I Love You Because...

Quilt Retreat 2013

Seriously, I just had one of the best weekend's of my life. You know the moments when you feel like the stars align and miraculously nothing goes wrong?!? I know, I sound completely annoying but this was a MUCH needed break for me and everything was perfect. 

Last Tuesday night I took a late flight out to SLC and met up with Mom and Spring (and 48 other women) in Midway, Utah at The Homestead Resort for a Quilting Retreat. It was so inspiring and so much fun! We quilted all day, every day from at least 8am-11pm. We chatted, we ate yummy food, we enjoyed the scenery and we got soo much done! (collectively, I mean. Personally, I didn't get as much done as I should have. :) ) I got to meet my Mom's friends and soak in the glow of thier crazy, CRAZY talent. When I grow up, I want to be them. 

I got to go to a few cute quilt stores and stock up on supplies that they just don't carry here in the South (supplies for 6 quilts and a Block of the month club!!). It was wonderful to see two of my favorite people on earth all weekend and I was lucky enough to be able to spend Saturday afternoon/evening with my neices and nephews. (It made me wish my kids lived closer to thier cousins!) before flying out Sunday night. 

While I was off on my own, Husbandface was expertly taking care of things here at home. He took on role of teacher, cook, chouffer, Lego designer, maid and builder ON TOP of being  WORLD'S BEST DADDY... Wednesday morning I woke up to these texts... It totally set the tone for a PERFECT weekend knowing I had nothing back home to stress about. 

(Thanks Babe, for the most perfect birthday present ever. You're the best.)

Dreaming of fabric,
Joanna  

A Boy and His Bear and His Blanket

This is one of those things... what happened first? The Boy or the Bear? Owen has always been a bear lover. We've called him Baby Bear since the day he was born and it's you don't have to look very far to see why.   (Owen and his Bear Blanket - Summer 2003) -sidenote; seriously could 2 brothers look anymore alike? it's like I gave birth to an Owen clone when I had Cameron!

My Mom designed and made Owen this AMAZING Bear Quilt while I was pregnant with him. (using THIS paper pieced bear as inspiration) My only request was a quilt that was 'Waterton-inspired." She nailed it. It's named "Bear's Hump" after a favorite hike. I love the colors the contrast and the textures of the bears in the woods.

(Owen and his Bear Blanket - Fall 2010)

After 5 years of extreme night-night love, this blanket has been through 20+ states, Canada, twice, it's started a HUGE bear collection and it has had to have the binding completely replaced because he scratched/chewed it and loved on it too much.... it may be faded and worn in and dirty most of the time but it's still his most prized possesion. 

 (Owen and his Bear Blanket- Feb. 2013)

You can see more of Mom's Quilts HERE, HERE and HERE. I should really go back and post picts of Lorali and Ethan's baby quilts too... because yes, they're just as amazing.
Joanna

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Homemade Gifts 2012

Five.

quilt for the baby girl.

blankets for my babies

Lorali Lou-Who

Last January I set a new years resolution to learn how to quilt in 2012. Then I took a trip to BettySue's and called Alicia and talked her into navigating her way through the unknown with me. We picked a simple brick pattern from pintrest and since we can't leave well enough alone we opted to change the design and pattern a little. BUT... WE BOTH FINISHED!! Yes, since I've finished this one I've made more and now I can see the mistakes I made BUT that is part of the process... grow and learn and move on. 

(and on a side note, if you're wanting to get into quilting this brick idea really is THE BEST BEGINNER QUILT OUT THERE!! 100% basic!) We used some fun Grinch Who Stole Christmas Fabric by Kaufman and I added some pinks/turquoises to bring out the cindy-lou-sho character. I made mine a single size for Lorali's Bed and named it Lorali-Lou-Who.... since the Who Hair has turned into her little Christmas Eve tradition - 2009 & 2011.

And since the world seemed to align for me, just this once, Pottery Barn came out with these AWESOME Grinch Sheets and well, I couldn't pass them up.  After whipping up a few Grinch-y pillows and adding a few who-ville decorations to her room, She LOVES it all! 

It also adds to my goal to get a Christmas Quilt for every room in the house! (I already have a  Santa's from Around the World quilt  & Snowmen at Night quilt but next year I plan to get a holiday throw for the living room done and a King Size Christmas Quilt for my room)

How do you decorate for the holidays at your house? Do you decorate bedrooms too?
Joanna  

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Backyard Bugs

Christmas Quilts-and a Free Motion Quilt Tip

Backyard Bugs

I made this modern funky 9 patch quilt top right when school got out but just got it quilted and bound this fall. It's just a simple throw to pull out when we have picnics or need a blanket to laydown when we watch movies in the backyard or to cuddle under when we have a fire going in the backyard on a cold night. A boy counterpart of my June Bug Quilt. The hope is that it gets lots of use and never looks as pristine as it does now because it's just loved so so much.

It was inspired 100% by the fabric line I fell in love with at a local quilt store. The pattern I found in the book Block Party: The Modern Quilting Bee. I love the cute touches and detail in the fabric and I think the wonky patches add just enough imperfection and that boyish touch to match the fabrics. The little leaves quilting I picked out for Susan to do totally goes with my theme too... 

The back fabric is actually my favorite.... Birch Wood Trees. I love the continuous trunk line from top to bottom! Ethan's favorite fabric is the 'Fire Ant' border fabric and Owen loves the little lightening bugs in jars. Actually, I think Aspen loves it almost as much as my boys do, it seems everyone is reaching for this one first! 

Backyard Bugs
Summer 2012 
Michael Miller (Backyard Baby) Fabrics  
Joanna Wallace 

Friendship Quilt.

Just over a month ago a friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer. What the heck?! Seriously she is soo young! Needless to say it was a shock and heartbreaking and scary. We were pregnant together and her son was born the day before Cameron. When Em found out she posted on Facebook, "I Can Do Hard Things." It was the perfect statement and ironically comforted all of us when we probably should have been comforting her. Just three days after we all found out about her diagnosis and even before she started her treatment plan I got a call from another friend in the ward, Christine. She had an amazing idea to put together a 'Friendship Quilt' for Em. She had already talked to 20+ women who love Em and had very willing hands. Of course I was immediately excited and completely on board and within hours we were prepping and shopping for it! We decided on the Double Irish Chain Pattern (7 1/2" block w/ 2" strips) because it had that classic quilt look to it and still had space for us to personalize for her. I had never made one of these before but, I've seen my Mom make it at least a dozen times.... you could say it's one of our favorites. Shannon and I made up 30+  "Block 2"  squares first (Even Cam helped!) and this is what we gave to each of the women  for personalization.  No rules except making sure to use friendly washing materials so this could last forever and leave a 1/4" seam around the edges... 

Everyone met at my house on a Saturday afternoon to pick up their squares, start brainstorming ideas and start piecing.  A bunch of us got together for 4 more mini "quilting bees" over the next 3 weeks to work  on "Block 1" and the CRAZY amount of embroidery work that was put on the border peopl. Everyone's initals were on their individual squares but the inside border had all of our names, and Em's new motto...

Then everyone's individual squares started coming in and let me tell you the result of what they did was amazing!! 

So many had special meanings to their relationship, or encouraging words and happy thoughts. ALL were sentimental in ways that we couldn't have imagined when it was started. 

Seriously?! Aren't these just the cutest?! Let me be honest here for a minute... at this point I was so flipping attached to this quilt I wanted to keep it.... just sayin'

Crazy awesome, right? I love them all! 

For my block I was inspired by the embroidery I had done this summer for Mom.  I had Em's hubby text us a picture of thier house (I'm pretty sure he thought it was a little stalker-ish but thankfully he's a forgiving guy) then I had Husbandface draw a picture from the text and I embroidered over that.  

Let me tell you.... THIS TURNED OUT SOOO MUCH BETTER THEM I EVER IMAGINED AND IT WAS BY FAR THE FUNNEST QUILT I'VE WORKED ON YET! Surprisingly, the Irish Chain Pattern was way easier and less intimidating then it looks and having everyone involved and contributing and bonding was something I will never forget. We brought the finished quilt top to Susan up at BettySue's and she got it done for us in less than a week!! Just like I always say, the quilting is the icing on the cake... she put Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbons into the design....

  Yesterday Em was feeling good enough for a few visitors and we had the privledge to drop off her surprise.... I'm positve she loves it!! 

-Joanna

 

 

 

A little late.

I started THIS project in Feburary. For a Mother's Day/Birthday Gift for my Mom.... Her Birthday was in July.... Yeah, I'm a little late but, holy cow it's going to be totally worth it!! Mailing it today!

Winter in Waterton
Cameron Falls
Pattern- Doug Wallace
Embroidery- Joanna Wallace 

Mommy's Little Helper

Life Lessons on Living and Learning and LOVING it!

Ethan, Lorali, Owen and Cameron

Okay Kiddos. Mommy has a lesson to share and I need you listening to this one. Every year I set goals. Some I accomplish, others are carried over for years and years until I actually move it to the top of the TO-DO list instead of the TO-WISH list. Quilting is one of those things for me. I have always loved and treasured your Grandma's quilts and her talent. I've loved how she's found a way to make things so beautiful and have it be stress relieving at the same time. So... I told myself that someday I'd learn.... Someday finally came around this January and I have been cranking out a quilt a month since but it isn't all about the beauty and perfect finished product. It never really is in life, is it? I've had countless frustrating moments learning how to quilt, I've given myself migraines over thinking it, or wasted a lot of fabric on accidental cuts. I've washed and shrunk when I shouldn't have and I've scorched fabric with the iron, I've tried new techniques... and really, I HAVE FAILED!  I have ruined quilts I have MESSED UP! I'm not perfect and I'm the first to admit it. The thing is, I want you to realize that IT'S OKAY! No one expects perfection and really, it's not about that. It's about learning and PROGRESS and getting better a tiny bit day by day. I made this quilt in April just after Cam was born. I loved the funky colors, and wanted something really bright to go outside for our new little movie theatre area.... I also wanted it do quickly so you guys could start enjoying it as soon as the movie area was set up. So I worked on peicing the quilt top for 2 days straight... and LOVED IT. Then I figured I'd quilt it myself because the quilter I was using already had another top of mine and was working w a 4 week turn around time and besides, I had never done that before! So why not try it! I didn't have Grandma or Spring or Teri to walk me through this step so after a little online research and a few YouTube videos I thought I'd just try.... 

Needless to say, It didn't turn out so well...I even bound it but apparently had my measurements off.... by over an inch! The binding was just as big of a disaster. It's not pretty and it's not right I know that now. 

But I tried! I even tried to talk you guys into hand picking out all my seams $1 a row I paid Lorali... her attention span only lasted about 8 bucks worth. :)  I was trying to undo all my mistakes and "save" the quilt. After a few weeks of pouting over my FAILURE, I started thinking. Save my quilt? From what?! A life of imperfection? No way! This is exactly what life is all about. It' imperfect. It's beautiful and I enjoyed doing it. Will I continue to have crappy binding? or terrible quilting? NO! I will learn from it, I will grow and I will embrace the imperfections in not just my quilting but myself. In my life. Things aren't always as perfectly stitched up as Grandma's quilts... but everyday we're all getting a little better.  I hope each of you will realize that yes, your life will have imperfections. Your relations might have a wrinkle here or there and you might wish you could do something that seems hard and impossible but, that's OKAY! You can grow, you can learn, you can say 'I'm sorry' and you can move on! You can iron out mistakes and wash away the stains and mend anything. Just enjoy the process of learning and growing.

I mess up at a lot of things, I'm certainly not a perfect person but I'm trying the best I can. I do have perfection in my life though, and that is you guys! YOU ARE THE BEST, MOST PERFECT THING I'VE EVER BEEN A PART OF and YOU'VE BEEN THE THING THAT BRINGS ME THE MOST JOY! Thanks for constantly forgiving me and my foibiles and for loving me....and my wonky quilts.

I love you,

Mommy

June Bug

I've been meaning to post this for a while now but every spare second of my time has been occupied by an adorable 5 month old. Honestly, if it takes more then 15 minutes I have to do it with a crying baby or I have to do it in naptime. 

This Quilt is the 'sister' quilt of Piper June's. I made them both the same week but picked this one up from the quilters when I got back from our summer vacay. I made this to be a back porch quilt, something I could throw over the furniture and lay over my legs when the nights get cool so the name needed to be reminiscent of Outdoor Georgia... and because I wanted to always remember it was made w/ Piper's Quilt I decided to name it June Bug!

I even had it quilted with little fire-flies and dragon flies all over it and yeah, even though it was a simple pattern and it's only for the backyard... I kinda LOVE it! Now it's time to turn on a backyard movie, cuddle up with my babies and enjoy the crisp fall weather. 

June Bug
Spring 2012
Moda Fabrics 
Joanna Wallace 

Winter in Waterton Quilt.

Remeber that Snowmen at Night Quilt I made a few years ago? The one Doug drew amazing custom corners for me? Yeah, it's still one of my favorites. So this year I decided we need another one kinda like it.... and Doug found the perfect inspiration... 

Hope you evening is just as relaxing as mine.
JJ