Scrub top... all finished

All finished!  A scrub top for our nurse.  This is a really straight forward pattern.  New Look #6817.  I changed it up a bit.  I made the trim around the midriff wider and then added all the top stitching on the pindot trim.  I made my own bias trim rather than using bought because I wanted a more custom look.  I mentioned before that because of all the washing and the stress on seams, I reinforce all the seams especially the sleeves, the side seams at the pockets and also the side seams at the tie back.  Basically any places that will get a lot of stress.  The fabric is some cotton I had in my stash.  It is nothing in particular but it has a really nice hand so it worked perfectly for this purpose.  I think it came with all the fabric I got from a quilter's estate 2 years ago.

It looks pretty nice and I am sure that our daughter will get a lot of use out of it.  We will hand it over when we see her in a week.  I also made her special someone a Man-apron  or Mapron so he won't feel left out but I haven't take a picture of that yet.  It is very manly.  Just saying.

So there it is.. a scrub top finish for Friday.  Linking up with Finish it Up Friday over at Amanda Jean's.

Random Thursday... Stupidheads... a bird story

 Okay.  So it is a blurry photo.  This is our bird feeder.  It has been modified.  The grey "skirt" is the modification Husband made out of sheet metal to thwart the squirrels.  We call it the "squirt".  Yep.  Squirrel skirt.  It works.  Drives the squirrels a little crazy because they just cannot access the feeder.  He he he.  Don't worry, we feed the squirrels too.  They have a different feeder.  They also have a zillion hazelnut trees for their dining pleasure.

 Do you see all those birds at the feeder?  They are Evening Grosbeaks but we call them "Stupidheads" because they just keep flying into the windows of the house.  They hit really hard and then they bounce up and fly away.  They have really hard heads and they just don't seem to learn from their crashes.  Sometimes they hit a little harder and then Dr. Doolittle aka Husband goes out to work his bird whisperer magic.   I took a picture of this one before he recovered enough to fly away.  Dr. Doolittle was giving him a pep talk.  Silly birds.  Stupidheads.  Kind of pretty aren't they?

Linking up with Cindy for Random Thursday.

Making Scrub tops and other works in progress...

When our daughter was young I made her a lot of dresses.  Lots of dresses.  Then she grew up.  Now she is a nurse and every now and again I get a phone call and she tells me that I haven't made her any scrub tops for awhile.  So I got right on that.  I really like making scrub tops.  I shouldn't say that out loud but it is a little bit like making little girl sundresses.  You can get a little creative and it is okay.  For this one I made my own bias trim out of the blue pin dot.  I also heavily top stitched all the pin dot trim.  It looks snazzy.  I think she will like it.  Scrub tops need lots of reinforcing in the seams because they get washed a lot and the pockets will get used a lot.

And other works in progress include all of this on the design wall.  From the left, Depression blocks from That Stash Bee, Road to Fortune scrap buster blocks and my Lucky Stars Block of the Month blocks.

Linking up with the Needle and Thread Network .  And I am back to school this evening for a meeting!  Phew.

Lucky Stars BOM...

Yesterday I took care of the May Lucky Stars Block.  It came together quite easily.  I did not, however, have my iPad close by so I did not have a colour reference as I cut out the fabrics and put it together.  I think had I referenced a colour picture of the block, I may have made different choices for the various pieces.  Nonetheless, I am pleased with it and they all look just snazzy together!  6 blocks done.  Half way there.


Happy Victoria Day and that means a long weekend.  And that means more sewing and more flower bed weeding. Linking up with Judy's Design Wall Monday.

Blogger's Quilt Festival... Proverbial Sunshine!

 Quilt stats

Name:  Proverbial Sunshine

Design:  Proverbial Quilt, Denise Schmidt

Size:  75" by 78"

Fabric:  Scrappy yellow and grey, with Wild Carrot in Straw, Madrona Road, Violet Craft for Michael Miller.  Bound with Haystack in Graphite from the same line.

Quilted: by me with Aurifil 50 wt in white

I started making this quilt last summer as part of a quilt along with Krista from Poppyprint making use of Denyse Schmidt's Proverbial Quilt pattern.  I had to think of something to say on a quilt.  It didn't take me very long to figure it out as this has long been something I sing... just because.  I knew it had to be in yellows and greys.  That just made sense. I wanted the letters to be scrappy grey and the background to be a mixture of yellows.  I added in some special yellow prints like the Seed Catalogue fabric, some with clocks and there are even some yellow prints with fleur de lis. My husband is French Canadian, a farmer and has a special interest in the big ideas around time and this one is for him.  I knew that the Wild Carrot print in straw from Madrona Road would be perfect to add into the quilt and that the Haystack in graphite would be the perfect binding.  I just had to make all the words.  So I did.  I worked away at it one word or phrase at a time.  I sang a lot.  How could you not? Then I had a quilt top!   I love it.  I backed it with a vintage sheet with faded yellow daisies.  But when I took pictures of the quilt just the other day, I forgot to take a picture of the back so you are going to see one I took when I finished the quilt with some snow on the ground back in December.  

 The quilting was a bit of a puzzle because I could not decide what to do about the words.  I ended up leaving them alone.  I quilted the sashing in straight horizontal quilting, about an inch apart in Aurifil 50 wt in white.  I waited to do the rest until I opened my Christmas book wish, Angela Walter's book on free motion quilting.  I used the u-turn quilting leading up to words and between words.  The quilting is quite dense in these u-turns and adds a great texture to the quilt.  I will say that the u-turns are not perfect but I really like the look. 

and the back with snow from last December when I finished the quilt....

  I made it for my husband and it brings with it sunshine, love and song.  Proverbial Sunshine.  And a perfect choice for me to enter in the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  It feels good.  Did you sing along?  Linking up with Amy for the Blogger's Quilt Festival Spring 2013.

What's next?

1)  My mum got herself an iPad.  I am pretty proud of her because this is all new technology for her and she is figuring it all out just fine.  Of course she needed an iPad cozy.  So I made her one.  I used a bit of home decor weight fabric that I picked up at the thrift store.

I put a pocket on the back for the cords and stuff.  And now her iPad will stay nice and safe when she is trucking it around with her.

2)  The Blogger's Quilt Festival is coming up and starts on Friday.  I have my quilt picked out for the Festival.  What about you?

3)  And lastly...

  

It just makes me feel so sad when I cannot reply to the lovely comments people leave.  I had several people who leave comments yesterday that do not have emails attached to their profiles so I cannot reply.  There are lots of instructions on how to fix this... all you have to do is google it.  So if you are not hearing back from people like me when you leave a comment, this is probably the reason.  I know that word press blogs and blogger do not get along so you can also have your email address available on your profile. 

I am going to link up with Amanda Jean for Finish it up Friday!  

Progress?

A few things currently on the go.  Road to Fortune is growing at 12 blocks.  I love the look of this.  The paper pieced blocks aren't too time consuming but this is my slow quilting project and I only do one block a week.  It is nice having a slow project without time lines or plans beyond the one block a week.


I made 2 extra blocks for my month of That Stash bee.  I have been watching blocks in the flickr group.  I cannot wait to see them in the mailbox.  I have this crazy idea to have the whole black and white quilt with one lone triangle of colour somewhere in a block.  I have not decided if I will actually do it but it is somehow most tempting.

The garden is also a work in progress.  I am currently declaring war on buttercups that just love to grow in the flower beds.  And the peonies are blooming...  mmm, just so pretty.

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for work in progress Wednesday and The Needle and Thread Network too.