I Swoon for Heather Ross

Happy New Year everyone!

Although I am trying to cut down on swaps and bees, I joined the Munki in the Middle Bee last fall. I love this bee because I get to use all of my favourite (and much hoarded Heather Ross fabrics) and it includes a great bunch of women. We've been making + plus x blocks, and lots of stars, all with beautiful Heather Ross centres.

Once I had all of my lovelies pulled out, I couldn't resist making something for myself too. I was inspired by the Swoon wall hanging that is hanging in the background of Camille's Craftsy class. One lone Swoon block surrounded by a big white border. But I wanted to use as many of my HR fabrics as possible, so I went with more of a scrappy colour scheme.



I forced the pattern a bit. I know that most of my blues/aquas are actually white/low volume, but I wanted the sushi, fish in bags and giant octopus in there, so I made it work. I moved a couple of blocks around.




And then added a big 6" white border.



I was going to simply quilt this with cross-hatch pattern, and then I had a much better idea. I'm sending this quilt off to Chelsea on Monday to be custom long-arm quilted. Chelsea already sent me some ideas for the quilting, think swirls and pebbles, and I am so excited. Originally I thought I would hang it in the girls' room, but now I think it is calling to be in my sewing room. Is it crazy for a grown woman to love Heather Ross so much?

And finally, thank you so much for all of your kind words of support on my last post about moving. We found out last week that we are moving back to Prince George. And I'm very happy. We know people there. They have all the activities and schooling options that I want. We are hoping that the kids and I can stay here until the school year is over, but we'll see how things go. You know how it goes, "the best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men gang aft agley." 

Sorry about the Robbie Burns reference. My Highland Dancing group is madly preparing for our Robbie Burns Night!

My assistant...

The Halloween costume production line is in full swing at my house.

Little Miss S supervises my cutting.

Thankfully, this year I have an assistant. Unfortunately, this assistant drools. All. The. Time. But we'll forgive her, right? She's still working on those first teeth. And she's oh, so cute!

Happy Thursday! Safe travels to all of you heading to the Sewing Summit. Wish I could join you. Take lots of photos, kay?

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?

Percy the Tank Engine...aka Quilt Basting Assistant

Yesterday I attempted to baste a quilt while my kids were awake. Percy decided that he needed to help.

Percy the Tank Engine 'helping' with basting a quilt.

Oh, and if you're wondering about the quilt in the photo...the blocks are from here. Yes, a full year ago. But I'm working on all of my UFO's....I promise.

Thank you to everyone who commented on my SUTK swap projects. Sorry I didn't respond to you individually...it was just that kind of week. But I appreciate and value each and everyone of them! Thanks for reading.

Edit: Go check out Cheryl`s post about quilting with kids in the house.

New Year Resolution Complete!

As I've stated over and over again, I really wanted to finish some UFOs in 2011. Especially with a new baby on the way.  With only 3 months to go, I'm ready to make some gorgeous baby stuff. (Like all of the gorgeous things Ashley has been making lately).

So here is UFO finish number 1.  I'm actually quite proud of this one. It's big. It's huge. And I made it all by myself.



A Quilt for my Sister.



Although there are no designer fabrics in this one (I pieced the top before I became a fabric snob), I still love it. The pattern was originally from McCalls Quilting and called Roots. (sorry, it doesn't seem to be online anymore).

Almost all of the quilt.

I was going to call it "Nobody is Perfect" because it really, really, really isn't perfect. The quilting is crooked, the star points don't match, and there is a bit of a ripple in the border. But since it is for my sister, I figure she might take offense.

Outdoor photo shoots are trickier than they appear. Especially with 3 feet of snow in the backyard.

Any ideas on a good name for this one?

It is now raining here in Prince George, so I thought I'd share some photos of the weekend. It was gorgeous, warm and sunny and we had so much fun skating on our community outdoor rink.

My daughter wearing my sunglasses.

My son really only wants to play hockey...it's time for some 'real' skates.

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Checking In

I had two major sewing/quilting goals for 2011. I thought in the interest of full disclosure I should give you a quick update.

Goal #1: Finish some WIPs and UFOs. Here's a shot of my oldest living UFO. In truth, I wasn't even going to post about it since it really doesn't represent my style anymore (and the craftsmanship is terrible). But it is taking up so much of my time, I thought I'd give you a glimpse.

Long dead, and now resurrected UFO. It will get done, it will get done, it will get done.....

It is big. A Queen. And for some stupid reason, I decided to quit it myself. Lets just say that it is crooked, there are puckers and you can't look at it up close (I won't let you). Not if you have any quilting experience anyway. But I made this flimsy back in 2005 or 2006 and it needs to get done. And I'm giving it to my sister who loves traditional quilts and who may or may not have got married way back in September of 2009. 2009! I just have to quilt the border, bind and label this baby and she is done!

Goal #2: Fabric Diet/Use up Stash. It turns out I'm as bad at fabric diets as food diets. The first week I bought some Kona White to finish up my Colour Wheel Quilt. Never mind that I 'added' in a 1/2 yard of yummy Innocent Crush (I had to see it for myself) and found a new to me Canadian online shop that has Kona Cotton Solids for $7/yard.

Stalled progress on Colour Wheel Quilt. More Kona White just arrived...

Week 2 I resisted. But now we're in Week 3 and I had a major cave. I couldn't resist buying some new fabrics for my Spicing Up the Kitchen Partner. And my fellow Canadians know how it goes, right? I had to fill up the envelope to justify paying the shipping from the US. You understand, right? Right???

How are you doing with your resolutions? Are you like me...or can you stick with them? I'd love to hear!

Life is Good...

Here's a photo of pure happiness for you:

I found the cutest wool and sheepskin booties at a thrift store on Saturday for $3.

And I finally got my hands on The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I've been on the wait list at the library FOREVER! Let's just say that there isn't much sewing going on this week....

Are you reading anything good these days?

Happy 2011!

Christmas holidays are pretty much over for us now...hubby is back to work today, and I go back to teaching tomorrow afternoon. Today is going to be a day filled with crossing things off lists...take down tree...buy thread...send thank yous...work on UFOs....

2010 turned out to be a year of small projects for me. I only finished one lap quilt, started too many other quilts, and made lots of small things.

I've decided that 2011 will be a year of finishing UFOs. I've even started quilting a giant queen-sized quilt that I've had hanging around since 2004 or 2005. I'm hoping that getting some things finished will help me to enjoy quilting more as I won't have so many things hanging over my head.

I've also decided to join Angela's Fabric Diet. Have you seen this yet? 8 weeks of no fabric buying...it is something I wanted to do anyway, but this should help me keep up with it. I'm actually a very competitive person.



Unfortunately, I already need to buy some more Kona White so I can work on my colour wheel quilt. But I'm okay with that...I really, really want to finish this one soon.

So happy New Year to you and yours. What are your goals for 2011?

Hmmm....

I just saw the announcement for the SMS Give-Away Day next week. I LOVE Give-Away Day (let's just say the kids watch at least one movie that day), and I've been lucky enough to win a few prizes too.

I'm having a hard time deciding whether or not I'll participate this time. Are you joining in? If so, what are you giving away?

 

My Give-Away Package from May 2010. Granted the bag is pretty ugly, but the fabrics are lovely.

  

If I do participate, I'm also not sure what I should give away. What do you like to win? Fabric? Something homemade? If so, what? 

 

And finally thank you to all of those who gave great advice about taking pictures from my last post!

Finished Pillow

I finished up my pillow for Pillow Talk Swap 4 last week. I've had a terrible time trying to get good photos...the snow outside makes it impossible for me to do an outdoor photo shoot, and I can't seem to get good shots inside. Any suggestions from seasoned photographers?

I added patchwork border in aqua, orange and pink and then finished it up with some Kona Snow. You almost, just almost, need sunglasses to look at this pillow it is so bright. But I think my partner will like it...she said she likes colour and I took her word for it.

The back was inspired/copied from this gorgeous pillow. I used my new favourite colour combo of yellow and aqua and a heaping of Kona Snow.

The pillow finished just under 20" square. I only have an 18" pillow form, but I think it would fill out beautifully with a 20" form. Now I just have to put together some goodies for my partner and it will be in the mail.

Finally, because I'm curious nosy, I'm wondering, did you take advantage to all of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday fabric sales? I was so, so, so tempted. I even filled up a few carts over at Sew Mama Sew and Fabric.com only to cancel my order. In the end, I just made one impulse buy at Solidia's Etsy store for some hard to find fabric.

I admit, those sales were so hard to resist. But I really am trying to be more responsible with my fabric purchases. One look around my sewing room shows that I already have more fabric than I can use. And just when I was thinking about the expense of my hobby, I came home to read this fabulous post about money and crafting by Jacqui at Hazelnuts (an Edmonton girl living in New Zealand). Go and have a read (the comments too)...it is thought-provoking and it helped me to be thankful for what I have instead of lusting over all the gorgeous fabric on sale all over the internet.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

We're having a baby!

Yup, #3 is on his or her way! I wonder which of these beautiful fabrics I'll get to cut up???