My 'Art' Project

I've been wanting to make a few things for the girls' bedroom wall. I've toyed with a few ideas and then one day it hit me and I got going on it right away. I was inspired by different projects I had seen on line and the colour inspiration from the girls' quilts (and wall colour too.)



This was so much fun to make. Totally different than my ususal sewing projects.



I actually made up the design myself. I printed out some some flowers from my CorelDraw program and traced them up into this design. That was fun!



Above - the different flowers and leaves I printed off. Below - the finished 'drawing'.



Stitching around that flowers was also fun. I don't think I could do this on a larger scale project but it didn't take too long. It was actually relaxing.



It's not perfect by any means but I love it! And it was fun, very fun!



One last photo on the bedroom wall.

So, go have fun with your scraps and some fusible web and see what you come up with!

Baby-In-The-Hood Jacket

My second project from Handmade Beginnings by Anna Maria Horner. This little jacket is a great design and sews up very easily. I found the instructions pretty straight-forward.



I used a variety of prints from my stash and I'm really happy with how it turned out.



I made the 24 months size and added 2 inches to the length of the jacket as well as to the arms. It's too bad that it's kind of snug on Zachary (22 months). He won't fit it for long.



As you can tell by these photos, it's kind of hard to take photos of Zachary. He moves alot.



I couldn't decide which photos to post - they are all so cute. :-)



The age he's at is so much fun and so busy at the same time. Naptime is relief time if you know what I mean.



See all that green moss Suzanne? If it makes you feel better, it is now covered with a thin layer of snow.

I'm linking this up to Fabric Tuesday.

Ruffled Skirt

After making her coat I thought I'd make a matching skirt. The tutorial is found here. I've made this one several times and only takes about an hour from start to finish (without interruptions, that is.)

Have a wonderful week!

A Few Links

Just a couple of fun things you might be interested in.

Photo from Bonnie's blog

Bonnie from Fishsticks Designs is talking about knits this week. She is the queen of sewing with knits, in my opinion, and has lots of good information for those who are looking to learn.

Made and Made by Rae are co-hosting Celebrate the Boy Month. Check out both of these blogs for great ideas for your boys.

Skirt Surgery: Thrifty Threads #19

Before: Hand-me-down skirt with ugly bottom.



After: Cute, original-looking skirt. Melissa and I think so anyway.

Sherbert Pips and More

When I was visiting my sister last month we went to her local quilt shop. It was a bit of a zoo with our 3 children in the squishy shop but still worth it. I happened upon a (very over-priced) charm pack of Sherbert Pips and had to buy it.



The charm pack wasn't quite enough to make a baby-size quilt so I bought a few Japanese prints at Hamels and I was ready to roll.



There is something so relaxing about piecing together such a simple quilt top. The quilting is easy too.



Such a simple quilt called for rounded corners. It softens the look doesn't it?



The binding is a Lecien basic. I was so happy to find it at my local quilt shop. I have some left over for a couple of bibs.



A close-up of the binding and backing. Just look at that green under it, Suzanne! Just showing you that it's not grass, but moss. :-)

This quilt is listed in my etsy shop.

It's a Finish!

Finally finished. This one's been a WIP since June!

I figure it's a birthday gift for last year and this year together. Works for me. :-)

Quilt Measures 60x70 inches. A large lap size. I smirked while I typed that last sentance. Is that a large lap size? Or a large lap size? Yep, I'm a dork.

And yes, an outtake. I have lots of those.

Did you see that blue sky on those first two photos?! We've just enjoyed two days of glorious winter sunshine. So, so wonderful. After I took these photos I made myself a cup of coffee and drank it outside on the back deck, while my two little ones played in the garden. (Yes, they played in the dirt and they loved it!)

Enjoy your day!

Log Cabin Block

I had fun cutting into my Freebird fabrics this afternoon! This block is going to be turned into a pillow. Soon, I hope.



I'm entering my block into a contest going on at Quiltstory. Take a look at all of the other entries.

Little Bits

Sometimes you do alot of little bits of sewing in a week but not really worthy of a blog post. You have that too? So I'm not the only one.

Between rain showers while the sky was a wee bit bright I ran outside with my camera and took some photos of my little bits of activity this week.



I used 3 half yards of fabric to make 4 bibs like these ones. Above is one side and below is the other side.



I squeezed out one more with the scraps. The back side is strips of the two fabrics. These were fun to make.



And just a few more bits left so I made a doll bib for the girls. I'll have to make a couple more of these.



I bought this doll high chair at the thrift store but the cloth seat was broken very quickly. Today I finally made a new one. It only took about half an hour and Carolin is so happy. Should have done that awhile ago.




Rebecca and I are organizing a quilt retreat to take place in about a month. I've been working on that too.



And, most relaxing of all. I am stitching down the binding on this quilt. Terrible photo, but you can see what I mean about relaxing right?



Thanks for reading my little bits.

Have a good weekend!

Little Uptown Coat - Tessa

Here's Tessa's coat I made while Alisa was here. You can see Carolin's in the post below.

I made the skirt last week and had enough fabric to make this coat too! For the lining I had just enough for the sleeves and hood and the rest of it is from hand-me-down fabric I had in my stash. The corduroy was from the local thrift shop so this definately counts as a thrifty thread!

She really loves it as you can tell :)  I couldn't resist making a little purse to match...

Thanks for coming Alisa!  It was a great time and I am thankful for it!

Little Uptown Girl - Carolin

Last week when I was visiting Suzanne we both made the Little Uptown Girl coat by Make it Perfect. We were pretty happy with the pattern and both love the finished coat. Carolin loves hers.



I made a size 4 for Carolin and it fits great. We can unroll the sleeve if we need more length.



I used a quilting weight cotton for both the outside and the inside. The whole coat is interfaced so it has a nice weight to it when it's finished.



The only thing I didn't like about the coat is that the hat doesn't really fit. If/when I make it again I will make the hat larger and maybe run an elastic through the top.



Love the cuff. And the teal buttons.



I bought my pattern at Pink Chalk Fabrics.

After a month of rain (I'm not kidding) we are enjoying some winter sunshine! Yeah!!