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

Christmas Tree Hunting

My husband's family has an annual Christmas tradition that we enjoyed this weekend.  Christmas tree hunting!  An afternoon where we freeze our butts off, dodge and throw snowballs, and hopefully end up finding the perfect Christmas tree!

Andrew after a serious snowball battle.

Our nephew Colton running after his uncle Andrew with a snowball.

Colton pulling his snowball making supplies in his sled.  

He was very protective of those supplies, wouldn't let anyone near his sled!

Our niece Paris with her Grandmother (my MIL).  

Paris was very proud of her Christmas tree.

My SIL Carola with her dog Triton, our tree pulling work dog! 

He's so big I don't think he even felt the weight of the tree; 

pulled it like it was nothing!

Christmas Bonus Time!

I got some Christmas bonus money yesterday and it was burning a hole in my pocket!  So, I went to a quilt shop here in Toronto on my lunch break today.  Sew Sisters had surprisingly good prices.  I was impressed with their sales section.  I was able to find some cute prints for $6.99/meter.  Bonus!

Here are some of my finds:

David Walker's Robots (sale)

Minny Muu (sale)

The first one is Joel Dewberry (paid regular price)

 and the last two are Jennifer Paganelli (sale)

These are Meadowsweet (paid regular price)

I can't wait to get them home and cut into them!

Mini QT Finished!

My Mini QT partner has received her quilt, so I can finally post this:

This was my first time participating in the Mini QT Swap.  The theme was "houses" and my partner littleloops suggested that she would like me to work on something with the theme "pink houses."  I love how this quilt turned out; pink and green are one of my favourite colour combinations and I think they really pop on the bright white background.

Here is the finished quilt.  I made the houses removable so that littleloops could place them whichever way she wanted.

Also, if you flip the houses around they each have a pocket on the backs.  To go in the pockets, I found some old skeleton keys and created tags that are meant to be a little inspirational.

Here is a closeup of the tags.

                  

Above are pictures of the pieces taken off of the quilt.

It is a relief to have this (successfully!) finished, and I really hope littleloops likes it as much as I enjoyed making it! 

I'm Boring, I Know.

I have had so much to post about, but unfortunately because it is all about swap stuff I can't post about it yet!  There are two projects that I have finished in the last week or so that I would love to show you, but since my swap partners haven't received their goodies I am forced to wait.  Please mail, go faster!  Go FASTER!!

Stay tuned :)

December Packages Ready!

December is my month in the Pretty in Pink Bee and so today I spent some time preparing my packages.  I've asked everyone to make me a star block (two if they have time) any size up to 12.5" unfinished.  The people in this bee are a creative bunch and I really look forward to what they come up with!

The fabric I chose was Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow in Berry.  I just love pink and green together!

Also, since December brings the holidays, I added a little something for everyone.  Enjoy!

Bee Blocks and Soul Blossoms

Ravishing in Red Bee Blocks for November

Soul Blossoms by Amy Butler

Eating Right

Okay, so now that I am all booked for Panama I am newly motivated to eat better and hopefully lose some weight.  My biggest challenge is snacks.  I don't tend to eat between meals (and often skip meals altogether) and this obviously is not working for me!  Does anyone have any suggestions for healthy snacks?  If I have to resort to carrot and celery sticks every time, this endeavour will be an epic fail!

And, because fabric diets have no calories...some fabric love:

I Remember

Today is Remembrance Day, a day that has always made me feel a little melancholy. I take this day to not only pay tribute to our fallen soldiers, but to think about the people in my life who I have lost and the family stories that fade with every day that they are gone.

This year, I am thinking about my grandparents. My grandfather who fought in WW2 and came back with secrets his family wouldn't know about until years after his death, and still don't fully comprehend to this day. My grandmother, who selflessly put aside her dreams to care for her ailing husband, only to spend her last few years alone, struggling for every breath as a result of pulmonary fibrosis.

Today, my Remembrance Day is for you. To Alex and Kathleen whose lives were forever touched by WW2, and who in spite of their challenges, were able to build a life and family together.

A good account of what Remembrance Day represents:

CBC News - Canada - Remembrance Day: Lest we forget

Fabric Love

Yesterday I had some fabric arrive in the mail that I ordered from Hawthorne Threads.  I just love buying fabric from there, the website shows off the fabric so well, and the shipping is reasonable for me.  It is amazing how much fabric can fit into one of those flat rate envelopes!

These red and blue fabrics are the ones I really set out to buy, but if I am paying the shipping, I always like to fill the envelope, you know?

With these I plan on finishing my first "bee" quilt.  Back in May I had everyone in one of my bees make these blocks for me:

I had sent out all of the red and aqua fabric I had for this quilt and unfortunately, I didn't receive one of the blocks back.  So, this now being November, I gave in and bought some more red and aqua fabric so that I could finish the block, and ultimately the quilt, myself.  I can't wait until I can finally enjoy this quilt!

Does anyone else have a project that they have on the back burner for one reason or another?  What reasons do you have for stopping work on a project before it is finished?

Getting a Start on Christmas

Made some soap last weekend for Christmas gifts, and maybe a few bars for my annual supply.  The soap always turns out so pretty, if I do say so myself....

Dresses, check!

Invitations are out, location is booked, and bridesmaids dresses are ordered.  Check, check, check!

Somehow I am having more fun planning this wedding, than my own.  Ah, the joys of spending someone else's money!  LOL.

The dress we chose for the bridesmaids was from the Cynthia Rowley Bridesmaid Collection for The Dessy Group.  The colour we chose was "Apple Slice."  

Great timing!

Yesterday I posted that I was having trouble with getting the points to line up on my pillow.  I had some great suggestions for 'saving' the one that I already made, and I think instead of entirely ripping it apart I am going to embrace it for what it is and keep it.  But since the intended recipient was my Modern Swappers partner, I just want it to be more perfect so I will attempt it again.

Fortunately, when I went on Flickr this morning I saw that someone else had made a pillow similar and the points matched up!  Also fortunately, she was kind enough to make a tutorial for her pillow that I think might help.  Especially since the suggestions she gave for sewing it together were already mentioned by Kelly in yesterday's comments.  Apparently I need to hear it in stereo for it to sink in!  LOL.

Anyway, I'm hoping to make another one this weekend, so wish me luck!

Points? What Points?

Yesterday I was flipping through my Stitch magazines and saw the Pi Pillow in one of the Spring Issues.  I thought it looked pretty darn good, and so I immediately put together some fabrics and cut out the wedges.  I laid the wedges out on the table and everything was going well.  I might even have given myself a mental pat on the back.

Picture of the Pi Pillow from the magazine

This morning, I woke up and my first task of the day was sewing all of those wedges together into what was promising to be a cute "rustic" pillow.   Unfortunately, even with careful pinning, the wedges did not line up at the end.  Instead of looking like the beautiful pillow in the picture above, I got this:

...and here's a close up:

So if anyone has any suggestions about how to get those points to line up, please share your expertise, as I could really use the help!