Zach's Pack

Zach's Pack is not very photogenic.  So I'll apologize up front for the terrible photos.  I think if I had used a stiffer canvas it would not look like this.  Anyway, it looks better in real life, you'll just have to trust me on that.

Pattern is the Penguin Backpack from Oliver and S Little Things to Sew. This book is one of the best pattern books I have ever had.  Easy to follow instructions and fun projects that are easily customizable.

I decided to add piping as I've seen on other backpack patterns.  It was surprisingly easy to do.

Recycled strap adjusters.

Fun zipper pull.  I picked this zipper up at the thrift store a few years ago.  So glad I did.

When I finished the bag up, Zachary put it on and immediately walked downstairs toward the garage door saying, "Bus, bus."  He thought he could go on the bus if he had a back pack.  So funny!

Backpack in action. If he can't go on the bus, then this car will have to do.

I'm linking up to A Little Gray's Backpack Link Up.  Check out all of the other Penguin Backpacks.

BTW - Suzanne had her baby on Monday morning bright and early!  Everything seemed to be okay but that afternoon he wasn't doing too well.  Sebastian has Group B Strep Infection and is on antibiotics in the hospital.  He'll need to be in for about 2 weeks.  I am sure she will post some photos when they are both home.

'You Colour My World' Top Finished




You Colour My World Quilt in progress

  Even though I haven't had too much time in my sewing room lately I have managed to finish this quilt top!  It has been fun piecing with colours and fabics that were chosen by someone else.  I'll post more when it's all finished.  No promises on when that will be though.

A Little Project

I finally finished this hair "thingy" holder for in the bathroom.  I had everything for it a couple months ago already except for the spray paint.  So this week I picked that up and finished it off.  Our bathroom is the 70's green which I really don't mind but pairing it with another colour is hard so I just went with brown.  It's a hit with the girls, especially Sophie, who this morning was very determined to wear the red flower (I tried to persuade her to pick something pink as that's the colour she was wearing but she wanted nothing to do with that!).

I'm due this week!

This pregnancy has flown by for me and gone very well!  I can't believe that any day now we could be holding our new little one in our arms.  We're looking forward to it very much!

Here's one last picture.  I haven't taken very many but thought I'd better before it's over.  I'm wearing the skirt I made way back at the beginning.  At the time I wasn't sure whether to keep one I bought or use this one and I'm happy to say I returned the bought one and have worn this one a lot!  It's one of my most comfortable pieces along with this shirt that I've been living in :)

And a sweet pic of me and our youngest for not much longer! :)

A special quilt for a special little girl!

I have a friend who was a "due date buddy" with me.  I'm due on Thursday(!!) and she was due tomorrow.  Well, after a complicated pregnancy and lots of uncertainty, she had her little, itty bitty, girl at 33 weeks 4 days!  She did amazingly well and came home only 2 weeks later.  This quilt was made for her.

 Inspired by this quilt.

 And here she is...about 6lbs already!

Random Bullet List

* Made these cookies a few times. Very good. Too good if you know what I mean.

* Suzanne is due in one week. One week! She's ready and excited.

* I turned 33 earlier this month. I had a great birthday. We had friends over and played Party Bridge.

* My little sister bought me a Kona Color Chart! I was excited to say the least.

* I also got a really beautiful basket from some of my sister-in-laws. I've drooled over them many times and now I have my own. Love it. Thank you girls!

* Both of these gifts were not on my birthday list. They were things I had mentioned in the past that were remembered. That's what makes them so special.

* Made salsa with another sister-in-law. It has just the right amount of bite. Yummy.

* I have these apples waiting for me. To make into apple sauce, apple pie, apple crisp. And we'll eat some just like that too. From my parents' tree.

* This guy. He keeps me hopping. We're toilet training. The last few days he's been getting it! Imagine.... no kids in diapers. Wow!

* Insomnia. It's taking a toll on me. I am not very energetic because of it. Anyone else deal with it?

* Rain. We just had a light shower. We haven't had much rain lately and the sound was music to my ears. I must be a west coast girl through and through.

One room done!

The other week I called Alisa to tell her that I was finally getting somewhere on Lukas' and Sophie's room and coincidentally she was working on her girls room at the exact time I called her :) Do things like that ever happen to you?

We had to do some moving around of the kids in preparation for baby. This will be the first time we can have a specific baby room and I'm kind of excited! So we picked up a used bunk bed and moved Sophie out of her crib and into Lukas' room.

Lot's of pictures as the room is small and hard to take pictures in (especially with the sun shining in the window)...

I made a valance for the window and curtain for the closet with leftovers from Lukas' quilt.

A covered bulletin board so he can display some of his artwork and crafts...

This is a painting Lukas made this summer.  I love $ stores - $2 for a nice sized canvas!

Lukas' top bunk.  He loves to look at the map and flags!  You can often find Sophie snuggled up here with him in the morning.  So cute!

Here you can see Sophie's bed on the bottom with the bight quilt.  Not quite long enough for the bed but the colours work so great with Lukas'.

A very crooked picture but the only way I could get one with all the coordinating fabrics on :)

It sure feels good to have it done!

Here's a picture of what the room looked like last summer before any of this was started...it's come a long way!

I thought maybe I'd be able to get Tessa's quilt quilted and have the two older girls room put together in the next week but with the way my machine is acting I'm not so sure!  Maybe I'll just quilt it with straight lines... I think the baby room will get done after he/she arrives :)

Anyone with a Pfaff Expression 4?

I need some help! 

I've loved the machine so far but I can not seem to free motion quilt with it!  I tried it for the first time a few months ago and had a lot of trouble with the thread snapping every time.  It was just a little table topper though so I persevered and got it done despite rethreading all the time.

Now this past week I got Tessa's quilt basted (with the help of my cousin - thanks!) and thought I'd get a good start on it.  But it's been nothing but frustration!  I've broken two needles and my thread keeps breaking.  I've cleaned the machine, tried different needles, switched threads, played with tension and pivot height.  I'll be bringing it in this week but I really wanted to get this quilt done before our baby arrives.

Anyone with this machine experience a similar thing?  Any advise?

Back to School

So this week was back to school for our kids. Summer goes by too fast for me but they were excited! Tessa started Kindergarten this year and she loved it!

How is that I'm making 3 lunches already??  It feels like we were just sending Anneke to school for the first time!

Tessa's actual first day of school was Thursday.  Here she is all excited and ready to go!

And, a couple of Sophie who gets to have a few (hopefully) days at home by herself with me before the baby comes. Probably nothing new but I discovered that shoelaces and beads are a great craft for a 2 1/2 year old!  They're easy to put on, don't fall off that easily and...she was busy with it for almost an hour!

So True...

My mom found this at a thrift store and gave it to me for my birthday. Pretty good find, don't you think?

New Fabric (and a Pencil Pouch)

This past week my s-i-l's and I took the big trek out to Bellingham to shop at Costco and JoAnn's. We do not have a JoAnn's in Canada. Too bad because it's a fun store to shop in!

My s-i-l picked out fabric for a quilt for herself. One floral print and the rest solids. I'm excited about this one! Beautiful fall colours.

And a new pencil pouch for Melissa. It's fun and satisfying making small projects with cute fabric.