Zoomer seems to be doing better ...

He seems to be turning the corner, though, thanks to the wonderful care by his lovely vets Drs. Nora and Jacqui from Legallais.   He's on 4 medications right now - I had to chart the meds/doses/times so I wouldn't get anything confused!  He's not totally up to speed but it really looks like he's headed in the right direction, for which I am *so* thankful.  We had to cancel our Michigan + meet Allie trip that was planned for this long weekend - I couldn't ask the kids to take care of him when he was that ill.  We'll reschedule, Allie! 

On track ... and Zoomer not doing well

I haven't posted in a while as I've been having a nice little pity party - my cat is sick and in the hospital (and the vets haven't been able yet to figure out the problem), and as hubby and I were going on a trip to Port Huron, Michigan this coming long weekend, I found it necessary, sadly, to try on swimsuits.  Some of you will know the depths of despair I reached in that change room!   The sight of my fat a$$ in a swimsuit was enough to get me back on track :D  I just don't want to ever have to go through that again - it was bad bad bad!  So I updated my poor neglected ticker and am working on fixing that which is depressing me :D  (Waiting for vet to call about Z, so that one is out of my hands for now).


I haven't felt like doing much of anything, but here's a photo of my July LANT (Wendy's challenge) - I finally tried a flex frame - it's majorly simple, lol.  I'll be making more of these - they're fun!  

Some projects are going to be mailed so I'll post them as they're received by the recipients :D

FNSI completions :)

Sewing the buttons onto my quilt

 Nancy's sachets under construction

Hell yeah, the most important FNSI ingredient - BOOZE!

The 2nd most important FNSI ingredient - blueberry jam squares :)

Pretty - Nancy's strawberries ready to work on, along with the container of home-grown lavender :)

 Woohoo quilt and matching pillowcase - completed! 

A bigger picture of the finished quilt :)

Nancy's finished sachets - I didn't have to steal one - she gave Amanda and I each our own sachet - thanks Nanc!

FNSI prep!

Tonight is July's Friday Night Sew In - I'll be spending the evening sewing and carrying on with Nancy and no-blog Amanda - I believe Nancy will be working on pretty little lavender sachets, and Amanda will be making a pillow :)

Here's my bag of stuff for tonight.  Top - toddler quilt (I just need to sew on the buttons) ... bottom, fabrics for (l-r) a Christmas gift bag (to wrap the quilt/p-case), a pillowcase to match the quilt, and a flex-frame bag (for my July LANT)  Thanks for hosting us, Nanc!!

A few days ago I came across a new-to-me blog because I spotted a picture of a quilt that interested me.  I decided to make something similar to Corina's project.  Here are the first couple of blocks I finished - I need more black/white prints - I've seen gorgeous prints @ Ikea that should work and I can pick them up in Michigan next weekend (when I meet up with blogging friend Allie!)

I hope everybody is staying cool in this dreadful heat - I think I better stop complaining about the cold in winter - I much prefer it to this CRAP!

Stay cool in a heat wave ...

by spending time in the nice cool basement sewing room, lol!

Here's a golf bag set I made for my sister :)

I completed this soft book today.  The front cover is denim recycled from my husband's work jeans :D

 Inside of front cover, and page 1.

 Pages 2 and 3.

 Pages 4 and 5.

Page 6 and inside of back cover.

Back cover :)

This made me LOL, lol!

That's from failbook, but be careful if you visit - the comments get quite vulgar and are frequently NSFW due to posters with a mental age of about 14 :D

Golf set for Miss Stella :)

Miss Stella was was over yesterday with her cousin Nancy and while in my sewing cave, she noticed some projects I had ready to sew.  She asked if I could make (for her to purchase) her a zipper bag with the fabric I had out.  Here's what I made - I hope she likes them :)

I found out the name of the recipient and digitized it to make little name labels for the inside.  They stitched out a little bigger than I thought they would be, so I'll see if I can figure out how to reduce sizes a bit for next time.  They did finish quite nicely, IIDSSM!

Here's the name stitchout I did yesterday for Stella's grandson's advent stocking - Nancy hand embroidered the name onto the stocking cuff - awwwwwwwwwwww it's so cute!!

For Liam :)

My Partner In Crime Nancy asked if I could do a stitchout of her cousin Stella's delicious grandson's name for an advent stocking she, Stella, was making for the wee sweetie.  To the Batcave Embroidery Cave, Batgirl!

After a few problems (I'm still so new at this machine embroidery gig that things rarely work out the first time, LOL) and a quick run to the quilt store for more bobbins, I hunkered down ...

 Mid-stitch :)

 Completed - I don't know why the background fabric is showing as pink, when it's snow white as in the previous photo, but his name sure worked out well - I "digitized" this myself!  I hope you like it Stella, and thanks for the bobbins!!!

Lunch @ Pickle Barrel :)

A new restaurant opened in Newmarket last month so my friend and I went to check it out today.  They sat us beside a table that had about a dozen people (it looked like an office get-together).  Note to self:  big party in the immediate vicinity does NOT bode well for other patrons.   The food was OK - not great - and the service was really slow.  Our waitress disappeared before our meal was over and another server finished our table even though she was telling us that our server would be right with us. Colour me not impressed!  I think I would try it again because the menu was quite extensive and it looked like a nice and fun restaurant, but perhaps we'll wait until they get the staff trained properly.  And we'll definitely request a new table if our server is also serving a large group - we had exactly the same problem @ The Buttery in Newmarket a few months ago (and the owners promised us free coffee and dessert on our next trip, to make up for the extremely poor service).

It was wonderful having lunch with my girlfriend though - she works full-time and has a lot of family commitments so I don't get to see her very often!

Today's projects - the bibs in the bottom row aren't deformed - I had the camera aimed on an angle to get the photo as I was standing beside a table, but they must also be crooked on the wall - they're actually all the same size!

Sometimes life hands you little lemons :D

I was working on a soft book tonight but I didn't realize that the covers were cut to the wrong size :D  I ended up deciding to make 2 books instead of 1, so I could use the pieces I've already made.   Here are the pages for the colour book - the cat fabric is the lining of the front and back covers.  The ABC page is the front cover, and I'll applique 1 2 3 for the back cover.  The inside pages are red+orange, blue+green, pink+purple :)

Bug quilt flimsy finished!  I'm taking it to Michigan at the end of the month so I can pick up some bug fabric for the border and backing - it'll be done in plenty of time for Christmas :)

Note to self ...

When sewing denim, don't wait until you break THREE needles before you remember that you have a nice stash of jeans needles :D  Just sayin!!! ;)

 Here are the last of the rainbow gift bags I had kitted - next up is a new design - similar, but smaller, and possibly with a new embellishment if I can find where I "safely" stored them :D

Here's a close-up of the crochet flowers I added to these bags - compliments of Trish in Ohio - thanks Trish! 

Boy zipper bags for Blue Hills (fabric from GERMANY!!!  Thanks Angela!) ... and a boxy bag for my favourite customer - this one is lined with denim - see above :D  The beautiful crochet flower embellishment on this bag is from England - thanks Wendy!  I also added a few tiny flower buttons - look closely!

Here are the projects I have ready to work on tomorrow - that windmill block in the centre is part of the last row of the bug windmill quilt I'm working on, and the pile of goodies beside it is a baby soft book with pages in different colours :)

All the way from England ...

A couple of days ago I received a surprise gift package from the delightful Crafter's Apprentice - aka Wendy in England :D  There are also a couple of gorgeous handmade cards but they weren't near the camera when I took the pics :D  The "apprentice" part of her moniker is a misnomer IMHO - her projects certainly look perfect to me!  Thanks Miss Wendy, for my gorgeous handmade goodies - I love 'em! 

 A few recent finishes - two rainbow gift bags and a boxed bottom quilted bag - the gift bags are for my favourite customer (!) and the zipper bag is for Blue Hills :)

These 3 pillowcases were completed a few days ago but I didn't get around to photographing them until today, as I wanted to run them through the washer/dryer first.  These are for Blue Hills as well :D

International co-operation :D

The denim zippies on the right are a tri-country effort!!  The sheep ribbon is from Germany (thanks Angela!), the crochet flowers are from the USA (thanks Trish!) and the denim for the bags was recycled from electrician's jeans (aka my oldest son's worn out work pants, LOLOL). 

These bags will all go to Blue Hills - the lace trim on the bird bag (top left) was wrapped around a set of FQ's I bought at a quilt store - I managed to use it all up :)

When I get my blue/green quilt finished (it's all quilted now [stitch in the ditch decorative stitching] - I just need to birth it with the chenille backing, then sew buttons to the block intersections) I'll finish this one up.  Those are all bug fabrics making up the windmill blocks - I need to pick up some bug fabric for the backing/border, and when complete, this will be a Christmas gift for a little one - a cousin of the blue/green quilt recipient :D

Hot temps means I spend the day in my nice cool basement :D

I finished using up the last of this Susan Branch floral fabric with 3 more floral zippies - these will go to Blue Hills :)

 Composition book cover made with a fat quarter my sister gave me @ Christmas :) Imagining her at a FABRIC store makes me smile ... WIDELY! 

Lily pad boxy bag (Patchyapple pattern) - lined with denim!  I'll put this in your next box of goodies, Turquessa :D

Rubber ducky - you're the one ...

Rubber ducky I'm awfully fond of youuuuuuu :)  Quilt finished tonight - it measures 41" x 41", the backing is the same yellow TOT used for the binding and the alternate squares, and it's batted with Warm and Natural :)

Finishing off some kits - check out the (flower) buttons and rick rack! :)

Happy July 4th!

Happy 4th of July to my American friends - I hope you're celebrating with family and friends, and enjoying fireworks and good food! SAFELY!! :)

Rubber ducky quilt almost finished - I just need to bind it and it'll be finished :)

4 elephant bibs made to use up the last bits of these fabrics :)

Happy birthday Zoomer ... and Canada!

Zoomer turned 10 today, and Canada turned 144 - Happy Birthday to both of you!!  Here's Z kicking back with Nick and a beer in the man cave :D

 Here's the ham ...

showing off his new hard hat for work :D

Today's creations - I decided these pillowcases would be a quick and easy (and useful!) way to plow through some yardage.  The cuffs are made from cotton lace fabric - they add the perfect girly touch :)  These p-cases (and the other 3 I have cut out) will go to Blue Hills :)