Cross-stitch and machine embroidery :)

Here are a couple of zipper bags using the cross-stitch tags I had stitched a few months ago and my text drafting practice stitchouts :)  The embroidered one is easier on my hands, that's for sure!

It's a jungle out there :)

 And these (Patchyapple) jungle bags will be going to Blue Hills, along with the bags in the following picture :D

 Using up more scraps!

Here's the royal blue and bright green wonky log cabin quilt top I finished this morning - this will be a Christmas gift when it's finished :)  It measures about 40" x 50".  I have royal blue fabric for the backing, and have cut out a matching pillowcase with more blue fabrics :)  I may buy a bunch of royal blue and bright green buttons to stitch to the block interesections when it's finished - I think that would be really cute!

I reinstalled Irfanview ...

I'm not sure if it was causing my weird photo problems, but if it was, this may have fixed the problem :)

Here are some recent finishes:

2 golf bag sets, each set consisting of a zippy and a boxy bag.  One of the boxy bags has a minor "imperfection" so that set will be going to the counselling centre, while the other set is for my favourite client :D  These still need zipper pulls :)

A few more zippy bag finishes - the batiky blue/green bag is a prism bag with a boxed bottom, and the panty bag has a row of pom pom trim on it - ever so cute :)  The round bottom bag is from Skip to My Lou :)

UFO finish #7 of 7 in the PhD Challenge I've been working on - I beat the deadline by a few days, wooooohoooooooooo!!  This scrap quilt finished to about 54" x 72" and will be donated to a local shelter with the other 6 I completed :)

Happy birthday Chris :)

My baby turned 21 today - funny how a 29 year old can have a 21 year old son!!! ;)  Happy birthday to my my strapping car-obsessed 2nd year (almost 3rd year!) apprentice wireman :)

Here's his official 21st birthday photo - notice you can see more of the cat than the kid, LOL.  OK this is getting weird - the pictures I downloaded onto my desktop 10 minutes ago ARE GONE!  I saw the thumbnails, but now ... gone??!!  And of course I deleted them from the camera card after I downloaded them.  This photo stuff is getting spooky - a similar thing happened 2 nights ago - something weird is going on, and I think it involves Irfanview!

Since I can't find the picture I took earlier, here he is last year on his 20th birthday :D 
We went to the same restaurant last year AND this year :D

Here are the 2 finishes I couldn't post last night - the linen and sunflower zippies.  Today I finished the shamrock boxy bag - that and the sunflower bag will go to Blue Hills, and the linen bag will go in my gift box.

I also completed 2 golf themed zipper bags but will get their photo after I finish the matching boxy bags :)

Today we went to Frankie Tomatto's in Markham for our son's 21st birthday brunch (his actual birthday is tomorrow).  The food isn't great but you get to go to the stations as often as you want, and we've been taking the kids there for birthdays since they were little :)  The older boy now prefers The Keg (ME TOO!) but the birthday boy got to choose :) 

4 zippers, green thread and a bit of stash :)

These bags are both lined with the same fabric that I used on the outside (I think it's called barkcloth?) - this set is for a gift :)

I thought Blogger was messing with me, as I uploaded 2 different photos but Blogger shows me 2 of the same photo - it turns out that somehow I named the same photo with 2 different names, then deleted everything from the camera.  I'll have to retake the photo tomorrow to upload, LOL.  Definitely can't blame Blogger for that one!

WELL DONE NEW YORK!!!

Same sex marriage bill passes in New York - WOOOOHOOOOOOOOO - excellent news!!

And on a completely unrelated note ... a few pics :)

 I got the zipper pulls done for Ruth's boxy and zipper bags - they'll go to her house this weekend :)

 Here's a little zipper bag for Blue Hills - I had only a small piece of the red bones fabric left and I used up every inch :)

 Linen golf zippy - I'm not sure if it shows up, but the middle button has a golf theme - it came from England!!!  Oooo la la!  :)

 Mini notebook cover for my Canada travel set :)

Today during one of the breaks between the torrential rain, we had a blue jay stop by for a visit.  I ran to get the camera but by the time I got back to the patio, he had disappeared and Chippy had dropped by - hi Chippy!

Chippy :)  --------------->

Wonky logs :)

Wendy this photo is for you - stress-free wonky logs!   They'll eventually morph into a toddler quilt ;)

A few wee finishes and a weather report :D

 3 shoe bags for the Canada travel set I'm doing ...

 3 wine bottle bags for my favourite customer :D  Tutorials here and here :)  These bags were kitted a while back, waiting their turn to be sewn :D

Paper pieced and appliqued potato hotpad, part of a set of 5 hotpads I'm making as a gift (I'm making 2 sets, actually) :)

The weather is really wild right now - earlier tonight the mist and fog came rolling in while it was still light out - it looked magnificent!  Now there's a crazy thunderstorm happening, with lots of thunder and lightning :)  My poor kitty has hightailed it (literally! HA!!) down to the basement because he's scared of the thunder!   I think it's going to rain most of tomorrow as well - it'll be a good day to stay inside and sew :D

iLANT :)

(LANT = learn a new technique) Well - in the last few days I did learn a new technique, and this afternoon I tried it out to see if, in fact, I actually HAD learned a new technique.  Turns out - I did :)

Just a bib, you say?  Yes, just a bib.  But it's more than just a bib ... it's a bib with PURPOSE!  Little Miss Albany is the first recipient of my new knowledge, although at 9 days old today, she's not likely to realize it, LOL.

I learned how to "digitize" a name to stitch out on my embroidery machine :)  I only know how to do the most basic of techniques, and I need to practice placement, but I can think of lots of fun ways to use this skill.   Right, Jenn?  ;)

Some random eye candy:

Look closely ... ;)

Look closely here too, lol

Zoomer being Zoomer :)

PhD #'s 4-6 :)

I don't think I posted these when they were completed - one was done last month, two this month.  Only 1 more to go, and then I'll have done all 7 UFO's I signed up for in Myra's PhD Challenge, YAY!  These are all "empty the scrap bin and use up stash" quilts, backed with polar fleece (mostly freecycled fleece blankets), and will be donated to a nearby shelter.

I should have shaken out the wrinkles on this one - I found it in the spare bedroom thrown on the floor in a pile of stuff :D  54" x 72" (approx.)

 Still wet from being washed!  54" x 72" (approx.)

Also 54" x 72" (approx.), and also wet from being washed :)

Here's #7, the last one that needs to be finished by June 30 - I'll start working on it this week :)  That burgundy fleece is a blanket that I received on freecycle - it's the perfect colour to use for the backing :D

Graci is home :)

Pretty Miss Graci has now arrived at my brother/SIL's home and is, I'm sure, quickly becoming part of the family :)  Her arrival was eagerly anticipated and awaited, and I suspect she'll be a happy and spoiled little girl with her new family :)  Welcome to the family, cutie!

Getting used to her cage - what a forlorn face, lol. Puppy dog eyes, trying to guilt mom and dad into letting her out ... HA!!

FNSI for June :)

My friend Nancy came over tonight and we FNSI'd like it was 1985 ;) 

Here's a screen shot of the monkey we were playing with.  We didn't have the right colours - we just wanted to stitch it out to see the basic shape etc.
 

We ran into machine errors and thread problems ...

Introducing our drugged out variegated hippy monkey ... isn't he a hoot?  He went home with Nancy to become an embellishment of some sort :)

I worked on a boxy bag - here's the fabric being quilted ...

Here are the crocheted flowers I added for a cute embellishment ...

And here's the completed bag, which is actually a gift for Nancy's mom, but shhhhhhhhh don't tell Ruth - it's a surprise! ;) 

Nancy's bag under construction ...

The bag is almost finished - she just has to attach the handles.  It's quite a large and lovely bag, and will be perfect to carry all of her crafty goodness when she goes on vacation :D

Here's our collection of FNSI progress - I have to admit that while all the projects are of course adorable, the sock monkey is my favourite, lol!

I'll be poking around tomorrow to see what the other FNSI participants completed - I hope everybody had as good a time as Nancy and I did! 

Cherry nut granola bars :D

The King Arthur Flour site is always putting up new and fun recipes  - I tried this one today, and even added some dried cherries because - well - I love them, LOL.  That photo is the pan just as it came out of the oven so we haven't tasted them yet, but they sure do look good!  I'm servingthem for the FNSI tonight, and they'd also be great for the kids' work lunches :) 

Calorie free pizza :D

Here's my pepperoni, mushroom and green pepper pizza hotpad, backed with pizza fabric :D  This completes one of the sets I'm making - veg, potatoes, meat, dessert and pizza :D

Scrap user upper pleated pouch  - I couldn't get a good photo of it, but the zipper pull is a small doxie charm :D  This will go to Blue Hills :)

This set, too, will go to Blue Hills - note the crocheted flower embellishments on each bag (thanks Trish!) :) Boxy bag is a Patchy Apple design, available here :)

Yes, you DO learn from your mistakes :)

Here's the ducky quilt flimsy I completed yesterday - it's now in the "rotation" of projects to work on, under the category of "norim" (no recipient in mind :D) :)

The pizza hotpad I was working on yesterday until I girded my loins and tried out the embroidery machine :D

When the machine tells you that there's a thread problem, it won't necessarily tell you that it means "bobbin thread all gone, beam me up some more, Scotty!".  Of course I realized this after I had completed and unhooped the pupper, LOL.  Rump oopsie - lesson learned!

After you learn the thread lesson, you put it to practice and try another stitchout ... to go on a cage quilt ...

 like this one ...

 Nice rump this time - not so sparse :D