Happy Meowloween ;)

Happy "Meow"loween!!  Photo blatantly stolen from one of my favorite websites --- I Can Has Cheezburger - the authors and contributors are OBVIOUSLY completely 100% cognizant as to the importance and pure superiority of our feline friends :)

Treat Totes and a Canadian bear :)

Here are a couple of "Small Treat Totes" I made tonight - one for our young neighbour Nikky and one for g-nephew Matteo :)  Very easy to make, although next time I'll interface the fabric to give it a bit more body.  I'll put some Halloween candy in Matteo's for when we give it to him Saturday night :)

LOLOLOLOL isn't this guy cute?  My friend Nancy made him - she hasn't gifted him yet so she can't post him on her blog until after he's received :)  He's even cuter in person than the photo shows - I wanted to snuggle him and tuck him in bed, lol.   I'll be making a few of these little cuties - this pattern is from Sew Darn Cute by Jenny Ryan - a really sweet book!  I saw Nancy's copy when she got it - it's got enough cute projects in it that I would have bought the book myself if she hadn't :D

Baby girls are now safe from droolage :)

Hubby and I had a wonderful road trip to Pennsylvania last week to visit our friend Mickie and her boys Seamus and Teddy :)  We had a lovely time, and will be back next fall, I think :D  Thanks Mickie!!  No photos, as I didn't have my camera, but the photo of the year would have been our trunk full of fabric from many fabric shop visits, LOLOL.  I'm not going to say a number ---> 84 yards!!!! <-- but I certainly found a lot of bargains! ;)  I cut out my first project tonight with some new fabric - hopefully I can finish and post it tomorrow (and I've saved the leftovers for ya, Nanc!) :)

In the interim, here are some bibs I finished for a sugar and spice box I'm working on :D  The intended recipient just LOVES flamingos!  NOT!!!  ;)  

Finished selvage bag - major brain fart :D

When I made my first run at this Amy Butler swing bag I decided it needed pockets inside, and a loop/button closure.  Did I remember to do those changes when I finished this bag? NO!!!  FACEPALM!!!  I'll add some notes to my pattern so I won't forget next time, lol.  I'm glad I got the bag done in time for our trip to PA on Wednesday - I'm looking forward to showing off my selvages!

A couple of people mentioned suggested a cord making tutorial on a previous blog post - I have to try doing the cord on my own without my friend's assistance - if I manage it, I'll try to post some instructions.  Tutorial writing is actually a LOT harder than it looks, so don't expect a masterpiece, lol!  In fact - the next time you read and try a tutorial you've found online, be sure and send a big thank you to the author - those things take a LOT more time to prepare than you would expect!

A holey doily becomes ...

I had a friend over today so I showed her how to make these notebook covers.  We repurposed a doily that has seen better days to embellish the cover!

I learned how to make handmade cording out of embroidery floss (or any appropriate material, really) using a "cording drill" (basically, a hand egg-beater with a hook on the end - totally genius, LOL!) - Nanc did 90% of the work but I got to keep the cord - HA!!!  I should be able to make my own now *fingers crossed* :)

Sandra saves and sews selvages, smiling softly :)

The bag I'm making is here - but I'm making it without that bow/scarf thing hanging on it :D  I'm copying this version.  Tonight I cut out the base fabric and got to work.

Side 1 finished!!  I'll have enough selvages for the other side and a matching zipper bag *whew* :)

 Unfortunately I made a huge mess in my sewing room while I was working on this -- here are a couple of photos.  I didn't clean up at all, so this is the real (and messy) deal!

Yeah I told you things got messy, LOL!!!  Hopefully tomorrow I get the front and handles finished!

Gotta love cupcakes :)

 Isn't this sweet fabric?  Pun intended!  I picked it up at Hobby Lobby when we were in New York a few weeks ago - I should buy some every time we go Stateside, lol.  These are for a 'cupcake order' :D

My first Amy Butler "Swing" bag.  I thought the bag as per the pattern was going to be too large, so I reduced the size to about 75% to make a trial run.  Too small, LOL.  Next time around I'll make a few changes:  it has NO pockets (??!??!  WTH!) so I'll add some, and it definitely needs a closure of some sort - button and loop, I think. 

I originally bought the pattern so I could copy a project I spotted one day in my surfing - tonight I started my version of the bag - hopefully I can get it done in time for our trip to PA next week!  Will post some pics in another post :)

Canada Post SUCKS

I mailed a parcel to my sister - 356 kms away - on October 8 (a Friday). She's in Ontario as well.  She still doesn't have it.  My friend in Alabama mailed me a package on October 9 (a Saturday) - 1,982 kms away - it arrived today.  Her parcel weighed more than mine, and cost $2 less to mail. 

Canada Post you should be ashamed, especially when you tell me constantly that parcels within Canada take a minimum of 6 business days to be delivered unless I pay EXTRA over your already exhorbitant rates.

An elephant set - almost complete :)

 Elephant blanket - backed with pink minky-ish fabric - 36x36.

Taggy blanket and 3 bibs, matching the quilt.

2 Halloween bibs - a gift for a friend :D


I need to enlarge my elephant pattern to make a stuffy to go with the quilt set - the small size is a bit too fiddly when my thumb isn't 100% :D

Check fabric orientation before sewing :D

If you don't, THIS will happen!  This one is off to the thrift store - I'm not keeping it, LOL.

 Lovely little Christmas bib (infant sized) ...

 and a set of purple flannel bibs with red minky-ish backing :)

The miners in Chile ...

are only hours away from being pulled up, one by one - I'm watching the story on the news, crying my eyes out (with hope).  Please let those men make it up alive.  Today is the day!  They've been down there since August 5 - there will be such a HUGE celebration tonight as those men are reunited with their families!  Say a little prayer if you will, that they all make it safely out!
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20101012/chilean-miners-101012/

10:19 EST:  Phoenix begins controlled descent!!!  Be safe, you brave man!
10:36 EST:  Emanual Gonzalez (sp?) has arrived in the mine ... the miners are hugging him - OMG!

10:53 EST:  Florencio Avalos (sp?) will be the first miner to go up.  Someone is in the capsule but we're not sure who it is!  Florencio's family is waiting for him up there ...oh look - someone is waving the Chilean flag - we see you, buddy!!!!
10:56 EST:  the capsule is headed up with the first miner!!!!!!  The crowd is going to be hysterical when he hits the surface - I hope they let his family be first in line to greet him!  The news headline:  1st of the 33 miners now ascending the mine.  SUCH GOOD NEWS!
11:05 EST:  The siren just sounded - I think the first miner is nearing the surface.  People are looking down into the shaft, and his family is right there waiting to see him.  That big wheel (winch) is moving steadily - so reassuring!  (And the Chilean Prime Minister popped a hardhat onto the first miner's 8 year old son Byron - such a cutie!).
11:10 EST:  the capsule just arrived up with the first miner.  The crowd is clapping, I'm crying, the miner looks rather befuddled, Byron is crying ... the miner is out!  HE'S OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!  His little boy is hugging him - omg this is a miracle.  I hope the other 32 miners (and the rescuer) are all safe as well. I'm going to bed now, and I hope I see double digit rescue numbers when I wake up tomorrow :)

Flowers and jack-o-lanterns :D

A friend gave me some fabric recently - here's the first thing I made with some of the stash - a pretty flower pillowcase for the daughter of a friend :)

Here are a couple of bibs I made with some Halloween fabric I got on ebay -- the backing is a fun bright orange/bright green/purple quilt store quality flannel - really super to work with!  One bib is for my neighbour's new baby girl, and the other will go in "stash" :D

Today's finishes :D

 2 postcard zippies ... tutorial from Skip to my Lou (oh how I love this tute!) :)

 6 rainbow gift bags - notice the little rainbow buttons all the way from Hong Kong!

 Halloween and Christmas bibs for wee Miss Sophie :)

Nascar composition notebook cover for Alex (our oldest son's girlfriend, a big Nascar fan) :D

Bibs 'n zips :)

 Bibs for Sophie (oh how I love that cupcake fabric!) ...

6 Halloween zipper bags ... you can't really see, but the skeleton bags each have several spider buttons sewn onto spider webs ;)

A few items I'm working on ...

 Cupcake zipper bags, need zipper pull (ordered from ebay).

Rainbow gift bags!  Fabric from New York, drawstrings from Cali, and buttons from China!

 Snowman bibs under construction :D

Halloween zippies under construction - tomorrow I'm going to Fabricland to see if I can get Halloween buttons to embellish these ;)

Next up - elephants!

Here's the Debbie Mumm elephant quilt I'm working on now.  I got 2 rows of the quilt pieced, and pieced extra blocks into patchwork pieces big enough for bibs.  I need to go to the fabric store to get pink and brown ribbons for the matching taggy blanket - darn I hate shopping for sewing notions ;)

Here's a little quilt top I made recently with some small pieces of fabric that a friend gave me - the top measures 38" square.  I used up every inch of these two fabrics!  I'll pick up some fabric for the backing @ Joanns when we go down this weekend :)

While the boys are away, mom sews :D

Hubby worked today, DS1 is away camping with his girlfriend, and DS2 was in and out and about, so I spent most of the day in the sewing room puttering around :D  I finished ...

 2 composition notebook covers ...

 4 airplane bibs ...

 Halloween pillowcase for great-nephew Matteo (2 1/2) ...

 another Halloween zipper bag (surprise gift) ...

the last color block for my color soft book (I can't finish it until I get more purple FQ's).


Not pictured - a Christmas gift bag (out of some fabric my friend's aunt gave me) - I didn't get a picture because I need drawstrings for it, so it's in a box of "things that need things so I can finish them" ;) ... and a cat cage quilt (these all pretty much look the same, so I don't usually take a picture of them, lol).

Airplanes, green and purple :)

I had just enough of the airplane and royal blue backing fabrics to make 4 infant sized bibs.  Notice the matching velcro :)  I'll make the other 3 bibs tomorrow, which will finish off 2 pieces of stash :)

 Another block for my next soft book ...

... and an incomplete color block because I had no more purples despite a desperate root through my different stash areas ;)  Poor me - shopping is required! 

Pillowcase Thursday :D

Rainbow gift bags - I got the rainbow buttons for the yoyo flowers in the mail yesterday from China (so they're probably full of lead :/) - I'm just waiting for the rat tail cord to arrive for the drawstrings!

 Two more golf zipper bags :)

Halloween zippy - a gift :)

 The star of the show :)  I had to run them through the washer/dryer to make sure they'd come out nicely, and they did :)  Guess who they're for? LOL!!!