A few handmade gifts....

My mom was here last week and it gave me a chance to make a couple of handmade gifts while she played with the kids. (Thank you, Mom!)

I found this great tutorial through flickr and I made two cute box tote bags. The first one is for my cousin's birthday. She loves green so I chose a sweet Nicey Jane print. The tote is fully lined (I used a Kaffe Fassed Aboriginal Dot) and it is a perfect size for pencils, bath stuff, etc.

The second is for one of my dearest friends. She is a vet and an equestrian so I dived into my HR stash for her little bag. It is lined with a cute Michael Miller flower/paisley print. I filled it with some lovelies from the Body Shop and mailed it a full 2 weeks before her birthday. That in itself is a miracle...I am always late with birthday presents. Especially homemade ones.

And finally, my mom arrived at my house with her knitting in a plastic bag. I couldn't let that stand. She asked for aqua and red and I threw in a whole bunch of pink (because I seem to have a bunch of pink scraps) and made a quick drawstring bag. (I used the principles from this tutorial and just made the bag with scraps and a bit bigger).

Side 1:

Side 2:

I've also finished up my pillow for the Pillow Talk Swap but the pictures I took this afternoon are horrible. (Singing, "All I want for Christmas is a fancy camera....") I'll try to get some new photos tomorrow with better light and I'll show them to you asap.

Have a great weekend!

Improved Nine Patch

Can you tell I found my Double Wedding Ring Template set this weekend? Remember when I made this block at a class two summers ago? (and no, I still haven't made any more...) 

Well I discovered that the template set also allowed me to make Improved Nine Patch blocks. (The template is From Marti Mitchell). I was inspired by these gorgeous blocks (scroll down, they are worth it) by Amy at Badskirt.

Up first is my pillow for Pillow Talk Swap 4. My partner loves bright colours, Heather Ross and Flea Market Fancy (who doesn't??). I had fun pulling out a few favourite fabrics to make this block. At first I was concerned that it had too much pink, but the friendly people over on flickr seemed to like it.

What kind of border do you think I should make? I was thinking patchwork with aqua, orange and pink. Or maybe just aqua...I'm up for any ideas that you have!

Since I was on all roll, I decided to make another for Austen for The Maple Leaf Quilting Bee. I'm behind (sorry) so I was just happy to get this done before another month passes by.

I'm pretty much in love with these blocks. I'm thinking that I need to make a baby quilt with this pattern (without squaring off the blocks). I found that once I got going the curved piecing wasn't as difficult as I remembered.

Hope you have a wonderful Monday!

Last Minute Halloween Treak or Treat Bags

I decided at the last minute on Saturday that my kids needed home-made trick or treat bags. Needed. So bought my very first Halloween fabric, and worked late into the night.

 

I used this tutorial as my inspiration and added a few inches to both sides to make them a bit bigger. I want these bags to last a few years. I also referred to this tutorial for basic bag making instructions. I used some images from Clip-Art for my applique templates.

A pumpkin for my son:

 And a bat for my daughter:

These were so quick and easy and I was so happy that my kids didn't have to use pillowcases for trick or treating. Now I just have to start making home-made costumes!

Have you ever been to Vanderhoof?

Have you ever even heard of Vanderhoof? Probably not, unless you live in British Columbia. And I bet there are more than a few British Columbians who haven't heard of it either! It is actually a small logging and farming town in the geographical centre of BC, about an hour west of Prince George.

Why I am I rambling about such a small town?!? Because they have two wonderful quilt shops (which are magnitudes better than the shops in Prince George), and I went on a field trip yesterday to check them out.

Here are my lovely finds:

 From the bottom: Sandi Henderson Farmer's Market, MoMo Freebird, an Art Gallery Oval Dot (oh, so soft), Kona Cotton "Tomato", a Kaffe Fassett Dot, Heather Bailey Bijoux and Amy Butler Belle.

 A lovely Corduroy (bottom) and a Michael Miller print for a skirt for my daughter.

 

And some gorgeous Kate Spain "12 Days of Christmas" for a Christmas Table runner.

It was a great day and it was wonderful to see vibrant Quilt Shops in such a small town. I wish I could say the same for Prince George.

Have a great Saturday and happy sewing. 

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???

Another slight for Canada....

Oh, why, oh, why do people (or one creative, artistic, wonderful person in particular) insist on "NO INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING"????

I am so sad to be missing out on this year's sale. I would adore a Heather Ross Scrap Pack or a small piece of artwork. Have fun all my American friends...

Just to fuel my heartbreak, here's a shot of my loot from last year! Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Nothing like a deadline to make me finish a quilt!

I finally got the last of the buttons sewed on my little doll quilt this morning. Of course, today is the deadline to ship internationally, and I am going to make it, whew. (So there is a little hint...this quilt is not going to Canada).

I meant to get it finished yesterday but after pricking three tiny little holes in three of my fingers while sewing buttons, I thought I should take a bit of a break before finishing. Perhaps I should use a thimble???

This little quilt gave me lots of troubles. I designed it with borders because I thought Cathedral Windows were tricky, but it turns out that actually, it was the math for the borders that gave me the most trouble. And then a terrible ironing incident (imagine brown yucky water spewing out all over my beautiful pristine white fabric) caused some of the reds to bleed. Thankfully the kind folks on flickr helped to solve the problem...I just picked out the offending piece and sewed in a new one. Why couldn't I think of that???

Overall, I am pretty happy with this quilt. Again, I am hoping the Flea Market Fancy Effect will prevent my partner from looking at the flaws. Like the fact that the borders are not square (at all) and there is still a bit of bleeding in one of the yellow bouquet windows.

Here is the back of the quilt. As you can see the middle square isn't quilted...I had planned to bring the thread through from the buttons to have a tied effect, but it just looked funny. I'm assuming my partner won't want to wash it so I hope it is okay. You understand, right partner???

I also made my partner a little bag from a tutorial over at Pink Penguin. Isn't it cute? I love free tutorials....

I am so thankful that I finished this quilt (and in time for the mailing deadline no less). Now I can just sit back and wait for my own package. I love this swap!