Getting back to the real world and the craft room . . .

Well life is getting back to normal around here and I'm still trying to figure out the routine a bit. We've been having great weather so that's really helping and the girls are loving being back to school. I've managed to get into the craft room a couple times and hoping to get some unfinished projects done soon.

I got an offer I couldn't refuse the other day: a request for a sleepsack in exchange for a meal and some baking. Here's a pic of Alyssa modelling the sleepsack. I made it from a quilted cotton, used bias tape on the edges, and put a zipper in upside down (to make it more difficult for a little one to get it open).

And the winner is . . .

Thanks to the great response to the giveaway! I went to random.org and here is the lucky winner . . .

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:128
Timestamp: 2009-01-16 04:02:45 UTC

so after some counting . . . the winner is . . . Melzie who said...
this is gorgeous, hope you pick my name ;) xoxo melzie

and since there were so many entries, I decided to pick a second name:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:99
Timestamp: 2009-01-16 04:09:29 UTC

so after some more counting . . . the winner is . . . Idaho Quilter who said...
Of course I would love to win this. thank You for offering.
I'll make you a tissue holder and keychain wristlet like the ones pictured (one of the sets is for Melzie and the other is for me). I'll give you some color/fabric choices so it'll suit your taste.

Thanks again to everyone who entered or hosted a giveaway!

Whirl Into Winter Quilt Blog Giveaway

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. WINNERS ANNOUNCED HERE.

Since I've won quite a few giveaways online in the past year, I'm participating in the Whirl Into Winter Blog Giveaway. You can go over there to check out a bunch of blogs that are participating and you'll find that most of the items are homemade or items for crafters.

So this is what I'm giving away. It's a purse made from a chocolate corduroy and some pop garden fabric. It has an inside pocket, a magnetic snap closure, it's pleated on the bottom half, and has some metal accents on the straps. If I have time, I'll also add a couple co-ordinating items to go in it. And you'll have to excuse the poor quality pics, but brown cord doesn't photograph well. I can ship to US or Canada. All you have to do is leave me a comment saying you want to win this. The giveaway is open from January 1 - January 15. Good luck and Happy New Year!

some Christmas gifts . . .

Here's a couple things I sewed up for Christmas gifts this year. An Emmeline apron (the other side is a pink Christmas fabric) and a bunch of coordinating kitchen items (a table topper, half apron, pot holder, and embellished tea towel).

Sassy Apron Swap . . .

I sent off my apron for the Sassy Apron Swap today. It's a reversible Emmeline apron. It was such a fun pattern that I made a second one too but my husband voted that this was the nicer of the two. I hope my partner likes it! We also had to send a cookie cutter, recipe, and card; and I also added some sprinkles, candy canes, and a matching pouch to put them in. Now as soon as mine arrives, I'll be ready to start some Christmas baking . . .

some Christmas ornaments . . .

The girls and one of my nieces made some Christmas ornaments today. The dough is made from cornstarch, baking soda and water - you have to cook it, shape it, and bake it. The girls had a great time decorating with paint, glue, sequins, and glitter. They were very proud of their creations (even Chantel although she didn't want to pose for a pic).

Christmas crafting . . .

Elayna put together a Christmas Countdown craft tonight - I helped with the cutting and stamping and she did the glueing and threading onto ribbon. Part-way through the threading she exclaimed "this is so much fun!" which was especially cute because her sister and cousin had quit long before this because it was too boring for them. I guess she's my little crafter so far.

camera bag - DONE!

Well I'm happy to see this project complete. It was a request by my sister, the photographer. She wanted a messenger bag to fit her camera and a couple lenses. So it had to be padded and sturdy. I used timtex(?) I believe it's called and it was a bugger to turn right side out to say the least. The flap is detachable with velcro so that it can have wardrobe changes.

A quilt for me . . .

I finished up this lap quilt for myself this past week. Over the past couple years, I've made quite a few baby quilts, a sampler wall hanging for myself, and some more quilts that have gone to my kids, charity, or fundraisers. So this is quite exciting for me to finally enjoy one myself. I already spent lots of time cozied up with it while I handstitched the binding, and hope this will be the first of many. I let Alyssa play with it for some pictures since she loves it too and she's much cuter than me. She tried to walk off with the blanket a few times while I was working on the binding exclaiming "my bwanket!" but I think she's figured it out now that it's Mommy's and not hers.

a Fall dress . . .

I bought this pattern a little while ago and decided to try it out this weekend. Since it's Fall, I paired it up with a pair of thrifted "skinny" jeans and added a matching cuff.

A charm skirt . . .

A couple of weeks ago I won a charm pack of 1974 Moda fabric from one of my favorite blogs and online quilt stores, Quilt Taffy. They have the best customer service, good prices, and quick shipping.

So I decided to turn the squares into a skirt for Elayna. I used this tutorial which was super easy and written by a very talented sewer. I picked up a blouse to go with it and it reminds me a bit of this outfit in her Etsy shop (only hers has an amazing embroidery job).

Shopping online is fun . . .

Ribbon blankets . . .

I needed to make a couple baby gifts and came accross this tutorial. These ribbon blankets are flannel on one side and a soft minkie on the other. The fabrics and ribbon were all in my stash. It took about an hour to make them and my 5 year old was a great little helper with sorting and handing me the ribbon. I'm thinking I should make one of these for Alyssa with the leftover fabric from her quilt. She always tries to drag her crib quilt around the house and ends up tripping on it so this might save a few tears.

Reversible table topper . . .

Last month we had a wonderful weekend away and the cabin that we stayed at was generously offered to us by another family from my sister's church. So on top of being wonderful, it was free! So I wanted to thank the family for this, and after seeing the size of the kitchen table, I knew that this table topper panel would look great on it. So I bought the Christmas panel for one side and pieced the other side with all my leftover pieces of fabric from my lap quilt I was making. I really love the final product and hope to deliver it this weekend.

finished baby quilt . . .

I finished up this baby quilt this weekend. It's the yellow brick road pattern and most of the fabrics are from the Moda Hearts Aflutter line. I fell in love with the fabrics at our local quilt store and made the quilt without knowing who it was for (something I never do) but now it looks like it's going to a new baby of a cousin of mine.

Prize Fabric!!!

I finally got my prize fabric today from the Michael Miller baby bootie contest!! And it's beautiful!! Now I have to figure out what to spend the $20 gift certificate from Reprodepot on . . .

sweet little apron . . .

I sewed up a little apron yesterday from my fabric stash using this pattern from Leila & Ben. I think it turned out really cute and Chantel loves it. This morning we went to the school to make apple pies for a fundraiser and Chantel wore it as she worked (she was a great little helper!) and got lots of compliments on it. I'll definitely make this again - next time in a shorter length for Alyssa.

Fabric baskets . . .

I've been seeing crafters making these fabric baskets all over blog-land and thought I'd give it a try too. I used the tutorial here and it was really easy to follow. I'm going to use one to put my odds and ends beside my sewing machine in order and probably give the other away. And it was a great way to use up some scraps!

A weekend away . . .

We just came back from a wonderful weekend away. We stayed in a beautiful cabin that was up a mountain in the middle of nowhere. I quilted (and got two quilt tops pieced and a third quilt quilted). My sister scrapbooked. Our husband's went ATV'ing and golfing. There were no kids.

Could it have been any more relaxing? I think not.

Oh, and the kids also had a great time ~ they need a break from us once in awhile too.

Sewing a little . . .

I've sewn some small things lately. A couple cheque book covers with this tutorial and a couple pieced notebook covers using this tutorial. Both were really easy to follow and great for Christmas gift ideas. I'm hoping to make some potholders next but need to make a fabric store trip for the heat-resistant batting.

baby things . . .

A friend requested limey green and chocolate brown for a nursing cover I offered to make her. It was just the excuse I needed to buy some of this fabric at our local fabric store. I made a little pouch to match using this tutorial. I hope it goes on sale so I'll have an excuse to pick up some more in pink.

Baby Booties

A close friend of mine had a baby boy last night and since she really likes the sock monkey fabric, I decided to make a pair of baby booties and matching bib for her new little one. I used the Stardust Shoes pattern and it was so quick. I'll have to add this pattern to my list of great last-minute gifts.

A charity quilt

I was given a bunch of fabric from an aunt and wanted to make some quilts for the Pro-Life Society with them. Then Amanda-Jean, one of my all time favorite bloggers, started a baby quilt week because she also wanted to make some for charity. So yesterday I got the first top done. I want to make a couple more and then quilt them all at once so I can drop them off together. My biggest challenge when making gifts for others seems to be one of my girls trying to claim it as theirs first.

First Alphabet Pal

Well, I'm off to a late start but here is my first alphabet pal in the alphabet challenge. His name is Artie (and if you were ever addicted to Saved By the Bell - the original class - than you might recognize where I got the name from, the funeral song keeps going through my head). I'm working on a baby quilt to go with him because I enjoy making up quilt tops more than sewing animals. And next in the challenge, I hope to make a batch of matching pals to get caught up a little.

Car mat blanket

My nephew turned 5 on Saturday and since I started quilting after he was a baby, he never got a baby quilt from me. So I decided to make him something for a big kid - a car mat that can also be used as a blanket. He loved it and wanted all his cars on it right away. I've seen some more panels like this and especially like this one.

Waitress or Sewing Apron

One of my sisters is in need of a waitressing apron and I was inspired to make one by this. My version is simpler with one row of pockets. The finished size is about 15" x 8.5". It was so easy to put together, it took me less than a couple hours and that was with figuring out measurements myself. I think it will especially come in handy the next time I take my quilting with me somewhere and want to keep my rotary cutter, ruler, and scissors on hand.

Baby Bibs

So there's been so many babies born lately that I started buying gifts instead of making them, simply because I wasn't going to get any of my own sewing done otherwise. But I think it's still nice to include something handmade or if I'm mailing a card to still include a small gift. So I decided to try making some bibs and see if I enjoy it and how long they would take. I used this tutorial for the bibs but wanted to be able to tie them (my little one loves taking them off) so I added strings. I also wanted the project to be quick and avoid handstitiching so I used this tutorial on machine sewing the binding. It worked so well! I even used the same method on a smaller quilt and found it much easier to pin for 20 minutes than hand-stitch for hours. So now I have something new to do with my scraps as I'm sure I'll be making more of these.

Crinolines - done!

My "little" brother is getting married at the end of the month and between him and his fiancee there are nine little nieces aged 6 months to 7 years. And besides the two youngest, they will all have a part in the wedding. Which means they will ALL be dressed up and gorgeous. I ordered the dresses from Ebay from a sellers store awhile back (and saved a tonne of money that way) but the dresses needed a bit of a slip or crinoline. So I offered to make them - seven of them. They are done, it was boring, but it's done. I made them fairly simple and not real poofy since the dresses are full enough on their own. Total cost - about $25.

Apron Swap Again

My swap partner just let me know that she got her apron too! So now I can post some pics (if the pics looks a little fuzzy, it's because my 5 year old took them).

Apron Swap

I got a great start to my day today - the apron from my partner in the apron swap! I just LOVE the lotus fabric from Amy Butler's damask rose collection - so beautiful! And the fact that it's pink! I actually get to hang something pink in my house and my husband can't stop me! Thanks Tangee!

another quilt top . . .

I was supposed to be working on 7 crinolines today for the flowergirls for my brother's wedding. And I did get one done, but then all my kids fell asleep so I had no one to try it on to see if it turned out they way I wanted . . . so I decided to cut up some fabric and make another quilt instead. This is a crib-size quilt using the Yellow Brick Road pattern.

Quilt top - done!

Well the Quilt till you Wilt night was successful. I completed all of the stars there and just finished piecing it together this morning. And Chantel can't wait till it's done and on her bed!