Thursday, December 31, 2009

New Year's Eve & Counting...





One more thing to check off the Unfinished Objects (UFO) list...I finished my daughter's kimono pajamas. She hasn't tried on the shirt yet but I did get some pics of her in the pajama pants. Too cute. The pattern was from Oliver & S ...really liked it. I think I might need to let out the elastic a bit as it's a tiny bit snug on her. She has such a tiny waist as it is so I think I underestimated what she needed. She'll be snug as a bug in a rug in these.

Hope your New Year is happy, fun filled and most importantly healthy! Enjoy:)

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas Eve!


Pretend this if your Christmas Card....I hope each and every one of you have a fantastic Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

UFO - Steadily Checking off the List



Jacquie at Tallgrassprairiestudio has challenged all of us to get busy this holiday season and finish those pesky unfinished objects (UFOs) we have lying around our houses in differing states of completion. I know I have some!! Inspiration hits and when it does watch out....you have many UFOs:) Jacquie is hosting a contest and she's called it Joy in the New Year Challenge...fitting isn't it!

I've been steadily checking them off the list....sewing, knitting and quilting ones.
You've already seen my earlier post on some of the blocks I've completed for my Pieced Together Quilting Bee so I won't even mention those!

I made my stepson's girlfriend a funky coloured Christmas stocking as her favourite colour is purple. It was a fun and easy project to whip up. I used the template from PurlBee.com except I ignored the directions about how to attach the lining to the outer piece...I sewing around the top pieces and left the opening to turn inside out at the bottom of the stocking...makes for a cleaner edge...and I detest hand sewing so this method definitely works for me! Of course my little one had to get in on the action so that's who you see in the pic...

I've also finally completed my cousin's little appliqued onesie (elephant) and chenille bib. I'm embaressed to say I started the bib back at the end of August and was shy about trying out the snaps...they turned out great but I must admit I did have to hammer them a few times to get the hand of it! The baby was born in the middle of October and I delivered all of her presents last weekend. Felt good and she was a cutie! I was inspired by Jessica at TwinFibers I did what she said and just traced one of my favourite bibs and used that as my template. Thanks Jessica!

I finished my knitting for some 3 year old twins...I love knitting at this time of year and love thick and thin merino wool...so I got those done last week. I also completed a newborn crochet hat and a knitted one so needless to say I've been busy this past weekend.

So, my next two projects to complete are my daughter's Christmas pajamas and her quilt which by now, you must be just plain tired of hearing of:)

Have a great Sunday evening!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

SMS Giveaway Winner!!

247 of you visited my blog and I just want to say thank you!! I love reading all of your comments and appreciate your suggestions. A giveaway really is a good chance to get some of your questions answered and get more ideas:)
The lucky winner is #47 - Kristen of TipToeThreads - email me your address Kristen! I'll post on your blog as well.


Thanks everyone!

Friday, December 4, 2009

PTQB - Nov 09 - Block for Darci

Darci wanted us to make a Christmas tree block - the only stipulation was that none of the fabrics could be holiday themed or "Christmasy" - it's been fun to see what everyone has come up with. I used Kathy's pattern from Pink Chalk Studio - cover of Quilting Arts Magazine. See my other post below for the Christmas Tree Hot Pads.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

SMS Giveaway Day - December 2, 2009




Yeh....it's here again....SMS Giveaway Day!! It's so much fun that I had to participate again!!! My little offering is an Aunt Grace Scrapbag Charm Pack. I am happy to ship internationally - I will draw a random number on December 6th 6pm EST. All I ask is that in your comments you tell me about the best pattern you know of for toddler pajamas (my little one is under 2)....I just ordered the Oliver + S Bedtime Story Pajamas this week....or I'd love to hear of your ideas on the best toy patterns (Melly & Me perhaps??) My little girl loves her stuffed animals so I thought it might be fun to make her one so that she has it for the future...handmade is the best right!!:)

Thank you for stopping by my little corner of blogland:)

Crinkly Goodness and a New Binding



For those of you who stop by, you know I've been posting about my Old Red Barn Co. Quilt Along Quilt that I started in the summer:) I know, I know, it's been on my WIP/To do list. Well, I'm happy to say that I'm 95% finished with the quilting....pheww! This is truly only my third quilt that I've made and it's queen size! It takes forever, but I'm happy with the results so far.

I had some trouble in deciding on the binding and asked you for your opinions. I was ready to go with what you said and then I saw this fabric by Jenean Morrison (Picnic Parade). I really wanted a striped binding but just couldn't find one that I really liked. Well, here it is...I think it will be bright and cheerful like this quilt. I can't wait to see it on my daughter's bed next year! She'll eventually be transitioning out of her crib....sigh....:)

Sunday, November 29, 2009

I'm in love




with my new camera! I bought a Canon Rebel T1i/500D with a 50mm F1.4 lens and it's awesome!!!! Look at the quality of these pictures.....sweet!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

The Savvy Photographer

Another love and interest of mine is photography! I just came across an awesome website called The Savvy Photographer You have to check it out! I'm a particular fan of babies (go figure...sorry for those of you who hear endlessly about my little girl...but heh, she's my only little one:) Again, love all things creative. I'm shopping for a new camera and would to like to purchase wisely - any ideas? I'm thinking $1500 should buy a decent camera and one good lens. I love portrait photography...close up shots and wild angles....with awesome natural lighting! I hear good things about the Canon 50mm 1.4 lens. Ahhh...can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Christmas Cheer


I meant to post this on Sunday but the Santa Claus parade was held in our city on Saturday night. It was the first time my husband and I took our daughter....she absolutely loved it. From the animals, to the lights and of course Santa Claus, it was priceless. There is nothing like the pure joy on a child's face! Are you feeling in the Christmas spirit yet?

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Xmas Tree Hot Pad


So I thought I would try making this Christmas Tree Hot Pad. It is so cute! I have to say I really liked making the faux binding...turned out great! Of course the perfectionist in me is unhappy about a few things. I accidently used the wrong pieced tree fabric for the pink/orange background. I had a green tree piece and a pink tree piece...but when I was assembling it I was not really paying attention as my little girl was playing in my sewing room...oops! Needless to say it's a lot of pink..but still cute. You'll also notice the pieced fabric is a little on an angle...oh well:) All I have to do now is quilt it!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Drunk Love Quilt Top - so far..


The ladies in my virtual quilting bee (PTQB) have outdone themselves for sure! I absolutely love these blocks. I thought I would share them with you - this isn't the final quilt top or placement of the blocks as I'm still waiting for 7 more. I can't wait!

The colours were inspired by Densye Schmidt's What a Dish baby quilt that I saw earlier this year. I knew I had to make a quilt for my little girl in these colours!

See this earlier post.

Paper Piecing & Log Cabins



This first block is for Beki in my virtual quilting bee group - Pieced Together. She asked for a log-cabinish block so this is what I came up with.

The second picture is of the mini blocks I made for Valerie. I really love paper piecing because the results are so crisp...the trick is to remember a short stitch length and to mist the paper with a bit of water when removing the paper from the back:)

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Block Party Giveaway!

Have you heard the news about the girls over on Block Party? They've landed a book deal for 2011 so head over there to hear all about it. In celebration of this news, they are offering a great giveaway...check it out!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Xmas Tree Hot Pads



Are these not super cute?!! I recently purchased some things from Kathy at Pink Chalk Fabrics and with my purchase I received a little post card that had a picture of these great hot pads. They are on the cover of Quilting Arts Gifts Holiday 2009-10 issue. I can't wait to get it in the mail....I ended up ordering some more fabric from Kathy along with this issue. They make such great Xmas gifts!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

How do you guys do it???


As you can see I am busily quilting away - all I keep thinking is how do some of you pump these out so quickly?!! You are amazzzzing...because this really does take a while:) Back to the sewing machine I go....oh, and by the way, I am excited because I bought my first walking foot as I definitely intend on machine quilting the binding!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Quilt Festival - Fall 2009


After reading about Amy's Blogger Quilt Festival - Fall 2009 I knew I had to enter the quilt I'm currently finishing for my daughter...as you can see in my last posting. I basted it today and then realized I've run out of cotton thread. In Canada it it Thanksgiving today so the stores are closed.

I was inspired to make this quilt by Dana at Old Red Barn Co when she hosted a quilt-along back in May 2009. I thought I would make a quilt for my daughter's double bed. She's still in a crib as she's 18 months old but I know someday it will convert and she'll need an awesome, comfy quilt!!

I've always been drawn to oranges and pinks - I love the combination. The making of the quilt top was an easy process overall and Dana's sense of humour kept all of us laughing and on track with our creations. I ran into a problem when I went to go and finish the back - unfortunately the place where I ordered the Amy Butler Full Moon Dots in Tangerine couldn't fill the order afterall so it took a little while to find another place who still sold it. It's definitely one of my favourite prints but it's no longer in production. You know when you have something in your mind and nothing else is going to do or cut it..well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!! So, the quilt top sat in my sewing room until this past weekend when I suddenly got the urge to complete it.

I can't wait to get to the quilting...I'm going to pick up a new needle and some thread tomorrow and see where it takes me.

For those of you visiting for the first time...thank you for stopping by! I need your help though...thoughts on bindings? Please see my previous posts for a description of the various choices...any help would be appreciated!

Check out all of the HUNDREDS of entries for Amy's Bloggers Quilt Festival...such amazing, creative people out there. Not to mention the incredible sponsors and prizes. I'm so excited!!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Dots, Dots & More Dots!



I am a lover of anything dots...especially Amy Butler's tangerine full moon ones:) This is the back of the quilt I started back in May with the Old Red Barn Co. Quilt-Along. I know, I know, it's now October but it is done now and I love it!

I still have to decide on the binding...and I would love your input. If you tend to be indecisive like me at times, Cheryl at Naptime Quilter has put together a group of people who are willing to give each other honest feedback about their quilting/sewing/artistic dilemmas!! She's called it Workshop in Progress...check out the button to the left of this post. It's the perfect group for me right now!!

The safe choice would be to continue with the dots and use them as the binding. I do like this because the dots make a great binding in general, but the backing would have no contrast with the back (which is always kind of nice)...it would simply blend in.

Another option which came to me tonight would be to see if I could pull together various prints in the top and do a pieced binding which might be nice too.

My last choice is to use Amy Butler's ripple stripe which pulls together the oranges, pinks and some greens for a more bold binding. I honestly am not sure...I am leaning toward the orange dots...any thoughts? Would love to hear from you!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Pumpkin Love!




My husband and I spent the perfect fall day with our daughter who is 18 months now. We went to a local farm which had a pumpkin patch. The Scarecrow Festival featured hay rides, face painting, corn mazes - it was just great. She got so excited seeing all of the pumpkins and her face lit up when she saw these two beautiful horses prancing toward her. What a great afternoon! Hope you had a great Saturday as well...and for all the other Canadians, Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Beginnings of a Xmas Quilt...

Well here is a taste of a Xmas quilt I'm starting to work on. I'm paper piecing again and following Kaffe Fassett's pattern, Jewel Squares. I've made about 6 squares but this one has been my favourite so far...I accidentally cut off the borders in this picture but it is framed in the green striped fabric.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

String Quilt - Sandy's Block for PTQB


Wow, it's been a while since I last posted...I guess just busy with the little one, with work and dreaming up all of the things I want to make! It's always this time of the year that I either get immersed in knitting or sewing. Lately I've been doing some knitting - working on a few stocking caps for a few newborns (which I'll post a picture of later) and of course one for Little G. I love her in hats! Now that she doesn't always yank them off her head, I'm trying to do the whole little tiny ponytail thing with her but no go! She reaches up to the top of her head and manages to pull it out. So I guess we're going with the whole whispy look because her hair is still baby fine but is growing longer:)

During nap time I've managed to make up these four blocks for Sandy. She is making a string quilt using my favorite fabric, Fresh Cut by Heather Bailey. Love it...it's going to be a beaut! Sorry for the poor lighting but it's a dreary, rainy day here so that's the best I could do.

I'm thinking about making Little G a Christmas quilt but I'm still undecided about the design. I'm either thinking a circle quilt (but not sure if I'd use the appliqued method or Dale Fleming's six minute circle) or one inspired from Kaffe Fassett's Jewel quilt....hmmm decisions, decisions....and the of course I loved the stacked books quilt too....any ideas? I think I'm leaning toward the jewel quilt style...maybe I'll just wing it and see what I come up with!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Creativity and Inspiration



So, I mentioned in my last post that I attended Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing in Vermont workshop this past weekend....which also featured Denyse Schmidt as a guest speaker/teacher. How incredible was that to have two of my favourite designers in one place at the same time! I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it. It was a totally last minute, spontaneous decision to attend. I was just lucky enough to get one of the last spots in the workshop. I started a week's long vacation last week with my husband so I toyed with the idea of attending but kind of felt guilty as I would be going alone. As you know I have a little girl, so the Mommies out there will understand the guilt I had in going away for the first time. My husband is awesome so of course I knew she would have fun with her Daddy, but still I had this twinge of guilt:)
The drive was about 10 hours in total so by the end I was antsy to get there! I really didn't know what I was getting myself into:) I must admit I was a little nervous about the whole weekend...who else would be attending, my sewing skills, etc. However, it took all of five minutes talking with the other women to know I was going to have an incredible time. Everyone was so warm and inviting, funny and witty. There were women from all over the States...Wyoming, Montana, Georgia, North Carolina, New York and two fellow Canadians!!
Our first night was spent settling in, having great conversation, a beautiful meal and setting up our sewing stations. I couldn't believe how warm and friendly both Heather and Denyse were. I don't know what I was expecting, but honestly it felt like everyone knew each other for a long time! That's what I found so amazing. I've said it before here, most of my friends don't share a similar passion for fabric and sewing as I do (except of course my friend Lucy) so I really don't have that outlet in discussing these things apart from blogland!! It was so great to talk to women who were just as excited as I was to work with Heather and Denyse...and then to actually do it!
Heather and Denyse were available to all of us over the entire weekend to help us with our various projects (mostly from Heather's book, Weekend Sewing). As you know, the smocking on her smocked sundress pattern was giving me some grief....or shall I say MY MACHINE was giving me grief....hmmmm. So, literally FOUR attempts later, I was, shall we say, ready to toss the project aside....but I was determined, as was Heather to figure out the problem. Heather even let me use her machine (Italian model) which smocked no problem...however, when I went to make another one for my daughter and using her machine, the smocking wasn't working out. Everytime I pulled the dress out it looked more like a skirt for a 10 year old versus a dress for my 17 month old daughter!! :) Late on Saturday night, we finally figured out the problem...we already knew my computerized machine was too "fancy" shall we say to allow the elastic thread to do its job...it would smock a bit but nothing like Heather's did...not nearly as tight. WEll, wouldn't you know it was the actual elastic thread...Gutermans...which is totally a great manufacturer...just didn't work for us - not to mention my unwashed fabric may have been a bit too heavy...so a combination of all of these factors lead to unsuccessful results....well, once we figured this out...all was good again, even though I was the sacrifical lamb in all of this because I didn't produce nearly the results like everyone else in terms of number of projects completed, but ah....the lessons learned:) haha I'm happy to say it was all worth it because here is my daughter in her dress this afternoon.
More on the weekend later...

Monday, August 31, 2009

Weekend Sewing in Vermont with Heather Ross & Denyse Schmidt




Before I tell you all about it, I have to get some more sleep because when I got home at 1am this morning, my little girl was up through out the night...it's now just after 10 pm and I have to get some sleep! Suffice it to say...it was AWESOME and a dream come true! Here are a few pics....

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Ahh .. Summer Days!


Little Miss G had a lot of fun last weekend at her Grandma's big birthday party. She went around to the potted flowers and plucked the leaves off of the flowers!! I chased her around as she giggled:) I couldn't resist taking this picture of her.
On another note, I am soooo excited about this coming weekend. I spontaneously responded to Heather Ross' message on her blog that there was a spot open on her Sewing Weekend Workshop in Vermont. I talked about it with my husband..we were thinking about doing a road trip but thought we'd do that when she was a bit older so we really didn't have any concrete plans for our vacation time. When I saw that message on the blog, I couldn't resist...and voila I'm headed on a road trip on Friday (9 1/2 hours) to Vermont. Would like to have flown but the flight times were just not working out. The best part is that my two favourite designers are both there...Heather Ross and Denyse Schmidt. How cool is that!!! I'm definitely going to have to ask Denyse about that What a Dish quilt...I just love it!!! Now I just have to figure out what to work on over the weekend.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Help!! Shirring!!!


Okay, sorry for the bad picture but I'm in shirring hell!!! I've been trying to make my little girl a smocked sundress. I cannot get the elastic thread to work for me!! I have tried everything - started off making it like Heather Ross' book suggests which is to hand wind the elastic thread in the bobbin with no tension and set your machine to the longest stitch length. I kept getting a wavy back to the elastic thread. Since then I have tried adjusting the tension down and up...I have hand wound the thread with a bit of tension and even this morning tried winding the thread by my machine...and I still get the same result which is a wavy back to the elastic thread (as you can see in the photo). I am so FRUSTRATED...what was supposed to take less than an hour to make has taken many spools of elastic thread and one stressed out mother. I hate wasting my fabric...I bought Heather Ross Mendocino line just like the one when she was on Martha Stewart a few months ago. It's so soft but in the end the shirred top was NOT shirred (it only slightly shirred once you added the steam from the iron)...AGHHHHH...so if anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it....I forgot to mention I watched some youtube videos, Portobella Pixie, and Pink Chalk Studios tutorial as well. Why do I continue to get a wavy back and no shirring effect???? My machine is an Emerald 183 -Husqvarna.

Friday, August 7, 2009

When you mix this and that...



August is my month of the PTQB. Phew...I finally got all of the packages out to everyone!! It was a bit of an undertaking but I'm definitely looking forward to the results. Deciding on what I wanted to do and the colour scheme took me a little while but once I saw this fabric (binding) recently I knew I had to make it!! I'm a fan of all things Denyse Schmidt so I wanted to maked the Drunk Love pattern. However I didn't want to make it two toned as in her book. When I saw this particular quilt (which if I could figure out how to make it, I soooo would), I just fell in love with the colour scheme. I had wanted to make a quilt of solid coloured fabric and voila - my idea for this month's quilt!! Can't wait to see the results ladies!!

Friday, July 24, 2009

PTQB - Edith's Block - July

This was my first time doing circles in a block. I like the result because I'm crazy about circles - but took me a while because I wanted to do a good job for Edith. I think the longest thing was coming up with the design for the block and then I got going! It's a rainy kind of day here and my daughter is in day care so definitely a good day to tackle this project!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Fresh Modern Quilts - Winner!

I'm so excited!! I just received an email on my Flickr account notifying me that I won one of the giveaways from the Fresh Modern Quilts group!! Yeh!! Honestly, I'm thrilled because it's been a tough month with my little one. She has been sick on and off with high fevers and sleepless nights, you Moms know all about what I'm talking about...if it's not one virus, it's another!! She started day care not too long ago, so I know it's a part of building her immunity, but OH MY is all I can say...enough whining, I'll stop now:)
I've been obsessed with swapping fabric...every day I can't wait until I get my mail. It's crazy, but fun!! I'll post some pics soon.
Anyhoo, off to bed now. Ciao!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

PTQB - June Block for Michelle

I hope Michelle likes it...it was fun trying something new. It came together pretty easily.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

PTQB - June Block for Stephanie


I finished Stephanie's spider web block this afternoon. I absolutely loved working with her choice of fabrics. How nice is that Robert Kaufman linen-cotton mix for the kite....beautiful. I can't wait to see the finished product!

Friday, June 26, 2009

I Love A Pieced Back



I'm in limbo right now because I want to finish my quilt back but I don't have my fabric yet. I should be getting my batting on Monday from my Mom so that will be good. However, I do have my back completely planned in my mind. I took a few minutes today to add some white sashing to my leftover strips. At first I thought I would orient the strip across the width but I think now I'm going to have it run vertically. I'll be using Amy Butler Full Moon Dots in Orange for the rest of the back...and the binding - I want some sort of stripe so I think I'll be using her Midwest Modern Orange Dahlia ripple stripe. So in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy this beautiful sunny day - hope you are too!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Quilt Top Finished!!!



I couldn't resist putting Baby G in the middle of her new quilt top....Yeh, it's finished. I even ordered the batting today so it's on its way.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Quilt top - Check....Almost!


Well I've been busy sewing and finally finished my last row tonight....all I have to do now is sew the rows together and my quilt top will be finished. I still have some ideas about the pieced back and want to incorporate the extra strips left over from the top. I'll have to order more fabric. I would love to win Dana's recent giveaway which is to have the quilting done by The Backporch Quilters....that would be awesome! I plan on sewing the rest of the top tomorrow. I have always loved oranges, pinks and reds together...the inspiration was from my Pieced Together Quilting partner, Michelle...I simply added the Amy Butler Wallflower, Garden Maze, Joel Dewberry Aviary, Heather Ross Kelp Stripe, Sandy Gervais print and the Denyse Schmidt one (cannot remember the name of it...that's terrible, but it's late right now and I still have some work to do tonight:( Until then!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Old Red Barn Co. Quilt-Along




From Tuesday to now I've made huge progress. I've cut all of my fabric into 2.5 inch strips, sewing them all together, ironed it, cut them into 12 inch squares and managed to get my first row together! I was busy from Friday night on....and taking care of my 14 month old daughter....and managed to buy my husband an awesome early Father's day present! We said we weren't going to have a tv in our bedroom, but I broke down and bought us a 22 inch LG flatscreen tv. I can't tell you how nice it is with the breeze coming into our bedroom, our daughter asleep in the next room and watching a little television after a long day!
I'm still behind all of you yet...but I'm catching up. I can't believe how huge this quilt is going to be. This is definitely my biggest! It's 6x7 blocks - I was able to get 42 blocks in total out of my fabric. I did incorporate the Amy Butler garden maze afterall and did't use the Erin McMorris. Thanks for everyone's input. The garden maze is a little more unexpected and gives it a little pop which I like. I can't even think of quilting this one...and have to start think of the back and piecing it! I think I'm going to have to order more fabric.