Smokey yard and Smokey the Bear Quilt

A few weeks ago I the pleasure of quilting a Smokey the Bear Quilt. The timing could not have been better, because Oregon was covered in smoke from our own wildfires, and the ones in California.

This fire season was hard for me. There were so many fires, and they grew big, fast. The skies were gray and gloomy, filled with smoke, ash and all sorts of bad stuff that made it difficult for me to breathe with my asthma. I honestly spent most of the days in bed listening to the sounds of the airplanes flying overhead and updating my evacuation list (list of things to pack if we were evacuated). Luckily for us, the fires didn’t get close enough to our town and we didn’t have to leave our home. So many other people were not as lucky and are still not able to go back to their homes yet. 

Those planes that I mentioned above drop water on the fires, and they re-fuel and fill up with water at our local airport. For days anytime you were in town you would see multiple planes taking off and landing. Of course once it gets too smokey they can’t fly. And then it feels like everything gets worse.

Just look at the photos of the smoke that I took from my house. I initially took these photos to share with my family back east, but I think it’s good that everyone sees them, so that we can all understand just how important fire safety is. Make sure those camp fires are out, don’t toss cigarettes out car windows, and be extra careful with anything that can spark.

When I saw this quilt, I was extra motivated to quilt it just because of everything that was going on right here in Oregon.  Smokey the Bear has such a GREAT message!! We need more of him around.

I can remember seeing his commercials on TV as a kid, in Massachusetts.  Mass doesn’t have a wildfire problem and I’ve yet to see one of those commercials since living here in Oregon.  I think we need to start a movement to bring Smokey the Bear back to TV!  (or maybe he is back and I’m just watching the wrong channels????)

But, back to the quilt. Just look at how fun and colorful these fabrics are, while at the same time they have such an important message about fire safety.

A lot of fires are caused by recklessness, and I just want to give Smokey the Bear a big ole hug for trying to spread the word.  As a kid, a didn’t understand just how important Smokey the Bear’s job was.

Thanks for the help Smokey the Bear! And, special thanks to my client for bringing me this quilt top to quilt. It reminded me of some childhood nostalgia that is still relevant today.

 

Vinyl Weeding Hack #2

Here is another short, but fabulous vinyl weeding hack for you all! I hope it's as helpful to you, as it has been to me :)

Last minute FAST Christmas Tree

We have had a lot going on this December. I'm very grateful for all of it, but it's left me with little to no time to decorate, let alone get shopping done.

Of course I'm still using this weekend to make some last minute gifts in my studio, so I realized I wouldn't have time to put up our Christmas tree :( Our tree is 8 feet tall, and takes up a lot of space. I takes me a few hours to decorate, and like I said takes up most of our foyer, so it's hard to walk around, and it's right in front of my studio door, where I need to be in order to make those last minute gifts. (usually I'm watching Christmas movies by now).

So I formulated a new plan....I got a small 4 foot tree pre-light that came in this cute vase base. And I decided to put it in our bedroom. Hey who says the tree needs to go in the main part of the house? My goal here was to keep this simple and elegant, and to be able to put the entire thing up in 45 min or less.

I put on some Christmas music, and got out the candy cane mesh ribbon! I used twist ties to attach the ribbon to the tree, and used it in place of garland. It takes up a lot of space on the tree, and fills the whole thing out so nicely. I cut the ribbon into 3 feet sections so that it was easier to work with and just wrapped it around the tree, starting at the top and working my way down. Every 6 inches or so I'd bunch it together and attach it to a branch with a twist tie.

I then added some small red bows all around the tree, and for the top.....Christmas Picks! Yup you read that correctly, I gathered up some Christmas Picks, bunched them together and zip tied them to the top of the tree! Easy peasy and it looks amazing. I feel like the entire tree looks like it came from a department store! I'm so happy with how it came out!

Now that the tree is up, things look a little bit more festive....which means I'm off to start gift making! Better late than never I guess!

Happy Decorating Everyone!
-Kat  :)