Randoms

Hello Everyone!

Just some randoms for you all again.  Looks like it's going to be a random couple of months here with summer holidays and all.

First up.  I made a Father's Day present for Gord this year.  Freezer paper stencil shirt.  It was fun and easy.  Now, will he wear it?  He already has!  I'm surprised and impressed.  (He's not the kind of guy that likes to stand out at all, which is why there isn't a photo of him wearing it.)

Inspiration from here.

Next up.  Library bag.  Above - before.  Below - after.  Simply turned the bag inside out and used it as the lining.  Then made a casing to go around the bag and stitched it on with ric rac.  Easy peasy and fun!  Try it yourself with one of those freebie bags.

Zachary fell asleep at the supper table last night.  Don't let this cute photo delude you.  He has been  getting into every sort of trouble so far this summer.  Hope he gets tired of it soon.  I am. :-)

It's sunny today.  That's unusual so far this month.  We've been having all sorts of rain and cool weather.

Suzanne and her family are coming tomorrow, the Lord willing and we are busy getting ready for their arrival.  Err, we should be anyway.  We'll be ready!

Went on a little hike on Monday.  Mom to kid ratio was 3 to 15.  It was great and we hope to do it again.  Missed you Jen!

Yvonne, the colour turned out pretty good after all.  Maybe it's just my display.

Posing for me.

Year End Teacher Gifts

I wasn't going to, but I did it anyway.  Making year end teacher gifts that is.  Two teachers received a set of pot holders and one teacher received cinnamon buns (he's a guy so I'm thinking he'll appreciate that type of handmade just fine.)

Simple for Deanna's teacher.

A little more exciting for Ben's teacher.  She's getting married this summer so I thought she could use these in her new home.

About 5 years ago I won a bag of scraps from Sew Mama Sew.  That was way back when they got about 40 comments for a giveaway.  And that was back when I entered a giveaway for scraps.  A long time ago it seems.  Anyway the fabric from the last set of pot holders was a scrap from that giveaway.  It has been sitting in my scrap bin for a long time waiting for the perfect project and I finally used it.  It's a unique piece of fabric and I like how it worked out!

Summer Time Table Runner

Why yes, it does have toothpaste on the corner!  Don't your kids brush their teeth in the living room too?

Remember the fabric I bought in Banff?  I already turned some of it into a new table runner for my living room table.  You see, the table runner that was on there was a Christmas one.  Yes, it was June and I still had a Christmas table runner on my table.

The back.  I think I like it better than the front.  The natural coloured fabric is actually a light canvas and I really like how it worked.

I stitched the binding on by machine because I really wanted it to be finished so I could remove the Christmas one.

What was really neat was that I bought a fat eight pack of these Kaffe Fasset fabrics.  With the front and the back I used almost every bit of it!  Love that!

My inspiration for this table runner was from this one.  I wasn't using a charm pack though, so I used 2.5 x 6 rectangles rather than 2.5 x 5.  Easy and fun!

Quilts in the Shop

I've listed a few baby quilts in my etsy shop. Some you've seen before and one of them is just finished.

Baby Boy Plus Quilt.  Listing is here.

Apple of My Eye Quilt.  Listing is here.

Sherbert Pips and More Quilt.  Listing is here.

Only one more week until Suzanne comes!

Oven Mitts

Terrible photo, I know.  I had already used them a few times and got melted chocolate chip on them.  I need to take a photo fast!

Finally made myself some new oven mitts!  I've burnt my fingers so many times with my old ones but what really got me going was when Benjamin burnt himself.  Not good.  I simply copied my old ones.  I used two layers of Insulbrite to make them heat resistant.

Baby Boom

Pattern is free.  You can find it here.  I put a jingle in the centre of mine.

There is a baby boom going on in my church right now.  We just had a baby shower for three babies last night.  And the last baby shower was a double.  It's fun to make baby gifts because they are small and don't take too much time.

The front

I made a few taggy blankets.  They were pretty simple and fun to put together.  I didn't follow a pattern, just make it up.

The other side

I made some soother straps.  They were super fast and easy.  I used leftover pieces of bias binding (from bibs etc.), some clips and my snaps.

So, baby gifts... do you make them or buy them?  Or a combination of the two?

I tend to have bibs on hand and often add a small toy or book.  This time I added more handmade. It was fun, and I think the moms appreciated handmade.

Best Present Ever

Sewing Machine from Ben.  It's actually a pencil sharpener.

Ben went to Barkerville a couple of weeks ago on a class trip (for three days - it was sure quiet here!)  When he got back he was so excited to give me this.  I was so pleased I almost cried.  (I have to mention that I am the only one in the family who got something.)  :-)

Quick Change Trousers + Freezer Paper Stencil

I managed to get into my sewing room a (very) little bit over the last few weeks and finished a cute outfit for Sebastian!  I stenciled a shirt using this shirt as my inspiration.  The pants are the Quick Change Trousers from Anna Maria Horner's book "handmade beginnings".  I had made his little bucket hat a while ago and so I used more of the same fabric (which is an old swim cover-up dress from me) for the pants.

Instead of using a different fabric for the bum panel I cut the fabric on the bias.

Look at me, I'm standing!

Hard to see but this next picture shows the reverse side.

Such a happy face!

It's been a long time since I posted last...life is busy! We've celebrated a couple more birthday's...

 Tessa finished Kindergarten...

and we've been spending more time outside!  I'll have to take some pictures of our gardens to share.  I love this time of year!

A couple more weeks and we'll be heading to BC to visit our families...I can't wait!  :)

Catch Up Bullet Post

If you aren't interested in my (Alisa's) personal life then feel free to skip this one.

• Hello all!

• Ever shopped at Pink Chalk Fabrics online quilt store?  They offer excellent service.  A few weeks ago I received this order from them.  Some solids and some cool twill tape.  I had a coupon code for 10% off and their Kona solids are a good price already.  I got a free goodie bag with my order - what fun!

• I went away with my husband.  This hasn't happened since I was expecting Carolin (she's 5 now.)  Gord had a trade show to attend, but I sure didn't mind being by myself.

• We stayed at the Banff Springs Hotel which was just amazing.  The main part was finished in 1888 (for the west this is pretty old.)  It was just amazing.  I just said that twice didn't I?!

• Antique furniture everywhere.

• The men's washroom.

• Fancy stairwells.  I will admit that I got lost a few times trying to find my way somewhere.

• My favourite hall.   The view from here was amazing.

• This is one of my favourites.  The original mailbox which is still in use.  The chute goes all the way to the top floor so if you mail a letter from there it will go all the way down into this box.

• I must have had free time on my hands.  Here's me in the elevator.

• I took this while driving down the main road in Banff.  Too bad I have my parking pass on the dash.  It gives you the idea of how awesome the mountains are.

• I visited the Sugar Pine Quilt Company in Canmore, Alberta (20 mins from Banff)  Worth the stop.  They stock alot of fabric and I had fun there!  Just for the record, some of this is to give away!

• I actually went there twice.  Once by myself and then upon hearing that some of the other ladies wanted to go I promptly offered to drive them there the next day.  I am an enabler, what can I say?  It was fun!  (And both times I didn't take any photos.  I was too busy wiping the drool off my chin.)

• Food, Glorious Food!  We got taken out to dinner by reps every single night.  I could never hope to eat this well again.

• Sitting in the lobby.

• View of our hotel from the Gondola.

• At the top of the world with coffee in hand.

• Moss.  I have a thing for different mosses, lichens and such.

• We (our family) has a thing for licence plates.  As you can imagine, you see many different plates in a place like Banff.  We spotted all 10 Canadian provinces, 1 territory and 22 different states.  My husband even did a U-turn to get a licence plate (the one above!)

• Johnston Canyon

• Lake Louise

• We hit 300000 kms on our van

• I'm looking forward to sewing with friends on Friday night!

• Suzanne and her family are coming in 3 weeks!!