Twins

Twin quilts that is :)

My friend Laura pieced these two beautiful quilts with donated fabric from Fat Quarter Shop and then she quilted one and I did the other.  The fabrics were so pretty that we decided to keep the pieces nice and big.

Laura did a small meander with a bit of a wave in each block

I did an all over daisy meander

These will be going to the Pregnancy Care Center.  Maybe there'll even be twin girls to receive them!

Broken Herringbone and Paper Piecing

At the retreat I worked on a new table runner and pillow for myself made from a jelly roll I had.  Love them!

Based on this Broken Herringbone Block, I just kept going :)

Lone Starburst - paper piecing pattern on craftsy

These should brighten up our living room when I finish them!

Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced  :-)

A Huge "Thank You" to the Sponsors of our Retreat

One of the most fun parts of planning a retreat is receiving fun packages in the mail!  We had a lot of generous sponsors that sure added to the fun of our day!

Quilt Shops:

Warp & Weft

Hawthorne Threads

Sew Sisters

Fat Quarter Shop

Pink Chalk Fabrics

Mad About Patchwork

Quilt Essentials

Other fun sponsors:

Omiyage

Epicure

Craftsy

Dutch Delicious

Birdiful Stitches

Be sure to check out these shops next time you're buying online!

An Absolutely Fabulous Day! ~ Our 2nd Quilt Retreat

Last week was our second annual Quilt Retreat here in Edmonton, AB!  We had 25 ladies out for a wonderful day of quilting, friendship and food.  As an organizer it is so rewarding to hear laughter around the room and see everyone enjoy such a good day "off" from their regular routine.

I'll let the pictures tell the story...

Welcome table

 

Gift "bags"

Our fabulous venue!

My favorite picture of the day

 

Quilt Goodness

Friendship and Food

All the donations for the Pregnancy Care Centre!!

Rail Fence blocks - enough to make a couple baby quilt

Photo credits for most of the above photos go to my good friend Laura who blogs at CraftyHour.

I'm kinda sad it's all over already and look forward to next year already!!

**Also, if you've made anything during the past couple of months for the Pregnancy Care Centre Sew-Along be sure to upload a photo in the flickr group for a chance to win some patterns from Birdiful Stitches. More details here.**

Quilt for Rylee

Just two weeks after our Joshua was born, Rylee entered this world too!  Kind of fun to have a cousin so close in age.  And so exciting for my brother and his wife to have a girl after two boys.

I had this quilt all planned out and the fabric set aside for a month or so.  In anticipation of a new niece.  Not that I knew she would be a girl, but I was hoping.  :-) It was a pretty easy one to put together but so much fun.  

It's not technically a quilt as it only has two layers.  But the fabrics are flannel so it's got a decent weight to it and I think it will work well in the car seat or stroller.

The floral fabrics are Riley Blake flannels, the pink polka dot is from Fabricland (this one is very good quality, nice and soft) and the chevron print is one from Joann that I picked up a couple of years ago.

Noodlehead Super Tote

I started the Super Tote before Joshua was born and then I finished it in the week after.  (In 10 minute increments.)

My tote isn't very photogenic, but it really is a nice bag and I love using it.  I should have used a different interfacing but I used what I had on hand.

The navy and the blue floral are both sturdy cotton fabrics and the red floral I quilted to a piece of batting to make sturdier.

My favorite part of the bag is the yellow piping and stitching.  I made the piping myself and I'm happy with how it turned out.  The buttons were stitched on the bag as a last minute addition.  The top of the bag kept flopping down into the bag.

I quilted the front pocket with two threads (threaded through one needle) to make it stand out a bit more.

And the inside.  I am obviously using this as a diaper bag.  I opted to do a zipper pocket on the one side rather than the elasticized pockets on both.  I also opted out of the recessed zipper.  I wanted a bag I could easily put things in and out.  I was also worried that my prego brain wouldn't be able to handle the instructions.  I actually have another bag half finished and shoved in a box because I messed up the recessed zipper.

As usual the instructions were clear and easy to follow.  I thing it's a great bag and if the photos don't look that great the fault is all mine.  I would highly recommend this pattern.  (Not getting paid to say that, just a happy customer.)

Baby Change Pads

Since the change table is in the master bedroom I didn't want to make the change pads too 'baby' looking but rather matching our own quilt and decor.

I did some improv piecing using scraps of said quilt and other orange, blue and gray.  I used two layers of batting and then tried some fun quilting.  And bound in my usual way with a bias binding and rounded corners.

The back.  You can see I need some more practice on those swirls.  It sure was fun to try something different on a smaller project.

In our previous home we had a large bathroom counter and lots of cupboard space so we didn't need a change table.  Now we have more bathrooms but with very small counters.  So I picked this change table up used and it's been working well.

Photos

Things are falling into a rhythm of sorts here.  I'm staying home taking care of my two youngest while the others go off to work and school.  We've been spoiled with meals and care and I feel that has really helped with my emotional well being.  The sun streaming through my window as I write this helps too! 

 

My brother-in-law, Will took some photos of Joshua when he was 9 days old.  This was after the baptism in my parents family room.  We were working with a baby who was just about to get really hungry and fading light.  I think he got a few really good shots!

Here's me, tired but happy. :-)

And a pretty good shot of the whole family.  We are blessed!

Thanks for reading our blog!  I still have photos of things I want to blog about so you might see me pop in here later this week.  Depending on the baby of course. :-)

I thought I was doing a crappy job until...

...I looked at the back.  Eek!!  I love it!  :)

I've gone through 6 bobbins already...maybe 12 more to go?

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

Dress #2 - for me!

I made this pattern once before, and because it fit so well I wanted to make it again. I paid $15 for the fabric (including lining) and a couple of dollars for the zipper, so this is a $17 dress that fits me great!

Worn today with a scarf I made on my daughter's knitting loom and a (very old, missing a button) grey cardigan.

I'm not super happy with the sleeve caps.  So hard to ease the sleeves in without getting "puff" sleeves.  I also made them about 1.5" narrower down the length because they were really boxy.  I still don't love the sleeves, so I like it better with a cardigan.

Very happy with the fit!

The neckline without a scarf.  A little boring without - I'd have to wear a necklace or something when it's warmer.

The zipper...I had trouble with it on this dress.  I took it out a couple of times and it still bubbles a bit but not enough to bother me.  The top of the zipper is funky too with little "mountains" on each side of the zipper pull.  I didn't give the pull enough room at the top, so somehow it's pulling the seam allowances in and making it sit funny.  Nothing a scarf can't hide ;)

And it's fully lined!  I debated on whether to attempt lining it but I knew it would sit way nicer and not crawl up my leggings if I did.  When the bemberg lining went on sale at Fabricland for $3/meter, I decided I really should and I'm so happy I did!  I used this tutorial from Sewaholic to help me wrap my head around how to add the lining.

Sisters' Fat Quarter Challenge

Last summer when our whole family was together six of our eight sister and sister-in-laws made a trip to Hamels.  We all bought the same fat quarter and our challenge was to make something with it before the end of the year.  So fun!  Here are our projects...

A diaper and wipes case.  First time zipper for this sil!

After a trial and error project this sil made this adorable doll sleeping bag and pillow.

Another first time zipper in this pouch.

Alisa's double-sided table runner has a few pieces in it.

A mug rug and cup cozy given as a gift.

Oven mitts that gave a lot of grief but turned out fabulous!

So much fun seeing what everyone came up with! Have you ever done a challenge like this?

One more...can you find a few pieces in Joshua's new quilt?

So wishing I could hop over and snuggle this little guy right now!

Practicing the Orange Peel

Nope, I'm not in the kitchen or on the dance floor, just trying some new-to-me quilting.  I'm trying it on a baby quilt and hoping to quilt my Scrappy Trip Along the same way.  It's going well - yea!

A tutorial can be found on the blog "Oh Fransson!"

A Quilt for Joshua

Thank you all so much for your congratulations and best wishes with the birth of Joshua!

I finished up a quilt for Joshua just before he was born.  The quilt had been simmering in my mind for quite some time, not that it's a difficult quilt to make, but the plan to use some of my hoarded novelty fabrics along with some bright stash fabrics to make a very fun quilt for our expected little boy.

Zachary tried his best to be my assistant.  Not too easy when the quilt is just as big as you are.

Some closeups.  Love that 'quilt' block.  A bit of me in there...

Some of these fabrics have been hanging out for years, waiting for the right opportunity.

And some are leftovers from other projects.  That's always fun too!  The snails and turtle print is one of my all time favorite kids print. (I have no idea what it's called anymore.)

I didn't have quite enough of the zoo print for the whole back so I dug into my newly purchased solids for the rest, as well as for the binding.

And an action shot.  My two little boys.  One a sweet little baby, the other a ball of energy!  I'm excited to see how they interact as time goes on.