Friday 30 August 2013

TGIFF - A Baby Quilt

Wow, it's been so long since I've linked up to TGIFF I hope I remember how to do it!  This week it's over at Pippa's Patch.

I am so happy to show you all this cute little baby quilt.  I put the final stitches in the binding and added the label just this morning.  Then I went and delivered it.


I pieced this quilt top and my mom quilted it.  It is a gift for our family doctor who is expecting her first baby.  


I used the Building Blocks pattern from the Moda Bake Shop, which I have a used a few times before.  I love this pattern, it is so much fun to pick fabrics for and sew these blocks.


We put a soft lilac coloured check fabric on the back.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.  I hope to get more sewing done and to list more items in my Etsy shop!

Thursday 22 August 2013

Lil pouches

It was a rainy day here today so I decided to bring my sewing machine down to the dining room and do a little bit of sewing.

I saw this tutorial for Lil pouches on the Noodlehead blog last week and have been dying to give it a try. My mom bought me some zippers earlier this week so I had everything I needed to get started.

I started with one, then 2 more. I was having so much fun and it was going so smoothly...

...that I made 2 more...

And after the girls were in bed, I made 2 more. Then I ran out of zippers and fusible interfacing so I stopped.
I made these as little gifts, for the teachers or friends but I posted the photo on my Facebook page and got such a good response that I am thinking of selling some in my Etsy shop.
I opened my Etsy shop back in June thinking it would be a place to sell some of my quilts and other quilted items. I think these little pouches and others like the boxed pouch from my last post might sell as well. One thing is for sure, if I want to give it a try, I need to buy more zippers!
I will be adding a tab at the top of my blog that will direct you to my Etsy shop in the next few days.

 

Wednesday 21 August 2013

Summer is almost over

School starts next week and we are ready. The girls are anxious to see their friends and I am happy to be getting back some sewing and blogging time! We have had a great summer and this week is nice and hot so we are enjoying our last few days by swimming in my parents pool when we aren't running to gymnastics and violin lessons.

As we are getting ready for back to school, I have finished a few projects I thought I would share.

This is my 7 year old's new pencil case for school. She picked out the fabrics and thread and even picked out the font for the embroidery. I used this tutorial by Crafty Gemini to make the box pouch.

I will definitely be making more of these!

I also made her a gymnastics bag for her grips. She was so excited to get these new gloves and was really happy when I told her I would make her a bag to put them in. Again, she picked the fabric and the thread colours. I used this tutorial. She loves it!

I am really proud of my girls. They have both taken quite a liking to sewing and quilting. We have been spending quite a bit of time at my mom's and they are working on a quilt together!

This was just the beginning of her string quilt.

When we were at my mom's the other day, I managed to quilt this little darling while my mom helped the girls with their quilt.

I am now working on the binding. There is nothing like doing some handstitching while watching tv in the evenings. It's definitely one of my favourite parts of quilting!

Just one more...I almost forgot about this little guy...

Sorry about the bad lighting, it was night time when I took the photo. I finished this top last week and my mom is quilting it as I write this. It is a quilt for our family doctor who is expecting her first baby in October. I will be binding this one soon too and then will share some better photos of the finish.

I am definitely looking forward to getting back to a routine and will definitely be blogging more often in the next few weeks. Looking forward to it... I miss sharing with you guys!

 

Friday 2 August 2013

Ricky Tims - Woo-Hoo!!

Yesterday I had a fantastic day! Not only did my wonderful husband take over with the children so that I could have a day to myself, I got to go listen to Ricky Tims talk about quilting all day!

My mom and I

The day started at 9:30 with a lecture about machine appliqué. I learned so much in that first hour and a half, I wanted to head home and practice everything he had talked about!

After lunch he talked to us about design development. Although this lecture was very heavy, it was so informative and I found myself less afraid of trying to design my own quilts. Ricky simplified everything, it was amazing! I am looking forward to reviewing my notes and designing my own quilt. I think I will start with a mini! I just have to remember to "create from the outside in".

The final lecture was about machine quilting. Let me tell you, as someone who is working on her machine quilting skills, this was great! I will be able to apply what we learned when I work on the long arm but I am also thinking maybe I should give it a try on my PFAFF. I can start with a potholder after all!

So then it was dinner time, and we were heading out to the restaurant for supper, with Ricky Tims! My mom's friend Gaëtanne is a friend of the LQS's owner Michele. Michele was taking Ricky out for dinner so we ended up meeting up and having dinner together! It was fun to talk quilting with him and finding out more about his home in Colorado. We even talked about his retreats! I am dreaming of going there one day. It would be fantastic to go spend 5 days quilting and learning from Ricky!

Ricky and I after dinner

After dinner we headed back to the college for a concert. Ricky is also a musician and he played some lovely songs for us on the piano and told us some great stories about his life.

Me, my mom Alice, Linda, Gaëtanne, Michele and Ricky

I had such a great day! If you ever get the chance to go see and listen to Ricky Tims, you should definitely go. It was worth every penny! I am so blessed to have had the chance!