Carli The Quilter

Our two sons are 17 months apart in birth dates, we are very close as an adult family. We are comfortable having thoughtful and engaging conversations with each other. We're OK, in saying the unpopular comments about things that you worry about. They too, say things that are not be taken as the gospel because we "know" each other like best friends. We all say stupid things sometimes and we apologize and move on. Our friends comment to us that they see how close we are as a family. We talk on the phone at least once a week, then we'll leave the conversation and carry on with our respective lives, knowing in the certainty of acceptance that "the conversation" is safe until  brought up again. You always hope that your children will like each other? When we started this crazy and loving story we talked at length about after  bedtime quiet began. "Growing a citizen who thought about stuff and tried to make a difference" we both piped up. ...

I need something new to swing over my shoulder and hold a ton of stuff. I few months ago, I bought  the Super Tote pattern from that sweet Anna Graham who has Noodlehead.com She is really a sweetie. I had some issues with downloading and she happily helped me work it out and get to my PDF. I appreciate that kind of customer service. I had it my mind to use 100% cotton spring colors from my stash, after all I'm still culling and using ONLY my stash as per the arrangements with the Fabricholics Anonymous. I have several bits and pieces as well as yardage in Bark cloth. I love bark cloth lets face it, I've made whole complete slipcovers for my couch and several chairs I've reupholstered. Sorry, this was  before my blog and you know its good! But I have nothing in photos to share of this adventure. I did my first slipcover back in 1985 when we as a young couple with a family on the way, we bought this old fashioned couch which had a really unique name lik...

Hello my faraway friends! It snowed  here last night and its fitting that I'm still feeling like I'm hibernating and so this Crazy Quilt Along is still going along and has taken new turns as it has evolved. So welcome to my blog and a little about me, Carli the quilter, I'm still on my Fat Burning Soup and working on slow quilting these days.  But I'm really happy to share with you the finished Winter Block that will become part of the "Four Seasons Crazy Quilt" where the participants will make four crazy quilting blocks and learning and stretching to step up your game! Now earlier in the year, I posted a different winter crazy block and I was working on it, but it lost its flavor to me, something about it was just not working for me. Its speaking a different language and needs a vacation in my sewing room.  There is something weird about this block? It could be that it was formed and done while I was under pain in a very severe...

I'm really learning more about paper piecing from participating in Quiet Play's BOM . I can tell you this pattern is making me feel more confident with paper piecing.It all started with January with re-purposed and new blended together in the first block. Remember I'm still on the trot to keep my promise and not buy any new fabric for as long as possible.  I'm really happy to report that the epidural I had a few weeks ago has given some relief. The kind of relief that makes you feel wonderful, after such a long lost summer and winter. I wait for a surgeons appt in April. I'm using up all sorts of vintage scraps and sheets too! Its fun to find the right color for the right reason. Grooving on a couch tonight! Carli

Sometimes life just rolls along like a horse at gallop speed. You are a busy person, doing your job, playing with fabric, keeping to my soup diet, even though you've  hit a snag of feeling very hungry. Then you open your email inbox and you find a delightful message of heartfelt familiar message on recycling and wastefulness. A reader of mine contacted me about the wastefulness that she's when in a thrift shop she discovers lovely quilted items, some finished and some unfinished. While its a delight to find them and take them home with you as this reader did as shown in the photo above. It reminds you that your life of making quilt after quilt will come to an abrupt end and someone will have to remove your precious fabric into something for either a garage sale, to family members or to a thrift shop. But if you take the time to write a will and include what you want done with all your fabric and quilting supplies, its a very important step ladies! and g...

Hello my awesome readers! You know all of your comments have made me a 'bold and cRaZy crazy quilter' and recently on my Google plus page a lovely comment came from a reader of mine regarand I posted a link to the original post on my "Silver Linings Crazy Quilt" and as I read over it, I realized that I never really got down to the nuts of bolts of crazy quilting ~Carli Style, you know? If you want to read the brief starting post on this awesome award winning quilt, you can pop over to the post Silver Linings Crazy Quilt. So here goes with my story. I had some hurt feelings to be perfectly honest. I was and I still am very concerned that our environment is being threatened. Having said, this at the time, my hubby worked for the government and if you have a hubby with a government job, you ask about the confidentiality agreement all gov. employee's are asked to sign. I was at a quilting meeting and I spoke about the reuse that I do in my quilts.  This o...

Yes, I'm slowly recovering from a nasty bout of carpel tunnel syndrome and sleeping overnight with wrist braces has brought my hands back to life. But what I'm doing is slowly working on the hand stitching of my newest Winter Block. More on that in an upcoming post. But I've been able to normalize my hands back into stitching abilities with switching to crochet.  I'm linking up with Rhondda over at Oombawkadesigncrochet! Hoping your craft day is filled with lots of fun projects shared with others! Carli

The winning quilt above is 99% re-purposed from the linings of women's blazers. I'm hoping that many of you who quilt till you wilt will take a turn and remake something from re-purposed fabric found in clothing. This quilt is called "Silver Linings Crazy Quilt" made by Carli Heinrichs. Well this is not exactly what you might have thought I'd be posting about right? But please do check out this video, its very interesting stuff and might give you a slight peace of mind. Wishing you all a great day, spring has really sprung here, its brown, muddy, puddles of mud and warmer nights, yea!! Carli

I have a passion for crazy quilting. This is no surprise to all of you who read my blog posts regularly! But do you remember the posting I did on the Oh, Canada Flag Crazy Quilt? If not I'll post you a link later on. Anyway,  I made and gave away my 'Oh, Canada Flag Crazy Quilt' to Nathan Cullen. I knew that as soon as I made this quilt, that it really belonged in the company of a great leader. How I knew this is beyond me. I'm no clairvoyant. Even as I played with the fabric in the creation process, I could tell the quilt was whispering to me, that it was glad I was making it and it longed to go onto to great things. I have great faith in Nathan Cullen, Skeena- Bulkley Valley MP who represents the citizens of this northern B.C. riding. I believe that he will make a difference in our nation. I may draw your attention to the post on how this quilt was made. Nathan is a busy man as you can only imagine as a Member of Parliament of Canada and...

Most of you don't know that I was a Teacher Mom at home with two wiley coyote boys. Yep, I know about mud, rocks and snakes who happen along the couch! I accepted the awesome responsibility of teaching our own kids. I have several close friends who are teachers working in some system somewhere. I was not taught the conventional way and I guess it rubbed off on me.  For years in my childhood, my parents had farms that were not really close to any town. We were loners, happily going about our farming lifestyle! Horses were a daily part of the work and play. I did correspondence school via the mail. Our sons are now grown and we love it daily that they are still as close as we ever were. They don't live in the same area or even in the same province, but we remain close. Like this braiding above, we are knit together like a rug, hand made and lovingly cared for, we grew together. This is the most clear memory we all took from our years of schooling at ho...

I am sure that all of you have  had your share of left over teenager jeans after their owners went off to college? Some of you may even have thought about it, but thought it would a waste of time reusing. You were afraid to go ahead and make it, all the time you put into it etc. Well this quilter over at Made With My Two Hands made this gorgeous quilt for a new baby I believe! Made reusing pj's from flannette. Way to go Karen Shulz

Let's celebrate International Women's Day! With a conversation about what each of us can do to reuse more from clothing, instead of giving it to a thrift shop. This past weekend,  it was a sunny day, but bitterly cold with a cross wind that took your breath away. I drove the crunching driveway to the home of Eve Rippel. I first met Eve back in 2004 when I taught a quilting class with re-purposed fabrics from clothing like denim, corduroy or other re-purposed fabric.  Eve was a breath of fresh air and still is some 10 years later. While others in the class were confused with how to actually harvest usable fabric from clothing, she was helping with this idea by just getting onto the whole subject. I think that this year I'd like to impress upon each you to do more to recycle clothing into something or anything interesting or useful. Eve with her latest great grand baby quilt. Eve's Mom taught Eve to sew during the 1930's in Saskatchewan, when ...