Saturday, January 31, 2015

Bigs and Littles

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I’m loving these little triangle pouches….so cute and super easy to make. You can find the pattern here.
http://aspoonfulofsugardesigns.com/2014/12/triangle-pouch/
I started with the smaller one, then just enlarged the measurements to make a larger bag that would hold more stuff!
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I really like the way the strips run one way and then the other. Maybe just my most favourite bag ever.

Friday, January 30, 2015

Dog Gone It

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My darling sister-in-law MaryLynn made this sweet quilt for her son Andrew’s dog. He’s just a pup and has brought such joy already.
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I love the border and backing that MaryLynn just happened upon, it’s the perfect match for the main fabric. So cute with the little bones all over it. Hope you and Pugsley enjoy the quilt Andrew!

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Polly want a cracker?

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The parrot block is complete for Amy Bradley's Pirate Bom that we are hosting at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co.It’s a delightful quilt that is available in either a little boy or girl version. I've opted for the boy version as  I have grandsons and I’m sure one of them will be the lucky recipient eventually. 
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The details in the pattern are wonderful and quite comical. I’ve had such fun completing them. Quite a few more to go, but I’m keeping on track.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Let’s be Subtle

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Well let’s talk about being subtle, but let’s also talk about laughing MFAO.

So today is my birthday, and under normal circumstances, up until today, I have not been troubled much by aging. I’ve taken it in my stride, thinking I’m looking not bad for 59…..

*_)!*_*_&$_!*$_*_!(_#(!_#(!_#(….. well that was until today.

Dear Darling Mother is in Cayman on a 3 week vacation with my sister, visiting Dear Uncle, and she left my birthday present with my son to give me on the special day…today.

How sweet, I think, as I open the package, reading the lovely card, then reaching into the depths of the pretty birthday bag to retrieve, not 1 but 2 larger than life boxes of  RIVITALIFT. One for daytime and one for nightime….

Now is that subtle or what? Dear mother rarely says anything with regards to my looks…she often will say…”you look so nice with your hair cut short”, that’s her being subtle and hinting  she wants me to get it cut.

Once when I was debating buying a funky new shirt when we were together shopping, she looked at me and said “ are you on your period?”,that was subtle wasn’t it,  needless to say, that shirt did not come home with me.

Dear mother can be so subtle, as with the gift today, just a subtle hint that the grand canyon crevices that I proudly wear and consider more like laugh and life  lines,  I have friggin earned every one of them by the way, (half of them are from her), now need to be lathered and saturated twice a day.

Like I have time for that.

At least I have a few weeks to think of a way to thank her for the gift.

By the way on the box it states that in one week 72% of women saw skins' overall appearance visibly improve, in 4 weeks, 72% of women saw improved skin elasticity, and 76% of women saw smoother looking skin.

First….I’d like to know what happened to the other poor 28% of women? Did their skin worsen? Did they commit suicide?

I’m hoping that I’m in the 72% range and that Dear Mother won’t recognize me when she gets home!

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Bless her heart!

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Pretty in Pink

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This is a sweet little pincushion offered by Me and My Sister Designs. You can find the pattern here http://www.meandmysisterdesigns.com/patterns/downloads/strawberry_lemonade_pincushions.pdf

Instead of stuffing and pellets I chose to fill mine totally with crushed walnut shells.

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How yummy. it’s nice and sturdy and looks so sweet with the co-ordinated bow.

Monday, January 26, 2015

Da Dada Da

Done!

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These ladies were a delight in my Beginner Class….It’s the youngest group of ladies I’ve had yet and it was great to see that quilting is for everyone.  Ashley, Diane. Kelly, Bethany and Kaley, thanks for all the fun and music you provided in class.

I hope that they will continue with quilting as they all did fabulous. There were some learnings for me as well…like I have to watch my verbs. Often I will change verbs up to describe cutting…instead of saying cut it off, I’ll substitute the cut word for trim, hack or whack. I could see something was up when I suggested that they “Whack it off” and there were a few snorts, giggles,and sign language behind me. They are the younger generation so of course “Whack it off”  takes on a totally different meaning for them.

Beautiful job of your quilts ladies.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Quilt Doodle Doodle 2014 BOM Finish!


I absolutely love my Quilt Doodle Doodles 2014 BOM. Thank you Cindy for sharing all your talents and creativity wish us, such generosity!
It was such a fun quilt to make and to look forward to each month. On the 1st of every month I would literally run to the computer to see what was next in line. It was a wonderful quilt to have grace the bed over the holiday season.
SAM_0512 Each row was cuter than the next from the skates.....
SAM_9582...to the snowmen

IMG_1007...to the Christmas lights.SAM_0515 The mugs filled with steaming hot cocoa and what's not to love about those little candies all wrapped up! along with shining stars.
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The center of the quilt was so much fun to do, seeing the trees border the house...

SAM_0162Again, what an awesome BOM, Thank you Cindy, it is a special heirloom!

Saturday, January 24, 2015

I’m Egg-cited

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Hard to believe that Easter is just around the corner…just a couple of months. It’s never too soon to start preparing. What better way to celebrate than an egg runner to grace your table. Shabby Fabric has a whole series of these wonderful patchwork runners and each one is cuter than the next.

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The lovely little patchwork eggs are offset with little satin ribbons and a scalloped fabric rick rack trim. The runner is quilted with the pattern Popcorn.

Friday, January 23, 2015

My favourite fruit….pineapple

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I am seriously trying  to finish my huge list of UFO’s….I have so many unfinished quilts, runners and sundry other crafty things that I really need to get a handle on completing some of them.

This is a finish, even though it’s not quilted and bound, I do consider it done. It was the  leftover sample blocks I used when teaching the Pineapple Runner class at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. last year.

I thought it would be a good idea to have a sample block of each step throughout the block process for students. This meant that I had 12 blocks at various stages of completion. Needless to say it got put away after the class in the UFO wasteland.  I have been trying not to start any new quilt projects, other than my store samples, and complete some of these unfinished ones. I’m glad I pulled it out and finished it up, it’s quite pretty.

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Thursday, January 22, 2015

Itty Bitty Log Cabin Jacket

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I’m always amazed at the perseverance that students have to complete this class…the log cabin blocks alone would send most people to their sewing rooms sobbing.

50 itty bitty log cabin blocks that line the front, bottoms and sleeves of the jacket. Let alone all the pieces sewn together to form the main jacket pieces.

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Sharon and Kelli are all finished, other than the serging of the jacket together. They look lovely ladies, well done.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Anchors away

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Simpler blocks than the first few, but still fun to create. These are the anchor and wheel blocks from Amy Bradley’s Pirates Quilt Pattern that we are hosting at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. It’s a 9 month BOM program and I have been trying to combine a more complex block with a simpler block each month, as not to overwhelm participants each month.

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They really are the cutest blocks.  I love that they are appliqued in black thread, it makes the pieces just pop.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

It’s a jungle out there

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Rene brought me her granddaughter's quilt to be long armed…she designed the pattern herself and the fabric was at the request of her granddaughter. Rene fussy cut the animals and set them into the block she designed. It’s nice with the light sashing throughout.

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It was quilted with the pattern Happy Times….Rene loved the name of it and said it was perfect for her granddaughter.

Monday, January 19, 2015

An Improvement

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For months I’ve been promising myself that I would make something for Moi…I have been in desperate need for a little makeup pouch for my purse. I found a cute little pattern complete with a good tutorial at During Quiet Time. You can find it here: http://duringquiettime.com/2011/12/sew-what-rosy-wedge-bag.html

Very simple to make, all beautifully lined as well. Perfect for what I needed.

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Such an improvement from my current makeup pouch! I’m pathetic

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Sunday, January 18, 2015

We’re getting there

Class 6 out of  7 and these girls are in heaven!
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Diane, Kelly, Kaley, Ashley and Bethany are all new quilters in the beginner quilting class at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. Look how proud they all are to have accomplished such wonderful projects. Several of the ladies had not even sewn before and look at them now. One more class and they will graduate as Full Fledge Quilters!