Rosebud - A Finished Shawl

In May 2014, I started a small Rosebud (Pattern by TinCanKnits) Knit-Along with a couple friends. I found the perfect yarn by Swans Island at our local shop. It's a gorgeous raspberry color with slight variations in the color to add depth. And it's soft - so, so soft.

As it happens, it took me almost a year to finish. I would squeeze in rows here and there where I could. It's been a busy and somewhat crazy year, so progress was slow, but in looking back over a year of pictures I realized that this shawl featured was a nice addition to many family memories.

I knew relatively early on that this was not going to live with me when it was done, but with a dear friend that I "met" through our lovely crafting community on Instagram. I've known Raquel for over a year and from the start, I was so moved by what a sweet and loving person she was, both online, and through our emails back and forth.

In a shocking turn of events (shocking because I NEVER do this sort of thing), my a close friend from home and I traveled to meet another friend from Boston and the three of us had a short but sweet stay with Raquel in Utah. Truly, it was one of the most special memories in my adult life. For starters, I've never flown any where post-children, without children. (That part was mildly traumatic.) Nor have I really ever had a stretch of days devoted exclusively to friends and quilting together. We laughed, we cried, we cried some more, we laughed till we cried, and we had the best memories. I also discovered Utah quilt shops, and I may have broken my bank, but it was worth it.

I chose to give the shawl to Raquel in person - truly the best way to give a special gift. I was so nervous!



I think she loves it. And I love that it was stitched with her in mind... That truly is my favorite way of giving. Making something for someone and knowing all along that that in between all the stitches are little memories incorporated along its journey in to becoming finished.

We took a little drive to have a little photo shoot on our last night in Utah. This was probably my favorite memory of the entire trip. Here's hoping this is a yearly treat. :)

I'm coming to realize that you can't rush the crafting process. Some projects decide to move along quickly and some need to be savored slowly.

Thank you for popping by!

xo,
Jade

Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish It Friday.

Foxy

Confession: While I have been extremely slack in the blogging department lately, my crafting and sewing and stashing have still been going strong. This whole working full time with three kids and trying to balance life with crafts and chores and family has been taking up pretty much all of my blogging time. But, if you happen to follow me on Instagram, you know I'm still crafting. I just don't have as long to document it. 

But I've been thinking lately that there are certain projects that I've completed that I really want to document properly, so I'm going back over the past few months and taking the time.

First up is my Baby Fancy Fox Quilt that I made for a friend over our winter months. If you haven't tried out this pattern by Eliabeth Hartman, you really need to. 

It's downright addictive.

I fell in love at first fox. I like how the pattern has different sizes of quilts and the cutting instructions allow for strips or pieces of scraps.
And because I'm me, I went scrappy in one of my favorite color schemes - aqua, pink and red. This color scheme just never gets old.

I like to cut out all of my pieces at once and then chain piece. For this quilt I added a row to the side and bottom to make the quilt slightly bigger for longer use by the baby.

 

I loved watching my little skulk of foxes grow. (Yes, I had to google that.)

It was absolutely necessary to add at least one fox with glasses. This was my first time doing this type of applique. I'm amazed that it turned out.

In typical me style, I left most of the project till the last minute because apparently that's what we do to build up momentum.

I used my current absolute favorite all over free motion technique of swirls and hooks and I am pretty sure this pattern will keep reappearing in future quilts. It's fast, it's flowy and its forgiving of errors.

The texture it gives is just amazing.

Since this was a gift and I fell so hard for for the pattern, I'm pretty sure I still have one or two fox quilts for in my near future.

Thanks for reading along!
Till the next time...

xo
Jade

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it Friday (in this case my finish is primarily that I BLOGGED!!)