Octoberquest

It's not too late!  TGIFF has been going on for a year already and everyone is celebrating with Octoberquest.  You have until October 31st at 11:59 p.m. EST to enter a fully completed project.  You can check out all the rules here but let me tell you there are great prizes!

So here is my latest finish:

Yep, I finally got my lunch bag done!  I absolutely love it!!  I used Ayumi's tutorial.  With so many pictures, it was a great tutorial and the bag turned out great!

Some of you will notice that I changed the fabric for the body of the bag.  Let's just say there was a little bit of a conflict between a tired quilter and a rotary cutter and the original outer bag ended up too small. :(

You can see the original fabrics here.

I think I like the green one just as much so it's all good.  And I will make the other one into a basket for my sewing room... eventually!

To make the inside of the bag waterproof, I used Heat n Bond iron-on vinyl that I bought at my LQS.  It was easy to apply to the fabric.  It was the first time I used this product or any other type of vinyl fabric to sew with and let me tell you, it is slippery!  But with time and patience, everything went well and I am very pleased with this product!

I am having such a hard time getting to work in my studio lately and I really miss it, and blogging too!

I am hoping things will change in the next couple of weeks and I will get more time to sew, quilt and blog.

Finally some progress!

I finally got some sewing time in this weekend!

I got started on my lunch bag,

and this little guy only needs embellishments and a label.

Today I took the day off and assembled the top of my daughter's log cabin quilt.

 I know she is going to love it!  I need to find a flannel for the back and then bring it to my mom's for quilting.

It felt so good to finally get back at it!  Hoping to finish my lunch bag before the end of the week.

TGIFF and Feeling Sad

Well the last week was full of ups and downs in our house and as a result, I only have this very small finish to show you today.

Yes, I realize it is mid-october and I am a little late but let me tell you that my girls are thrilled that this little mini is finally done!  My eldest daughter just LOVES Halloween, the more decorations the better and this little mini quilt just added that perfect touch to the inside of the house.

So the main reason why I didn't spend as much time as I would have liked in my studio this week is that we had to put down our 15 year old dog on Monday.

I have had Jazmin since she was 2 months old, when I was still living with my mom and dad.  My husband and I had just started dating a few months before.  

It was a very tough decision we had to make but we truly think she is so much better now.  She was having a lot of trouble walking and even standing, her back legs and hips seemed to be really hurting.  She also had very cloudy eyes and one of them had an infection we just couldn't seem to get rid of.  She was deaf and she had trouble with bladder control.  It was time.

We are dealing with this loss the best we can, but mostly by remembering some of our best memories of Jazzy.  One of my favorite memories is when my mom or I would lay out quilt blocks.  She would walk around on the blocks and then find the perfect spot and lay down, right on top of the quilt.

She will truly be missed.

Linking up to TGIFF over at Echinops & Aster

TGIFF - A UFO 5 years in the making!

I started this quilt when my daughter was 2 years old and moved into her big girl bed.  She will be 7 years old next month!  

I had a few issues making this quilt... namely Steam-a-seam lite that wouldn't cooperate... That's why it has taken so long... (That's my excuse and I am sticking to it!)

Sorry about the fold marks!

We are both very happy it is finally done!

I love the quilted flowers and hearts!

My mom worked her magic, quilting it with her Gamill.  She used a pantograph pattern for this one.  

I don't know if you can tell, but the background is big 15 inch white squares (I think).  I sewed them together into four-patches and then did the machine appliqué.

I used a flannel for the back and a 50% bamboo/50% cotton batting.  I think that is why the fold marks are still there.

I will wash it soon to give it that nice crinkled look but we just couldn't wait to FINALLY get it on her bed!

Go check out M-R's Canadiana Quilt (it's a replica of the Hudson's Bay blanket!)!

Color My World Orange

I am so late with this one!

I have been working part-time for the last 2 weeks and with our little getaway to Tremblant last weekend, not much sewing got done.

I did manage to finish my orange star for September earlier this week.  I had a bit of a rough time with this one.  I decided to use the braced star pattern by Vicki Welsh that was featured on The Quilting Gallery's Autumn Block Party and it didn't go together as smoothly as my other blocks have.  I am chalking it down to a very tired quilter!

I am happy with the outcome even though this isn't the best photo of my block.  Orange is my favorite color and I think this star really pops!

This month's color is grey.  This will be a big challenge for me as I never sew with grey.  I think I may have to go borrow some from my mom or my other quilting friends!  

It is Thanksgiving Weekend here in Canada.  I hope all of my Canadian friends have a great Holiday weekend.  I am looking forward to more family time and a great turkey dinner followed by pumpkin pie!  I leave you with a photo from our trip to Mont Tremblant last weekend.  I hope the colors inspire you as much as they do me!