Elephant Quilt

 I started a quilt for Ronan a couple of months ago and was able to finish it up just be fore we left Minneapolis.  These are shots of the quilt as I was pinning it to machine quilt.  It is part of my stash busting year in which I use only fabrics that I have on hand.  I had to cheat a little bit to get a small amount of grey fabric for the elephant and Ronan's name.  Also, I think I had to buy the satin binding, but other than that it is all stuff I had!   I am glad to report that the batting was even left over from another quilt. 

I designed the quilt myself with a lot of inspiration from Red Pepper Quilts and Handmade By Alissa, two of my favorite blog quilters right now.  The elephant image was taken from a Quilting magazine and the letters from the Arial font enlarged and printed out on our computer.

More shots of the finished product soon!

A Google Eye Adventure

 

Since our move, I have had the pleasure of being a stay at home mom for a little while until we get a little more settled in.  Each week I organize a couple of crafts for Ronan and I to do together.  Usually he doesn't get what I'm going for and gets bored but sometimes I pick a good one for him.  This craft began as an exercise in making egg carton caterpillars but became much more interesting when we cut them up into one egg carton aliens and monsters!  Ronan loves using "google eyes" and in enthusiastic about any craft that involves them. 

We just used google eyes, markers, misc. stickers and colored pipe cleaners to make our creations.  This is definitely one we would do again!  Oh, and I also was able to pull a string through one of the aliens and tied it around his neck for a necklace.  Also a thumbs up from Ronan. 

We're Back!

I didn't anticipate taking such a large hiatus from the Family Craft Blog, but the summer can just sort of get that way!  Our family made the huge and difficult decision to pack up and move to Wisconsin.  We're now living in a small rural town in Southern Wisconsin instead of the bustling metropolis of Minneapolis.  There are a lot of differences (hello, no Starbucks within 25 miles!) the main one being a slower pace of life, which we couldn't be happier with.  While Blake and I are sorting out the job situation, we are getting settled in at my Mother's house which she has generously opened her doors for us while we get on our feet again. 

And now that we are mostly settled in, and computer set up and moments here and there of free time, we can bring back the blog!  Thank you for patiently waiting for our return! 

Kristen, Blake & Ronan