Jonua's having a contest!!

My good friend Jonua from France is hosting a giveaway/referral contest over on her BLOG and FACEBOOK page!!! Be sure to hop over there and check it out. You have the chance to win some amazing hand-made jewelry from France!!!

Not into contests? You can at least check out her etsy shops.

FRENGLISH

~or~

J RACHEL BESNARD DESIGNS

Again here's the link to her blog -> CLICK HERE

=cD

Updated my Facebook and Etsy Shop!

I added a couple new Custom Items to my etsy shop and updated my facebook page.

I know most of my blog readers make quilts on their own. This is for those who would like to have a t-shirt quilt or memory quilt made by me!

Find me on Facebook:

facebook.com/KatiesQuiltsandCrafts

Etsy:
KatiesQuiltsNCrafts.etsy.com (used to be KumQuatMae.etsy.com)

Also find me on PINTEREST!!! I am constantly updating my boards with FREE tutorials for Quilts and Craft patterns!

Pinterest.com/Krati

2 Quilts in 1 Week

I'm on a ROLL!!! I have finished two quilts in 1 week!!! I'm so proud of myself. It just goes to show that when you pull out a UFO or WIP and actually FINISH it, how much it motivates you to keep going.. and going. . and going. So if you're lagging behind.. . . . just START. . it's the hardest part. Then, when you're finished, and have that overwhelmingly happy giddy feeling of Pride and accomplishment, you'll have no trouble picking out another UFO from your ever growing stack.

I'd like to share what I just recently finished and I hope you like it:

This one, which I simply have titled "Red, Black and White" Quilt, is now available at my etsy shop for a very humble price I must say. To just be able to finish them I'm very excited. But to earn a wee bit of cash and know that someone else will enjoy them is just enough for me!! So I just ask for approximately what I have in materials. . that's it.

Please visit my etsy shop for this quilt HERE.

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So what else have I been into as of late? I also just recently finished 3 amazingly quilted/embroidered totes. I can't show you those yet, but I CAN show you another tote I just recently finished. My dear dear friend Megan, who will be moving away to Florida soon (so sad) ordered her most probably very last item from me. She requested I make her a quilted laptop case. I have made TWO so far including this one. The first, was for my mother, and I believe it turned out rather well. To check out the one I made for my mother click HERE.

The tutorial I used was THIS ONE although I did add to Megan's bag an outside pocket. For both Megan AND my mother's bags I added quilting, AND a handle/strap. This makes the bag less like a "sleeve" and more like a "tote."

Here's the end result of Megan's Laptop bag:

Megan found the fabric from fatquartershop.com and the tote required 1/2 yard each outside and lining fabric...with no leftovers. Instead of using fusible fleece, I just used regular old cotton/poly batting. I did however iron/press my batting down so it wasn't so "fluffy." I believe it does sort of the same thing as fusible and even STICKS to the fabric!

Doesn't her new laptop bag SCREAM Florida?!?!

NEW Quilt for Sale

I just finished a UFO!! It was the 3rd in a series of Grey study quilts which used a combination of Bright rainbow-colored fabrics as well as grey print fabrics.

To see all the grey study quilts go to www.Facebook.com/KatiesQuiltsandCrafts ~ be sure to "like" me while you're there ;c) OR you can see them on my flickr slideshow on the sidebar to the right ----->

I quilted this quilt VERY densely with an ALL-over pattern that could be sorta described as McTavishing. It's my own little twist on McTAvishing. . should I call it McKatying? LMAO juuustttt kiddding.

Since I used this quilt for practice quilting I'm not charging too much for it on etsy. But it DID take a VERYYY long time to finish. I think I started this quilt. . . hmmm. . . . 6 months ago maybe? I know it was before Christmas last year.

To view the BRAND NEW etsy listing for this item go here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/80298141/rainbow-grey-quilt-no-3-double-sided

Busy Bee!!

Well I have been a busy little bee ~ Craft-i-ly speaking that is. ; )
Yesterday I spent the whole day dyeing. . it looks like a rainbow threw up on my apartment, AND ME! No matter how hard I try, and how many gloves I wear, I still get dye all over me. But it's alllll worth it! This dyeing session I'm concentrating on 4 step gradations. I've done 6 and even 8 steps and I always feel like there's too much "mud" in the middle... or rather too many steps that look similar. I want a clear difference between each gradation ya know?
I used a technique from dyeing101's blog. I started out with my dye concentrates, and then I measured in to 4 plastic bags...
A=4T dye concentrate
B=2T dye concentrate
C=2t dye concentrate
D= 3T dye concentrate + 1/4t black dye concentrate
I used jacquard dyes in Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Olive, and Raspberry, and Brown. The black I used was "jet black" and it did amazing things when added to my base colors. I think next time I'll take this step a bit further by adding extra black therefore deepening the colors as opposed to lightening them. Some colors, like RED/Fuschia only go so deep! I like my colors DEEP and dark. . earthy ya know? So we'll see how this turns out, I'll be rinsing them out as the week progresses. I only do a couple batches per night, because it really wears out your wrists and arms, leaning over the sink or the bathtub.

Another fun thing - I recently opened my etsy shop back up! YAY! Momma needs some cash, and I had a pile of quilt-y stuff back on my "clean sheet" bed ready to do something with. I re-opened up my shop with these items and I'm selling them for CHEAP! I also plan on listing a custom tee-shirt and memory quilt.

About a week ago I finished a baby quilt for my friend Maggie who is expecting her baby girl VERY soon... I used Aunt Jane fabrics and white .. and quilted it to death and also added some Trapunto'd hearts in the center of the log-cabin blocks. This quilt also features Prairie points. This was the first time I have ever done Trapunto OR Prairie points. I think it turned out SOOO cute! I can just see a baby chewing on those. . sooo adorable! Here's a photo of it:



Next I'm starting on a tote for my friend Jaime McCumbers, who's etsy shop is on the side bar --> You can view her etsy shop by clicking mine and DH's photo wearing her crocheted hats. She wants a tote in Navy and Kelly Green (Marshall University Green) with a big Daisy on it. I have all the fabric picked out and will probably start that later today.
Another project I'm getting started on is a spring dress for my friend Heather P. Her birthday is coming up and she wants a cute spring dress. We went to Joann's together Friday, and she picked out a fabulous grey jersey knit with white skulls on it. I'm going to line it with a pink satin-y fabric. I'm puting on two outside pockets and and attaching some cute pink ceramic buttons. She's just now getting into roller derby and I think she'll be ADORABLe in this little number. . . IF, and ONLY IF, I can pull it off. I've only made a couple things with store-bought patterns and have the worst trouble with them. I'll be counting on all of you to help me out if I have any questions. =cD

Hints? Tips? PLEASE Contact me now! haha.
Well I'll check back in later. .