Fresh Sewing Day!

I made this mosaic yesterday and thought I was missing a finish.  I was.  I put it down below.  Just imagine it in the centre, in that white space where it should have been.

As I do my little review here, I am thinking... not too shabby for the month of September.  September included school start up which is a super busy time for me in my day job-elementary school principal.  September also included a family wedding and gathering of the clan and all sort of other busy stuff!  So not too shabby.

I finished "Kona Modern Quilts" Modern Baby for a guild challenge.  Cynthia Frenette is the fabric designer and illustrious guild member.  Then I made the "wonky log cabin in blue floating in white" cushion.  Two Jane Market bags and an iPod cozy.  Shabby Chic Baby in pink arrived on the scene much to my delight because I loved making it and it is just too pretty for words.  And I made good progress on my Proverbial quilt.  You can sing if you like.  I also finished "Feels Like Fall" which is the quilt I forgot to include in the mosaic.  I should have made a new mosaic when I realized that it was forgotten but that is a whole other story.  Trust me, it is better this way!

Linking up with Lynne at Lily's Quilts for Fresh Sewing Day!!!!  Happy October for tomorrow!

My scraps are overflowing!!!!!

The problem is I have too many scraps.  Actually it is not a problem at all.  I love scraps and love using them.  And I have a scrap quilt quilt along coming up so it really is all good but I could not close the lids on my pink, green and blue scrap bins despite making all sorts of scrappy things.

I had to buy more shoe boxes.  And then I got busy.  This was all part of my clean up my sewing mess last weekend.

Sigh.  Scrap happy and all organized.  I am now able to breathe and sleep easier knowing my scraps are tidy again.  Have a fabulous weekend!!!!!!

The thing about blogging is...

You get to meet some really lovely people, even if it is only through email and comments and lovely packages in the mail.  You get to have a wonderful group of friends that are part of a really snazzy online community.  And that is why I have a new pair of shoes.  Milk glass shoes to be precise. Julianne sent me shoes!!!!!

 I met Julianne months ago when she started commenting on my blog.  Julianne had some questions about some of my quilts and blocks and I had some answers.  Julianne knows how much I love milk glass and she found these wee shoes in a thrift shop and thought of me!  I feel very lucky to have somebody feeding my milk glass habit!  Thank you so much, Juliannne!!!!  You are a dear.  Now I have to say that these wee shoes travelled all the way from California to Canada in perfect shape.  Probably because they were sandwiched with some super lovely fabric!  Yep!  Super spoiled, I am.  Tea cups!  On fabric!  So much fun.  Julianne has started blogging too and you can find her at Quilting with Calicos. 

Work In Progress Wednesday

My proverbial quilt is my only official work in progress.  What?????  It is true.  I have nothing else currently on the go.  I have plans, options, thoughts and dreams of other things on the go but this is it folks.  Never fear.  This will all change by the time the weekend rolls around and I will for sure have something else started.

I put all the letters out on the spare bed which is a double , just for the record.  The words takes up a lot of room but I only have "you make me happy when skies are gray"  left to piece and then I can put the whole shebang together.

Hopes, plans and quilt dreams involve...
1) Tracey's Treasure box quilts (one to donate and another for fun)
2) And Ellison Lane's Scrappy Stash Quilt Along which will start in October

And more Market Bags and I always seem to make another baby quilt just for fun.

Linking up with Lee's Work In Progress Wednesday because who knows?  Maybe after I look at what everyone else is up to, I will have another idea!

Jane Market Bags

I have made several Jane Market bags since I bought the pattern.  I made two more on Sunday.  I have made a few tweaks to the pattern which make sense to me but you might just want to go with the standard pattern.

The first thing that I do is make the bags out of home decor weight fabric.  I like the bags to be sturdier.  Both the bags were made with thrifted home decor weight fabric and lined with quilting weight cotton from my stash.

The second tweak is that I cut the corner at 3" square rather than 4" square.  This makes a taller and narrower bag which I prefer.

The third tweak is that I sandwich the handles inside between the lining and the outer bag.  I still stitch a nice little "x" to anchor the handles but I like the handle ends hidden.  When using the home decor weight fabric there is a lot more bulk and it makes it more difficult to finish the ends of the straps neatly.  That problem is solved by hiding them between the lining and the outer shell of the bag.

So there.  Jane Market Bags times two.  Set for shopping.

pocket detail

wow!  that's lining!!!

lining on bag one is more sedate

Shabby Chic Baby

I finished another baby quilt.  This is none other than Shabby Chic Baby. The same idea as Lovely Stars and Ice Cream but in pinks.   I used a bunch of florals that were a little bit dated but I think that when I put them together like this, they work!  I used a variety of pinks and whites along with the florals.  I just love it.  I used a pink dot on the binding and a shabby chic print on the back.  How much fun  is this?  Quilted with Aurifil 50 wt in white in two straight lines on either side of the seam lines.  Nice and simple.  Measuring 39" by 39".

And this is the back.  Shabby Chic Baby.

Linking up with Megan for Sew Modern Monday and Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday!

Sunday Stash

 I went looking for a couple of Halloween fat quarters yesterday.  I also wanted some hexagons for paper piecing.  I have to say the I did get side tracked.  I found more Mendocino!!!!!  I thought I had scooped the lot of it at this particular store in the summer time.  Seriously people.  I guess folks that shop at this store just don't appreciate Heather Ross or something.

After I found all this, I did manage to find some Halloween fabric that I liked.  I have to say I am not a big Halloween fabric fan but the quilt guild is going to have a little Halloween goodie bag swap and the goodie bags are supposed to have 2 fat quarters of Halloween-y fabric.  I bought some Ghastlies.  Cats and brambles.  Delightfully awful.

Happy first day of fall and Happy Birthday, Husband!!!!

grapes are ripening!

Saturday Flea Market Finds

Last weekend, we drove by a garage sale and I convinced Husband to turn around and go back to it.  He thought there would be nothing left as it was already noon.  Harumph.  He was happy to find a plant and then a whole pile of metal ducting for something or other.  It made him quite happy.  I found nothing.

Today I convinced him to drive over the way and visit a garage sale close to home.  He was not at all into it but he went along with my plan.  I immediately saw that the garage sale was filled with "guy stuff".  You know.  Dusty old tools.  Smelly bits of this and that.  More tools.  Maybe somethings in boxes with odd shaped bits of metal.  Tires.  Beer glasses. Not much girl stuff at all.  He rapidly closed the deal on 3 sets of metal shop or garage shelving for $5 each.  I found nothing until I spotted these 2 old kitchen chairs.  When I asked the price, the response was, "make me an offer."  Five bucks each?  Deal.  Now they are mine.  I have a lot of chairs.  Now I have 2 more.  The one on the left is VERY heavy.  I think it might be maple. The chairs have been sanded down but nothing more.  They may become painted black chairs at some point.  We shall see.  Husband thinks they look like Mr. and Mrs. in the picture I took.  And old chair couple sitting in the garden.

Mum brought me this beautiful vintage sheet when she was down last.  It is absolutely lovely.  And then today I found this set of buttons at a wee thrift store.  They are seriously vintage.  Made of glass and they make a lovely sound like only glass buttons make when the jangle together.  Aren't they a beautiful colour?

Have a wonderful rest of your day!

TGIF!

I got home a little early today and I actually got to the sewing machine!  I cranked out a few letters for my Proverbial quilt.  I have to say that while I have not made any letters for awhile, they are so much fun to make!  The only painful part is cutting out all the wee pieces and even that isn't so bad.

And this weekend, I just have to do something about this table!  I have too much stuff has come to live here and I need to get it under control!!!!!

Happy sewing!

A busy week...

This week is filled with meetings and things that take me away from the sewing machine.  I am going to take sometime to breathe here and there and think about our big woods. Restful and calm despite the continued heat wave.  I took this picture a week or so ago.

Husband found me a treasure on the weekend.  The Stellar's Jays are having a feeding frenzy with all the hazelnuts and he found me a beautiful feather that one of them dropped in the yard.  I keep saying that I would like one of these absolutely cheeky birds to be friendly enough to land on my shoulder when in the yard.  What a crazy thought!  I also wanted a raccoon for a pet when I was little.  I think that would be awesome still!

I wish you could see the brilliance of the blue on the feather but the picture does not do it enough justice.

Off to meet the teacher night at school.  Have a lovely rest of your day!

Work In Progress Wednesday on Tuesday

This week is a busy one at school so I am going to throw in a work in progress post today while I have time.  I did some sewing last evening and made some more blocks for Shabby Chic Baby quilt.  This is going to be pretty in pink, that is for sure.  I was telling one of my blog buddies that this is my attempt to use up some fabric that may be a bit dated in a way that works.  I am going to see how I feel about the more green florals when I have some more blocks done and I may weed them out and perhaps save them for a different Shabby Chic Baby quilt with more of a green focus.  We will see.

Not a lot of progress on my proverbial quilt but I have been BUSY!  I had a whole lot of fabric shopping this weekend after all!  And this is a project without a timeline so it is all good.  Or so I keep telling myself!

I have been knitting dishcloths as I watch tv.  My stock pile of these has been depleted and Christmas is coming.  The family has expectations of dish cloths at Christmas.  Luckily my finger injury from this summer is finally at the stage where it doesn't bug me too much to knit.  I still have a fair bit of residual numbness after slicing off the tip of my finger with a rotary cutter.  EWWWWWW!

So there you have it.  Works in progress.  Isn't everything fun?  Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for Work in Progress Wednesday!

New buttons from the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild, he he he

Design Wall Monday...

I started another baby quilt.  It is obviously a bit of a problem that I keep making these.  Baby quilts are just so much fun to make.  This one is going to be called  Shabby Chic Baby.  I am using a whole bunch of shabby chic pink-ish florals that I have piled up.  I think it will be awesome.   Same idea as the Lovely Stars and Ice Cream quilt that I finished a bit ago.  But pink.  Lots of pink.  And a touch of green.  But mostly pink.  

Linking up with Judy's  Design Wall Monday!

Sunday Stash!

So this is a little bit of a happy birthday to me.  Husband wanted to know what I wanted to do for my birthday and I really just wanted a fabric store fix.  I really wanted to go to the Spool of Thread in Vancouver but it is a long drive.  Well, not really, a bit over an hour but we are sort of accustomed to not going all the way into the BIG city.  But we did it.  And it was great.

First off, we delivered a baby quilt for clever son's lovely girlfriend to give as a gift.  It was wonderful to pop in for a quick visit and it solved the baby quilt delivery dilemma.  Then off to Spool of Thread.  Seriously people, if you live in the lower mainland of British Columbia and have not been there, you should go.  Modern fabric quilt shop on steroids.  They have THE best selection of Kona solids that I have ever seen.  I think they try to keep all of them in stock.  I did add a few more solids to the stash including some Kona Melon that was 40% off because of a flaw but I could not find the flaw.  Score!

These are a few of the lovelies that came home with me.  Yep, Melody Miller's typewriters.  They just got it back in stock just in time for me.  Then I found a bit of Heather Ross including a bit of Nursery Versery.  Cute!!!!

We had a coffee at a lovely place and on the drive home, we stopped at one more fabric store and I found this....

Aneela Hoey's Christmas Washing Line fabric.  I LOVE IT!

An awesome day.  I even did some sewing.

Just a little cosy

One of my best buddies just got an iPad.  She has a birthday coming up and I just had to make her a cosy.  I used some scraps and home decor weight samples and then had some fun.  I put a pocket on the back just in case she wants a little place for the cord to sit.

I did use batting in between the fabric and the lining to give the iPad a little protection.  I lined it with a zowie vintage sheet.  Hair elastics for the button loops.  I found the lovely wooden buttons in one of my button tins. Perfect!!!!

It looks nice and cheerful!  It makes me want to make another one for me.  And I think my buddy will really like this!  Linking up with Megan for Sew Modern Monday and Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story.

Have super Saturday!  We are basking in our never ending sunny weather.

New Books...

It is my birthday weekend and Husband indulged my book list.  His birthday is coming soon so we ordered books I wished for and books he wished for.  It was a win win!  Both of these books have been on my "wouldn't it be nice" list.  Happy!  And I am hoping for a quilt shop visit too.

And now I am off to play cards with my whist ladies.  Have a lovely weekend!

Modern Scrappy Bits Swap!

I received my modern scrappy bits swap package today all the way from lovely Elizabeth in Salt Rock, West Virginia!  So exciting!!!!!!!!  Look at this lovely needle book.  I adore the fabric.  I took a picture of both the front and the back.  And I know that I commented on this in Flickr!

Here is the back.  Just as cute.  And then don't be too jealous but look at all the scraps!!!!  Lots of lovely florals and even some Backyard Baby.  I remember drooling over this pile of scraps when the picture was posted in Flickr too!

But wait... we are not done yet.  Nope a cutey patootey little mirror and case with sewing machine fabric on the mirror!  Snazzy!

And Elizabeth forgot to stick the post card in so she mailed it separately and it came today too.  Love the outhouse shots!

Elizabeth blogs at in the boon docks and I am going to go and get to know her better by visiting her blog.  I am delighted that she was my scrappy partner!  Thanks so much, Elizabeth!

Work In Progress Wednesday!

Well!  What do I have on the go?  Not much!

1) My Proverbial quilt is simmering along.  I am approaching this as a complete take it easy project and I want to make it last at least a while because the words actually go together more quickly than I anticipated.

2)  I have been cranking out covered journals lately and this started out as a covered journal but I think it is going to be a pillow because I just love that bird fabric and it is speaking to me more as a pillow than a journal cover.

3)  Have you noticed that Tracey is starting a quilt along?  That is totally something that I am going to do.  I am actually going to do 2 of them.  One to donate and another one to add to my pile of quilts for babies about to be born.  I really like the quilt design so I am going to jump all over this one and get a good start this weekend.  I think I am going to go shabby chic pink for at least one of them.  Squeal!  Girly fabric!

So that is what I have going on.  Some fun things to squeeze in around my very busy school start up!

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for Work in Progress Wednesday.

Bunting and 2 more things...

At our guild sew-in last Saturday, which was also the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild's second anniversary, we had a bunting swap.  I got to take home this fabulous bunting made by the fabulous Amy Dame with some of Cynthia's  Kona Modern Quilts fabric.  I hung it up so I can look at it when I use my iron. Nice!  On a side note, look how dry our back lawn is?  We need some rain.  The Wet Coast is not so wet right now!

I do love to win things.  I was tickled beyond all that is tickled to win this lovely bundle of prints including some Kaffe Fasset and Martha Negley prints.  Woo hoo!   Lysa donated the fabric!  Thank you, Lysa!

And then my little Mendocino needlebook which is now in the hands of my swap partner for the Modern Scrappy Bits Swap.  I entered it into the linky for the My Precious Quilt Along.  And.... drumroll.... I won a yard of Heather Ross Yellow Dog Fabric!  Yahoo!!!!  I was very excited about this.  Very exciting.  I cannot wait for the fabric to arrive in the mail.  Happy dance in action!

So that is my story.  School is going well.  Happy children, happy parents, happy teachers equals happy principal.  Have a super Tuesday!