Sewing For Africa

I have two more weeks to finish sewing projects to donate to sell at the Kilgoris Marketplace to benefit The Kilgoris Project.  TKP is an amazing program that is totally transforming the lives of a community of people living in Kilgoris, Kenya.

My friend from church is one of the major players in this organization and a few months ago she asked if I would sew some things to donate.  She had at least 5 rubbermaid bins of fabric that people had donated to her and a bunch from Africa directly.  I filled up one bin with a bunch of fabric and I have been busy sewing ever since.  I made a bunch of random stuff until I finally figured out what the majority would be.  It turns out that fabric cards are fabulously cute, so I have a ton of those.  Then I made these adorable journal covers too, which I don't have any pictures of yet, oops!

Here are some of the cards I finished this week!

Love these, Amy Butler fabric!






I hope the people who come to shop think they are as cute as I do!! If you are near the Charlotte, NC region and want to check out our local artists please come to the Marketplace. It is going to be November 18th and 19th at Kadi Fit in Cornelius.

I am linking up to Sew and Tell Fridays for the first time today!!

Celebrate Color

Have you heard about this fantastic fall contest going on at Stitched in Color? 

It's called Celebrate Color and it's only being held during the months of September, October, and November.  The idea is to make something fantastic in fall colors and you have a chance to win some fabulous prizes!  Since I have had this partially made quilt sitting around for at least 2 years, I thought this would be the kick in the pants I needed to get it done.  So, I entered the Home Decor part of the contest with this quilt. 

I'm going with the name Wonky Fall.  Although after all the trouble it's given me I should name it Beautiful Disaster!  I had the wonky squares on the outside border finished and all the pieces cut to make more.  But, since this has been sitting around for so long I ended up using the tan fabric for other projects and was left with the little strips of Acadia fabric. (Which I don't even think Moda sells anymore)  Oops!  So, I had to figure out what I was going to do.  What you see is what I figured out and I do love how it turned out. 

Every part of this quilt was a struggle, but I am still in love with it.  I am actually keeping this one to snuggle with.  All of my other quilts have gone to my kids, charity, or given as gifts.  And I love doing all of that stuff, but I thought it was high time I actually kept one!

 

One of the struggles with this quilt was the backing.  The entire time I was making it, I could not decide if I liked the backing I chose or not.  I loved the fabric itself, I just couldn't decide if it actually matched.  Now that it's finished, I have decided that I do love it together.  The fabric is by Amy Butler, called Midwest Modern Optic Blossom.

For the quilting I free motioned a swirl pattern because I wanted the feel of a blustery fall day!

With all of the struggles this quilt gave me, I actually did learn a new way to handstitch the binding on and it's fantastic!!  You can't see the stitches at all, they are completely hidden.  But, I suppose that's another post altogether.