A Look Back at 2010

Fresh Quilting

Fresh Quilting by Malka Dubrawsky (blog: stitchindye.blogspot.com)was on my "must have" books for 2010. It arrived right before Xmas and I couldn't wait to dive into it. Let me say, it did not disappoint! I love Malka's use of colour - I guess that's why she calls it "Fearless Colour, Design and Inspiration." It really has inspired me to use more vibrant colours in the future!
I'm intrigued by Malka's twinkle (aka circle) quilts and pillows. I know nothing about fabric dyeing but have begun to read up about it. I broke out Malka's other book "Color Your Cloth: A Quilter's Guide to Dyeing and Patterning Fabric" and started looking online at different blogs. I highly recommend r0ssie.blogspot.com as well.
In looking more closely at Malka's twinkle quilts/pillows, I realized that they are really an optical illusion. What looks like circles that are appliqued on the fabric are actually circles dyed onto the fabric squares. It's called itajime shibori which is a Japanese method of dyeing fabric. You can read more about this method on r0ssie.blogspot.com . She also sells the itajime products in her etsy shop.
Malka wrote an article about this method for Quilting Arts magazine in January 2009 which I have since ordered last night! I can't wait to find out more about it as I love all things circular when it comes to quilting.
Have any of you tried this method of fabric dyeing? I'd love to hear about it. What's inspiring you lately?

And the Winners Are...

How funny is this picture?!! Little Miss G came home from daycare on Friday with this card and a Christmas present for Mommy & Daddy - which she insisted we open right away. Inside was a clay handprint she had made in her class with "2010" written on the bottom. A total keeper!!! I loved it!

Thank you so much to all 197 of you who visited my blog and entered the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day! Giveaways are great aren't they!! I must say I truly benefited from my own giveaway as I learned of so many great new blogs and loved your suggestions for baby sewing/knitting patterns!! Thank you also to those of you who have become followers!

The winners of the nursing cover and car seat cover are Stephanie who wrote:
AWESOME giveaways!!!

A few of my favorite baby patterns/tutorials right now:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/64182785/san-francisco-window-boxes-lap-or-baby
http://www.bitofwhimsydolls.com/item/Butterbean_PDF_Pattern/229/c46
http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2009/04/basic-stuffed-animals.html
http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2009/03/cloth-baby-rings.html
http://everydaycelebrate.blogspot.com/2010/03/tutorial-color-fabric-book.html
http://www.cogknition.org/patterns/wave_of_babies_booties/

and Kristen
who wrote:

These are wonderful...I have been eyeing them for a while, wanting to make both a car seat cover and nursing cover but just can't find the time. My little one will be coming any day now and there hasn't been much sewing around here!

Congratulations ladies! I've sent both of you an email requesting your addresses so I can get these out to you asap!

Have a great weekend everyone:)

Sources of Inspiration: A Mosaic

I put together this mosaic today as these photos provide me with inspiration for the New Year. It also reminds me of the many unfinished projects I have on the go!! I'm really bad for coming up with new ideas but not finishing the projects I already have on the go!! Maybe that should be one of my New Year's resolutions:)

PS...the missing mosaic tiles can still be accessed on flickr.

1. bento box, 2. Red Aqua QIP, 3. Circle around quilt, 4. Fence Stripe Baby Quilt - Pink and Green detail, 5. Added border, 6. mermaid quilt top, 7. What's a girl to do?, 8. finished mermaid quilt, 9. quilt top, 10. red and white Hop Skip and a Jump baby quilt, 11. Bri's 20th Birthday Quilt, 12. my quilt, 13. Aviary-quilt-top, 14. Drunk Love Baby Quilt, 15. What a Bunch of Squares Baby Quilt, 16. darcy's quilt-detail, back, 17. Quilting detail, 18. Coin quilt, 19. circle around quilt, 20. modified bento box quilt back, 21. Up In The Air Quilt- Detail - Back Detai, 22. argyle_pillow_2, 23. IMG_6457, 24. For Jen 2008, 25. Orange & Aqua

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day

Starting December 13th, it's Giveaway Day at Sew Mama Sew - I'm happy to participate in this year's giveaways. Up for grabs is a car seat cover for the little one in your life and a nursing cover. As you can tell by my posts (for those of you who are dropping by for the first time), I recently gave birth to a baby girl 3 weeks ago. My husband and I opted not to find out the sex of the baby - so I crazily made almost two of everything to be prepared:) You can read about the making of these items in these posts - here and here.. They are very practical and make nice gifts as well!! I use my "girl versions" all of the time!!

I'll draw two winners on Friday, December 17th at noon EST. Don't forget to leave your email/way to get in contact with you! To keep it interesting, I'd love to hear your suggestions/links to your favourite baby patterns - whether knitting or sewing = hats, sweaters, quilts, you name it, I'm interested!! I'm happy to ship internationally.

Thank you for taking the time to drop by my little corner of the world! Hope to see you again (feel free to become a follower) and I'll definitely check out your blogs as well!

Proud Mama

Okay, okay, I can't help it! I had to include some more photos of my new wee one as I'm just so in love:) I'm a big fan of infant photography so these are some photos that were taken professionally. All of the photo props were made by me!

On another note, please check back on Monday, Dec 13th for some giveaways as I'll be participating in Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day this year! Check out the details on their website here.

It's a Girl!!

After 39 weeks of waiting and wondering, Little Miss P was born on November 22, 2010 at 1:46 am weighing in at 7lbs 1oz and 20.5 inches long! We feel very blessed with the new addition to our family:) It worked out so well...my OB was on that night, we were moved to a very nice delivery room and we had wonderful nurses. Ten minutes of pushing and Miss P was welcomed into the world! I was completely shocked as I was convinced we were having a boy!!

Life is very busy of course - I know I don't have to tell you Moms out there! Not a lot of sleep, but she is a very good baby. I'm lucky to have my Mom help us out too. Can't wait to share some more pics soon....off to feed baby:)

Pics of my Nesting

Happy Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday and I decided to treat myself this year! Women should do that sometimes, don't you think? - especially on this momentous milestone I've reached:)

On Saturday, I ordered a quilt I've been wanting a lonnnnng time - if you have followed me you'll know I'm a big fan of Denyse Schmidt's What a Dish quilt. Love, love, love it! I ordered it in Ecru - yummy is all I can say! Can't wait. You can find a picture of it here.

On Monday, I ordered an Accuquilt Go fabric cutter. As you know, all of blogland has been having numerous giveaways, but unfortunately no luck here...so if you can't win one, I bought one! I ended up choosing the 2 1/2 strip die, the circles and the rag quilt die. I know the strip die is going to come in very handy when it comes time to cut quilt bindings that's for sure!

Still waiting for baby to arrive here. I'm 39 weeks tomorrow and anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little one....will it be a boy or a girl? I'm not sure but I'm leaning towards a boy...of course little Miss G still thinks she's going to have a baby sister. All we care about is that the baby is healthy so a boy or girl makes no difference to us!

I'm still knitting up a storm..I'll post a few pics later as blogger isn't cooperating right now.

Pics of Concentric Square Quilting

Concentric Square Quilting

I'm finally in the process of quilting my stepson's Drunk Love style quilt aka Denyse Schmidt. I knew I wanted the quilting to be concentric squares as it highlights the style of the quilt/blocks. I never imagined how much a "pain in the you know what" it would be! Stuffing your quilt through your machine at every turn of the square is difficult and time consuming. Again, love the effect but unless you're quilting with a long arm, it can take some time and a whole lot of patience to complete this on a home machine. I think if it were a baby quilt, it would be a lot easier! Maybe it's just that I'm a bit rushed as I'm about to give birth in two weeks and the patience factor has gone out the window:) Could be! I almost stopped and started stippling but I didn't - I'm going to stick with it! I like to try new things and I want it to look good.

Any tips/thoughts on how you quilt in concentric squares would be appreciated:) I'll post some pictures later today!

Reversible Baby Shoes

I love baby shoes...and this pattern came in really handy as I wanted shoes that had invisible seams and were reversible. My only caution is to make sure you do leave a big enough opening for turning as these wee little things are a bugger to squeeze through a small opening!!(read instructions!!) I learned the hard way-almost put me in labor-haha

Happy Halloween

Little Miss G went to her first Halloween Party at an openhouse at a gym near our house and of course went trick or treating at her daycare on Friday and tonight! She was a busy little girl!! She called her costume a "jaguar" - which makes me smile as I'm sure she gets that from her books or Dora. When her Dad dropped her off to school on Friday, she kept saying, "I don't wanna go trick or treating" - by the end of the day, her tune had changed and she was pumped! "Mommy, look at all my tweats" - "lets count them." She makes me laugh!!

After her party tonight, we just went to a few neighbours as this was her first time going out. She was so shy at first-"I'm scared Mommy" and then once the neighbour would close the door she'd say "trick or treat - thank you."

Don't you just love it when children's faces light up and they give you the best smile:) Hope your Halloween was fun too!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Amy is hosting the Fourth Blogger's Quilt Festival (Oct 29-Nov 5, 2010). My submission for the festival is a quilt I finished this past August. It's actually a very special quilt as I dedicated it to our baby who is to be born next month and for the baby we lost last Christmas due to a miscarriage. It truly was a cathartic experience in finishing this quilt as I finished it on the eve of what would have been our baby's due date (August 2nd). It's a bright, happy, child like quilt which brings a smile to my face when I see it. My 2 1/2 year old daughter loves it too as it sits in her room waiting for her brother or sister to arrive (4 more weeks or sooner who knows:0)

I used Allison's tutorial from CluckCluckSew; she titled her quilt the Raw Edge Circle Quilt. What I like about it most is the circular quilting which was new for me - I had admired circular quilting for a while so this gave me the opportunity to try it out. I loved that it was free form and not perfect! The raw edges also add some nice texture to the quilt. I ended up backing the quilt in flannel which I had not done in the past as well. Makes it nice and cozy and "snuggable." (I'm making up words as I go along:) I machine binded the binding which I know goes against the "rules" of traditional quilting, but I must say I really do not like hand sewing. I do have to practice this form of attaching the binding but love how time efficient it can be - especially when you're excited to finish your project.

So, there you have it. One of my favorites. Thank you for taking the time to drop by my little blog and hope you have a chance to stop by again:)

Make sure you stop by Amy's blog to check out all of the other entries...they're amazing and inspirational!!

Car Seat Cover - Girl Version

A few posts ago, I made a boy version of this car seat cover as we don't know what the sex of our baby is. You'd think I'd remember that I had used a big bowl to round out the corners, but again, baby brain hit and I used a CD! Unfortunately, the sides touched the ground which would ultimately mean a dirty car seat cover - as the winter is approaching, this would drive me nuts!! As much as I hated to do the sides again, topstitch and reattach the straps - this is what I did and I'm happy with the results.

So, note to self, remember if you make this for your baby or as a gift, use a big bowl to round out the corners of your fabric:)

As for the fabric, I used Amy Butler Garden Maze in Brown and Happy Dots in Apricot from her Midwest Modern line. Bright and cheerful, don't you think?

Pieced Back - Drunk Love Quilt

Here's what I came up with today! I added some Monaluna Mingle to add some extra interest to the back. It's the only patterned fabric in the whole quilt. I like it because it's modern. Your thoughts?

Drunk Love Quilt Top - Finished!

These days I'm just excited to get some things done! The Drunk Love quilt top has finally come together - now I just have to come up with the backing which is today's project.

I have to say I love Denyse Schmidt's quilts, but going from a pattern can just be plain time consuming so most of the blocks that I've added are just improvised - which is more my style! The women from the PTQB came up with the rest. Beautiful!!

Stylish Nursing Covers - more pics

Blogger just isn't cooperating with me today so here are some pics of my pink nursing cover.

Stylish Nursing Covers

Another baby item to check off the list! I made the pink nursing cover when Little Miss G was born, but also needed a boy version for this time. I like this tutorial but altered it slightly as the D rings I had lying around were a bit smaller. If you make yours straps thicker, I do think they work better so it's something to keep in mind.

The Amy Butler Charm series nursing cover (blue/brown seeds)works out to about 26x38 and the pink graphic fabric is slightly smaller as I had used a different tutorial a few years ago. Speaking from experience, the wider the nursing cover the better as a nursing Mom wants lots of coverage for her and her baby!

I like how in this tutorial she suggests using fabric covered boning and sewing it just underneath your first 1/2 inch turned hem. This makes the boning impossible to shift around. She also trims off a tiny bit of the plastic in the boning from each end so you are left with casing that completely covers your boning -this secures it nicely and doesn't allow it to poke out the ends!! I didn't do this for my first nursing cover and wish I had.

I also had a chance to use some of my fabric labels which makes the covers look "boutiquish" - I've seen these nursing covers cost upwards of $50 in a baby boutique! Thanks to Jessica from TwinFibers as she suggested Namemaker.com as a place to make your own personalized fabric labels.

Happy Friday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada! We took little Miss G to the pumpkin patch recently - the kids got to pick out their own little pumpkin. Little Miss G has been so excited talking about going to the "punkin patch" because she saw one of her favourite cartoon character do the same thing recently! She and her Daddy picked one out and she held on to it for dear life...her prized possession!

Don't these pics get you in the mood for fall? I love the bright colours, apple cider, cool evenings....totally cozy:) She loves running in the leaves and recently brought some home so we could trace them for a gift for her "gandma" - how cute:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

If it's a Boy - Car Seat Cover

The anticipation is killing me of course as we don't know what the sex of our baby is and I'm due next month. So....what does a woman do? Make two of everything!! Now, don't go thinking I'm totally crazy, I'm just making a few key things in both genders:)

(The top picture is taken from the back of the car seat; bottom picture is of the front)

I saw a tutorial by Allison at CluckCluckSew and at Make-it-do.com. They're both great tutorials and I used them equally in figuring out the dimensions for the baby's car seat. It really was easy to make up but I must say I'm not a big fan of sewing velcro. A couple times of ripping out the seams and now they're good. I went with pieced handles to make it a little more interesting and if I tell the truth I ran out of navy fabric!

These car seat covers are really nice especially in crappy weather and when you're just not open to people touching your baby (see Allison's post about "aka greeter deterrents"-spoken like a true mom)- not to mention the fact when they're sleeping and you just don't want them disturbed! That's why I chose navy blue as the inside fabric.

Happy Monday!

Wonky Star Block and Drunk Love Quilt Top

Jessica from Twinfibers requested a "wonky star" block for the PTQB2 (September). She provided us with fabric from the Rainbow Garden Collection by Prints Charming. Super soft and really colourful! It was my first time trying out this block. It was quite easy and I love the effect. It turned out quite symmetrical in the end which I hadn't initially intended but I love the look of the pieced border. Hope Jessica enjoys it!

I've also taken a picture of my Drunk Love style quilt (since it's a sunny fall day)which is going to be a gift for my stepson. My month in the PTQB2 was in July and with the exception of 2 blocks, these are what the group of talented women came up with. I'm still waiting on a few blocks and I need to make up more as well since my stepson is quite tall!!

How's your Friday going? Mine has been filled with some household chores, a little sewing and some rest....I'm 8 months pregnant and counting:)

Heart Block

August's PTQB2 was a block for Samantha. She requested a 12.5 inch block that represented Valentine's Day. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is a heart but I could not decide on how to make my block. I surfed the net for hours for inspiration as I wanted something a bit more untraditional. Then I remembered I had a pattern for a Scrappy Pieced Heart and went to town. Once I read the instructions a few times (you know what that's like:)it quickly came together and this is a pic of the result. I love taking my pics outdoors but only made it after 7 tonight so it's a little dark! Oops!

Not much blogging/creating going on here as I've been back and forth to the doctor for the past few weeks and just can't seem to shake this chest virus I have! Really makes a pregnant woman miserable...I've coughed so hard that I've strained an abdominal muscle and honestly this hurts more than the cough! Baby is okay, but mama is falling apart!! Oh well, enough whining...gotta get my little one to bed...

Nesting

With a few months to go before the birth of our second child, I thought it was time to make a little teddy bear for her/him. I brought Little Miss G to a yarn store in the area on the weekend and of course she announced she wanted a "purple bear" as well....so now I've been suckered into making two teddy bears:) I'm using the pattern from Erika Knight's book in Simple Knits for Cherished Babies. The bears are supposed to work out to approximately 6 inches tall...just wee ones but the yarn I've chosen is super soft as it's a cashmere blend.

So the knitting bug has bitten and I'm off to work on the bears. Did I mention it's well over 30 degrees celsius here with a humidex of over 40 - I've sent my stepson off to buy me some ice cream...way too hot for this pregnant mama:)

Giveaways and Worthy Causes

Wow, blogland is full of great giveaways and causes this week!! Check out Heather's awesome giveaway which ends this Friday, August 27th. It's for an AccuQuilt Go machine/cutter and three dies. How cool is that?! I would really, really like to win that one!!

Also, check out Alissa and support ActionKivu which supports women in the Congo by offering sewing workshops to women so they may support themselves and their children. These women have been through unimaginable atrocities including rape which NO woman should have to endure, let alone their children! Alissa has some great giveaways depending on the amount you donate. Check it out! I know we have a wonderful blog/sewing community so lets come together and support this worthy cause.

Orange & Aqua Quilt Top

I'm embaressed to say I started this quilt top several months ago, but now that baby number 2 is on the way, I'm inspired to get some WIPs done!! The last two weekends I've slowly worked on this and finished up this afternoon. I love the colour combination...bright and cheerful. One of my favourite blocks is of the fish in bags in the corner. I've only had a small amount of this HTF fabric so wanted to add a little something extra. If I end up having a boy, I think this little quilt will be perfect....and if it's a girl, no prob....all girls love orange don't they:)

The inspiration for this quilt was here and here. Ashley and Allison are two of my favourite bloggers!

I have some ideas for the quilt back so I need to get started on that and then choose a binding. It will be a generous size at the end because each square is 10 inches unfinished and there are 30 blocks in total. It took me a little while to track down all of these fabrics and I think they work well together.

A Little Lovey

My little girl loves her "babies" so I thought I would whip up this little rag quilt for her. I used some of my Mendocino fabric, some flannel to sandwich in between and some soft minkee for the backing. I have to say after having made a rag quilt with cotton batting in between, my preference is flannel as it has a softer overall effect and adds to the fullness of your rag cuts.

It's easy, peasy, and came together quickly!

For My Little One - A Dedication

This is a bittersweet day for me as it's the day my baby would have been due. I had a miscarriage on Christmas Eve last year. Let's just say it was a very painful experience as they misdiagnosed me at first and told me I lost the baby, only to find out two days later the baby was alive (via ultrasound) and then a week later it was confirmed I indeed had a miscarriage. I still have that image of the heart beating on the ultrasound in my mind. Usually I would not share this information in blogland but I feel I cannot ignore this day and not tell you about it....I know a lot of bloggers talk about "keeping it real" so this is what I'm doing with you today. I thought I was fine with August 2nd approaching until last night when I was finishing this quilt .... actually it was cathartic. Now that the tears have subsided, I want to focus on my blessings, which includes my husband, healthy 2 year old and 2 wonderful stepsons. I am pregnant again, 6 months this week, and our baby to be is due in November.
This is a happy quilt for my new little one but it's also for the one that is no longer here. Thanks for letting me share!

Another Drunk Love Quilt!

July is my month for the PTQB2! I'm addicted to the Drunk Love quilt by Denyse Schmidt but I thought this time I would make a "male" version and use greys, blues and greens. My stepson, Christian asked me if I would make a quilt for him for his birthday so I knew exactly which one I wanted to make!! I made him pour over the Kona Cotton Colour Card (just what every male wants to do:) and help me select his colour scheme. I think the colours are really going to pop judging by the first block I made today. I have a great group of women in my bee so I know it's going to be fantastic!

What are everyone's thoughts on using flannel as a backing versus cotton? I love the look of cotton better but to tell you the truth I find quilts don't always give me the "cozy" factor unless you're under them for a long time! Flannel tends to warm you up right away....hmmmm. Dilemma, dilemma.....I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Happy Canada Day (July 1st) & 4th of July!

Canada Day was great as Big Brother arrived just in time for the fun! He was a great helper/entertainer to Dad while Little Miss G's boat in our friend's swimming pool. Look at that smile:)

I spent some time on Katie's blocks for the PTQB2. Katie sent some vintage fabric along with some contemporary and solids. She asked us to make up blocks from Oh Fransson's Mod Quilt Tutorial. She's hoping to make a beach/picnic blanket which I think will be perfect!

Hope everyone is enjoying a great weekend...Happy Canada Day and 4th of July for my American friends:)

"All Shook Up"

I don't know about the weather you might be having but we had an earthquake here in my part of the world which is very unusual! It's the second one I've ever been in (other one on the west coast), but sure made for an interesting afternoon. I was on the fifth floor of a building and the building swayed back and forth, complete with pictures on walls doing a jig themselves. A litte disconcerting but everything was fine ....freaked a few people out nonetheless.
I get home tonight, put my daughter to bed and then pop on the news...now there are tornado watches and warnings coming our way...

Crazy weather that's for sure!

Circle Quilt Top - so far...

I've been really slacking on the blog front so I thought I would include a picture or two of what I've been up to. I've been slowly working on this quilt top (tutorial - CluckCluckSew) but now that I have it put together, I think I want to make it a bit bigger. Hopefully I have enough variety in my fabrics to squeeze out 12 or so more blocks...we'll see what happens! I also can't decide on my backing as I've played around with the idea of a minky back instead of a fabric/quilt back...but then I'm not sure about quilting minky in a circular quilt design. Any time I've used minky I've always quilted in straight lines and I think this top screams for some more circles, don't you!

Miss G has graduated again from her program at the Little Gym. As you can see she had a lot of fun yesterday!

Ciao for now!!