Thursday, April 28, 2011

Easter Baby!

Introducing Susanna!


Born Easter Sunday at 5:10 pm. 7lbs, 10 oz.


We are loving life with our sweet little girl. More photos soon. (And yes, I'm more than a little excited for the future filled with pink sewing...)

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Speechless!

When I started this blog, I considered it as a way of documenting my hobby. I never could have imagined that I would make friends...honest, to goodness, friends...from my blog. But I have. And I've also rediscovered the kindness of people all over this beautiful world of ours.

I returned home from my first-ever quilt retreat last weekend to find a parcel from Darci. She told me she was sending me a little something for participating in her interview with a sewer series so I decided to save it until the kids were asleep so I could enjoy my package.

Baby Quilt from Darci

But never in a million years did I expect what what was inside. Darci made our new baby a beautiful quilt. Isn't it gorgeous?

Close-up...Aren't those little squares yummy?

The colours match my nursery perfectly. I'd admired them over on flickr, but never thought they'd be for me! Check out how it coordinates with my new moses basket bedding!

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The quilt works perfectly with the new Moses Basket bedding.

Thank you so much Darci. I was overcome with emotion when I opened your parcel. It is the first gift our new baby has received, and I will treasure it. And use it. The quilt is the perfect size for the carseat, stroller and as a floor quilt. You are so sweet to think of us.

I appreciate your gift, but I value your friendship more.

Happy Easter everyone!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Spoiled!

My gorgeous Doll Quilt arrived yesterday. It took my breath away. Honestly. I am stunned by how gorgeous it is.

Doll Quilt Swap 10, Made by Janet (What Comes Next)

Janet, What Comes Next, made me the perfect quilt. It blends tradition with modern fabrics and a colour scheme that I adore. And the quilting is amazing. Really amazing. Janet's workmanship is absolutely outstanding.

Check out that quilting...perfect!

Janet also included some amazing goodies. Look at the pattern for those cute little baby bloomers...don't you think my baby needs a pair or two? She also included some lovely fabric and a tiny little scissors case.

Spoiled me...I'm bringing those scissors and case to Quilt Retreat this weekend.

It was also a shock to receive a Doll Quilt from someone right here in BC. Usually I get swaps from Texas, Florida, or even Australia. It feels like Janet is a friend already, just by the fact that we live in the same province. 

I couldn't resist one more shot of the quilting. Janet even used different colour thread. Ahh....I love it.

Thanks so much, Janet. I love it!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Mama's got a new bag....and online shopping oops!

Do you ever find that you have so many things that you want to blog about that you just don't write about any of them? That's the way I've been feeling for the last week....so apologies in advance for a rambling post....

First...my sweet friend, Darci, was kind enough to feature me in her Sewer's Interview Series last week. If you didn't get a chance to see her post, pop over, say hello and you can read all about yours truly. Thanks Darci!

Second, I finally made myself a new purse. You know how it goes, right? The cobbler's kids don't have any shoes...well this sewer had a purse that was literally falling apart.

My new purse...Pattern is Mini Miranda from Lazy Girl Designs.

I used fabric from my stash (my 4-year old picked out the Hope Valley...she's got good taste), and I used my favourite Amy Butler Full Moon Dot for the lining, and a linen cotton blend for the contrast. Pattern is Mini Miranda Bag from Lazy Girl Designs. I love it.




Third, good news and bad news about online shopping. Good news first. There is a fabulous new online shop located right here in Northern BC. It is so wonderful to have a shop close by that has yummy modern fabrics. (Sherbet Pips, anyone? And yes, I did buy a couple of charm packs last month and the Jelly Roll is calling my name).


New Fabrics from Fishskin Fabrics

Bad news?!? Impulse shopping with a pregnancy brain. I placed an order last week and it arrived in 2 days. (Okay, I'm still in shock about the fast shipping. Anything from the US takes literally weeks to get up here).

But unfortunately, I ordered 4 metres of Kona Snow when I really wanted Kona white, and my impulse Kate Spain purchases are not the colours I expected. I was looking for gray, aqua and yellow and I got brown, green and acid green. Oops. I wish I had just filled my cart with the Sherbet Pips yardage she has in stock. Do you ever have online shopping regrets?

Anyway, if anyone wants to swap any of the Kate Spain below I'm interested. I'm up for offers...I have a half metre of both in the photo below.

Kate Spain Central Park and Fandago (1/2 metres) up for swap.

And finally, in pregnancy news...I have 3 weeks to go, 1 quilt retreat this weekend, 1 baby quilt to finish quilting and bind, and 1 Moses Basket to finish recovering. Do you think I'll make it?

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Doll Quilt 10 Complete

I finished my little quiltie for Doll Quilt Swap 10 just in time for the International Shipping Deadline. I love me a deadline.

Doll Quilt 10

I added a couple of more birds to the centre to try to take away from it looking like a 'face'. Once someone pointed it out on flickr, I just couldn't stop thinking of a face every time I looked at the quilt. Hopefully I fixed it....although I'm not sure it really did. Again, that deadline was looming...

Dresden Plate Centre - I think my partner likes birds and toadstools.

I pieced together a back from a fat quarter and some scraps. I even hand-stitched the binding on (which goes against my new love of machine stitching) because I think I read somewhere in the official rules and regulations that we're supposed to do it the traditional way. It actually turned out really nice and I can see that it is worth the effort on special quilts.

Doll Quilt 10 Back

Quick Quilt Stats:

Approx. Size:     23" x 23"
Pattern:             Dresden Plate (tutorial from Oh Fransson)
Fabric:              Yellow and Aqua from my stash, background is a linen blend
Binding:            Rainy Days and Mondays by melimba & beccabury by Riley Blake


Close up of quilting - I stitched in the ditch around the dresden, and fmq in the background.

I'm so thankful to have this one off my plate. And I'm looking forward to receiving my own quilt soon. Okay, not that soon, as Canada Post is officially the slowest postal service in the world!