Progress...

Here's a little peak at the progress on my bright quilt:

And a cute receiving blanket for my cousin's new baby Nadiya:
And now it's time for me to sleep...Zzzzzzz...

A Fall Skirt

Last weekend (a week and a half ago now) was our Canadian Thanksgiving and because of the holiday and a few other days off of school, my younger sister Karen was able to visit for a few days. We had a great time and got to sew together! I think it's a first. She was working on her first quilt and finished the top while I was working on a skirt for me! I've made skirts before but it's been almost 10 years. I used a Burda pattern - number 8090. I first made a muslin according to my measurements but it was way too big so I made it a couple sizes smaller, and then had to let it out a tiny bit. I also shortened it a little and added a lining so it's not so see-through :). The fabric is Deer Valley by Joel Dewberry. I won a free yard from SewMamaSew back in August so I bought a little more at the same time.

Here it is:I love the detail on the top...no one really sees it but I know it's there! :-)

Karen's first quilt top finished! She was very productive!

And just to make you smile...

Scrappy Star Block Tutorial

Are you here from FreeQuiltPatterns? Welcome! We are having a giveaway on our blog right now. Feel free to enter here.


What better way to use up scraps of fabric than to build a quilt with them? I am a lover of scrap quilts and am in the midst of making a scrappy star quilt for my mom. My sister *might* start helping me along to make it an extra special quilt! Here I've made a tutorial for the star block I am making for the quilt. I've been making two at a time, one with a light background and a dark star and one the other way around. My tutorial is for two stars, but could easily be adapted to just make one at at time. The fabrics I am using are mostly tone on tones in colours my mom likes. Use your imagination to come up with many other colour combinations that suit your personality.

This tutorial is also my entry into the October Scrapbuster Contest with Sew Mama Sew.


































Sew them together with a scant 1/4 inch seam. *See below for explanation.



*So here's where I messed up and didn't really take any photos. You need to sew each row together with a scant 1/4 inch seam. You need to be precise with this (also above when sewing the half square triangle blocks in pairs.) A scant 1/4 inch seam is just a few threads less than the full 1/4 inch. This gives room for pressing the seam. You need to be precise with this for a number of reasons. First, you do not want to stitch over your points. Second, if you are out a little bit in each step of sewing together a quilt it will add up to big problems in the end.















Please excuse the two different fonts. My computer decided I couldn't use the first font after awhile. I don't understand and I have spent enough time on this so this is the way it has to be.

Around the World in Six Years

During the month of October I aim to get my WIP pile down. Not finished, just smaller. I have had this Trip Around the World quilt top in there for six years. Six years. Why haven't I finished it before now?



I mean really, it looks pretty good doesn't it?



I do know why. I was going to make it bigger. Way bigger. I had the strips of squares sewn up (somewhat) and they were all stuffed in a bag with the top. But I just wasn't inspired to finish it. My piecing skills have come along way and it would have been painful to work on this. So I added a border, quilted it (with fabric that's been in my stash for years for the backing - that feels so good!) and bound it with premade bias tape binding (that has also been kicking around for a few years.) So it's now longer a WIP, but a finished quilt.



It now has a new home at my parents house. That's where I took these photos. It's for the grandkids to use when the are over. I put it over the back of the couch downstairs and it looks really nice there.



Just for the record. My WIP pile has 15 things in it. This includes several items that haven't been started but I've committed to doing. I'll let you know at the end of the month how many I've finished.

On another note. Last month I won a $25 gift certificate from Above All Fabric for entering a photo in Melanie's flickr photo pool. I had so much fun picking out my fabric! Thank you Melanie. Here's a photo of the fabrics I finally decided on.

Bloggers Quilt Festival II

A big thanks to Amy at City Park Girl for hosting a Bloggers Quilt Festival!


Here's mine:
This quilt came together over a few years and I finished it last fall (2008). Before I even really started quilting I was collecting purple fabrics: charm squares from ebay, hand-me downs from my sister, fat quarters from every fabric store I went into etc... Once I had made my first quilt in 2005 I slowly started cutting the fabrics into 2" squares. Then it sat in a bucket for a long, LONG time. In January 2008 I took it out again, got all the squares cut and started chain piecing...lots of it.
I got the top all pieced before we made a big move,
and after a few months break and moving across the country it got pulled out again and I finally finished it! I love it still!
I made it for our oldest daughter and hope she'll love it for many years too.

Bloggers Quilt Festival

Amy at Park City Girl is hosting a Blogger's Quilt Festival.





It's pretty hard to pick a favourite quilt. This is my biggest and most intensive quilt I've ever made. It's a large queen size and I sleep under it every night. It is made completely of scraps except for the borders. Even the binding is scraps. The block is called Buckeye Beauty.

Thrifty Threads: 20 Minute Baby Toy

I saw this idea first on Dollar Store Crafts. What a totally easy and fun thing to make. The fact that Zachary is at the perfect age for this toy is icing on the cake.

So you start with some fabric and a baby wipes package (just the package, not the wipes.) The package has just the right amount of crinkliness. A great reuse.



I cut 2 6-inch squares of flannel and 2 6-inch squares of batting. I sewed little tabs of ribbon, rick rack and other trim around the edges.



I sewed it all up with a little opening for turning.



Trim your corners, flip it around, stuff your baby wipes package inside, pin your open edge closed and sew around the whole thing about 1/8 inch from the edge. Done. Easy peasy!

Here's the little man enjoying his new toy.



I'm sure if you took a little more time it could be even cuter. And maybe your photos wouldn't be blurry either.