Life around here

Here are some tidbits from the last week or so...

Last week was the first week of school. A big adjustment for all of us. Early mornings and long days... The kids are loving it but also noticing that they just don't have enough time to do all the things they want to at home :-( Here they are...grade 1 and Kindergarten (how did they get to be so big anyway?)
I got a whole bunch of small apples from my neighbour. Last month I made a batch of apple sauce and this time I tried apple juice. It turned out pretty good but I think I'll have to tweak the recipe a bit. And a little sewing... I tried my hand at a receiving blanket like Alisa has done. It makes a great baby gift! I found a great tutorial for cutting strips for binding. I was trying to fold my meter into a square on my little table (I'm getting a bigger one soon!) and it just wasn't working and this was easier than I thought it would be.

The Playpen Quilt

It's finally finished. I sewed the binding down on Sunday and did a 'photo shoot.' I wonder what my neighbors think of me.



I used 7 fabrics from Wonderland by MoMo. I also used a linen that I've had in my stash since I was 18 (really 13 yrs! I bought it in Brazil.) As well, a repurposed cotton/linen dress shirt from Gord, a vintage fabric that I've had for a number of years and a brown cotton that is left over from another project. How's that for a mixture.



The binding is a burnt orange solid. It's from Fabricland. I really like the quality of their 100% cotton solids.



I'm really, really happy with how it turned out and is making me excited to make other things. But first I have to finish the playpen project.



The back is part of a thrifted sheet. I love it! It was too white and bright so I tea-dyed it to get it more muted. It worked perfectly.

A "Not so Thrifty Thread"

I am loving this Sweet Little Dress pattern. It's so quick and easy. I made these as a baby gift for a friend. One for baby and one for the older sister. I ended up getting the fabric at my local quilt shop so it's not so thrifty but the end result is so worth it. Just imagine them with brown leggings under...

Oh, and not to forget the older brother in the process...a little tie to match. It has the brown polka dot on the back.

I have a whole list of things in my head to make. Most are baby gifts, but I have great intentions of making myself a skirt, and am working on a bright, cheerful quilt for the playroom. I'd also like to make a dressy coat for my oldest, maybe my other two too... Lot's of dreaming, just not so much time :). I just take it as it comes!

Baby Gift

This morning my friend Rebecca finally had her baby! It's a boy, Justin, and I'm looking forward to meeting him tonight. This afternoon I made a recieving blanket for him (I bought this fabric in Manitoba this past weekend. I'm so glad I could use it already!)



I just love bias bindings. I finally bought a bias tape maker and it saves time. Not alot of time, but definately worth it. I will dedicate another post to bias bindings with some photos. (Yeah, after I make myself a new ironing board cover. Mine is not ready to be photographed.)

I took photos as I was making the rounded corners. First fold your fabric in quarters and cut with your rotary cutter so it's a perfect square. Then look around your toy room, which is a big mess as usual and find a toy plate. Put it on the corner like so



Then cut around it (through all layers) and you have this.



Easy, peasy.

Table Quilt

This quilt has been in the making for quite some time. I bought the charm pack (Friends and Flowers by Mary Englebright) over a year ago and started making half square triangle blocks with it. When I put it on my design wall it just didn't 'do' anything for me in the way I had envisioned it. It made it's way into my WIP basket and that was it for awhile. But as of late I am trying to finish some of those WIP's and so here is the table quilt. I arranged the blocks in an entirely different way than I had planned and it looks much better. It's still not my favourite, but I do like it and will give it away as a gift.



I tried some different quilting on it. It's good to try new things with small quilts. I used a special stitch on my sewing machine.





Today my two oldest children are back at school. I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand it's 10:45 AM and I've completed all of my pressing tasks for the day including making supper. On the other hand my children are gone all day long and I hardly get to see them, talk with them etc. I'm sure it will all sink in over the course of this week.

Hope you all have a good day! Thanks for reading. (Feel free to say 'hi' in the comments.)

Happenings

:: tomatoes growing in the garden
:: taking care of children like this (if only they were always this cute)
:: peppers growing in the garden, they are so good
:: 5 metres of flannel at $2.25/metre
:: did I mention tomatoes? We are picking that many every other day!
:: quilting my playpen quilt. Can you see why they call that colour in the corner 'tomato'? Just need to stitch the binding down.
:: tomatoes look really nice in a bowl on the table. Who says they can't be part of the decor?
:: apple pie. I made three of these on Saturday. They take a long time to make, I had forgotten about that. The appreciation of my husband made it worth my time.
:: on the dinner table. All from our own garden. Our garden this year is somewhat successful. Next year, the Lord willing, it will be even better.

Tomorrow the two authors of this blog are planning to meet in person. Not here, not there, but in Manitoba! Our little brother (he's not so little, really) is getting married there. So, we'll be back next week. I am so looking forward to seeing you Suzanne!

Summery Table Topper

A couple of months ago I made this table topper as a gift for someone who helped us out a lot as we were moving. I used a charm pack called Friends and Flowers from Mary Engelbreit by Moda. If you look back to this post you'll see that Alisa is working on a table topper with the same charm pack. Totally coincidental! The finished project has 3" squares and 1" sashing. Very simple with a touch of applique.

~Suzanne