Whitniffic Whatnots

Running enthusiasts may recognize the name of the great Ed Whitlock, the masters' marathon World Record holder...   Well, this isn't THAT Ed Whitlock. But he might as well be! OUR Ed Whitlock holds many local race records for his age group, too. I met Fast Eddie and his wife Martha through the First Quilters group. He was looking for someone to make him a quilt with the abundance of race shirts that he had accumulated over the years and reached out to our group organizer, who in turn asked in the group if anyone would be willing to do it for him. Of course, being a runner myself, I was immediately interested. Ed isn't the most talkative guy. The first time I called him to chat about his project, he got about five minutes in and handed the phone to his wife. Martha is the opposite of Ed; she loves to talk. We discussed what he was looking for, (what they were doing that weekend, what they had for dinner...) and we agreed to meet up at their church after Sunday's...

Ok, so I haven't really cross-stitched since I was a kid, but I had picked up a kit to work on during a Ragnar relay a while back and finally got around to starting it recently. Then a fellow granny-craft enthusiast got really excited when she saw me stitching and added me to a Facebook group that was just gearing up to kick off a stitch-along... Has not progressed since Steotchalong started. Allow me to introduce the 6th Annual Mystery Steotchalong, featuring a pattern by Matt and Em Fitzpatrick of Steotch.com . I have to admit... I wasn't sure what to expect. Taking a peek at both the Steotch Facebook page and their Etsy store, I gathered that whatever this "Mystery Steotchalong" was, it was going to be nerdy, dirty, or both. Can I get a Locutus of Borg pattern, please? I was not wrong! The first pattern drop had us stitching up some scrolly motifs and a big old 69. Hmm... nope. No guesses here! And the final message hasn't really...

I had a really great time making the Hipster Hound's Travel Kit last year for Habitat for Humanity's Repurpose for a Reason auction, so when the opportunity came up to shop the ReStore for a flipping project again in August, I jumped right on it. I'm thinking that a lot of people had the same idea... the store was pretty picked over of anything really exciting or unusual. I was hoping to create something useful and beautiful, and everything I was finding spoke more decoratively to my creative brain. I ended up grabbing three bundled up billboard canvases; flat-woven plastic tarp thingies that are digitally printed in huge scale for outdoor advertisements. I figured I could make a quilted art piece out of them. I had no clue what I was grabbing because they were wrapped up inside out, but I saw some peeks of teal, purple and lime green (my favorites!), so I took those two plus one that seemed to be mostly white. These "tarps" are valued at $2 in the store, ...

I said I wasn't going to do it again... but here I am, five months later, halfway done with another Cotton Cuts mystery puzzle quilt! And I'm seriously considering joining the next one too... Debating between Can Can, HipHop and Hustle for the Fall Mystery... They really need to stop (but not really) with these amazing colorways! I think that's what's got me hooked. I don't particularly love the traditional look of the finished quilts, but these fabrics...! Portofino or Berlin? I went Portofino. I'm actually really loving the look of this quilt so far. I think I may be acquiring an appreciation for classic quilt designs after all. Of course, I'll almost always choose a more modern design if I can, but there is something to be said about the cozy nature of a traditional quilt. There are a couple neat changes to the mystery packages this go-around. First off, the month one kits included actual fabric swatches on a cute little card to hel...