Afternoon Sewing

I haven't spent any time sewing for a while now so I was eager to get back at it with a small project today.  My stepson has been spending time with us this summer and has been wanting his own personal pillowcase.  Life with two little ones as you know can be very busy so I wanted to make sure I made this for him today while he's on an overnight trip with Dad.  They've gone hiking :).
My 5 year old had to get in on the action while my 2 year old was napping.

Complete with French seams and a nice solid flannel border...this is going to be nice and cozy when they return home:)
I talked about how I make pillowcases in this post:
http://blueberrygabs.blogspot.ca/2013/04/pillowcases.html.

Newborn Flapper Hat

Lots of little girls being born lately so I made two of these little flappers this spring and summer.  I've been in my knitting mood lately so haven't really been at the sewing machine.  We've went away on vacation to the East Coast (Peggy's Cove) recently so I brought along some knitting/crochet projects.  I don't know what it is about making baby hats but I'm always drawn to them.  Instant satisfaction in completing a project and instant baby cuteness --- a great combination for sure!!

I love using cotton for those spring and summer wee ones.  Nice and soft against the skin.  If you're interested in making your own there are tons of crochet patterns on Ravelry and Etsy.  I've simply adapted my own and made this "flapper" style which I think adds feminine, vintage touch!  Love it!  I don't typically use variegated yarn but these colours were so soft, I couldn't resist!

I believe I picked up this flower at JoAnn's in the U.S. - it couldn't be more perfect....matches perfectly and really adds that finishing touch!

I'm linking up to Clover and Violet's Season by Hand which finishes tomorrow night.  Hurry up and go and post your project!!!

Here are a few pics of this summer...

Next on the list...Summer Wrap

I've been in the mood for some knitting lately.  It's funny how I get in different moods between wanting to sew, quilt or knit.

Here's what I'd like to make...

What I like about this wrap is that it will be nice and airy...perfect for a summer evening.  I'm a sucker for stripes so that's why this pattern appealed to me.  What doesn't appeal to me is thinking about all of those tiny stitches in lace weight yarn....:)

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Second Submission

This is my second submission to the Blogger's Quilt Festival in the Doll/Mini Quilt Category.

For those of you who have visited before (thank you by the way:), I recently finished this quilt for my 90 year old grandmother who lives in a nursing home.  She spends all of her time in a wheelchair these days so I wanted to make something that was small, and could be placed on her lap.  She's a wee bit of feisty one (all 77 pounds) and red is her favourite colour.   This pic is of my daughter who held it up for me once I finished piecing the top.

Love a striped binding, don't you?  Just happened to come across this fabric recently at my LQS so I knew it would match perfectly!

I used my Accuquilt machine to cut all of the isoceles triangles so it came together pretty quickly.  I used a plain red flannel for the backing so it would be nice and soft for my Grandma.

Finished size:  25x31
Quilted by me on my home machine

Little Miss G and I visited her recently on Mother's Day and gave this to her as our gift:)

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Spring 2013

It's that time of year again!

 It's the Blogger's Quilt Festival!!  Two times a year, Amy from Amyscreativeside.com hosts the most awesome quilt festival....literally a feast for your eyes!!!  I was so glad to see that the deadline for submissions is May 17-24, 2013 as it gave me that extra boost to finish up my husband's quilt!  It's true, almost everyone in my family has been given a quilt, except for my husband:(  Sad, but true.  So, the ladies of the Unscripted Bee helped me put this one together.  So, without further ado, here is my submission for the Group or Bee Quilt Category:

Of course, Miss G had to get in on the action as I had my husband hold the quilt up yesterday afternoon in our backyard.  To those of you who follow me, sorry to go on and on about this quilt but I swear it's been quite a process to come together.....slow, slow, slow for sure.  I posted on the many phases of its completion, but this will be the last one....honest:)

I first fell in love with Victoria's Waverunner quilt....here's the tutorial.  I had made this quilt for my stepson two years ago so I had a lot of solid scraps left over.  Luckily, my husband loved the colour combo so the quilt idea was born!

I knew I wanted to quilt it with concentric circles.  I personally love BloomingPoppies tutorial on concentric circular quilting.  I quilted this on my home machine with my walking foot.  As I didn't have a guide for it, I ended up having to use the edge of the foot as my guide which makes for dense quilting in the end.  

I do love the effect though!

As for the binding I used Kona Charcoal as I wanted a darker binding to match the back (pics soon as the quilt is in the wash).  I personally like a thinner binding, so to switch things up a bit, I decided to go with a 2 inch binding versus my usual 2.25 inches.  It certainly is tighter, but if you're machine quilting the binding on, it's the way to go.   I usually use Rita's (RedPepperQuilts) method of attaching the binding but I decided to attach it to the back and then sew down the front with a seam that's really close to the edge.  My thread blends not only with the binding colour but is also hidden in the backing as I used a light grey thread to do all of the quilting.  I have to say by the time I was done with the quilting, I was very eager to get the binding attached and be all done!!!  I wish I could say I love to hand stitch the binding, but I don't have the patience:(

For the back, I chose flannels (Sketch in Charcoal, Royal Blue and Red with a piece of Washi in the centre).  I love a flannel backing because it makes the quilt all nice and cozy!  I'm sending it along with my husband so he'll have it when he's at the fire station on his nights at work.  The colours represent the navy (he's a navy diver in the reserves) and a fire fighter (had to have a little splash of red).

So thank you to the ladies of the Unscripted Bee for all of their hard work!

Quilt Size: 49x56

Quilting:  Home machine by me:)

Based on: Victoria Bumblebeans' Waverunner Quilt

Fabrics:  Kona Cottons

Mini Triangle Lap Quilt

I finished this up today and feel great as I've been meaning to make it for some time.  Every time I visit my Grandma I think to myself...you really should make her a little lap quilt as she spends the majority of her time in her wheelchair.  I can't wait to give it to her and for her to have something from me to provide her with some tangible comfort.

Miss G got in on the action again!  She was my  little helper:)

In between amusing them this afternoon, I managed to finish piecing it and then quickly quilt and bind! One good thing about this quilt is that it is only 25x31 which will hopefully be perfect for my little Grandma.

As for the binding, it was just by chance that I went to a local fabric store and stumbled across the most perfect fabric for this quilt!  It literally has all of the colours I had already selected:)  Love when that happens!  

For the back, I decided to use my Grandma's favourite colour, red, so I went with flannel to make it soft for her.  Didn't do anything fancy, but I'm happy with the results.

Knowing that my Grandma lives in a nursing home, I wanted to make sure it had her name on it but I didn't have any labels.  I pulled out my sewing machine manual, checked out some features and embroidered her name on the back before I made the "fabric sandwich."  Worked out great!

Haven't tackled triangles before but all in all I'd definitely make a triangle quilt again.  In fact, I already have some Anna Maria Horner fabric ready to go....but first have to finish my husband's quilt!

Triangles

I've been wanting to make up my 90 year old grandmother a little lap quilt for when she's in her wheelchair.  She's really petite at 77 lbs now so I know that a flannel backed one will keep her cozy.  Every time I visit her I ask what her favourite colour is (she has dementia) and she faithfully says red.  So, the other night, I whipped out my Accuquilt Triangle cutter, picked out some solids and started sewing pairs.

Pairing some orange, melon, bright pink, yellow and white makes for a nice, happy combination.  Miss G had to get in on the photo action so she liked it on her little tent.  It's a beautiful sunny day here for May 4th:)