tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44958808599600853202024-02-19T06:11:21.751-05:00Artfully CarolineCaroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.comBlogger504125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-80634184149970889902014-09-28T14:02:00.003-04:002014-09-28T14:02:42.407-04:00Quiltspiration 365 - Unlikely color match
Sometime unlikely color pairings are the way to go. A couple of years ago, I made a baby quilt for my niece Chloe. At the time, The Very Hungry Caterpillar was my daughter's favorite bedtime story so I bought the book and a cute panel for my niece. I selected a paler of bold solids to pickup the colors from the panel.
Red, aqua, orange, blue, yellow, purple and green. All were offset by a Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-76620447978925779102014-09-14T22:18:00.001-04:002014-09-14T22:18:26.958-04:00Quiltspiration 365 - Meditereanean blue
I was born and grew up in the South of France, where the blue of the sky is rivaled by the blue of the Mediterranean sea and complemented by the white of the rugged coastline. I love all the shades of blue, and green and I love mosaics. It just came naturally to combine all shades of blue with the stark contrast of white to make a quilt for my father-in-law.
So after Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-3572010604371742342014-08-31T18:09:00.001-04:002014-08-31T18:13:10.538-04:00Quiltspiration 365 - One design, 3 ways
Before I started coming up with my own quilt design, I often used existing patterns, using my own fabric choices and colorways. It is easy to let yourself get boxed in reproducing verbatim something that already exists.
Here is an example on how just changing your color way can completely transform a simple design:
In beige, red and pink
In black, purple, red and yellow
Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-50435904329224431652014-08-17T13:59:00.001-04:002014-08-17T13:59:58.357-04:00Quiltspiration 365 - Creative process - wildlife photo
I usually create quilts without using a pattern, or if I use a pattern, I tend to give it my own twist. But sometimes it takes a little help to get to where you need to go. There is a lovely woman in my life , Gram Betty. She's part of my extended family. She and her daughter, Joan, shared their love of quilting with and taught me the basic when I was an absolute beginner. I really wanted to Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-58719339976419164092014-08-10T22:57:00.001-04:002014-08-10T22:57:36.124-04:00Fixer upper - The 1st floor bath
When we bought our new house, we knew there would be a lot of work involved, even before being able to move in. The previous owners had not bothered with much renovations beyond painting so a lot of rooms we still much in the same state as in 1985 when the house was built. And then the house sat empty for almost 4 years. We set priorities to having at least one functional full bathroom and a Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-44450739842849203282014-08-03T11:03:00.003-04:002014-08-03T11:21:13.604-04:00Quiltspiration 365 - Free motion walk in Boston
There are so many aspects to quilting, design, fabric selection, piecing, and of course quilting. The quilting can be as simple as straight lines, a stipple or complex as feathers and other motifs. During our New England vacation, I took many pictures that I will use in future projects, many of them in unlikely places. You can find your inspiration everywhere:
A tin tile in a bakery
A Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-51684455872043652932014-07-20T07:32:00.000-04:002014-07-20T07:32:40.492-04:00Quiltspiration 365 : A day of wonder and wanderWe are on vacation and taking a trip to Boston. We left Maryland Friday and stopped in Poughkeepsie NY overnight. Our firmed up plan only included a visit to the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome for Saturday afternoon. So in the morning, we did a little research and ended up visiting the FDR Springwood Estate and the Vanderbilt "Hyde Park" mansion before heading to the airfield.
The Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-28262518489038190192014-07-18T14:35:00.001-04:002014-07-26T12:53:31.743-04:00Is this thing still on?OK I did kind of vanish on everybody, except those following me on Facebook. It's been a very busy year and change.
Flashback to March 2013: we finally received approval to buy our dream house, yes, the one that sat empty for 4 years while the bank was making the short sale of the property a complete nightmare.
We signed in April and after 6 weeks of getting the most urgent Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-27712168344472834132013-03-21T22:36:00.002-04:002013-03-21T22:36:57.975-04:00Blanket for Ben
A lot of babies arrived in my life lately. I have been busy making blankets !! This one is for Benjamin that is such a sweet boy with gorgeous blue eyes. The pattern is a simple 9-patch with sashing. It is backed with minky to make it extra snuggly and quilted with a blue variegated thread.
And the final touch was to appliqué his initial in the corner and add a blanket stitch over theCaroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-50117682978229264322013-01-30T23:02:00.000-05:002013-01-30T23:02:10.608-05:00Challenge : Curves
You know me, I can't resist a challenge. Rikki from Ricochet and Away set the theme to curved seams and since it's something I had never really done, I decided it was time to give it a try. I make a little throw pillow cover for Bug's future pink bedroom.
I think my seams turned out OK for a beginner
The back of the pillow is super simple
And since I'm a glutton for Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-18927607915322237792013-01-17T21:23:00.002-05:002013-01-17T21:23:32.645-05:00Aqua placemat set
I realized I didn't share much of the Christmas gifts I made this past december. I found a set of really cute ceramic bowls with a aqua inside glazing. And I happened to have a piece of this really cool textured fabric of the same color... It just looks great together right ??
Four of each ...
I added the chocolate satin contrasting strips to make the aqua color pop
I loveCaroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-90191276942226978732013-01-07T22:43:00.001-05:002013-01-09T22:31:27.275-05:00Easy Street - Pink Lemonade Edition
Well I did it... finished the top of my iteration of Easy Street. I must say I surprised myself for managing this project that was way out of my comfort zone and I'm glad I did
I learned a LOT: piecing technique, chain piecing, cutting, assembling. The one thing I could not do is 'scrappy'. It goes completely against my OCD tendencies. There are a few different whites, Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-53336312395420918892012-12-31T20:57:00.004-05:002012-12-31T20:57:46.593-05:002012, 2013 and that house thing
Back in June, when we put our townhouse on the market for sale, we never imagined that we wouldn't be in a new house for the holidays. We didn't even thing we wouldn't be in a new house for Halloween. But there it is, Halloween, Thanksgiving and CHristmas have come and gone and we still are camping in a small apartment. What happened ?? Well complications for sure. If you want to short story youCaroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-55523729347389457832012-12-29T15:30:00.000-05:002012-12-29T15:51:39.196-05:00Holiday placemats
Now that Christmas is behind, I can share the homemade gifts I had to hide before. I absolutely loved making this holiday placemats and napkin rings for my friend Amie and her hubby. She moved in an apartment recently and I wanted her to be able to make a pretty table with her white porcelain set.
I knew this would be perfect for her because she loves grey, yellow and mustard. I Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-54206250255453942082012-12-27T23:32:00.001-05:002012-12-27T23:34:50.678-05:00Onto Easy Street - Part 5
I did it ... just barely but I finished part 5... I can't believe i'm still on track with all the craziness going on in the family lately... Like a last minute trip from MD to upstate NY leaving Sunday and returning yesterday in a giant winter storm (snow and sleet were our companions for half of the way).
After putting away our luggage, Christmas goodies, getting the groceries Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-89060761297185752682012-12-17T23:21:00.000-05:002012-12-17T23:21:05.442-05:00Onto Easy Street - Part 4
Still on track despite the pre-Christmas craziness, next week will be another story with a last minute trip upstate NY to visit the family.
This week the geese will be grey and yellow
I followed Bonnie's trick for a seam guide
And the geese came together much faster
Looking good :)
I did have a couple of oopsies
But it's all fixed
And I aslo cut my Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-14877717019923520292012-12-11T22:46:00.001-05:002012-12-11T22:46:39.395-05:00Kitty for my cuties
Do you have Hello Kitty fans in your life ? I do. 3 of them: Bug and her 2 cousins. . I'm guilty for part of it. My sister may not be super happy about this but my nieces will be thrilled with the little bags I whipped up for them (and the Hello Kitty goodies I put in them)
I found the fabric in the remnant bin at JoAnn's
and pulled some red satin from my stash for the bows and Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-51017004398943411142012-12-10T22:24:00.003-05:002012-12-10T22:24:55.146-05:00Onto Easy Street - Part 3
After the flying geese of last week, week 3 was rather easy. I also caught up on the cutting of the rectangle blocks I skipped last week.
I was on a roll and piece all blocks in a couple of hours
All done ... I love the yellow white and grey together
Thanks Maxine for working hard with me
Here are steps 1, 2 and 3 together
I'm just so happy I'm still marching Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-92123094844783801162012-12-03T22:17:00.002-05:002012-12-03T22:17:44.631-05:00CinderFiona
This year, both my nieces have a doll just like Fiona... well one is blonde and one a brunette but thankfully, I can use Princess Fiona as a model to sew for their dollies. Miss L has the blonde doll is a HUGE Cinderella fan... So by special request I fitted Fiona with a blue ball gown CinderFiona style :
I must say I had to get friendly with my seam ripper a couple of times to pull this Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-27796380561742180482012-12-03T20:26:00.000-05:002012-12-03T21:09:10.644-05:00Onto Easy Street - Part 2
Part 2 of Easy Street brought a bit of a challenge for me ... Flying geese.. my first ever. I was a bit nervous but thankfully the instructions were easy to follow and it turned out to be much easier than I was expecting.
2" strips
A lot of cutting
Piecing and ironing, then more piecing
It worked a lot better once I engaged my machine's handy dandy even feed
So Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-35443840943329416852012-11-27T23:30:00.000-05:002012-12-03T20:27:15.923-05:00Onto Easy Street - Week 1 Crazy me .. since I apparently I don't have enough to do at this time of the year, I added to the pile with the latest Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt : Easy Street.
Since most of my stash is still inaccessible (in boxes in a storage unit) I only had limited choices but I think I was able to pick a cohesive palette.
Here is my fabrics selection :
My color table:
Lime -> Red & pink
AquaCaroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-90122226918476425182012-11-22T12:13:00.001-05:002012-11-22T12:14:04.498-05:0015 minutes dress fix
Happy Thanksgiving to all! This morning I decided to take a couple of pictures of Bug in her pretty formal dress, and I noticed a little problem. Do you see it ??
Look closer... Here.
Well, Bug is one of those string bean kids, show only grows one direction : UP, and fast at that. While short dresses are cute for babies and toddlers, I felt this was a lot of leg to show for a Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-29081196758538964572012-11-18T22:05:00.000-05:002012-12-31T20:00:21.645-05:00Sewing spree for Princess Fiona
I had been a while since Bug's Princess Fiona had gotten a new outfit. This oversight is now corrected. I dug up remnants of voile from another project, a cute scrap of paisley and some tulle for a 2-day sewing spree.
Princess Fiona now has:
A ruffled multi-tiered dress
A long skirt and matching blouse
Purple pants
A matching vest
And a tutu.
I think Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-61385771376421121102012-10-28T22:17:00.000-04:002012-12-31T20:00:21.646-05:00A spooky little witch
This year, Bug wanted a spooky costume for the school Halloween parade. That was a change from princess the previous 2 hers so I went along.
I found the flocked satin at JoAnn's in the remnant bin, made a skirt adding a satin border and waistband then added some glittery spiders that were sold a table decorations.
Hot glued purple feathers to a regular witch had and added some more glitter Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4495880859960085320.post-2860991006543275012012-10-06T09:56:00.000-04:002012-10-06T09:56:00.127-04:00Pearl chandelier earrings
I love fresh water pearls. Their irregularity make them interesting and challenging. I had those chandelier earring bases in my bead stash for the longest time and finally figured what to do with them when I sorted everything out to pack for the big move and made those just before when sold our townhouse. I just never got around posting about it.
They are fun and go with just about Caroline @ Artfully Carolinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13391675826501392717noreply@blogger.com2