing gradient. — After cutting all the 1.5″ squares, the next task was to lay it all out and find a pleasing gradient.

2014-01-19 21.55.39-1 — I created a 4″ paper pieced star to fit into my design. It’s now for sale on Craftsy!

2014-01-23 21.26.39 — Matching seams like a boss! I continued to swap squares in and out as I got generous donations of blue scraps from friends and quilting buddies, until I finally settled on an arrangement I liked.

2014-02-02 16.26.59-2 — Attaching the final row… Pins right next to each seam seemed to help me line them up the best. I definitely befriended my seam ripper for this project!

2014-02-02 16.33.24-2 — Next I planned out the applique placement, and started to think about hand quilted embellishments.

2014-02-05 15.35.17 — I played with the binding since I wanted to continue the gradient and not completely frame it in. I really like the way it turned out, and the little burst of yellow on the bottom corner might be one of my favorite elements.

2014-02-05 15.35.32 — Silver embroidery thread paired with dark blue blanket stitch gives a nice feel of light glinting off the silhouetted dandelion seed.

2014-02-05 15.35.43 — Expect the unexpected. The yellow bursts of color jump from a near-black binding.

2014-02-05 15.35.58 — I opted for silver hand-quilting around the sunburst star.

Of course, I wanted to photograph the finished quilt during daylight hours to get the most from natural light. As a stay home mom of two little ones, cameos from the kids were bound to happen. Maddie decided she wanted to help me display the quilt in the best light, and then while photographing smaller details, Max decided to help by flopping right down on top of the quilt!

I am really happy with how this quilt turned out, and I’m definitely going to be making more art quilts. This particular quilt will be donated to the Altruistic Art Show hosted by The Kindness Project in Bangor. Like it? Go enter for a chance to win it while benefiting a good cause.