Just One Slab - A Follow-Up

Hello, hello!

This post has been a long time in coming.  Last summer southern Alberta suffered a horrible flood that caused great damage and thousands of people lost their homes; absolutely tragic.  Among the many who jumped to their aid was Cheryl Arkison of Dining Room Empire, who organised and led not only local Albertan quilters but international quilters into creating relief quilts for flood victims and I'm so proud to count myself among the many contributors.  I wanted to take a little time to reflect back on this amazing project and share with you Cheryl's update posts throughout the project.

I first stumbled across Cheryl's "Just One Slab" project last July, which you can see in this post.  The project immediately grabbed my interest (and heart) and I was hooked.  Within a day or two, I had already whipped up 7 slabs and was so excited.  Incidentally, I totally fell in love with the green and orange slab blocks so I kept them for my own slab quilt and then sewed two replacement blocks for the charity.  Within the week they were winging their way from Sweden to Alberta...

Throughout the last year, Cheryl has periodically updated her own blog on the progress of the Just One Slab project.  In her Round 1 Update you can see the amazingly beautiful rainbow coloured piles of slab blocks and some of the first few quilt tops created from the donations.  I just love this photo; it gives me warm fuzzy feelings:

Then in her Round 2 Update you can see a large number of completed quilt tops.  In fact, I even spied one of my contributed blocks - so exciting!  Check it out:

Bottom row, second block from the left - that's mine!

How cool is that?!  Out of the 9 blocks I made and sent, I actually found one used in a quilt!  Pretty impressive when you consider that the project received over 2000 blocks!  More cool stats about the project can be found in this post (along with some more photos, of course).

Eventually delivery day came...  This is such a heart-warming post you just need to read it for yourself.  So lovely, too, to see all of the delivery volunteers and the children getting involved.  There is also something just simply beautiful to me about this photo; I can't describe what it is but I just love it:

And finally, Cheryl herself looks back on the wrapping up of the project one year on from its conception.  Yes, even after an entire year, the last few slabs are still going into quilt tops and will find homes with those who need them.

Thank you, Cheryl, for the opportunity to reach out, help those in need and join in your truly inspiring initiative.  I feel truly grateful to have been a part of making a difference and paying it forward.

Belated WIP Wednesday

Okay, I know it's officially not Wednesday anymore but I was having a completely slovenly day yesterday and didn't do much of anything (it was wonderful, btw).  Anyway, I'm playing catch-up today and have actually managed to be quite productive so I guess it all evens out in the long run.

So, first up - I have finished my donation slab blocks for the Quilts Recover Southern Alberta project - yeah!  I sat down today and sewed a new orange block, since I had fallen in love with the first one I made and then made a second red block, since I had a lot of leftover red scraps I'm unlikely to use for anything else.

That brings the total up to eight blocks altogether and I'm quite happy about it.  I'm eagerly awaiting Cheryl's address so that I can pop these into the post in the next week.  Here's a look at the collection altogether:

I've also been working a bit more on re-organising my scrapbooking stash.  It all started when I found some wooden clothes pegs at a good price; brought them home and decorated them with narrow washi tape, then sat down and went through my ziplock bag of ribbons, creating a donation pile and winding the rest I wanted to keep onto my new, prettied-up pegs.

How lovely, eh?  I've since found an old glass container I no longer use for baking supplies and have stored them in there.  Well, then I seemed to have gotten the de-stashing bug because I quickly moved on to my stash baskets, which are now pretty bare.  I'm very happy about that, though, because a lot of it was stuff left over from my extremely early scrapping days that doesn't match my current style or things that I've received from elsewhere (ie. magazine gifts, etc.) that again don't match my style.  And of course, clearing out the old means plenty of room for new shopping - squee!

So at the moment this is the current state of things.  Not really organised, as you can see.  Those two woven baskets in the bottom shelf are actually my 'stash' and with the exception of cardstock and patterned paper, everything fits in here.  Small, right?  What can I say, I own a small flat and I need to balance living space with hobbies.  The majority of my scrapbooking supplies are currently in a similarly large basket in the kitchen, though - that's my current stash that I'm working through so this certainly isn't all of it.

The box on the second shelf in the first cubby on the left is my box of de-stashed items.  The other two cubbies on this shelf have things that would normally fit into the stash baskets but it's all awaiting further organisation at the moment.  I'm trying to decide what to do about paper storage right now.  I have paper sleeves that my 12x12 cardstock comes in that I'm considering recycling to hold my patterned paper in one of these cubby squares.  Or I might invest in a cropper hopper - one for cardstock and one for patterned paper would be plenty for me.  Or perhaps the black three-partitioned cropper hopper.  I'm going to chat it over with a fellow scrapper friend who's coming to visit for a crop this weekend and then try to decide on a course of action.  Suggestions are whole-heartedly accepted.

WIP Wednesday

So I have a few things going on in the craft department lately.  The largest is the age-old issue of organisation and functionality and at the moment, it's my scrapbooking supplies and process that needs the most help.  I have a reasonably small flat - a very comfortable size for just the cat and I but no spare room that can be used for crafting purposes.  This means that my supplies are spread out between the lounge and kitchen - the majority of the stash and stuff I'm not using at the moment is stored in various nesting baskets in the lounge while my current stash is in one big basket on the kitchen table, where I work.  I've also realised recently that I do most of my scrapping standing up these days.

So, I'm toying with the idea of buying a moveable kitchen island that I can use to scrap standing up and can choose whatever room in which I want to work.  I like the look of the Ikea Förhöja - a decent sized table top, drawers and two shelves.  I'm also thinking I could install some rails on either side to hang organisational pails and such.

To test out this theory, I spent Monday scrapbooking on my ironing board, which I set up at the same height as the förhöja island and it's nearly identical in measurements on the top.  It went quite well.  A very comfortable height and while I would love for a little more table top space, I think this will be a flexible solution, especially if I get the rest of my supplies stored better.  My lounge features a large Expedit-like shelving unit so I'll see about getting some baskets and perhaps pretty tins to fit into the bottom squares and possibly the famous ol' Raskog cart for extra storage and portability, which should fit nicely between my old computer desk and wall.

I also have designs for two new scrapbooking layouts rolling around in my head right now.  One uses the rest of my Kate & Co. Oxford Lane papers, which I discovered through chance while sorting through papers on Monday during tidy-up that they match beautifully with an Elle's Studio and Lily Bee Designs paper I bought in my last shopping spree - sweet!  I love when serendipity happens like that.  Here's a quick shot of some of the supplies I've pulled:

And finally, I've been making some more progress on my Albertan Relief quilt blocks.  I got the second green block sewn up last weekend.  Still need to do a second orange block and I definitely have enough red scraps to do one more red one, too.  Hopefully I can get those whipped up before next week so I can ship them off to where they're needed most and not laying around hogging up my ironing board (since it's apparently now doing double-duty...).  Here's the new green block:

Oh!  And I nearly forgot, I'm taking two scrapbooking classes!  I took advantage of the recent 2Peas 20% sale and bought access to Shimelle's Hitchhiker's Guide to Scrapbooking and Amy Heller's Through the Kaleidoscope classes.  I've decided I'm going to focus on one at a time and I'm starting with Hitchhiker's, because I always think it's important to review the basics (and I adore Shimelle :P ) but I'm super geeked to check out Amy's colour theory class afterwards.  Right now I'm enjoying a chapter a day and I think one of the sketches from chapter two will be put to good use with the second layout that's mulling in my head at present - fingers crossed!  And Wilna mentioned in yesterday's In the Mood to Scrap video that she'll be releasing an Art Class II this autumn - how exciting!  Her current one is still on my wishlist but you can be sure it will be the next class (or set of classes, now it seems) that I take.

Pinspiration Sunday

It's been a lovely, long do-nothing sort of day today and since it's closing in on midnight, I'll keep this one short and sweet.  Go grab your hot beverage of choice and enjoy the photo love.

Currently:

* reading - Papercraft Inspirations (August issue)
* making - slab quilt blocks
* drinking - water
* wearing - PJs
* weather - partly cloudy, 16C
* feeling - excited to be starting two scrapbooking classes tomorrow (more info soon)
* wanting - to do everything and nothing at the same time
* needing - to get to bed
* planning - how best to rework my space & better organise my scrapping supplies
* thinking - not much right now
* loving - having spent the day playing Sims 3 (geek alert)
* enjoying - my summer holiday

Just One Slab

I have officially started sewing/collecting my own blocks for this project and should shortly have the last of my donation blocks ready to post to Alberta to assist in the recovery project.  Again, if you're a quilter and would like to get rid of your scraps and help others in need, please check out this awesome initiative.

Hedgehog Pincushion

OMG, how freakin' cute is this hedgehog?  I *love* hedgehogs (they're right up there with owls and cats).

Hello Jane by Paige Evans

This page reminded me that I've been wanting to use triangles for a while now and have yet to do so.  I have one final photo unscrapped from a quilt exhibition trip last  year so this could be the perfect inspiration.  I have some plans...  I've just not been very good about follow-through lately.  *sighs*

Washi Tape Brads

And a follow-up on the washi tape buttons idea from last week, how about covering brads with washi?  Love it (although it seems very fiddly, considering the average size of most brads).  However, I do have some extremely old - as in, one of the first scrapbooking supply kits I ever bought old - large brads in drab not-me colours that could seriously benefit from this idea.  We shall experiment.

Photoshop Tutorial: Remove Tourists

Okay, I haven't actually tested this yet because I don't have a series of photos for it but this sounds reasonably awesome for those of us who travel regularly and sometimes you just want that perfect shot without people you don't know standing around in it.  If you try it, I'd love to know what your results are like.

Kelly Perky Foody Stamps

So I've been catching up on listening to PRT and in one of the semi-recent episodes, Amy Tan and Kelly Perky were on discussing scrapbooking food.  Now, if you know me you'll know that my girl friends and I go out to supper every Thursday during the academic year and we love to take and post photos of our food.  Yeah, we're foodies all right.  So you know I'm interested in these awesome stamps.  I also know there's been a lot of chat lately on the 2Peas board about the generally not great service at Simple Simon Stamps but I just have to have these (there's a second set, too).  I'm thinking I'll order them sometime before Christmas and have them shipped to my parents in Canada, thereby cutting down on the shipping cost and if someone in the family wants to claim it as a gift for me, everyone's happy.

All right, the cat's freaking out and I need to get to bed.  Cheers and sleep well, folks.

Albertan Relief - Block Update

So I spent a lovely day today stitching away, sewing more slab blocks for the Just One Slab - Quilts Recover Southern Alberta project, all the while listening to episodes of the Paperclipping Round Table.  Way to marry together two hobbies, I say.  Anyway, I stitched up three more blocks and this time I have photos to share with you.

Blocks from yesterday:

Initially I had all of my pink fabric in one group but I was finding that I just couldn't bring myself to pair the hot pink alongside the cooler, candy floss pinks so in the end, I decided to split them into separate blocks and I'm much happier with the results.

Then today's blocks:

Okay, so now for confession time.  I think I've sort of fallen in love with the green block.  And possibly the orange one, too (orange is my favourite colour, after all).  However, I'm not about to rob a charity of something I've chosen to donate.  I have plenty of green scraps so I'm going to sew a second one to donate.  And while I have less orange scraps, I'm going to try to squeak out a second orange one, too.  Then I can keep two and still have seven to send along to the project.

So basically this means that I've decided to make my own rainbow slab quilt, which is sort of cool.  I'm thinking it can be something that I work on as scraps pile up after projects - sort of like doing a scrap purge every few months, which can only be a good thing.  Since this is likely to be something that I work on over an extended period of time and I know I'm fairly rubbish about getting to the sandwiching and quilting phases, I'm planning to approach this project as a quilt-as-you-go.  This will mean that I won't suddenly choke once the blocks are finished.  It also has the added bonus that my sewing machine, which has tension problems, is too old for walking feet and has general difficulty with quilting, can better manage the smaller-sized blocks compared to full-sized quilts.  So, wish me luck with this new project!

Finally, something papercrafting-related.  Today I listened to probably the last eight or so PRT episodes.  PRT #164 - Eight Years Lost was quite profound to listen to and if you haven't, I would encourage you to go listen to it now.  What if you woke up one day and couldn't remember the last five or eight years of your life?  It really puts scrapbooking into a new light, I think.  I've always struggled with journaling and I know I'm not alone among scrapbookers with this element.  I have consciously tried to work on it and I do think that I've made progress over the last year but this episode in particular just highlighted the importance of continuing to improve my journaling skills.  Anyway, just some food for thought to share.

Just One Slab - Albertan Relief Quilts

Last night I was browsing through Quilter Blogs and stumbled across a great charity project:

Naptime Quilter Blog

Here's the run-down: As you may be aware, southern Alberta suffered a horrible flood recently and while the immediate danger is gone, many people are still suffering and in need.  Cheryl Arkison is organising quilt block donations - just the blocks - which will then be sandwiched and quilted by local quilters and donated to recovering southern Albertans.  Sounds absolutely awesome and brilliant!

I've long thought about making a scrappy quilt.  I'm one of those people that hates to throw away even small scraps, be it fabric or pretty paper, so the idea of using up those little bits really appeals to me.  However, the OCD part of me often struggles with the complete randomness and lack of cohesion scrappy quilts typically embody.  But the colourway slab idea that Cheryl is using is awesome - scrappy but organised enough to make me happy inside.  I also love that there's no pattern involved, no measuring - just sew randomly as you please; it's like a fun jigsaw puzzle figuring out how to put all those scraps together in the best possible way, such a fun challenge.

So first thing this morning I dug through all of my fabric and picked out scraps and pieces of fabric I knew I wasn't going to use or was happy to donate.  Here's my piles:

It doesn't look like much here but there's plenty even for 15.5" blocks!  Next I sorted everything into colourways and got started sewing.  Oskar made sure to lend a hand with the tedious job of pressing the fabric.  He's extremely helpful that way.

So far today I've sewn four blocks and I have plans to continue with more.  I'll take photos to share tomorrow when there's better daylight so stay tuned for more.  I've been enjoying sewing these blocks so much I'm even thinking of making one for myself after I've done a set for the charity; they're just so fun and easy to whip up and they look really striking - a modern twist on the scrappy.

If you're a fellow quilter, I encourage you to please visit Naptime Quilter and help Cheryl with this thoughtful project - a little goes a long way!