Thank you!

We are just on our way to Edmonton for a family golf tournament, but I wanted to post a quick thank you before I left.

Stacy, from Peaknit, sent me the most beautiful pincushion yesterday. Really. I'm still gushing over it. And as if a Heather Bailey pear pincushion (weighted wonderfully at the bottom so it will stay put on my sewing table...and believe me...nothing stays put on my sewing table) wasn't enough, she also sent some gorgeous Tufted Tweets.

 Stacy also included a cute ladybug pin from this etsy shop. All the way from Isreal. Isn't it sweet?

Go check out Stacy's photostream, she does amazing work. I really hope we can become 'friends.' So thank you so much Stacy. I love it. I'm thrilled.

Happy Mail Day!

I received my fabric from Holly last week for our Colour Wheel Quilt Swap.Oh Happy Day! We decided to swap 10 fabrics, 9 of which we chose and the 10th one was dedicated as a surprise. Holly sent the best surprise, Pink FMF Seeds! Isn't she the sweetest? These fabrics are going to be perfect for my quilt. (I am also in love with the elephants!)

I think I only have about 20 more fabrics to collect. Interestingly, I'm finding it difficult to find pure blues from my stash. I love blue, but I seem to have lots of aquas and multi-colour print blues, but very few tone on tone. I may have to fix that with some fabric shopping.

I also was very inspired by this post. I wanted to do my part so I made these two blocks last night. These cross blocks are quick and simple to make and they are fun and modern too. Check out the flickr group for all of the blocks being made around the world.

Lucia has inspired me to get working on some more charity quilts. Once I get this Colour Wheel Quilt wrapped up, I'm making a few quilts to give away.

Oh, and I almost forgot. I also got these gorgeous squares in the mail yesterday. I won them from Katy. Thank you! I love this fabric, it reminds me so much of the sheets we had growing up. Maybe I could make a quilt like this as my first charity quilt....

What about you? Do you make quilts to give-away? What do you make? Who do you make them for? How do you find time to fit them all in?

Ice Cream Social

While I work away on my Colour Wheel Quilt (and I promise, I really am working on it), I decided to join the Ice Cream Social hosted by Amy and Kate. I've discovered that I like sewing things for my daughter because A. she looks really cute in homemade clothes, and B. I can actually get them finished.

She decided she wanted a mermaid dress, so I found some Heather Ross in my stash and ordered a bit more off off ebay.

I struggled a bit trying to find a good coordinating fabric for the yoke. First I thought I'd find a good Kona Solid. Unfortunately, I don't have a LQS that stocks it or a Kona Swatch Card, and even with help from the friendly sewing community on flickr, I decided not to take a chance.

Fortunately, I did find a great print at the local LQS that I think will be even nicer than a solid. I went with pink rather than orange or brown because I know my daughter will wear a pink dress. She may not, however, wear orange or brown. She likes her pink.

So the first set of instructions are now posted, so I need to get my pre-washing and pattern tracing done so I can catch up. I can't wait to see how this project goes...I can see that the Ice Cream Dress could make fabulous Christmas presents for all of the little girls in our extended family. Go check out the flickr pool...there are some very lovely dresses there.

Happy Sewing!

I really don't need another project...

I have to admit that I'm not always completely honest about the number of projects I have on the go at one time. Sure I have a small list on my sidebar, but the truth is that I have way more in the works that I have blogged about once or not at all. It seems that in the past year I've become extremely good at starting projects and terrible at finishing them. I think it is all the gorgeous inspiration out there. I'm hoping that I'll get to the point where I can disclose all of those projects, but today, instead, I'm just going to share a new start!

I've been in love with Joelle Hoverson's colourwheel quilt forever. And then of course my idol, Melanie, made a gorgeous hand quilted one, and I knew it was time to make one for myself. So I got the book out of the library, and made myself a template of the wedge and pretty much left it there. 

Until, I met a new bloggy friend, Holly. She blogged about her start and I commented that I was working on one too (or at least I had the intention of making one anyway). Then she suggested a fabric swap. What a wonderful idea...so I got right to cutting. 

I got 22 wedges cut the other night. I seem to have lots of pinks and oranges, but I'm lacking in the blues and purples. I can't wait to swap with Holly so that I can round out my colour wheel.

And I'm determined to finish this one. This summer. So I can hang it in my new house! And so that it won't join the growing mass of UFO's in my sewing room.

How about you? Have you made a colour wheel quilt? Do you start one project and finish it? Or are you like me and have quilting ADD?

Scrappy Pincushion Swap

I finally finished my pincushion for the Scrappy Pincushion Swap over on flickr. My partner said that she liked red & aqua so I ran with it. She had an owl in her mosaic so I made up this little guy.

He's perched on a scrappy log cabin pincushion that I made out of my scrap bin. I love it when scraps go to good use!

 I even got to use some of my yummy sushi fabric for the centre....I figure owls must love sushi. I know I love sushi anyway. And now that we live in a big city we can actually enjoy it now and then.

I admit that I also struggled with this swap, but I'm happy with the end results. You might wonder why I keep signing up for swaps considering it takes me until right before the deadline to commit to an idea, but the truth is that is just the way I am. And I really love swaps because they push me to create. I would never have made this little guy with out a swap to make me.

This little guy is now off to his new home.

Give-Away Winners!

Thanks to everyone for entering the give-away...and for your kind comments. It made my day, well, actually, weekend.

I decided to keep this contest low-key (no announcements on flickr, etc) because I wanted people who actually read my blog to win. I have to say I'm a bit disillusioned with the SMS Give-Away Day but that is another story for another day...
 

So the winner of the Sandi Henderson FQ pack is #57 Kris who said... Thanks for a great giveaway!

And the winner of the the Hexagon Papers and 2.5" squares is #3 kylydia said... Woo hoo! Congrats on your 100th post!

I'll send you an email right away to get your address! Congratulations.

100 Posts Give-Away!

The Give-Away is now closed. Thank you for entering....I'll have the winners posted soon.

It's taken me awhile (a year and a half), but I've made it to 100 posts. And you all know what that means....a give-away!

So, up for grabs are 4 Fat Quarters from Sandi Henderson's Meadowsweet. This fabric is beautiful, so I thought I'd share.

The second prize is 50, 2.5" squares and a pack of 100 1" Hexagons (die-cut papers). All of the 50 fabrics are different and cut from my stash. I've tried to include some of my favourites, so you'll find a little FMF, a wee bit of Heather Ross, some Amy Butler and Heather Bailey. And a few others too. This should help to get you started on Melanie's Hexagon piece-along!

Let's keep this simple, okay? To win....

1. Leave a comment on this post.
2. If you want another chance, become a follower of my blog and leave a second comment. If you are already a follower, leave a second comment to let me know that too.

I'll draw a winner on Sunday, July 11. I'm happy to ship anywhere.

Good Luck!

Happy Canada Day!

 

We're enjoying it with a new sandbox, a beautiful walk on the trail by our house, and a community celebration at the park. 

Happy Birthday, Canada!