It's all about the Red, White and Blue

I've had quite a trend going with my crafting just recently, and it's all about red, white and blue!

I think the abundance of patriotic colours in the stores here, and my eagerness to make some stuff that will remind me of my American adventure, has lead me down this path!

My current crafting obsession is quilting. I love the feel of fabric, and I like the idea of making things that have a purpose.

This is the first of 2 Wiggly Whimsy quilts I made, using a pattern from the Moda BakeShop by Rebecca Silbaugh. I used up scraps of Patriotic fabrics from another quilt (still in progress) that I bought at Jo-Anns, and used natural muslin fabric which I purchased at Walmart. Yes, Walmart ;)
I bought a cream coloured fleece and a striped cotton for the binding, also from Jo-Anns. I quilted it simply, with a stitch-in-the-ditch pattern, without batting, as I thought it would be too thick for the Florida climate. I made another quilt, using the same scraps and background fabric, with a red gingham binding. The striped one is Tom's, the gingham is Jemma's. The kids love them, and like nothing better to snuggle under them whilst watching a DVD at night. Even in July.

Armed with the scraps leftover from the backing to my Work in Progress quilt, I searched the web for a Union Jack pattern, and found a great foundation paper piecing pattern here courtesy of Susanne Klemm. Even though I had never done any foundation paper piecing before, I quickly worked it out, and ran up this flag in an evening. I then put a navy border round it, sandwiched and quilted it, and used up the leftover binding from Tom's quilt to finish it off. I was so chuffed with how it turned out, and I am itching to make another one. I may use some patterned fabric in the next one, to make a more Cath Kidston-esque flag. It will even up my USA vs UK projects as well!

The weather has turned positively monsoon like this weekend - whilst the sun is out and shining back in the UK. The remnants of the Tropical weather system Chantal is to blame for the rain, although we haven't had as much rain as we did last summer. The kids are one month away from returning to school, and I must say, these holidays haven't been as tortuous as previous years. Jemma takes herself to the pool most days, and Tom has been at day camp this last week, evening up the days he prefers to sit indoors on his laptop ;)  I have this years school supply list now, so will now start getting the things they need, ready for the start of term :)

It's homemade pizza night tonight, so I'm off to roll out the dough...

Sarah xxx

New artwork

Wherever we live, we always try to pick up home decor pieces that remind us of that place. When we lived in Gibraltar, we bought lots of the rustic white and blue ceramics that were super cheap in the Spanish markets. We also bought a framed print of a painting of the Rock, and also acquired a large aerial photo of Gibraltar. Oh, and we also brought back a little boy, who was born at the Royal Naval Hospital Gibraltar. I think he is my favourite memento ;)
Fast forward to our arrival in America. In our shipping we brought copious Union Jack themed items for our new Florida home - Union Jack cushions and tea towels mainly. Oh, and a teapot. We have the archetypal "Keep Calm and Carry On" plaque. And a Union Jack photo frame. I have a couple of shopping bags, and an amazing bag with a pieced Union Jack flag on which was made by a friend of my Mum. But I didn't go completely overboard with the Britishness lol. And yeah, we have a few military pictures too... Planes and stuff.

So, we have been here 10 months, and I have been starting to look for things that will remind us of America when we go back home to Blighty. I have already spoken about my America themed quilts that are under construction lol, but I wanted something else. Something cool. Something American...

And I found it at World Market...

(See the Union Jack photo frame ;) )

I love it! It helps me and the kids with our American geography, and it looks cool!! I am hoping that when we get home, I can point out all the states we have visited. So far, that is just one. Yep, we haven't made it out of Florida yet. OK, maybe 2, if you count the weekend in D.C before we flew down here.... 

Here's to the start of a new collection.... of Americana....

Sarah xxx