Down in the Sand Quilts

Whew!

2009-05-22T09:24:00.006-04:00

Things here are slowwwly returning to normal. Thank you for all the well-wishes. I haven't been great at replying to people; sorry if I haven't replied to you. Right now I'm working on some doll bedding for my daughter's third birthday. I wanted to do something tiny to get back in the swing of things. So I've got a cute little blue doll quilt on the go. Question: Do you use smaller binding when you make a doll quilt? I never have, but I'm wondering if I should try.

I found some wonderful white material that belonged to my mother-in-law, who passed away 10 years ago this June. It makes me so sad to know my girls will always be missing someone so significant. I'm always trying to find ways to include her in our daily lives. I worked another fabric she owned into both the girls' baby quilts. I'm planning on using this white fabric for the new blocks quilt.

Reason for my absence & back to quilting

2009-05-11T09:05:00.003-04:00

Thank you for all the well wishes. I came home from my girls nite to find that while my hubby was removing the broken dishwasher, he'd flooded the house! He felt so bad, and we've been dealing with a lot of damage, including some to my sewing corner. Things with me were almost back to normal and then my husband's job ended sooner than expected. So I haven't been doing much quilting, so no posts. But I've got a block of time this afternoon and I'm determined to finish Robyn's quilt top. I'll post again soon. Now I'm off to catch up on a couple of weeks worth of blog reading. Hooray!

2009-04-17T08:31:00.003-04:00

Howdy everyone! Here's what I've been up to: knitting longies for baby Robyn (pants to go over her cloth diapers), taking care of a teething baby (Robyn again!) and lots of baking with Grace. Not great for my waistline, but we're having a load of fun. I made Grace this little apron to use. She's been wearing it around as a skirt.
I have an appointment today which I'm kind of worried about. I'm going to a friend's house tonight for a girls nite out, which should help me to relax. And I'm really hoping to get in some quilting this weekend....I'm missing it. I may even sneak in a bit this afternoon while Grace is at a play date.
Happy Friday

2009-04-13T08:48:00.002-04:00

Oh Quilty Friends,
I have done no quilting for a few weeks now. I'm trying so hard to make time for my quilting, but the sun is shining, the snow is melting and my kiddies and I are having so much fun. Plus, by the time the girls are in bed at night and I finally get 20 minutes alone with my hubby, I can't really go downstairs to quilt can I? Can I? (heehee!) So I'm using my short breaks to read all of your wonderful blogs and dream about the 25 hour day.

Not much quilting going on here

2009-03-31T10:03:00.002-04:00

Yup, you read it right, not much quilting going on here! Hence the star pics (see Molly's website). My dishwasher broke, so I've been spending most of my time at the sink. I pride myself on trying to live as green as possible, and I do have an energy star dishwasher, which I really depend on. I'm just finding out now how much I depend on it!

I'm trying to put my quilting and knitting projects on hold and focus on an Easter something for my little ones. I'm torn between making the girls bright patchwork dresses and little bunnies or bears. I really should try the dresses; the kids have a lot of stuffed animals. Wish me luck!

My Mom's quilt is on hold indefinitely. She's decided to paint her room robin's egg blue and white. That black quilt will just not fit! So it may become another 'tent making quilt' for Gracie. Oh well :)

A productive evening

2009-03-26T12:09:00.003-04:00

Well I got waaayyy ahead of myself. My hubby was out last night and I was not used to having that time to myself that I went a bit crazy! I decided to do this quilt by Amanda Jean, with a little variation. I'm going to put a thin boarder around each block before I add white sashing. This will have to wait though, as I'm out of white. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to make a little trip to the fabric store.......

Girlfriend's Giggle and the Next Project

2009-03-25T09:27:00.004-04:00

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement on giving away my first quilt to a non-family member. My friend loved the quilt, and even called back later to gush about it a second time. Hopefully this will help me to get over my fear of gifting quilts and move some finished ones out of my closet and on to people's beds!
This picture is of fabric for my next quilt.The white with green dots actually has a texture to it. And the flower print in the background matches my daughter's spring bedding. The sheet set came in this fabric bag. So I plan on using the fabric in this next quilt and then it will relate to her bedding. I've pretty much decided to do something simple, maybe just squares. I'd like to start cutting by the weekend, so I'll have to pick a pattern!
Some of you may be wondering what happened to my mom's quilt. Well...I really don't like it! I loved the fabric, but the quilt is very busy. So it's shelved for a bit. She's planning on painting so maybe I'll start something new.
Speaking of those quilts in my cupboard, you know those ones that you finish and dislike or almost finish and just 'forget' about. What do you do with these ones? I'd love some ideas...I'm in purge mode lately and they're taking up valuable space!

Edit** I think I'm going with this one. I have a lot of white backed patterns for this quilt and I think this will work out. This will be a lot of cutting, but it should give me that fun and QUICK result I'm looking for**

Spring Break was Great!

2009-03-23T10:47:00.002-04:00

Not much quilting got done, but I had a fantastic week with my family. We'd planned to go away for a night, but instead we accepted a last-minute invitation to go away with friends to Niagara Falls. We saw the sights and just really enjoyed being together. I feel totally relaxed, but it was hard to see my hubby go out the door this morning!
My friend's birthday is tomorrow and her quilt still needs to be washed and wrapped. I'm really excited to give it to her, but I'm also a bit nervous because I've only ever given quilts to family. Hope you're all enjoying the sunshine :)

Girlfriend Giggle and Giddy Up!

2009-03-13T15:31:00.002-04:00

Oh of course I've got these all in the wrong order! Oh well! I lucked out this morning, my little one was napping and my oldest just wanted to boot around in the play room, so I got in some serious quilting time :) Here is a close up of the whirly giggle for my friend, which I've decided to call 'girlfriend giggle'.

Here's a not-so-hot shot of the quilt. I'm still undecided on the diagonal lines, and if I should go the opposite way as well. This baby's only taken me 2.5 hours to quilt and I'm not sure if I should just leave it, bind and label it. I could actually be done early for once!

And here's a new pal for the baby. My dad picked up this sweet little horse by the side of the road. My oldest played on it at my parent's place and then I took it home to do up for the nursery. And 4 months later, I'm just getting to adding the ribbons today :) This idea is from Tracey. Love her blog and everything she does. Boy do I wish I could go to her booth and buy enough stuff to decorate my whole house!

March break is just about to start and I can feel the anticipation of a week off in the air. My hubby and I are both teachers (I have the year off of course) so this is always an exciting time of year. This week I think we're going to do some painting, play with our 2 beautiful babes and try to go on a mini trip. Little does he know, I have lots of quilting/fabric shopping in the works too! Hope your weekend's wonderful :)

Girlfriend's Giggle

2009-03-12T14:33:00.007-04:00

I got in some speed sewing yesterday and here is the finished top of the whirly giggle for my friend. Now I'm off to the LQS to grab some batting and something cute for the back and this baby will be ready to quilt! I'm NOT going to do the same quilting I used for my daughter's, it took way too long. I think I'll be sticking with straight lines. You may notice some of the fabric I won from Fran's giveaway. Since I didn't buy any fabric for this top, just used scraps I had plus the wonderful stuff I won, I think it's okay to give as a gift. A quilt is definitely waaaay out of our circle's gift budget, so I'm rationalizing it this way.
Got whirly giggle fever? I know I do! Check out this beautiful quilt. Once I've got this one quilted I'm moving on to a whirly giggle for the baby. And then I think I'll take a giggle break. I'd love to try this, but I'll need to do a bit of fabric shopping first, my stash is really shriking. I should be working on the stars quilt for my mum, but I need a break from it....something about it needs fixing and I'm just not in the mood!

I'm back :)

2009-03-10T08:54:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone! Thank for the well-wishes; I'm doing my best to sort everything out health-wise. I'm still working on binding my whirly giggle quilt (by the way, someone commented on it and was 'no-reply'. I got the pattern from Crazy Mom Quilts-see my side bar.) and working on the one for my friend. Her birthday is in 2 weeks, so I've gotta get moving.
I'll post some pics of my progress soon!

See you soon

2009-03-01T08:17:00.002-05:00

Hi all,
I'm taking a bit of a blogging break. I've got some health problems and I've got to take some time to get them all sorted out. So I'll be taking a blogging break, but I'll see you all soon!

I'm done (lots of giggles!)

2009-02-26T09:09:00.004-05:00

It's finally finished! Here is my daughter's whirly giggle (the quilt I've been working on for a very long time). It still needs to be bound (my weekend project) but it goes so nicely in her new room. Now I just have to make curtains and pester my hubby to put up shelves and art and the room will be done.
Now I'm moving on the my friend's whirly giggle. Here's my plan:
1) Put together my friend's whirly giggle and layer it
2)Put together my younger daughter's whirly giggly while I'm quilting my friend's quilt (which is what I did this time)
3) Finally put the sashing for my mom's quilt on so I can quilt it and have it wrapped and ready for her birthday.
With the way things have been going here, this might take me until the summer to complete. I'm not kidding!

Cherry pie? Yes please!

2009-02-22T17:56:00.006-05:00

I actually watched a bit of tv last week, no small feat in this house! I caught an episode of Martha, and saw a crafter named Hilary make some cherry pie out of felt. Check her out here. No pics from me yet (it's been one of those weekends!) but I'm almost done my own cherry pie. Now, back to quilting!

*Here's a pic....I guess it's now strawberry pie!"

Meet Ellen!

2009-02-19T08:44:00.003-05:00

Here's what I did last night instead of quilting. I wanted to do something small that I could finish in one day. And so I made this little doll for my daughter and named her Ellen. But then Ellen needed clothes and facial features and hair...I was up half the night creating like Frankenstein! It's a bit unclear in the picture, but she even has a little pocket with baby ric rac on it. Ellen's dress still needs straps and velco on the back. And I'm going to pick up some pink fabric paint today to paint on some shoes and maybe underwear.

I think this little lady will make a perfect Easter gift for Grace. I also have some fabric play food on the back burner, but for today I'm back to quilting!

Half done giggle

2009-02-16T09:00:00.005-05:00

I've brought my daughter's quilt upstairs to show you. I'm officially half finished the quilting on this baby and it's taking for..ev...er! But I'm happy with how it's coming along. I've also been using the leaders and enders technique, so I'm getting other units together while I'm quilting.

I've started cutting for my friend's whirly giggly quilt. She has such a bright, bubbly personality that I thought these fabrics would match with it. Her birthday is in March, so I'm hoping to have this one finished before then. I'm making it 4x6 blocks, making it about 45x65 inches. Do you think this is a good lap quilt size? I've only made bed quilts and crib quilts so I'm not sure of the size.
**I've just spread the bed quilt out and 4x6 will not be big enough. So I'm going with 6x6. Back to the cutting board!
Happy Family Day!

New quilt shop!

2009-02-14T16:39:00.003-05:00

Oh I 'found' a new quilt shop today. It's not really new, but new to me. The fabric was a bit pricey, but there was so much selection and great service. So even though I'm trying to use up some of what I have, I bought a few new things. Check out these great fabrics! The pink and turquoise ones will be for the baby's whirly giggle quilt. And the flower print and purple plaid were just too cute to leave in the store!
I haven't done any quilting today, but I did spend a perfect day out with my sweet little family. Quilting will have to wait until tomorrow.
So 2 posts in one day. Again Happy Valentine's Everyone!

Thanks Fran!!!!!

2009-02-14T08:18:00.003-05:00

Yippee! I received my squishy from Fran yesterday and I'm telling you all, it made my week! No pics, since I need to go out today and get some new camera batteries, but what a great package. Fran was very generous and even included a third fabric. My hubby was very sweet last night and took over bedtime duty so I could cut. I'm using my new fabric, plus some from my stash, to make a whirly giggle quilt for my dear friend who just lost her baby. I think it's the perfect use for it; fabric from a friend going to a friend of mine in need.
Here are my big quilting plans for this 3 day weekend:
1) Work on quilting my whirly giggle quilt
2)Finish cutting for my friend's quilt, and start putting blocks together
3) Square up the blocks for my mom's quilt and put the sashing on.

Will I get all this done? You'll just have to come back and see!
Thanks again to Fran, like I said, you made my week :)

And Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!!!

And the winner is....

2009-02-13T15:15:00.003-05:00

6
Random numbers generated Feb 13 2009 at 12:14:39 by http://www.psychicscience.org/.

That's Snoodles! Please e-mail me at nannergirl@hotmail.com so I can send you your fabric. Thanks to everyone who entered, and to Fran for the idea. I'll be doing another one soon :)

Kim

Giveaway

2009-02-08T09:37:00.003-05:00

Even before I won Fran's awesome giveaway, I was thinking of doing one myself. I like the idea of sending something from my stash to someone else. So here's what I'm giving away; about a half yard of ME fabric, a strip of red fabric with leaves on it, some embroidery thread and some heart buttons. If you'd like these, please leave me a comment on this post and I'll draw Friday at 6pm .

Good Luck :)

Whirly Giggle

2009-02-06T08:59:00.002-05:00

Well here is my finished whirly giggle top. I am so pleased with how it turned out! I've already started cutting to make a second one for the baby in greens, blues, pinks. The quilting is also going well. I'm trying out a new technique and the going is slow, but it feels good. I'm hoping to get the quilting done in the next week or so - I'd love for this to be bound and on my daughter's bed by March. And I'll try to resist the urge to start the next one before I finish the top for my Mom's quilt. Try.
On a sad note, the nursery quilt I was planning for my friend will be put on hold. She miscarried and we're all devastated. It's such a hard thing to deal with. So I'm putting my fabric away but hopefully I'll be bringing it out again for her very soon. I'm actually thinking of making her a lap quilt just for her.

I was away with the girls earlier this week and stopped in to a quaint little quilt shop. I wasn't wowed by any of the fabric but what I couldn't get over was the service. Or lack of service I should say. I was the only customer and there were 4 employees and not one of them said as much as hello to me in the 20 minutes I was in the store. Unbelievable, especially with the economy the way it is.

Hooray!!!!!

2009-02-01T15:26:00.004-05:00

Oh did I have a great shopping weekend!!!! I have been unhappy with the curtains in my nursery for a long time. I went to visit my parents this weekend and had the luckiest shopping days.

I already owned the lamb bedding. I found the strip bedding at IKEA and the lamp shade at Pottery Barn Kids, which is where the bedding is from so it matches.

On the way back to the beach I stopped in at the fabric store and found the perfect fabric for curtains (piled beneath the lampshade). It was...$3.00/metre, and it's double wide! I can't wait to get to these.

I also picked up fabric to do my older daughter's curtains and some more fun fabric for my whirlygiggle quilt.

I found this great quilting video by My Aunt June, can't wait to try it out.

Just had to brag about my great luck.

Baby quilt

2009-01-29T17:22:00.002-05:00

Here are some pics of a baby quilt I made. It's kind of hard to see some of the letters because I used a light tan embroidery floss. My husband drew the pictures in the 4 corners and I embroidered over them. I made this quilt a few years ago, when I was pregnancy with my daughter. I also made a girl quilt, which she now has.
For my friend, I guess I can copy this same layout and use some animal print for the boarder.
Anyhow, thought you might like to see what I'm planning :)

Looking forward

2009-01-29T16:55:00.004-05:00

I found this cool website and made the photo above. I love the drive-in that's close to my house and look forward to it opening every summer. And since I have 2 little ones, it's a great date night for my husband and I, plus no sitter needed. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the winter, and definitely don't want to wish away the spring, but the summers here are great.
My whirlygiggle quilt is coming along really nicely and I think I may have it together by the end of the weekend. I've also been cutting for a second whirlygiggle quilt to put on the wall in the nursery.
I'm looking for a pattern for a baby quilt for a friend. I've made some alphabet quilts in the past and may make another one. She has a jungle theme going in the nursery and I've got nothing in my stash that will go. I'm having a hard time visualizing an animal print baby quilt.
I'm also trying to make some roman blinds for the nursery. I've looked for ones I like for a few months and can't find any, so this weekend I'm going to try and make some. Wish me luck!

Progress!

2009-01-27T10:47:00.003-05:00

Not a great picture, but here's the beginning of my daughter's blue and lime quilt. I am just in love with how the blocks are turning out. And it's coming together very quickly, which is nice. I had this white eyelet fabric leftover from a project so I've used it on some of the blocks. And I've cut a few extra pieces from each fabric. I'm hoping to make a second quilt with blue, green and pink pinwheels. I think I could have this top completed by the weekend. I also bought black fabric to finish that stars quilt I was working on. And I've been slowly working on the blue,green and yellow baby quilt.
I'm having a hard time getting to all the blogs that I love. I'm going to have to schedule in some reading time soon - I miss seeing what everyone is up to.

New quilts!

2009-01-23T09:12:00.008-05:00

I've finally found the perfect pattern to make a quilt for my little girl's 'big girl room'. I got the pattern from Amanda Jean over at Crazy Mom Quilts, who I just love. No pics so far, I'm still in the cutting stage, but I'm doing it in white with pale blue and lime green.

I love these basket blocks that are turning up everywhere. They're from Bunny Hill Designs. Check them out! I think I'm going to have to do this BOM, just to see how it all turns out.

I also did this quiz, suggested by Fran. It quizes you on how many blocks you can name. I only got 43%. What's your score?

It's a cold one!!!

2009-01-14T08:35:00.003-05:00

Boy, is it cold here today! I volunteered to take the dog out this morning, since DH had hockey late last night. I nearly froze, even with my long underwear and wind pants on. I have a very active pup, and even he wanted to come back inside!

I took this picture out my side window (from inside) and it is beautiful out.

Here's a picture of the baby quilt I'm basting. I know the colours seem a bit weird for a baby quilt, but remember I was in pretty advanced labour while I was picking them. The blue fabric was really calling to me, and so I bought it, and searched around the store for coordinating prints. My nursery is green and yellow, so this will look alright in it. I bought some chocolate brown to use as the binding. I've decided to hand quilt it, so Babe might be waiting awhile for it.

I did some more work on the quilt for my mom's birthday and I'm not too happy with it. The fabric is pretty busy. I think I'm going to have to add in some solid black sashing to break it up a bit.

Sorry about the layout of this post...I can't seem to correct it.

First block

2009-01-07T20:13:00.003-05:00

I just couldn't wait to get going on

the new quilt. I cut fabric today while we painted and sewed while my daughter helped DH to shovel the walk (because we got another huge dump of snow). So here's block #1. It's not been pressed, but I'm very excited about it. I'm not sure if I have enough of the black pattern to make all of the setting blocks. (see post below) I can't decide if I should just do as many as I can and then switch to black, or if I should do all setting blocks solid black. Help?

First 2009 quilt

2009-01-07T08:40:00.002-05:00

Well here it is, my plan for my first 2009 quilt. I'm planning on making this "true blue" quilt from Time Crunch Quilts. I'm using this black and bright print instead of the white and brights for the stars, instead of just blue. I think this will make a great quilt for my mom's 60th. I started cutting yesterday while my daughter painted. I'm hoping to have it all cut by the weekend so I can start sewing by Sunday. I'm planning on hand quilting this and since my mom's birthday is in July, I should have enough time to get it done.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-03T20:48:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year Everyone! I've really missed reading my quilting blogs and spent the last hour or so catching up. I've got no pictures to show you...I haven't quilted in over a month. So I decided to make my quilting plans for 2009 instead:

1. I've been really interested in simple quilts lately, so I'd like to make at least one simple quilt this year. I'm thinking squares in green and baby blue for my daughter's 'big girl room'.

2. I'd like to give a gift quilt to my mom, who will celebrate her 60th birthday this year. I'm going to have to think about this one a lot. My mom really appreciates my quilts and always takes the time to admire them, so I'd like to make a really special one for her.

3. Small quilts/ wall hangings. I saw a few really beautiful ones over the holidays and would like to make some for my house.

Happy New Year!

3 gorgeous gifts

2008-12-16T10:20:00.002-05:00

We had a wonderful weekend visiting family. My older daughter was so well behaved. She made it through late night parties, lunch in a restaurant and a trip to visit her very ill great-grandmother. I am so proud to be her mom. As a stay at home mom (for now) I sometimes feel inferior around my career oriented friends. But watching my 2 year old behave so well reminds me that I couldn't be doing anything else. And the baby was just a doll - slept, ate and didn't want to be put down for a second.
I couldn't ask for anything more.

We received a beautiful gift from one of my husband's co-workers. This pretty little quilt is hand quilted with tiny, perfect stitches that I will never be able to achieve in my quilts. I am so touched by the thought and effort that went into this quilt.

Robyn

2008-12-10T09:55:00.003-05:00

Hi all,
Still haven't had time to get any quilting done. I had another girl, beautiful baby Robyn. My hubby keeps telling us he's so happy to be surounded by us 3 girls. Right now I'm just happy to have a couple of minutes to myself. I'm sure I' ll be back at my machine soon!

Welcoming Baby

2008-11-29T20:21:00.002-05:00

I'll be taking a bit of a blogging/quilting break to welcome my new beautiful baby to the world. I went in to labour while shopping for fabric...seriously! Be back when things settle down a bit :)

Got a few things done...

2008-11-26T10:23:00.004-05:00

Here is my almost finished tree skirt. The design was inspired by Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts. It's a bit hard to see in the picture but there's a hole cut in the middle. Now I just need to bind the edges and put the snaps on. I'm not really sure why I decided to make this, a DH has an elaborate train set and village that goes around the bottom of our tree. I may pass this on to my Mom as a gift, a lot of the fabric scraps are from stockings I made for her a long time ago.

Here is my SIL's finished "Canadian Girl Overseas" top. We are all anxious for her to get home. The trick will be for me to get this quilted and bound before my brother leaves for Halifax mid-December. Any suggestions for how to quilt it quickly? I was thinking of doing diagonal lines in the centre area and then something else in the boarders.
I also made a stocking for our new arrival and have been working on a scrap blue jean quilt, just trying to keep myself busy.

Here's the view down my very dark street. It's only about 5pm in this pic and we'd taken my daughter out for a ride in her sled. It's snowing right now and we've just made cinnamon buns. I'm going to town today to finish my Christmas shopping and to enjoy a few hours out of the house. I'm also dropping in to the fabric store to pick up batting and maybe treat myself to a few new FQ's
My quilting plans for this week are to baste my Canadian Girl quilt and maybe start working on quilting it.
The baby is due Monday so I never know when a post may be my last for awhile. Wish me luck:)

Still here....

2008-11-20T08:40:00.003-05:00

I just realized I haven't posted in awhile. I haven't had too much time for quilting lately. The baby is due Dec. 1st and it's getting hard for me to get down the stairs to my sewing corner. I have big plans to sew this weekend, but no guarantees. Hope all is well with you!

Rain, Rain Go Away....

2008-11-08T07:07:00.003-05:00

I woke up to rain yesterday and did no quilting. I was just not motivated. But Thursday afternoon, we took a trip down to the park and the beach before dinner and it was simply beautiful. The sun was setting and the water actually looked like a rainbow. You can kind of see it in the picture with my daughter, who got into the wet sand right away. We actually had snow here at this time last year, so being outside with t-shirts was incredible.
I might take a trip to the fabric store today. It's still pretty gloomy out and I could use some new stuff to play with.
Hope your quilting is going better than mine these days!

Baby doll diaper bag

2008-11-06T15:05:00.003-05:00

I should be working on my UFO's right now, but I had a really nice morning with my daughter and it changed my mind. We went out shopping this morning and she kept telling me she needed things for our baby. It was all funny stuff, like M and M's, Christmas decorations and some hand towels, but it was just so cute that she's thinking of the baby. She's been playing with her baby dolls a lot lately and I've already made her a few doll quilts. So while she napped this afternoon I made her a diaper bag and a little quilted bib. The fabric was left over from a quilt I made for my cousin's son. I love how this turned out. I actually quilted the bag too. Now I've just got to fill it with her toy bottles and some wash cloths and she'll be all set.

I've got a tree shirt waiting to be quilted right now. It's all scraps from stockings and napkins and things I've made over the last few years. And I've got to get cracking on my sister in law's quilt. Oh there's never enough time to quilt is there?

Couldn't resist!

2008-11-01T04:52:00.004-04:00

Posting pics of my little one makes me a bit nervous but I just could not resist! She could have been a princess or a butterfly, but my little girl is in love with cows! So here she is, with Farmer Dad, ready to go trick-or-treating.
As you can see, I just barely finished her costume. The stitching wasn't pretty but who cares right? Oh I just love these 2 to bits!

Labour......or not!

2008-10-30T09:15:00.004-04:00

Well I've had a busy couple of days! I thought I was in labour Tuesday night, spent the night in the hospital and then was told to go home and that it may be another couple of hours, days or weeks. This may sound like a pregnant woman's worst nightmare, but my daughter was born 5 weeks early and spent 15 days in intensive care. So I'm just fine with this baby taking it's sweet time in getting here (and I'm only 35 weeks along now). I picked up this ribbon on Saturday to match the little nursery quilt I made. I have a little rocking horse that I plan on adding this to. (I got the idea from A Cottage Industry)
This is some fabric that I just could not resist buying last week. You can't see it in the picture, but the background is actually pink and pinky-orange stripped. (Like a tie-dye style stripe). I have a few different greens that this would look good with but I've decided to hold off on making it into a quilt or backing. Since I don't know the sex of my baby, there's no point in making a pink quilt just yet. I do love the quilts that Amanda Jean makes over at Crazy Mom Quilts, so I may make something inspired by hers.

And this is a cute Mary Englebreit fabric that I picked up for $2.94 a meter! I have no plans for this, I just couldn't leave it sitting there. It can just sit in my stash for a bit (big smile)
Speaking of my stash, I'm noticing that I've got 2 very different things going on. I have a lot of bright, fun prints and a lot of dark more subdued country prints. I guess it makes sense because I make different quilts for different reasons, it just looks funny to see the fabrics together on the same shelf!

Very Productive Day!

2008-10-28T18:37:00.003-04:00

I got a lot done today! The weather here is just terrible; it's cold and windy, we had snow today (it didn't stay on the ground) and we have a snow squall warning tonight. Perfect day to get some sewing done!

I cheated a bit on my list of 5 things to do this week, because I combined two projects. I've decided to turn my pinwheels quilt into the quilt for my sister in law. I'm calling it "Canadian gal overseas" This red fabric is something I'm auditioning to be the boarder. The pic is showing as pinky red, but it's actually a true red. I may add a cream boarder in and then a thick red boarder, to bring it to lap size.

I'm thrilled that this whole top is made from the leftovers of my hubby's quilt top. I found a nice piece for the back. I've also collected a lot of blue jeans from our family. She might like the blue jean backing, especially when I tell her the family connection. Has anyone ever done a jean backing? I'm not sure if they'll be too heavy.

I also made up a little doll quilt for my daughter's baby dolls. She's very interested in the baby coming and has been playing with her dolls a lot lately. I've made this quilt to match the quilt for the nursery, which I finished binding today. I used some crazy school print for the back and whatever binding I had lying around.

And this is the bound nursery quilt. I had plans to use this simple quilt to practice my free motion quilting, but after several attempts, I gave up. I just cannot seem to get the tension right on my machine, no matter what I do! What I wouldn't give for a quilting guild right now. When we moved here I searched for one, but the closest I could find was over 45 minutes away, along a very harsh road. (It's closed half of the winter).

I also finished my daughter's cow costume. It's awfully cute! Now I've just gotta cross my fingers that the snow holds off until Saturday.

What I'm up to this week

2008-10-28T08:50:00.000-04:00

I've had a very blahh week this past week. My daughter was born prematurely and we're trying to avoid that this time around. So I've been under 'house arrest' for awhile. I thought I'd get lots of sewing done last week but I was just too tired. I seem to have more energy this week so I've made myself some plans!
1) Finish my daughter's Halloween costume (she wants to be a cow!)
2) Finish the baby quilt I've been working on (just needs binding)
3) Work on the quilt for my SIL, who is due home from her tour in less than 2 months
4) Make another couple of doll quilts
5) Work on my pinwheels quilt

It seems like a lot but the weather here is dreary and I need something to perk me up a bit. I'll post tonight with how far I've gotten.

Out and About...

2008-10-22T09:05:00.004-04:00

My machine was acting up this weekend and I just got it running again last night. So I don't have any quilty pics to share. I did get the binding finished on my winter houses quilt. I watched Biggest Loser last night and finished it all...3 UFO's to go. But I've also started a Christmas tree skirt and some napkins so I have a few non quilting projects on the go too.
I can't seem to turn these pics! This is what we did instead of quilting/yard work this weekend. There is a great park, right on the beach. This is my hubby and daughter, who can't wait to get there. We played on the swings, ran around and just enjoyed the weather. And I'm glad we did because it was snowing here yesterday! It's still chilly and I've got the fireplace on. We had snow stay on the ground last year Nov. 1st...I'm hoping it holds out that long this year. I don't want to be out trick-or-treating in the snow!

This is the beach as it looked on Sunday. Still looks nice enough to go for a swim doesn't it? I'm planning on doing some major sewing this week so stay tuned.

Second post today

2008-10-17T10:31:00.004-04:00

I thought I'd do a second post and show the things I've been writing about. Here's my wonky winter houses. I'm almost finished the binding and then I can tick this one off my UFO list. I'm thinking of making a pillow case (for my chair, not for the crib) and maybe a wall hanging to go with these. I had a lot of fun trying out this new style of quilting. It really cured the boredom I sometimes have doing piecing (especially if all the blocks are the same). Tonya offers so much help and so many detailed tutorials that this was pretty easy to pull off. Check her out here.
These are those bonus pinwheels I've been working on. I found a second baggie of navy and blue triangles, which are now also becoming pinwheels for this project. I'll admit, I didn't do much to these, not even square them up. I should have enough to make a throw size quilt for my friend's summer wedding. I'm still thinking of sashing and boarders....stay tuned.

Lastly, here is a picture of the quilting frame my Hubby bought me for Christmas last year. He just HAD to put it up on the wall last week before our Thanksgiving guests arrived. I keep meaning to use it, but I get impatient. The cool thing about it is that it rolls the top, batting and backing for you, no basting required. If you despise basting like I do, then this is a very good thing! The only down side to it is that although it can change size (from baby quilt to king), and lay flat, it doesn't fit under any of my basement furniture. Hence the wall display :)

This weekend my in laws are coming up for my father-in-law's birthday dinner. He has a lot of food allergies, so luckily we're going out for dinner (I can't handle the stress of cooking for him, someone is always double and triple checking that I'm not using any of his 'banned' foods). I have some shopping to do at the farm near by and we have to clean up all of our summer stuff and put it away for the winter. When the snow hits here (and it did on November 1st last year), it hits hard. I love the fall, but there's something magical about the first snowfall that I always look forward to.

Cindy's Canadiana Quilt

2008-10-17T10:20:00.003-04:00

Here is the beginning of the quilt I'm making for my sister-in-law's return from her tour of duty. She was originally sent to the Mediterranean on a peace keeping mission but her ship got sent to help out with the pirating problems in Somalia. I know things have been tough for her, and my brother misses her terribly, but we are so proud of her. So, since their wedding quilt won't be done in time for Christmas, I thought I'd make her a throw in honour of her tour. I was originally going to do all rail blocks, but now I'm thinking I may throw in some solid reds and solid creams. I have a baby quilt I made a while ago that I embroidered Canadian maple leaves on, so I may do that in the cream squares. I'm almost finished my wonky houses (just binding!) and this quilt is next.
This is the view off our side deck. I missed so many of the beautiful leaves. We're going up to the mountain tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to take my fill of beautiful fall pictures.
I've gotta get working on my daughter's cow costume...it's so close to being done.

Day and Night plus my new winter baby quilt

2008-10-14T18:51:00.003-04:00

The first pic is of my Day and Night quilt, which I am really happy with. (That round object is my pregnant belly..oops!) I bought this fabric to re-make a quilt that my Grandma made, but I pre-cut some of it wrong and then didn't have enough to do her pattern. Luckily, there was enough of the flower and blue to do something else with. I'm thinking of using the wrongly cut squares and triangles to make a large pieced boarder.
The second pic is from the House, Home and Pantry group. The picture doesn't do my bright happy homes justice! I've got my camera back, so hopefully this is the last of the camera phone pics. I've put the homes with a dark blue background for the sky and made white snow for the ground. I'm thinking of embroidering snowflakes in the sky and doing some swirly free-motion quilting in the snow. This really doesn't go with my nursery at all, but it's fun and I just love it.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family this weekend. My Mom's visit last Thursday totally re-energized me. And then my whole family came up for Sunday, which was such a treat.
I had my newly finished quilts out to accommodate all the over night guests and they were very popular. I also started a new throw sized quilt for my sister in law who is deployed right now and will get home right before Christmas. It's red and white scrappy rails.

UFO total: I've had to put my Orange Crush quilt aside because I don't have a backing. I know it's silly but I want to use a pieced back and I can't find the right stuff in my stash.

Still working on my Carolina Crossroads.
2 tops waiting to be quilted (including OC)
4 tops in progress (wonky houses, day and night, pinwheels, red and white rails)
I've also challenged myself to make nicer labels for my quilts, so I'll have to spend some time on this.

Thanks to everyone who's stopped by!

Scraps & Shirttails, and 9 new projects

2008-10-09T10:15:00.008-04:00

Yippee! I received my copy of Bonnie's book yesterday and spent the afternoon reading it cover to cover, then picking 2 quilts I'm planning on making in January. I've even put fabric aside in bins for them. Then I worked some more on my wonky houses. I'm still trying to decide if I should make a crib quilt or a wall hanging. Any ideas?

One of my good friends is getting married next summer and I think I'm going to turn all those leftover pinwheels into a quilt for her wedding. I'm thinking of setting the pinwheels with sashing. Once I finish a few more blocks I'll have to audition fabrics (stay tuned, I'll need help!).

I've picked a barns quilt to make for my living room, started a day and night wall hanging for my daughter's room....somehow my new "quilts in progress" total has jumped up to 9! yes, 3 of those are still in the planning process, but yikes...I'd better hope this baby sleeps a lot.

My Mom called early this morning to say she was on her way to my house for a girls day. The only bad part about moving up here is that we're about an hour and a half from my family. This is the girl who had trouble moving out when I got married and actually cried and missed my old bedroom. Anyhow, we really need a girls day. I can't wait to go shopping, have some lunch and just relax with the 2 most important girls in my life. My daughter has actually been waiting at the window for Grandma for the last 20 minutes.

I'm going to edit this post later...I haven't had time to take any pics yet!

Break Day!

2008-10-06T09:20:00.003-04:00

I slept in this morning and when I finally woke up (only because DH was leaving for work) I decided to give myself a break day. I was up late (late for me these days is 10 pm) working on my Carolina Crossroads and it's no where near finished. I've been working on my UFO's and only have two left that I'm planning on finishing this year. So today is a play day! I think I'm going to try the Night and Day quilt I saw this weekend on Quilt Hollow. And try a few more wonky Tonya houses. I'll post later about whatever I do.

Here's a pic of my fabric basket. I've seen them on tons of blogs lately. They're loads of fun. Thanks for the pattern Pink Penguin!

1 finish, 1 almost and a new challenge

2008-10-04T17:40:00.006-04:00

I've finished my blue basket weave and I used Finn's tutorial as a guide for the binding. It's not perfect, but I've only ever used double fold biased binding and loved the idea of using straight cut binding. Finn uses 1.5" strips and I used 2" because that's what I had. Anyhow, the binding turned out great and I'm really pleased. Thanks Finn! And if you need help binding, or just want to see a new way to bind your quilts, I'd recommend checking out her post( and the rest of her blog while you're there, it's awesome).

My almost finish is the UFO I found in my closet last week. I used some very soft cotton for the backing, so it was a bit difficult to quilt. But I've got a start on it and in a few more hours it should be ready to bind and give away.

My new challenge comes from joining Tonya's new class "House, Home or Pantry". I've been a fan of Tonya's wonky houses and letters for a long time and when I saw that she was starting a new sew together, I thought I'd give it a try. I had some free time this afternoon and pictured below is my first attempt at a wonky house. I know I said I wouldn't be doing anything new until these UFO's were done (and I do still have one to finish) this one uses scraps. Besides, I'm out of triangles to sew together, so I can keep my houses and letters near the machine.

With our Thanksgiving this coming weekend, I don't think I'll get too much quilting done. You'll know if I do get things done, my housework has fallen by the wayside and my house will be a wreck for the weekend! Since I'm not supposed to travel, my whole family is coming here. I can't wait to show off what I've been up to.

Binding and Pining

2008-10-03T08:48:00.003-04:00

I had myself a super sewing day yesterday and finished quilting my blue basket weave! I also made binding and have more than half the quilt bound....yippee! Today I'm hoping to baste a throw for my sister (the UFO I found in the bottom of my sewing cupboard), finish binding the basket weave and maybe, maybe start quilting the throw. I can't believe all the finishes I've had. It's going to be a bit deflating when I finish all these UFO's and go back to piecing tops one at a time. On the bright side, I've got tons of leaders and enders to use :)

I can't wait to recieve Bonnie's book! I know the second it arrives, all other things will be put aside so I can completely devour it.

Will this quilt ever get finished????

2008-10-02T08:53:00.004-04:00

I am still working on my Carolina Crossroads by Bonnie quilt for my brother and sister in law. This corner looks a bit wonky, but I love how the baptist fans look. It may not have been the best quilting choice for the tiny sqaures, but it's an easy design to hand quilt.
My problem is that I'm working on this quilt somewhere between 3 and 10 hours a week and I'm starting to feel like it will never be finished. I know that whenever it does get done, it'll be a big accomplishment for me.
My husband got me a quilting frame for Christmas last year and I'm planning on using it to do my next hand quilting project.
My plans for today include some baking, quilting and going out for a walk, if it stops raining. I have a boarder to add to my orange crush quilt, a backing to iron and I want to do some more work on my blue basket weave quilt. Not too sure if I can get all 3 done while my daughter naps, but I'm going to try.

Cold and Rainy at the Beach

2008-09-30T10:09:00.004-04:00

Since the weather here today is so crummy, I thought I'd post a few pictures from a day trip we took this summer to Midland/Penetang. It turned out to be a beautiful day and we spent it by the water, going into little shops and playgrounds.
I spent this morning organizing my stash to go in my new sewing corner. It's really dwindling, but money's tight right now and I don't think I'll be doing much buying until the new year. At least what I have is neatly folded and on shelves. But going through all of my stuff had me dreaming of new quilts!
I'm so pleased with the number of UFO's I've finished in the last few weeks, but it's making me question why I had so many quilts lying around that were unfinished. Most of them had the majority of the blocks done, some were complete tops and 2 just needed to be bound. I guess when it comes to quilting I'm just easily tempted by starting something new. Which is so funny, because in life, I've always got to see things though until they're finished.
I've got a huge pot of soup bubbling away on the stove. I can't wait to snuggle with my daughter this afternoon, have some soup and watch a movie. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday that gave me a lot to think about and I'm looking forward to just vegging!

Little gift quilt

2008-09-29T18:53:00.003-04:00

Boy am I missing my camera! These are the best pictures I could get of this little quilt! It's Smoky Mountain Stars by Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville, and I used up most of my bright small scraps making this puppy. I didn't take any pictures of the back, but I used up some really 'hard to work with' fabric for it. I quilted this one on the machine and just did vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines.
I'm most excited that I'm finished another quilt and another Christmas present. This brings my unfinished total down to just 5, with 2 being Christmas presents. Which is great because I have about another month to finish these. I'd love to squeeze in some sewing for my family or things for my own home....but this may have to wait until next year!
I just got a call from one of the girls, asking me to go out tomorrow night for 'coffee' (I'll have to stick with water). I think I could use a night out, even if it's a quick night!

Hope everyone out there in Quilt Land is doing well!

One of my first quilts

2008-09-28T10:55:00.004-04:00

I'm working on this blue basket weave quilt this weekend. This is from a Debbie Mumm book my mom bought me probably 8-10 years ago. I can't even find the book anymore. The seams don't match in a lot of places, but it's a finished king size quilt top and the quilt currently on my bed desperately needs replacing. It makes me happy to see how far I've come from this quilt, which I found very difficult at the time, to the quilts I make now.

My progress this weekend has been slowed by two things:
#1 I moved some of my sewing stuff down to our rec room. There just isn't room in my dining room for it all anymore. My husband helped me to move a desk and brought in some old shelves for me to store things on. I'm pretty happy about having my own space that I don't have to clean up every night before supper!
#2 I started quilting on the little stretchy stars quilt. I'm about a quarter way through the basket weave, but I just wanted to tick something off my list.

As I've mentioned, I'm pregnant, which is making some things difficult. I'm having trouble 'bellying up" to my machine, and cleaning just doesn't get done. While I was setting up my new sewing corner yesterday, DH cleaned the whole main floor! Dusting, vacuuming, windows - the whole deal. Now that's romantic!!!!
Happy Weekend Everyone!

Orange Crush Boarder Help!

2008-09-26T11:10:00.003-04:00

Help! I've finally finished the top for my Orange Crush mystery quilt, designed by Bonnie over at Quiltville, but I am unhappy with my orange boarder. I'm thinking of adding a dark blue one, but I don't have any left in my stash. Any suggestions?
This weekend, my big quilting plans are to finish quilting a blue basket weave quilt for my bed, and basting a fun little quilt for a Christmas gift.
UFO update: I've now got 4 finished quilt tops, one quilt I'm hand quilting and one I'm machine quilting. 3 of these are to be Christmas gifts. It's going to be tight!

Hubby's quilt is finally pieced!

2008-09-25T08:58:00.005-04:00

I started a very brave thing a few years ago. My husband was always complaining that i made quilts for other people and never made one just for him. So I took him fabric shopping and let him pick out the fabric for this one. I was surprised that he was drawn to the country cottage look. I wasn't a huge fan of some of the stuff he picked but I bought just enough to finish the quilt so it wouldn't end up sitting around.
The quilt did sit around though, for several years, as I worked on projects that were more exciting to me. Now that I'm on a finishing streak, I brought it out again and finished it up. The only problem is that I didn't realize how much waste this quilt would have! I decided on these 2 blocks long before I learned about the ez angle ruler. So I have hundreds of triangles in fabric that I'm not crazy about. Luckily I've already matched them into pairs to make pinwheels and have started using them as leaders and enders.
Now I just need to go and press this thing! I got a hand quilting frame for Christmas last year and I'd love to start using it. I think this quilt would really benefit from some pretty hand stitching in all those empty blue spaces.
My husband has tomorrow afternoon off work. I can't wait for us to relax as a family of three this weekend. It may be one of the few times we have left before we become a family of 4! I'd better get working on those UFO's!!!
*I'm still without my camera. These photos are all ones from my phone, so I apologize about the poor quality! Hopefully I'll have my camera back soon.....

Jeremiah and Cindy's quilt and another UFO!

2008-09-24T18:12:00.009-04:00

Here's a picture of the Carolina Crossroads quilt, designed by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville, that I'm working on for my brother. As you may be able see from the picture, the hand quilting is a bit wonky, but I'm really enjoying doing the baptist fans. I'm trying to do at least an hour a night, but things (like sleep!) keep getting in the way. This was a mystery quilt, which I'm so glad I did. If I'd seen the finished product first, I probably wouldn't have made it, thinking there were too many small pieces. I'm really proud of this one and can't wait to send it to Jer and Cindy for Christmas.

I was digging around in my stash today looking for some ugly stuff to use as backings and I found another unfinished quilt top. This one moved with us from the city 3 years ago and is all wrinkled. But it only needs boarders and then it'll be ready to quilt. So my new unfinished total is 6, all in different stages of finish. I'm off to order Scraps and Shirttails and have decided not to start any project from it until I've got these 6 finished.

2 UFO's down, 5 to go!

2008-09-23T08:29:00.004-04:00

Finally!!! I finished binding 2 UFO's this weekend (pictured above), put together a quilt top for my husband, cut some bricks for a new quilt and did 4 hours of hand quilting on my brother's wedding quilt. I haven't had such a productive weekend in a long time...and did I mention that I had company for part of the weekend?
Saturday we took a trip to the Great Northern Exibition, which is a combination of farm animals, midway rides, yummy snacks and a craft show. There were some beautiful and inspiring quilts. I was most impressed by the hand quilting-the stitches were so perfect on some that my dad thought they were machine quilted.
The quilt top I pieced for my husband has been hanging around for almost 2 years. I started it long before I started looking for quilt patterns that didn't include tons of wasted material. Anyhow, I found hundreds of half square triangles in the bottom of the project bag. This morning I took all the wasted triangles matched them to make pinwheels. Now even with my 5 UFO's, I've got the beginnings of 3 new quilts. Yippee!

My Nights Are Spent.....

2008-09-18T13:27:00.009-04:00

These days my nights are spent working on hand quilting baptist fans on my Carolina Crossroads quilt (designed by Bonnie Hunter). My older brother got married this past June and this quilt is to be a wedding gift for him and his beautiful wife Cindy. Normally I would have had the quilt done long before the wedding, but they only gave us a week's notice so I don't feel so bad! I thought the crossroads design was perfect, since we're from Ontario and Cindy is from Halifax.

Looking back, their wedding was so beautiful. Small and very personal, it included family from here and from Halifax and had all the heart-warming moments that a wedding should. Now if I can only get their quilt finished in time for Christmas!!! I'll post a picture of the quilt soon.

The Drive-In

2008-09-18T13:27:00.007-04:00

This is the view from my van at the last drive-in we went to this summer. I love the drive-in, and feel so lucky that I can share the experience with my daughter. I love that this drive-in is surrounded by corn fields and that the sun sets behind them. I admit to getting out of the car in the middle of a movie, just so I can stare at the stars, which reach from field to field. This is one of the memories that will inspire me though the cold winter months (which seem to be coming very soon). I'm thinking of starting a quilt inspired by the colours...but I can't decide between the corn fields and the night sky. I'll have to think on this one!

My First Post

2008-09-18T13:27:00.002-04:00

I've been spending a lot of time lately reading other quilting blogs and I love reading about what other quilters have been up to. I have a baby due at the end of November and have been trying to finish all of my UFO's before then. My camera is currently busted but I'll post pics of what I've been working on soon.
I'm a huge fan of Bonnie Hunter from Quiltville.com and am currently working on getting my Orange Crush quilt ready to quilt. I was hoping to do it this weekend but we have family visiting, so I'll have to be content with binding a quilt I finished quilting a year ago and never bound.

UFO tally
Current Projects: 7 (plus I'm itching to make a new one for my hallway)