Two peas in a .... quilt?

Before I post pictures of the "Duck Hunt" quilt.  I should post the true match to Little Mario.  As I mentioned before the quilt was for my sisters wedding.  She got married in the fall but she was moving to a new city in the winter.  We knew that she and her partner would be away from each other during the winter, as he was staying at the University to finish his course work.  So in order to make sure they would both be comfy and cozy throughout the winter I made them 2 smaller quilts instead of one larger one.  So may I present Mario's true match....

Wall-E!!!! So there you have it Mario and Wall-E are my two peas in a quilt!

Nostalgia

One of the greatest things I remember from my childhood was the invention of the "gray box" Nintendo! Although, my parents were never cool enough to get me one my neighbor two doors down had one.  I can remember going over there just to play some good old fashion "Super Mario Bros."  The graphics were horrible, the music got stuck in your head,  and no matter how hard you tried to keep your arms still every time little mario tried to jump over something you had to try to help him out by waving your arms in the air.

I found a series of great video game quilts from Carolina Patchworks and have made a few of them. A few months ago my sister got married and in true family tradition she requested a quilt.  But not just any quilt a little "Mario" quilt.

can you hear the music?

And where would Mario be with his duck hunt companion ..... stay tuned!

Not just quilts.....

Recently, I have expanded my production talents to include a select few other projects.  Last summer I went to "Kempenfest" in Barrie with some friends of mine.  While we were there I saw a really cool stand that had all kinds of items made out of "kool-aid" containers.  Attracted to the bright colours I went over to investigate.  I quickly saw that these bags (and other products) could be sewn together quite easily. 

So, when I returned to school in September I realized that I had access to quite a large quantity of "kool-aid jammers" everyday!  Our school is working on being and "eco" school and as part of our project I have a little blue bin set outside of my classroom where kids can come and drop off their empty juice containers and I will turn them into something cool! Reduce, reuse, recycle!

Step 1: Rinse and Dry

Step 2: Make a bag!

So far I have made bags of all different sizes and styles and I have even made a few lunch bags!

Bright and Beautiful

More recently a friend of mine was having her second baby.  At the time of making the quilt we didn't know if she was having a girl or a boy.  So I needed to come up with a quilt that would work for either gender.  I had seen this fabric on the coming soon part of the Fat Quarter Shop and I knew right away that I just had to have it! So may I present....

A cat free picture of Cat in the Hat

 Dr. Seuss and "The Cat in the Hat".  This is also a pattern that I made up all by myself :) I have since made two more quilts using this series.  One I made to take into school and show my kids but it wasn't there for more then a day before I sold it to a friend! And the other is currently on my quilter.  It is a much larger version of this quilt and I think I am keeping!  I have enough fabric to make two more of these quilts.  I have one more top already done and I'm still thinking about what to do with all the scraps....

The next line of Dr. Seuss fabric that has been released is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"...I have a feeling a few people might be getting these as Christmas presents next year!

The Very Series

I made one last quilt from Eric Carle prints and the line of fabric was called the Very Series.  It included fabric with prints of some of Eric Carle's books that had "very" in the title.  So, there is the "very hungry caterpillar", the "very busy spider" and "the very quite cricket".  Because I was making this quilt after I had made the other quilts my version of the quilt also had some brown bear, brown bear in it.

This quilt is unique for two reasons. The first: this is the only quilt I have made (to date) using this fabric.  The second: this is one of the only quilts I have made that I have not followed a pattern.  I don't have a very good eye for patterns so I usually make quilts based on patterns I have found on the internet or in a magazine.  But this one I made up all on my own! Simple but mine.

with of course Prime making a guest appearance...again.

Eric Carle Continued....

So after I made about a thousand VHC quilts I decided to continue with the Eric Carle theme and make a Brown Bear, Brown Bear quilt.  I originally made this quilt for a friend who wanted two quilts and wanted them to be similar yet different.  This way both quilts had a story book theme but they were two different tales.

Front

Back

 Have I mentioned that my cat loves to quilt with me! He thinks he is being helpful and it is often difficult for me to get a picture without him in it....but more on the quilting kitty later.

At the time these were the only two sets of fabric available in the Eric Carle collection.  Since this time some of the Eric Carle lines have been expanded and there is a new line out called the "very series".  More on that quilt tomorrow!

Story Books

As a true elementary school teacher I love children's books.  I collect them, read them, and quilt them!  When I found out that a good friend of my mine was going to have a baby I started to research what type of children's fabric was available. I searched high and low and I couldn't quite find the perfect thing.  Until one day the perfect quilt came creeping into my browser....

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The "Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle is a must have book for every teacher and I knew that this quilt would make the perfect gift for my friend.  The pattern is made by Carolina Patchworks and since discovering this blog I have made many more quilts from this talented artist.

I gave this quilt to my friend just in time, as her baby came a number of weeks ahead of schedule and the quilt started a frenzy! I have since made over a dozen VHC quilts and one hangs proudly in my school's library.

Once Upon a Time...

Years ago my Dad and I went to Vancouver for a conference.  After dinner we decided that the slightly rainy Vancouver weather was perfect for a walk back to the UBC campus.  On the way back I saw a beautiful quilt hanging in a store window.  The store was closed and my Dad promised to take me back the next day.  True to his word we returned to the store the next day only to discover that the quilt was not for sale! As is turns out the store sold fabric and the quilt was only on display.  Disheartened, we left the store :(

I couldn't stop thinking about the quilt so I returned to the store and asked the lady how difficult it would be for me to make the quilt (seeing as I had never sewn anything before!).  She showed me the pattern and I figured sheer stubbornness would help me triumph in this beginners quilting task.

And in true fairy tale fashion the quilt and I have lived happily ever after! I always keep it hanging proudly to remind myself of how far I have come and how my unwillingness to leave this quilt behind started a passion in me that I didn't even know I had.

Welcome!

Welcome to Fabricated Quilts!  My name is Laura and I am an elementary school teacher.  I quilt in my spare time.  My love of quilting has grown over the years and taken over a large portion of my main floor!  After some encouragement from my family I decided to start a blog in order to share my love of quilts and fabric.  In my family I am well known for making a story more interesting by adding some embellishing details.  Over the years my family has begun to refer to most of my story telling as "fabricated".  Driving home one day it came to me that this would be the perfect name for a blog.  It included both my love for fabric and for a little drama. And that is the true story of how this blog came to be.