100 Quilts for Kids - The Donation

The wonderful Katie at Swim, Bike, Quilt is hosting the 100 Quilts for Kids blog hop and quilt drive, along with the DC Modern Quilt Guild. Have you heard about it?

A series of posts from a tonne of bloggers highlighting great, and easy quilts. Perfect for easy construction or group work. In other words, perfect for quick, gorgeous quilts. Perfect for donation. Rather than a central quilt drive and delivery, however, she encourages us to make and donate a quilt locally. (After having done the work for Quilts Recover, I completely get this!)

Today, rather than highlight a specific quilt, I want to highlight the giving portion of this project.

Recently, my husband and his crew had the muddy pleasure of working on the new buildings at Camp Kindle. Camp Kindle is the summer camp built and run by the Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta. Nestled in the foothills, surrounded by aspen and spruce forests, the camp is a refuge for kids and families living with and surviving cancer.

We look at our own kids and know that we are tremendously lucky. We also know that should we face the challenges of cancer so directly that a place like Camp Kindle would be a lifesaver for all of us. As one family shared with us, camp is where you can go and not have cancer.

The camp ran all summer, even as the finishing touches remain. As Hubby and his crew grumbled about the mud and hour long drive to get to work each day the first campers started to arrive. And when they saw the first kids, some with IVs and chemo treatments, they immediately shut up. That's when Hubby came home and informed me that I needed to donate some quilts to the camp. He well knows the comfort of a quilt, of something handmade wrapped around you.

Today we were able to visit the camp. We gathered the kids, the rest of Hubby's employees and their families, and journeyed to the gorgeous fall vistas provided at Camp Kindle. The camp, Foundation, and many volunteers were hosting the trades that worked on the camp for a BBQ. It was merely wonderful to finally see the place and more importantly, speak to families and counsellors who truly make the camp what it is. Hubby and his colleagues may have used their tools to put the buildings up, but it is the campers and counsellors who make the camp what it is.

And I took a quilt with me. The camp staff decided that it would be best used in the Rekindle Clinic - the on-site medical facility. Luckily for the camp they do have 4 quilts for the 4 hospital beds - donated by the wives of a local fiddle group! But when they have to change over beds the quilts aren't available.  And having extras to cuddle are always welcome.

It is such a small thing, really, to make a donate a quilt. Early on in my quilt career I gave everything away - baby quilts, wedding gifts... Then I started hoarding the quilts because I couldn't pick a favourite. But now is the time to pass on some creations. And to keep doing so. Such a small thing.

The quilt I donated is the bold and rather easy To a T quilt. 

Made from a pattern I drafted for the Modern Blocks book.

Friday Favourites: Continuous Bias Binding

Up until a few months ago I was deathly afraid of continuous bias binding. As afraid of it as I am of falling and failure.  Then I had a project that was just begging to be bound with a bias stripe. Begging for it. So I gritted my teeth, consulted the interwebs, and our book (Amanda wrote great instructions for continuous bindings with mitered corners). Then I dove right in.

And it was easy!

Yes, it requires patience. Yes, it requires more fabric if you don't feel like doing any math. But it is so worth it. For the effect it gives, for the feel of the binding. (And, for many, for the wear of the binding.)

Now I feel like I have another tool in my arsenal to make each quilt uniquely mine. Not to mention to fuel for another favourite - custom bias tape - but that is for another time.

Not Quilting

And this is why.

Baby, breast pumps, baking to spend time with The Evil Genius while The Monster spends all her day in school (oh, how she misses her big sister), and tea to keep me awake. What you don't see in the Dining Room Empire is the boxes of this year's canning escapades, a suitcase full of quilts for my trunk shows, the jolly jumper and dog bed, and the messy kitchen just beyond.

My only 'quilting' these days is buying fabric and sketching. But it is isn't the same. I'm desperate to sew, to make a mess with my fabric, to create.

"How do you get it done?" They ask.
"Get what done?" I answer.

Summer Party Salad (Recipe: Potato, Tomato, and Green Bean Salad)

It was time for a party.

I've avoided having people at the house for well over a year now. We are simply living in too much chaos. No matter how much I clean there is simply too much crap around, there is nowhere for anyone to be without staring at the detritus of our daily existence. And I find it infuriating. Oh, then there is that whole three kids and incontinent dog thing.

That being said, it was time we celebrated. Business is going well for Hubby. It was our 10th anniversary. The book is doing well. We're surrounded by a wonderful community of friends. Name the reason, we had an excuse for a party. So we invited our community of friends and all their kids over for a party. They deserved a solid thank-you for all the support, chearleading, and playdates they've given me over the last year. And I know that they don't care about the pile of laundry in the hallway or the ironing board in the dining room.

I made salads, a lot of salads. One of the salads I made was this potato, tomato, and green bean salad. It is a summer staple for our family. Really very simple, a good use of the CSA staple potatoes and the green beans from one of said friend's aunt's garden.

It was a glorious night that called for little cooking and loads of kidlets screaming while we parents drank beer. So I chopped, roasted some chickens, someone brought a poached salmon, and we ate. The kids ran around like maniacs and most likely caused my neighbour to drop the price on her house a little more. All the more room for kids and late nights with friends.

Potato, Tomato, and Green Bean Salad

2 shallots or 1/6 of a red onion

2 tbsp red wine or sherry vinegar

6 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp grainy or Dijon mustard

1 tsp honey

1 pint cherry tomatoes

12 small red skinned potatoes, cut in half or quarters
small bundle green beans

Finely chop the shallots or onions. Top with vinegar and let sit while you prepare the rest of the salad.

Halve the cherry tomatoes and place in a large bowl. Trim the string end off the green beans.

Place the potatoes in a pot of cold water.  Bring to the boil. Once boiling, cook the potatoes for XXXX minutes.  Check your potatoes for doneness. They should be firm, with a fork wanting to not quite go through it easily. At this time, add the green beans. Cook for another 2 minutes. Drain and add to the tomatoes.

While the potatoes are cooking, finish the vinaigrette by adding the oil, mustard, and honey to the vinegar and shallots/onions.

As soon as you drain the potatoes and green beans toss with the vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper. Toss with chopped fresh parsley if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.