Sebastian's Quilt

I made this quilt before Sebastian was born but haven't posted it yet (although it's been in a couple posts) because I hadn't finished quilting it yet!   I put the binding on after I quilted the straight lines but not the squares.  Last week I finally took it down to my sewing room and finished it off and gave it a wash.

I used the Alphabet Soup line along with a few other blue and orange prints and the solid green from my local Fabricland.  I had a hard time choosing the solid and didn't really love the green at first but it has really grown on me over the months and I actually really love it now.  The pattern is Modern Baby Quilts by Elizabeth Hartman.

I just love striped  bindings!

 Look how much difference 4 months makes!

4 weeks

4 months

Dutch Boterkoek

Did you know that Suzanne and I have Dutch ancestry?  In fact Suzanne's husband is a Dutch guy.  He can even speak the language (Suzanne and I can't.)  Even though we don't speak it, we like to eat it.  Dutch baking that is.  Yum!

Dutch Boterkoek

2/3 cup soft butter
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix the butter, sugar, almond extract and egg well.  Add the flour and baking powder.  Spread into a greased 9 inch round baking pan (can be a pie plate if that's what you have.)  Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.  Cool, then cut into 12 wedges.  Enjoy!

Yes, they are totally posing for me.  And loving it!

Snow Days and Small Things

Last week my kids were home from school every single day. Yup, every single day. We had snow, snow, snow and then ice rain. 68 cm of the white stuff and this week it's all gone, except for the piles.

It's kind of odd. I like having my children home on the weekends and during Christmas Break, Spring Break and Summer Holidays. But somehow when they are home when their not supposed to be it's not as much fun. I had to do some introspection on that one and I think I know why. When they have school holidays I usually prepare myself mentally and also plan for some fun things to do. I don't expect to get my housework finished perfectly or have time to sew or do other projects. But when it's unexpected I'm not prepared and thus I don't like it.  Terrible isn't it? Or do you understand where I'm coming from? Anyway, it wasn't a terrible week, just a little boring for the kids (we obviously didn't go anywhere) and not very productive for me.

Little Miss Carolin posing for me.

I did manage to do a bit of sewing between putting on snow clothes, taking them off, putting them on, taking them off again.

Change pads for the church nursery.  This fabric has been in my stash for quite a few years.  I got it from my s-i-l.  It was left behind in a house they moved into.  I love the blue and yellow combination.  It's cheery!

Bias binding.  I've said it before and I'll say it again - I love it!

 Bibs - I have to make 8 for a gift shop and a whole bunch for baby gifts.  Pattern here.

Scraps make great bibs.

Terrible photos, but I made the quilt block that's been sitting in my pile for over 6 years into a pillow for Melissa's bed.

She loves it!

The end.

Best Granola Ever

This is the best granola we've ever eaten.  The recipe is from a friend a couple of years ago and I've been making it regularly ever since.  (Thank you Heidi!)

Best Granola Ever

Mix together in a big mixing bowl:
4 cups oats (I use the large flake)
1 cup wheat germ
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup sliced almonds
2/3 cup coconut
2 tsp cinnamon

In a sauce pan mix:
1/2 cup maple syrup
6 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons water
2 tsp almond or vanilla extract

Bring saucepan mixture to a simmer over low heat.  Drizzle over oat mixture.  Stir to combine.  Pour onto a greased cookie sheet.  Working a handful at a time, squeeze to form small clumps.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Stir in raisins if desired.  If not adding raisins, still stir it up.  Continue to bake about 15-20 minutes until golden.  Let cool completely and store in airtight container.  When it comes out of the oven, it may seem soft yet, but it will become crunchy as it cools.

Enjoy!

A Quilt For Life

Last March, at my yearly quilt retreat, we collaboratively put together a baby quilt for our local pro-life society. It was quite fun to see it come together. Those who wanted to could bring a block along and one of the quilters (my sister-in-law) put the top together at the retreat. My job was to quilt, bind and deliver it. I had wanted to do it right away but life got in the way (sold house, appendectomy, packing, sprained ankle, moving, unpacking, summer holidays...) In September I wanted to finish it up and get it delivered but I couldn't find it. That's right. I could not find it anywhere. How could I have just lost a quilt top? I was just going to have to make a completely new quilt instead. And soon, as I couldn't very well go to this years retreat without having finished that up!

But last week when I was cleaning out my sewing room I found it!  I was very happy to say the least.

I quilted and bound it up on Saturday.  This is the first time I've done a machine binding that actually looks really good and professional.  I might even do a little tutorial on it.

I really like this quilt and I hope it makes a mom (and baby) happy!  Every child is special and is known by a loving God.

Plus Quilt

I've always wanted to make a plus quilt. I've had one in my Flickr favourites for years and I finally made one. It was such a fun quilt to put together, though trickier than it appears.

You know you are a blogger when you go outside in the frigid cold to take photos of a quilt.  We haven't had this much snow in quite a few years and today we are sitting at -9 Celsius.  Nothing like Suzanne's -29 or anything, but still kind of cold to be out taking photos with no gloves on.

I put some of my favourite prints in this quilt and I really love it!  Not sure what I am going to do with it though as my brother and his wife just had a baby girl last week.  I'll show you what I made for her after they receive it.

I backed it with this sweet green gingham that I found at Quilt Essentials in Abbotsford.  If you are ever in that area, you need to visit them.  It is a gorgeous shop in down-town Abbotsford, BC.  I went over Christmas with my sister and it was a very pleasant time indeed!

Anneke's Messenger Bag

A messenger bag made by Anneke! She did all the sewing on it except for putting the lining and bag together. She made the embroidery back in the Spring with plans to incorporate it into some unknown project. I'm really proud of her!

We used this great tutorial from Zaaberry for the bag. 

We added a pocket inside and a magnetic snap to keep the flap closed.  The jean fabric is from an old skirt of mine that no longer fit and the stripe is from my stash.

Look who I found hiding inside...  I couldn't find him when I was taking pictures the other day :)

A close-up of the embroidery.  I think I have a blooming sewer - yay!

Alisa Comes Clean

All right, I've taken photos so the whole world can see.  I have so many WIP's it's weighing me down.  I'd really like to get some of these finished and out of my sewing room.  I also have to admit that I gave away most of my orphan blocks (those that didn't make it into a quilt or 20), an unfinished table runner that's been sitting around for way to many years and various scraps that I'll never use.  Ah, that feels good!  Now onto the WIP's that I should finish.

Several unfinished bibs.

A bucket hat, cut out.

Remember when buntings were new and exciting.  About 5 years ago.  That's when I cut this one out.  Pretty pathetic, I know.

Remember when I did a series on sewing with knits.  A year and a half ago.  This is a half finished shirt from then.  I made a mistake and then didn't finish it.

Cut out a dress for Melissa last fall.  I'll be happy if this fits Deanna now.

A reusable shopping bag that I wanted to personalize.

Several baby balls cut out.  I haven't finished them because I ran out of the polyester stuffing.  I'm planning to buy a bag of it next week when I'm at Joann's.

Handkerchief Quilt.  Started this probably 3 years ago.  I'd like to get it finished for this summer to picnic on.

Not technically a WIP I guess as it has only been thought about.  I have this piece of fabric I'd like to make a pillow with to match the quilt I made last year.

Found this in my cleaning up.  I made a quilt for Melissa over 6 years ago in all purples.  This block didn't make the cut.  I'd like to make a little throw pillow for her bed with it.

Besides what I've shown you, I have 3 baby quilts in progress, fabric for Zachary's twin-size quilt, 2 items of clothing to re-purpose into other clothing and about 7 items on my mending pile.  And ideas for oh about 11, 186 more items.  If feels great to have that all confessed.  Now on to other exciting things.

I joined my first bee this year.  And I am so excited about it.  This month it is Leah's turn.  She chose a randomly pieced block and sent the fabrics to us.  I made this one and also a small one with the extra little bits.  I'm not much of a random quilter, but it wasn't too hard to come up with something.  Hope you like it, Leah!

As I mentioned, I've been tidying my sewing room.  I've just finished folding all my half yard and larger pieces.  These piles sure make me happy!

Even colour coordinated somewhat!

These are my FQ shelves in organizational progress.  I've got a box and a bag of stuff ready to give to the BFM Thrift Store.  Feels good!

How about you?  Do you dare take an account of your WIP's?  Do you have deep dark secrets in the sewing room too? :-)

A quilt for my Midwife

I finished this quilt just before Christmas and hope to give it to my midwife this week. The grey/green colour combo comes from the new birth center that she is opening and I love it! They grey is Kona charcoal and the prints are a variety of fabrics from my local quilt store and stash.

This was such a nice project to tinker away at after coming home from the hospital with Sebastian. A little bit here and there while letting my thoughts go back to his beautiful birth and hospital stay.  Many prayers were thought and even a few tears shed while making this one!

I made the label fit into the quilting on the back and I love it almost as much as the front! :)  The backing is a sheet I got from a friend a couple years ago - makes for a nice soft quilt!

This picture is a little more true to colour.

Progress posts are here, here and here.

Sewing with the Kids

The kids are back in school today after a two week break.  Over the holidays (and here and there over the past months) we were able to do a bit of sewing together!

One day Anneke had a friend over and we made headbands together.  This was her friends first time using the sewing machine - she was pretty excited.  The felt flowers are made using this tutorial and the pattern for the headband is here.  We attached the flowers using my new snap pliers :)  (Yes, after Alisa raved about hers Kamsnaps had, and still has, a sale so I bought one too - I love it!)

 The girls had fun picking there own fabrics from my scraps.  The middle one is my favorite.

excuse the wrinkled backdrop - I quickly grabbed a receiving blanket and snapped the picture as A's friend was leaving

Tessa also got to sew for the first time! She sewed up her froggy that we had ready to go for a long time. Anneke sewed hers quite a few months ago and I had made one for Sophie so this was long in coming for Tessa. She loved the fact that she could sew but now I have to watch her because she thinks she can go sew by herself!

I couldn't find Anneke's froggy for the photo shoot :)

Template for the froggy is here

And lastly Tessa and Anneke made this simple scarf for Sophie. So easy but very cute!

One more picture because I just love it!