It’s almost time for the 7th Annual Summer Craftacular!

Sunday July 24th from 10 am to 5 pm

At the East Side Club

3735 Monona Drive

Over 80 vendors! Fun times with a Photo Booth!

I’ll be honest – I started writing this up with all of the 80+ vendors listed, I was going to link and share a picture of them.  Well – that turned out to be an insane goal, so instead, I’m going to give you a few ‘sneak peaks’ along the way by using etsy’s treasury tool.  The only bad thing is that I can only ‘sneak peak’ people who sell with etsy shops.  BUT, it is just a sneak peak.  You’ll just have to come to the Craftacular this coming Sunday to see, visit, and shop at these 80+ amazing shops!

'7th Annual Summer Craftacular - Part 1' by KimsCraftyApple

a sneak peak at some of the vendors...Part 1Sunday July 24th from 10 am to 5 pmAt the East Side Club3735 Monona Drive, MadisonOver 80 vendors! Fun times with a Photo Booth!

Zombabie Monster: Kai artess $12.00	SALE Margaret Keane Sad Eye... Glitterworksho... $10.00
Pink Yellow Blue Hat, handfe... ForestAcademyA... $70.00	Gray and Yellow Damask - Coi... studioALX $18.00
Put a Bird On It woven runne... harmoniebaker $75.00	Handthrown Flying Pig Bank i... nightowlcraftw... $50.00
Zip Pouch - Beep Bots besu $12.00	Whimsical Shabby Chic 4 Pane... thepainteddais... $15.00
Dragonfly Magnet Mauk $6.00	Candy Striped Bird Card - Mo... manvsgeorge $3.50
Bird in a Cage Mug jennyblasenpot... $18.00	Wildflower - Felt Daisy Flow... WhimsyHouse $10.00
Head Wrap - Black and White ... GracieDesigns $10.00	2 Glass Bead and Pearl Brace... SuanneBrooksSt... $10.00
Ready to Wear Ruffle Bracele... thesweatshopof... $18.00	Olive and Maude Original Per... oliveandmaude $14.99

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

One of my latest computer past time obsessions is Pinterest.  It’s a website that let’s you Pin and Re-pin things that catch your eye.  This is anything from DIY tutorials to handmade goods to delicious food to whatever you can imagine.  You follow different people and a whole continuous screen of pins show up on your screen – it’s a great way to get ideas, bookmark things you want to try and be inspired.  Here are a few pins I want to share with you this week.

My girls each have one of these beautiful dolls – so classic!

LOL!  This just makes me laugh!

How beautiful is this!?  I just love this image…

I actually made the cheesecake shown above because of Pinterest and it’s definitely a new favorite of mine!

You can follow me on pinterest here:  http://pinterest.com/klapacek/

Our next off-season challenge comes from a friend of mine – Kym of FabricFascination and Kimbuktu.   Here’s what she’s challenging you to:

I would like to do a Non-Quilt Quilt challenge.  The entries can be anything from a bag, to a sculpture, to a wearable, to an accessory, really anything as long as it is made of fabric and is three dimensional (not flat like a quilt).  The entry must also incorporate at least two items or textures that are not fabric.

Kym is planning on participating in this challenge as well and will be incorporating ‘Christmas in July’ into her ‘non-quilt quilt piece’ using the fabrics you see above.

As a bonus, everyone that participates in this challenge will have their name entered into a drawing for a fat quarter bundle of the fabrics shown above!  How fabulous is that!? 

THE RULES:

1. Have FUN! These off season challenges aren’t about winning a prize – they’re about being inspired to create something you may not have in the past. I can’t wait to see all the non-quilt quilted items!
2. Please remember that these projects need to be created during the time frame of the challenge.
3. If you need advice/tips/help (or you just want to give us all a sneak peak) with your project as you work on it feel free to post pictures to the flickr group: Project QUILTING WIP:http://www.flickr.com/groups/1430386@N24/
4. POST your entries with a description of your creative process, including where you are (ie, I create in Madison, WI) and the size of your project by Sunday, July 31st, 2011, at noon, CDT, to this flickr group – Project QUILTING with KimsCraftyApple:http://www.flickr.com/groups/1401824@N21/ OR email a picture/description of your completed project to {lapaceksorchard at gmail dot com} with PROJECT QUILTING in the subject line . ( 3 weeks to finish the challenge)
5. If you do want people to truly critique (the good and the bad) your project please post it to the Flickr Group: Project QUILTING – Critiques
6. If you have an idea for an ‘off season’ challenge which includes a miniature feature about you on my blog please email me at {lapaceksorchard at gmail dot com}.

***For a chance to win even more fabric from FabricFascination check out her blog post here:  http://fabricfascination.blogspot.com/2011/07/christmas-in-july.html

The third off season project quilting challenge - FLORA wrapped up at noon today.  I was happy to see six fabulous pieces that were inspired by this challenge.  Now, if you didn’t get time to get to this challenge – no worries – just post the piece inspired by the challenge whenever you get a chance.

Here’s a look at the six projects:

Quilter:  For Quilt’s Sake

“Flowers & Worm”

Made by Pam Geisel of For Quilts Sake in Yellow Springs, Ohio, July 2011, submitted for Project Quilting Off Season (Summer 2011), Challenge 3, Floral

7.25” x 6.25”

Full disclosure: While I was making this large quilted postcard for a friend and then realized that it fit the Floral challenge.

Three batik flowers, one red, one orange and one purple, with wavy green stems are being ogled by a friendly worm.

Fabrics are fused to the background which is fabric on a heavy interfacing. The fabrics were machine appliquéd with a zigzag stitch. The edge of the postcard is a satin stitch, green around the grass part and blue around the sky part.

Quilter:  Stephanie Stories

Blooming Dresden

Webster City, Iowa
Quilt top is 24in X 47in.

When I first saw the Off Season Flora Challenge on kimscraftyapple I fell in love with the hand dyed fabrics by Chris Daly of Dye Candy. So I bought two packs of Fat 1/8ths. They were so beautiful I didn't want to cut them. But I kind of had this vision in my head of what I wanted to do. I've never tried a Dresden plate before. I had planned on using a light blue background that had what looked like clouds on it. I hated it. It seemed so bland. The amazing gals at my local quilt shop helped me find his green and gold batik that I think looks beautiful. I'm not sure I'm wild about the border. I also feel like one of those contestants on TV who show up with an unfinished project. I didn't get her quilted. To be honest, I'm not sure how I'm going to quilt her yet.

Quilter: Diane Lapacek

Gramma's Fluff Garden

I started with an amazing piece of fabric I had dyed, layered it and quilted it. Then I started adding the flowers. I used what I call shreds. I saved those little slivers you have left when you square up your fabric. I took a few at a time and wrapped them around my fingers, then laid them down and stitched them in place with my machine. I threw in some satin ribbons and rickrack for more variety, and added some hand made buttons I got on etsy for flower centers.

Flower stems are a mixture of different fibers, some hand dyed, some commercial, that are wound together and stitched down.

Leaves were made from snippets...tiny pieces of hand dyed fabrics placed on in layers, then covered with a piece of Solvy. I then stitched them down in the shape of a leaf with veins, removed the solvy and trimmed the excess away. Then I added some random fibers for grass.

I took more fibers and wound them together to create the edge. I changed some of the fibers as I went around, again to add variety.

22" x 28"
Created by Diane Lapacek
Poynette, WI

Quilter: Marcia’s Crafty Sewing & Quilting

Floating Lilies Quilt - Project Quilting Entry

Blue Floating Lilies Quilt created for Project Quilting July 10, 2011

Marcia Wachuta of Marcia's Crafty Sewing and Quilting
Boscobel, WIsconsin

www.craftysewing.com
marciascraftysewing.blogspot.com/

I love blues.. When the challenge came out for Project Quilting, I decided I was going to make my quilt with some of my favorite blue fabrics. I love blues... I have heard that seeing the color blue causes the body to produce chemicals that have calming effects on a person. Maybe that is why I love blues so much.

Some of the blue fabrics are from Chris' Dye Candy Fabrics - dyecandy.blogspot.com/

I took this photo on my Mom's blue sofa. I made this quilt with the idea that I would use it as a table topper, but my Mom likes it on the back of her sofa. Both Mom and I love blues. The quilt could be used as a pillow topper on the head of a bed. It could be a wall hanging too. I just feel so calm and relaxed about it, that I would just use it anywhere!

I finished the binding last night here at my Mom's house. I took the final pictures this morning.

I took pictures of all the steps from start to finish. I will post them this week while I am here with my Mom's house. I will explain the construction process. You may want to make the delightful Floating Lilies, so I will share it.

Quilter: Sieber Designs

Floral Hamsa

I created my floral Hamsa by machine appliquéing the hamsa to the background, and then placing borders. I then took several days to sew each individual bead to the quilt to make the leaves, vines and flowers. Finally, I layered the quilt and quilted it together with gold cotton thread, added the binding and hand stitched the binding to the reverse of the quilt. The entire quilt is 16.25” x 16”
I am always inspired by Judiaca items (Jewish pieces). I find that I take the most time to create these pieces and that they become my favorites in my collection. I love flowers and color, and believe this is also apparent in this work.
Created in my home studio, Florence, Massachusetts.
Aviva Sieber
www.sieberdesigns.com

Quilter:  KimsCraftyApple

Dill Blossom Strip Quilt

I have to be honest. I didn't put much time into my Project QUILTING challenge piece this time around. I've been finally getting a little bit of time to make things again but I've really been focusing on increasing my inventory for my upcoming 'Summer Craftacular' show in a few weeks and for the apple store this fall.

I made six strip quilts in the last few weeks (during the FLORA challenge time frame) and am submitting this one - my Dill Blossom Strip Quilt for my entry. I've finally embraced the simplicity of a strip quilt and I love how it highlights the beauty of the fabric. The other thing I've come to love is the elegance of straight line quilting. I purposely added a bit of a wave to my quilting just to minimize the stress of having a perfectly straight line. The fabrics I used come from Robert Kaufman's Dill Blossom Line that I purchased from FabricFascination.

Approximate Size: 21" x 29"
Created by Kim Lapacek in Madison, WI

I’ll be posting the next Off Season Project Quilting challenge later TODAY so stop by again SOON!

I haven’t been a diligent blogger lately.  My excuses are good though… Of course, the number one is that I have a 2 month old and a 3 & 4 year old that I have to keep happy, busy, and having fun during these beautiful summer days.  My second one is that I’ve been taking every free moment I have to make new things from quilts to jewelry in order to be prepared for my upcoming show – The Seventh Annual Summer Craftacular on Sunday, July 24th. 

Here’s a mosaic of fun strip quilts I found while searching through flickr. 

Today I’m going to show of the six new baby quilts I have for sale.  I embraced the modern look of a strip quilt and further emphasized it with straight line quilting.  I am very happy with the end result. 

Dill Blossom Strips Quilt Dill Blossom Strips Quilt – 2.0 Galaxy Strip Quilt Eclectic Mix Quilt

Black and White and Red All Over - Olivia the Pig

Black and White and Red All Over - Olivia the Pig - 2.0

Do you have a favorite?