Girl or Boy?

Well, we just heard the news that good friends of ours are in the hospital where she is about to give birth to their first baby.  We wish them the very best and can't wait to hear that everthing went well.  In preparation for this baby, I have started two quilts.  They chose to keep the gender a surprise, so instead of making a gender neutral quilt, I chose to start two.  Once I know what they had, I will finish up the right quilt and save the other one for another baby to enjoy.

Both quilts were made using fabrics from Timber & Leaf, which is a collection that I fell in love with at first sight!

This is the baby girl quilt I started.  This quilt was the main reason I chose to make two.  The "boy" quilt could work for both, but I really wanted to try out thisheart design with the corals, and it didn't register as very boyish.



Next up is the baby boy quilt.  I used the Sparkle Punch pattern found here.



For now, we wait, and then there is some quilting to do before we meet the little munchkin!

Pretty in Pink Bee Blocks Complete!

Today I finished off the last blocks I had to make for my Pretty in Pink Bee.  It was a good year, and I really enjoyed seeing the different pink fabrics everyone had us work with.  It was also my first time as a "bee mama" which had its ups and downs, but above all I tried to maintain communication and keep everyone on track.  My only regret is the lovely fabric and blocks that were lost in the mail.  My fingers are crossed that they make it somewhere where they are appreciated.

Thank you everyone for being great bee-mates!

Baby Boots

Just planning ahead a bit here...people are starting to have or talk about having babies a lot around here, so I was checking out patterns on etsy yesterday and found this one.  I thought they looked really cute so I sewed up a pair while watching tv last night.

Ta-da!

I made the biggest (18-24 month) size figuring that as I worked on a new pattern 

I didn't need to torture myself by working in miniature.  

For the outside I used fabric from Heather Ross's FFA2 line, 

and the lining is from Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms line.

They are really cute, but I wouldn't put them on an active almost two year old unless I use a sturdier outer fabric.

So lucky, so lucky, so lucky.

Really early this morning my husband left for the airport, as he is attending the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas.  He's been pretty excited about this trip, but nervous at the same time because he has to leave me alone to run the shop and office while he is away.   I wasn't too worried about it, we have some good staff and they know what they are doing.  I'm going to miss him, but the business will survive while he is gone!

I had a pretty good attitude about the whole arrangement until just before 8:00 this morning...and now I really, really, really wish he was home.  This morning, on my way down to the shop I hit a patch of loose ice, then black ice, then a guardrail (which I went over), then a fence, before coming to a stop in a very steep ditch about 20 feet from a river.

I just want to say that if it wasn't for a very helpful and concerned witness to the whole thing, a lovely OPP Officer who took great care of me and explained all that I had to do (and gave me a warm car to sit in while I figured things out), and my extremely supportive in-laws who are my rock in situations like this, I would have been a non-functioning mess for most of the day.  Instead, I am able to say that I am fine. 

Though my car is not.

Yes, that is a bee...Andrew put it on my car one day to bug me...

Anyway, this doesn't look like much, but the wheels are bent, and the right side is all crumpled.

The right side got pretty much all of the damage.  

You can't see in this picture but the front bumper is cracked as well.

This is a picture from below.  That hole you see goes up into my trunk.

So...from what we've learned between our mechanic (aka father in-law) and the body shop, the car is most likely going to be written off.  I guess giant holes aren't recommended...oh wait, and neither are car bodies that are twisted.

All I have to say is, so lucky, so lucky, so lucky that I wasn't hurt, and neither was anyone else.  And to repeat what I've heard all day - I can't believe I didn't flip it.

 

Modern Swappers - Round 2

Another swap package that I was thrilled to receive was from my secret Modern Swappers partner.  As I may have mentioned before, this swap is a blind swap so we know who our partners are but they don't know who we are...hence the flickr "stalking."  Someone is out there checking out your favourites, photos and blog and you have no idea who it is until your package arrives.  I think this makes it extra fun because not only do you not know who is making what for you, you also have no idea when they are sending your package to you so if you are anything like me, you just end up stalking the mailbox for about a month!

With these larger swaps, I have found that it gives extra peace of mind to splurge on the tracking.  So far I have had partners in the US, so my shipping is only a few extra dollars to have tracking and a faster service.  Because of this, I knew exactly where my package was and when my partner received it.  As an aside, I just have to say that the longest part of shipping is the time it is stuck in customs!  Ugh!

For this round my partner was Julie A from Maryland, one of my favourite states! When I found out where she lived I was so excited because I just love the area where she lives...its Chesapeake Bay, how can you not love it!?  Julie is pretty clear on what she loves so it was really fun to put together her swap package.  I knew that she loved lime greens and oranges, and that she loved elephants.  So, with that information I started to plan everything.  For the smaller sewing room item, I make her an elephant pincushion from Heather Bailey's Effie & Ollie Elephant pattern which is super cute and this was a great excuse to buy it!

Sorry about the bad lighting, I rarely made it home before dark, so getting clear pictures was difficult.

Also in Julie's swap package were six fat quarters of various polka dot fabric.  In one of the discussions about fabric choices, Julie commented that she liked polka dot fabric so I immediately went online and ordered dots in colours that I thought she would like...greens, blues, and oranges.  So that covered the fabric requirement of the swap.  And from the comments left by other swappers, a lot of people would have been happy with polka dot fabric!

A little extra thing I tossed into the package was a turning tool.  This was an afterthought that I saw at the Creativ Festival back in the fall and thought Julie would be able to use.

Last but definitely not least, I made a pillow in Julie's favourite colours - lime and orange (with a few elephants tossed in!).  As I mentioned in a previous post, this pillow pattern gave me a bit of trouble.  After posting about my troubles I had several great suggestions and my second attempt was a great success (if I do say so myself)!  Here is everything together:

Since this is a longish post, I will share what I received (Yay!  Gifts!) tomorrow :)

Coming out the other side...

Have you ever had one of those months where you look back and are amazed that you survived?  Well, every December seems to be one of those months for me.  Between my birthday and Christmas I feel like the month just flies by laughing at me.  Well, this December was no different.

Fortunately, this December I had a lifeline - my mailbox.  Throughout the month I received some wonderful things from flickr swaps.  Opening up my mailbox and finding these wonderful swap packages were what kept me going through weeks where we were working close to 15 hour days and having major staffing issues, one in particular who only lasted one week and caused almost $1000 of damage in one day...but that is another story! (Can you sense that I am still sore about this!!)  Ah, the joys of running your own company...or so I am told....

Back to my swap packages.

The first swap package that I received contained the fabulous mini quilt from Lynda (littleloops).

Paired up in the Mini QT Swap, we each gave each other tips on what kind of a mini quilt we would like within the theme of "houses."  I suggested that I would like a quilt that reminded me of the beach and warmer weather (anyone living in Canada/Northern US should have no problem guessing why!), while Lynda threw out the theme of "pink" houses.

I had an idea from the start of what I wanted to do, and was pretty excited about how it turned out.  Though Lynda didn't request a "holiday house" I had it stuck in my head to make little ornament houses.  They are in no way Christmasy, but I made them so that they could be removed and used to decorate a sewing space.  I have previously blogged about this quilt and you can read about the details of it here.

The quilt that Lynda made for me was EXACTLY what I was hoping for!  Something cheerful, beachy and bright!  I did a little happy dance when I opened it, and have been showing anyone who enters the house...which, given the holiday season was more than average!  My sister actually asked if it was for her...um, nope!  Mine, all mine!  Hahaha.

I have to say, that after seeing these two quilts in their finished fantastic-ness, my first Mini QT Swap was a success!

More Swap goodness coming in another post...stay tuned :)

Love at First Touch

Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush Velveteen