What a long strange trip its been...

2012 is ending...

I am pretty happy about that. The bad far outweighed the good this year and I am looking forward to a fresh positive start. I have many plans to get my house organised and cleaned up... hopefully I will stick to doing it for awhile at least lol... I also plan on starting and finishing many sewing projects in 2013... I am excited about those :)

I hope you all are looking forward to 2013 with me... thanks for sticking around :)

2013 NewFO linky party

My blogging friend Barbara has one of the quirkiest minds that I know (and that is one of the best traits to me!). She decided last year that there were enough blog linky parties about finished projects. She wanted to start one that had a bit more truth to it... a linky party that celebrates the many projects we start or plan to start... hence the 2013 NewFO linky party! (Well, it was technically 2012 when she started originally but that doesn't work with my post LOL)

 

So... here is my appropriately incomplete list (as I will come up with many in the days, weeks and months to come).

 

1) matching postage stamp quilts for me and my niece.

2) quilt for my nephew

3) I would like at least 3 quilts (probably baby) in my store for sale by mid-year

4) finish my herringbone quilt

 

This is the herringbone quilt laid out for planning... either the spare orange one will become a matching pillow or I will make more and add a row.

Anyway, I will be joining the linky party... hope to see you there :)

 

Please help

A group of quilters on Flickr is coming together to make pillowcases for the surviving students at Sandy Hook Elementary. Obviously this won't take away what happened but we hope to offer some comfort at this time. This is excerpted from the group's home page.

About Sandy Hook Elementary Pillow Case Drive
HI everyone, The Quilters Corner in New Milford CT has started a pillow case drive for the children of Sandy Hook elementary school.
I saw this on facebook via Maureen Cracknel Handmade
www.facebook.com/maureencracknellhandmade
and thought it might be helpful to start a flickr group since I know so many of us sew and they will need approx. 600 pillow cases.
I believe the goal is to get these done so the children can receive them after Christmas break. I know it is a small thing to do....but a pillow is always a great comfort and to be able to give these children a little extra peace at night would be a wonderful thing.

This is the mailing address for the Quilter's Corner:
312 Danbury Rd. ( Rt. 7), New Milford, CT 06776
Please feel free to pass this along, let's get these done for Sandy Hook

I have made one tonight in less than an hour and I hope you will as well.

I used this tutorial here at Film in the Fridge. And you can join the Flickr group here.

Winners!!

Yay! I love picking winners :)

Up  first is Anita... # 28!

Anita has left a new comment on your post "Blog Hop and giveaway party!!":

I'd prefer a blanket...I don't like to be cold. I'm sitting here snuggling my rice bags right now. =)

Thanks for a chance to win.

and the second winner is java diva # 40!

java diva has left a new comment on your post "Blog Hop and giveaway party!!":

Definitely curled up with a book while it's snowing next to a cozy fire!

It seems like the majority of us are couch snugglers unless we have kids and then we go out for them... only a few loved outdoor winter activites.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope to see some of you again! :)

Blog Hop and giveaway party!!

Yippee! Giveaway time is here, and who doesn't love a giveaway? First though I am going to share a picture of some cuties that I made for two babes I will be seeing over the Christmas holidays.

Please meet Plato and Priscilla! I can hardly wait until their wee little owners meet them for the first time! The pattern is from Funky Friends Factory and I cannot say enough good things about it!

OK, OK... you waited long enough... on to the giveaways!! You heard right, there are two!

You can win either 2 oh deer! charm packs or 2 cherry christmas charms packs. All you have to do is leave a comment letting me know if you prefer spending a winter afternoon cuddling under a blanket with a good book, or being out enjoying winter activities? If you have a charm pack preference please let me know, but I cannot guarantee it.

In case you are curious, I am a book-snuggler for sure LOL!

Please visit all the other blogs that are participating by clicking on the button link below!

 

 

Giveaway is open to all residents of the planet earth and will close on December 15th, 2012. The linky list for all the blogs will be published on December, 10th, 2012.

Christmas gifts

I have started making gifts for my friend and her family that I am spending Christmas with. I still have quite a few to go as there are five people in three generations lol... for her sweet boy who will be one on Christmas Eve I have made Plato the Platypus.

Plato is on the left. (The other one is Priscilla for my other friend's baby girl)

As well I made him a placemat. I realise he won't be setting the table anytime soon, but it is washable and will last for years.

I don't know if you can see, but I have outlined the cutlery shapes in their respective spots.

And for her Mom, I made some hot pads (the type you can put hot things on) and a small dishtowel.

Her kitchen is green and white so I hope these will go well.

I am still pondering the rest of the gifts and just hope I can finish them all on time!

Blog-hop and giveaway coming soon!

This time around I am going to enter the Quilting Gallery Blog Hop Party with Giveaways!

From December 10th until the 15th you will be able to visit a whole host of blogs and enter a ton of giveaways...  remember to watch this space for mine!

2012 Christmas Quilt Show

I decided to enter the 2012 Christmas Quilt Show as it gives me a chance to share one of my favourite things I have made. This was for a mini swap and I got the idea from the Pier 1 Imports commercials (love them!).

I still adore the idea of the snowman couple :) The white fabric is all sparkly with silver glitter and so that made me happy too!

Please check out the other entries and enjoy the eye candy!

http://quilting-tutorials.blogspot.ca/p/2012-christmas-quilt-show.html

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today would have been my Daddy's 70th birthday. I had been planning on making him a scrabble board quilt, but obviously I did not. The other thing we would have done would have been to go to The Works, a burger place right near our neighbourhood (my Dad and I lived next to eachother).

Our reasons for going there would have been two-fold. One, we loved it, and spent all of our occassions there. And two, my Dad couldn't drive anymore, as he had dementia, and we can walk to the restaurant in five minutes.

I mention the dementia because I don't have many recent photos of my Dad to share. One thing that happens is that  the personality of the person changes. My Dad and I did not have the same relationship in his last years as we did before. It was hard and made everyday interactions very awkward. Not that they were everyday as he tended to isolate himself at home.

I am happy to say that now I am able to remember the good parts of him as well as the bad and it means the world to me.

This was my gift to him on his 65th birthday. Sadly, we never made the trip.

Tonight we will go to The Works to celebrate his birthday without him, and I will buy him a beer in memory.

I love you so much Pappy, and miss you more than words can say. Happy Birthday!

A little thread, a little cat

So, one of my favourite swaps is underway again, the Trim the Tree Ornament swap. You make ornaments for all the members of your group... you can state some preferences but it still is very open. This year I decided on cross stitch and have 3 started so far.

I hope to have the finished products to show you soon. If I am lucky it will be before I go to the US on the weekend... so much cheaper to send from there.

Now a couple of photos of my sewing companion. She never used to hang out on my table until a few weeks ago.

Keeping an eye on everything :)

 

Offering a helping paw :)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom's birthday... a year ago we were in Las Vegas celebrating her 70th with friends and family...

Here is a picture of her with Opie... until I caught this moment forever they both pretended to hate each other :) She looks pretty darned great doesn't she... it's one thing about her that I love... she doesn't play the "old" card ever, and sometimes I have to remind myself that maybe she needs me to slow down lol...

I was supposed to see her today but I am down with some tummy troubles, so my co-worker took her over my present... technically my brother and I bought her and iPad, but since I wanted her to have something else on the day (we bought the iPad when my bro was here to help) I made her an iPad cover.

 

 

She called and let me know she loves it :) Pattern is here http://www.michellepatterns.com/product/just-pattern-pieces-tablet-computer-sleeves.

 

Happy Birthday to a wonderful Mom, who even better, is my friend!

Blogger's Quilt Festival 2012

I am so excited to be able to join this year as I finally have a blog :)



I am going to share the quilt I made for my baby niece. I chose this one as I love everything about it! Sunkissed is still one of my favourite fabric lines. This is my second quilt I have ever made.

This is my helper Opie making sure I basted everything correctly.

As my niece was born in March my outside photos all involve snow lol.

I cut into the curved ends of all the quarter circles so when washed they frayed and became super soft. I was so excited this summer, when I met my niece for the first time, to see her using her quilt!

Mairead's Quilt
*Quilt Measurements: 36x45
*Special Techniques used, if any: Raw edge cutting and fraying
*Quilted by…: me! I used straight line quilting to accent each fan... I used hot pink thread.
*Best category – 1 to 3 categories max: Baby quilt and Home Machine Quilted.

I would like to add that it is not my pattern, but is from a magazine. Unfortunately I do not recall which one.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about this quilt and will vote for me when you have a moment!

So very, very thankful

Last night I went to my first grief group. I have been aware for awhile that I need something to help me through all this. It was exhausting. I cried more than I have cried so far, which has been very little. This weekend, Thanksgiving here in Canada, we are burying my Dad in Quebec City with his parents. Needless to say I am stressed.

I came home, weary and drained. On my front step there was a big red box and a whole bunch of packages. Not having much of a clue I brought them in and started opening them.

First the box. Sent to me by my bee-mate and friend Nydia. Inside was a beautiful pillow, all sorts of scrappy colours in it, and sewn with love. I hugged and hugged and hugged it while crying my eyes out. In addition, knowing my fabric diet Nydia sent a delicious and large assortment of scraps. I was (and still am) totally floored that I am so lucky.

 

It was like a warm hug all wrapped up.

Next, I opened my package from Leona, who in addition to being many a swap-mama and swap partner has a blog where she sends gifts to people whose birthday month it is! Well lo and behold, here is my little package, a wonderful charm pack and some fabric glue... she knows what a girl likes LOL.

 

And then my friend Teri, who had hinted that she had sent something my way. I thought maybe a little birthday card and perhaps my winter bitty. Uh-uh... not Teri. She sent a party in a package LOL... it started with a ton of stickers and didn't stop. A ton of fun candy, a whoopee cushion (how can you not love someone who gives you one of those lol) and the most gorgeous Edgar Allen Poe based pillow cover and coasters...

 



 

The front of the pillow... just stunning! I have to get a form for it... I'm thinking next weekend when it is back to normal lol...

 

The back of the cushion (doesn't the Nevermore give you the most delicious shivers) and both sides of the coasters. Remind me btw to ask what kind of batting she used in the coasters, very soft but firm...

Here are the candies (also some other ones that disappeared to work) as well as my winter bitty... do you see how amazing it is? This woman is a serious genius!!

And then last, but most certainly not least, my friend Synnøve... she kindly offered me some of her batiks a few weeks back and I took her up on her offer as I always look at them but never know what to get. This way they were picked for me! Well... not only did she send me a large selection of gorgeous batiks, she sent a beautifully paper-pieced wall hanging of a rose. So many bits of it are so very me, the paper-piecing, the cherries, and best of all, some of her beautiful crochet framing it all. (I am always jealous in swaps when people get her crochet on items LOL)

 

Once again, an amazing gift from a friend with a wonderful heart!

 

Needless to say, today my step was a little lighter than it has been in months. Thank you all so very much, I am truly blessed to call you friends.

Winner of the Travelling Charms!

Well Mr. Random did his magic and the winner is comment 5!

Sara Amerine won! Sara, I will be sending you an email. Please respond by Monday evening or I will have to choose another person.

Thanks all for participating!

Charming Travelers Swap

A few weeks ago I was the lucky winner of the Charming Travelers Swap started by Diane. Basically, a group of 56 charms are sent around Canada and the US (at least the one I am in) to whomever wins on the previous blog. You take the charms you want and replace with charms from your stash.

These are the charms I took. (I then added a 10th which is why in the next picture there are 10) Most I am thinking of cutting into 2.5" squares for my eventual postage stamp quilt, but a few will stay as they are for the time being.

These are the 10 charms I added back in (I'm leaving the other 46 a surprise lol). I had great fun choosing which fabrics to make charms from.

So now these are ready to move on. To win the charms please comment on this post before next Saturday, September 29th. I will choose a winner that evening.

Here are the rules for the swap so that you know what your responsibilities are if you win :)

winners must be active bloggers

you must reside in the US or Canada and you MUST BE WILLING to reship to the US or Canada. If you are US and only want to send to the US there is another pack for that, details on Diane's blog.

before sending the charm pack off to the next winner, there must be 56 - 5" x 5" squares of fabric inside - please no yucky fabrics

to help keep the map updated, winners will fill out the quick and easy form to let Diane know where you are!

if the charm pack arrives full of unwanted charms, let Diane know and she'll clear it out and fill it back up with some more beautiful fabrics!

So good luck to you all!!

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU!

Fear and commitment

Not fear of commitment but fear and commitment. The fear part is how crows will be trembling in their boots when they get a load of the Autumn bitty my friend Teri sent me.

Teri belongs to a bitty group (3" finished blocks) that I used to belong to. She suggested we do our own little private swaps with different themes. We started with the four seasons, and as well will be making a mini for the other one incorporating several bitties with a kitchen theme.

I am blown away by the details on this tiny block. The nice thing about doing this is that it will challenge me to try new things. Here is the bitty I sent Teri. An Autumn leaf with some leaf "skeletons" underneath.

I also made the first kitchen block for her but within minutes of finishing it, I found out her only two colours not to use were purple and pink. Behold!

 

Needless to say I will be making a new one LOL!

As for the commitment part, I have committed to no more on-line fabric buying for one year. I am allowed to buy in person as it happen so rarely. I will also continue in my one stash club for the full 12 months as I have something planned for that one, and will drop my second stash club in December. I not only have a lot of fabric, but I also have a lot of projects I have bought all the fabrics for but never started. I need to do something about that.

I may buy on-line only if it is for my Etsy store, or something needed to finish an already started project. I also will not join any swaps that will require me to purchase anything for my partner.

Putting it out there makes me accountable I hope, so wish me luck LOL!

BEE done!!

Earlier this year I signed up for a whole bunch of quilting bees. After my Dad happened I dropped out of all of them but one... it wasn't due till mid-September so I thought I would be ok to finish on time. And I did! They are due on the 15th and I am sending tomorrow :)

I have a spot in both groups and so I had a yellow and pink colourway and a red and purple.

I chose the Blah Blah Blah as my fun bit... I like to always have one thing to smile at in my blocks :)

And in this one there is literally a smile as the fun bit :)

It feels good to have something crossed off my incredibly long list of due projects and commissions.

Finding his Princess

My co-worker and cubicle mate is getting married in two weeks. Like me he is pretty geeky, although at his young age it's kind of funny how I did things the first time around and he is still discovering them.

I thought about making a quilt for a gift but knew I would never get one finished in time so I channeled my energies in a new direction - mosaics.

The tiles are 3/8" glass tiles and I had so much fun working with them. I could not have done this if it hadn't been for my mosaic mentor and good friend Anne-Marie helping me every step of the way!

It hasn't been grouted yet, but I took a photo as I don't know if I will have time to do another one before gifting it.

Here's to all the best Jacques and Michelle!

Table Top Swap Round 3

Once again I am in the amazing Table Top Swap over on Flickr. I have secret partner so I can't tell you who she is, but she doesn't read my blog (not really a surprise LOL) so I can show you what I have made her.

We were given the choice of making one of two types of fabric baskets. Both are from tutorials by the amazing Ayumi Mills. I chose to make my partner the basket with handles. I absolutely love it! The tutorial is great (as usual) and I kind of want to keep it now.

My partner likes all things sea related and so I added a diving mermaid to the front of the basket. I really struggled with stitching the applique down as I have only ever done it by hand before but I think I did a pretty good job.

I am planning on making some coasters to go along with this in an orange and aqua "snail trail" pattern, keeping with the wave theme.

Go ahead and make a little basket for yourself, I am hoping I get one like this in my swap so I can put my cuttings in there as I trim :)

Joining a QAL

Well I have finally decided to join in a Quilt Along! Lynne from Lily's Quilts has decided to make a quilt with three *huge* Union Jacks... how can a girl say no?

 

This will be my first QAL, and I am a little nervous about keeping up, but I figure now that I have done a blog post telling the world, I will be more accountable. Feel free to check up on my progress if I don't seem to say much about it. :)

 

I haven't settled on final fabrics yet, but I am thinking either polka dots, or maybe solids. One person is going to use Petite Odile and I have to admit a more than a little interest in doing the same.

 

Picture from Fatquartershop.com

 

I hope maybe I have convinced one or two of you to join in as well!



 



 

 



Contest Entry

I decided to enter my Liberty runner in Quilting Gallery's weekly themed contest. I have never done this before so would love to have some votes if you like mine enough :)

The theme is Leaves, Trees & Flowers and I thought these beautiful Liberty flowers should have their day in the spotlight :)

Looking back...

Diane from from blank pages... is celebrating her two year blogiversary. While doing this she looked back at the many projects she has made and challenged us to do the same.

Apparently I am an idiot and didn't save a copy of my mosaic on my computer so I can't show it here... but here is the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/32474418@N04/7853202340/in/photostream.

I really enjoyed looking back at all the projects that got me started on this journey, and remembering that when I began I hand sewed everything!! I cannot even fathom how I did that and certainly couldn't keep up with that now lol.

And since a post with no pics is no fun, here is a random one of Opie :)

Messy eaters

I have recently started making some baby bibs for my shop. I am trying to get some more things in there as I can in case I do end up losing my job at the end of September (Government cut backs).

This one is in the ever-popular colourway of red and aqua/teal.  I think it really makes a cute bib!

And this one is for those formal nights out at a black tie bib-wearing event :)

Hope you enjoyed seeing what I have been up to :)

Family

Well I just got back from spending the weekend with my brother and his family. They live up north in Inuvik and so it isn't always easy to get together. My mom and I flew out to Moose Jaw and met up with them there.

This is my newest little niece Mairead. She is the recipient of the little summer dress I made. She is the sweetest baby and everyone falls in love with her... a few more pictures to follow for your viewing pleasure :)

This is her in big brother's hat lol!

I just love this photo of her and my mom...

and this is a photo of her and my sister-in-law Bev (her mom)... Mairead is wearing the dress I made for her. Bev is a great SIL and I miss not seeing her often.

and here she is showing me her rolling-over skills :)

This is my Mom, my 10 year old niece Maddysen and my 5 year old nephew Colm. It's my only picture of Colm as he never sits still long enough to take one lol...

This is another one of Maddysen, she is a great figure skater and one of the sweetest people you will ever meet!

This is Justin, who at sixteen is the oldest. I have watched him over the years with each of his younger siblings and I can tell you, without a doubt, that he is the best big brother ever! Justin is in the Cadets and wins a lot of prizes like Cadet of the Year and such.

And this is my big brother Tony. He is a great father and I love seeing him with his kids.

We had an amazing visit and I miss them all already!