more fabric to play with . . .

I received three lovely packages of fabric in the mail!  First off is a prize from a giveaway at Doohikey Designs.  I plan to make a pillow with the Cottage Home's Lolly Dolly Pillow Tutorial  for a Christmas gift for my little girl.  I know she's going to love it!

Next is a stack of fat quarters from Andover Fabrics.  I had sent them in pictures of the Kindle cover I made and won a prize!  They have an ongoing contest on their blog right now - all you have to do is email them a picture of your project done in their fabrics for a chance to win!  They also sent me a reusable shopping bag (which I love and got lots of compliments on while shopping), and a big stack of Dimples charm squares.  Aren't they incredibly generous?!

And my last package of fabric was all wrapped up like a gift and from the Intrepid Thread.  I'm working on a tutorial for their newsletter with it so that's what I'll be busy working on this week . . .

it's Fall . . .

Getting my girls off to school in the dark this morning, the realization that Summer is officially behind us became suddenly clear.  We turned on our furnace a couple weeks ago, and I find myself in my fuzzy slippers daily now.  Pumpkin Patch fieldtrips are already done for the year, baking has become a regular activity around here, and this weekend we'll get to enjoy an extra hour of sleep.

My kids are settled into the new school year, often with inside recesses because of the rain.  The apple pies have been made, and fundraisers for Christmas have already begun.  Another flyer that came home from school was for the Germ Detectives program from Lysol®, reminding us that cold and flu season is upon us. This program reinforces healthy habits like hand-washing and knowing how germs are spread.  Let's hope it makes for less sick days this year and less laundry for this mama!

Disclosure: I am part of the Lysol® Healthy Families Ambassador Program by Mom Central. I received compensation as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

a baby quilt for the Bloggers Quilt Festival . . .

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Stats
(Entry #524)

Finished quilt measures : 41" square

Quilted by : myself

Best Category : Baby Quilt, Scrap Quilt, Quilt Photography

(if you feel that my quilt would be a worthy nominee for one of these categories, 

you can make your nominations between Nov 1-4 at amyscreativeside.com)

A cousin of mine was given the gift of a sweet baby girl last week.  This cousin and I are the same age, and he has always been one to put a smile on my face, encourage me, and have a good time with.  I have so many great memories from my teens and twenties that include him, and am just thrilled that he now gets to be a Dad.  And I love making baby quilts, and literally got to work on this within hours of the birth announcement. The pattern is a lattice quilt with setting squares.  I couldn't find a tutorial online, so I worked out the measurements myself.  If anyone would like them, just email me at ourbusylittlebunch@hotmail.com.

I didn't have to do any shopping for this quilt - all the fabrics were already in my craft room either waiting for a project or leftover from another one.  The squares are a charm pack of Riley Blake's Happier and my scraps.  The setting squares are a fat quarter of Andover's dimples, the lattice is Kona Snow, the border is Riley Blake's Dainty Blossoms, the binding is a pink solid, and the backing is a super soft flannel from Lila Tueller.

When I trimmed the edges of the quilt, I kept a 1/4" past the points so that when the border was attached, none of the points were lost.

I made a bias binding for this quilt, and used Alisa's method for attaching it.  I was impressed at how quick and easy this was, and found the bias binding to be much easier to work with than straight-cut binding.  I will definitely be using this method again (and if you don't want to burn your thumb while making it like I did, Alisa has lots of beautiful pre-made bindings in her shop).

I'm thrilled to say that this was also a 'no-pins' quilt.  Because it's a pretty basic design, the squares lined up well and I didn't need to pin the rows when I put it together.  I also spray basted this one because it's still a little hard for me to crawl around and pin baste right now.  The quilting is just an all-over meander done on my sewing machine.

Thanks for looking!

Notepad Organizers . . .

After my recent surgery, a couple great friends took care of our kids for a few days.  I wanted to say 'thank-you' to them with something handmade, and after coming across this tutorial, decided on some notepad organizers.  I changed the measurements to fit a 5x8 pad of paper, and made the notepad pocket taller.  There's lots of pockets including a zippered one, and I had fun mixing up the prints from six different fat quarters.  I hope they like them!

Design team for Fabri-Quilt . . .

Fabri-Quilt is a fabric manufacturer of cotton prints, cotton solids, poplin, and converted nylon.  You can find all their fabric lines on their website, and they are coming out with new lines all the time.  They have put together a design team of four bloggers that will create projects and share the tutorials with you.  I am so excited that I have been chosen to be a part of this team!

The other three bloggers are Jackie at Canton Village Quiltworks, Roseann at Rosebud's Cottage, and Christina at 2 Little Hooligans.

I have so many ideas of things I want to create, and can't wait to get started on this new endeavour!  I love sewing accessories and small projects, but also love to quilt.  If there is a specific type of item you would like to see me do a tutorial on, please let me know!  It might help me to narrow down my ideas :)

playing with fabric . . .

I've had so many ideas for new projects lately, but still don't have the energy to make them.  It seems that the biggest setback in my recovery is upper chest and back pain from the CO2 that they pumped in me for the surgery - has anyone else had this problem?  I'd love to know when it will start getting better . . .

But anyways, I wanted to show off some of the fabrics that I've been playing with in the meantime.  The fat quarter bundle above was purchased from a school fundraiser, it's from a local quilt shop.  The next two bundles of fat quarters are from my Secret Sister through the women in our church.  Didn't she completely SPOIL me?  I LOVE the prints and colours, and have a bunch of ideas of what to make with them.  I think I'll work on a couple small projects and accessories with them, and I'll definitely be making myself some things so I can enjoy them for a long time :)

a Kindle cover . . .

This past Saturday, I went to the ER with stomach pains, and was released a day later after an appendectomy.  So this past week has been a struggle with pain, medications, and trying to rest - but I am on the mend.  We have been blessed with family and friends that have helped us out - a couple friends took my kids for a few days, my Mom took my five-year old and nephew for the week (he was staying with us), and our church community is taking care of our meals.

I was hoping to finish up a quilt this week, but since I'm unable to crawl all over a quilt to baste it right now, I found a small small project to do instead - a Kindle cover.  My brother lent me his to read some books, and my Mom has the same one.  After seeing this tutorial, and since I had the Kindle to measure, I decided to make one for my Mom.

The fabrics were given to me by Andover and they are charms quartered into 2.5" squares.  I used the darker prints for the outside, and lighter ones for the inside.  The scrappy binding is also from the charms.  I had the buckle left from another project, and used a magnetic snap for the closure.  I hope she likes it!

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Sew & Tell Friday.

Double-sized Quilt - done!

I'm so happy to have this one checked off my list - my daughter has been waiting for this quilt for way too long!  I repainted her bedroom to white this past Summer which goes much better with this quilt than the old yellow covered in her sister's drawings.  I still hope to find some vinyl art or do some stencilling in her room.

The fabric was donated to me by a close friend, and it's from Pat Bravo's Spellbound line.  I searched for some matching yardage and ended up getting in contact with Pat Bravo herself to find it.  She lead me directly to the right source.  So now I have four prints waiting to be turned into curtains and some throw pillows.

The backing of the quilt is a fleece blanket that we found in a retail store.  I really don't like piecing backings, and my daughter insisted on something soft.  This blanket was a perfect match, and she loves it.

The quilting is an all-over meander, and in the bottom corner I quilted my daughter's name and a flower. This is something I've done in my other daughter's quilts too. Can you see it?  It's 'Elayna'.

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict and amylouwhosews.

crocheted hats . . .

No, I didn't suddenly become an expert at crocheting.  But I wanted to share these adorable hats that my grandmother made for us last week.  Doesn't she do beautiful work?!  And after giving her some yarn and a pattern, she had three of them done in a day!  I love handmade, and 'Oma-made' is even more special!

A chance to win $$ for your school . . .

So it's already October . . . the leaves are changing and the mornings are cooler.  My girls are back in school, and I honestly thought that I would also be getting back to my hobbies.  I was wrong.  September brought a charity quilt project that kept me busy for a couple weeks, and then an apple pie fundraiser for my girls' school which I also played a part in organizing.  Being back to school has also brought field-trips,  seasonal colds, and one of my daughters also had her birthday party last week.  So, maybe October is supposed to slow down for me?

My husband and I were both put through a private Christian education, and my children are now in the same school system.  It has a lot of benefits - including the parents getting to be directly involved in the running of the school.  I have a position on our Ladies Aid board, which raises a lot of fundraising dollars throughout the year, and we get to decide what additional items to purchase for the kids and school with that money.

Lysol Canada is hosting a photo contest on Facebook - it's a chance to win $10,000 for the winner and $10,000 to the school of their choice!  All you have to do is upload a picture of your child or grandchild and make it go with the theme 'a child who touches everything'.  They already have some great pictures in their photo gallery to give you some ideas.

Disclosure: I am part of the Lysol® Healthy Families Ambassador Program by Mom Central. I received compensation as part of my affiliation with this group.  The opinions on this blog are my own.

Mom of the Year . . .

So many of us have an inspiring woman in our lives, and recently Walmart hosted their Mom of the Year contest and 16,909 Canadian women were nominated!  They then had the incredibly difficult task of narrowing it down to the finalists.

Walmart very generously treated the eight finalists to a gala event, $10,000 each and $10,000 to their charity of choice.  The grand prize winner also receives $100,000 to her charity!  So if you're looking for some inpirational reading today, you can find their stories here - stories of generosity, selflessness, and outpouring of love for others around them.


Disclosure: I’m part of the Walmart program by Mom Central. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are ALL my own. Mom of the Year Award: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY Internet access and valid email account required. Nominations open May 10, 2012 to July 8, 2012 for legal residents of Canada over the age of majority. Entrants cannot nominate themselves. One (1) grand prize available to be won consisting of $10,000 cash, a $100,000 donation by Wal-mart Canada Corp. to charity/cause and a trip to Toronto (ARV $22,000). Seven (7) runner-up prizes available to be won consisting of $10,000 cash, a $10,000 donation to charity/cause and a trip to Toronto (ARV $22,000). Charity/cause subject to verification and final approval by Wal-mart Canada Corp., at its sole discretion. Odds of winning depend on how the judging panel evaluates each entry according to the criteria. For Official Contest Rules and to nominate an entrant, visit [www.momoftheyear.ca].

a signature quilt . . .

A woman in our church is going through a difficult struggle with cancer.  A close family member of hers asked me to make a quilt for her to include messages and texts from her family and friends.  This is the third quilt that's been made now for someone in our church with cancer, you can see the other quilts here and here.

The fabrics were purchased from a LQS, and the pattern is a simpler version of an X and O quilt.  This quilt came together very quickly, and there was a lot of help from my friend Alisa and the woman in our church that organized the quilt.

In the four blocks at the center top of the quilt is written out the words of the song, 'Great Is Thy Faithfulness.'

Giving a quilt to someone going through cancer treatments is special - visits are not always possible because of a low immune system, meals are more for other family members because the person often has little appetite or is put on a special diet, and treatments leave the person feeling very sick and often cold.  There are organized quilt charities out there that specifically give quilts to cancer patients, such as Victoria's Quilts (there is a US and Canadian group).  I encourage quilters to look into donating to such a worthy cause.

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Sew and Tell Friday.

a quilt finish . . .

This quilt top had been sitting in my unfinished pile for awhile.  But a close friend of mine is getting married in a couple weeks, and was having a bridal shower last week.  The theme for the shower was 'around-the-clock' and the time I received was 9pm - so since that's the time of day where I curl up on the couch to watch a show or read a book, a quilt is what came to mind.  And after seeing their beach-front condo recently, I thought the colors and feel of this quilt would suit them.

The fabrics are an assortment of bright fat quarters that were picked up here and there, and the cutting was mostly done with the drunkard's path die from my Accuquilt GO! Baby.

The quilting is just an all-over stippling, and the backing is pieced from two coordinating prints.

Linking up to Manic Monday and Fabric Tuesday.