UFO Apocalypse 2013! :)

Mickie and I decided we needed to get some quilty UFO's done and gone so we're going to git 'r done with UFO Apocalypse 2013 :D I did a rough count of my quilty UFO's and was a bit surprised at how many I had --- I thought it was about 8, but it's double-ish that number - oops!  I'll do an official count this week and get some photos.  Here are 3 that I did get photographed - the first one is "pixelized" as it's a surprise and the recipient may recognize parts of it :D

Blue and green "mystery" quilt - needs sandwiching/quilting/binding/label.

Pink strings quilt - just needs 9 buttons stitched onto the front for "quilting".  When it's completed it'll go to Blue Hills.

Christmas string quilt - all blocks are done, but that's it.  Will try to have it finished for Christmas 2013.

It'll be great to get these done and out the door to their new homes!

Miss ya, Buzz

Brian and "Lumpy" (our oldest lad before his operation, haha) - early 1989 :)

Trying to get things ready for a big family lunch for tomorrow, but wanted to send up a quick note up to my late brother Brian - the OTHER redhead - Brian Douglas Friesen, Feb. 25/64 - Dec. 31/98.  Love ya Buzz - stay away from the bumblebees :)

A few Christmas gifts I made this year :)

Library tote set for Lleyton :)

Library tote set for Matteo, Madelena and Massimo :)

READ totes - adapted from a pattern from this seller
Penguins - Clara (and Clarence) from this seller :)

Batik set for my SIL Heather :)  Boxy bag 8.5"w x 3"t x 4"d (cut 12x14, 1.25" boxes, 3/8" s.a.).  Flex frame bag = 4.5"w x 7"t including casings.

Fabric baskets - 4.5" x 4.5" x 4.5".  Tutorial from orangeflowerpatterns.blogspot.com but is no longer on the site.  Fabric is basically cut to 9.5" x 13.5", with 2" boxes cut.  Little gifties were tucked inside before giving these to Matteo, who promptly pretended they were hats and put them on his 8 month old twin brother/sister, LOL.

Red Riding Hood bag set for my sister, "Grammie" - made with Japanese linen.  Boxy bag has a RRH charm zipper pull because I am COOL (and found it on Etsy, hehe) :)

Onesies I embellished for (L-R) LLeyton, Massimo, Madelena :)

                                                                    

One done, 2 not done - that's about par for the course, lol

 Only a little progress has been made on my "mystery project" - you may be able to tell what it is now :D  It won't be ready in time for Christmas gift giving, so will become a birthday present instead - I'm glad I have more time to work on it, lol!

Here's a project I kitted the other day - I added the prairie point after seeing THIS project made by Emily (Emedoodle) - she adds a trio of them to lots of her projects - mainly for FUN!  I loved the idea, and have stolen borrowed her idea, but will call mine Prairie Doodles in honour of her inspiration :D

My first Black Apple dolly -- she's quite easy to make but shoving those spindly arms and legs "inside" when trying to stitch her together was quite a challenge! 

Construction notes:
Next time around I'll use patterned fabric for her legs, and will ask my friend Nancy to embroider a simple face for me.  I may also increase the pattern size by about 15% to make her easier for my fiddly fingers.  May try wool or wool felt for the hair instead of fleece. Will add some embellishments - ribbons or trim, buttons, maybe even a different hairstyle :D










Hubby and I are getting ready to head out to a friends' house for our traditional Christmas Eve Chinese food take-out get-together :D  I hope everybody has a wonderful and safe Christmas and a fantastic 2013! 

Some unposted photos :D

It's been a hectic few weeks but this is the home stretch - I hope we're all ready! I took some pictures tonight of some projects that were finished over the last few weeks - these are projects that will go to Blue Hills:

Flanel bibs to use up the last of this cat flannel

Zipper and measuring tape "snap happy" type bags, using up scraps and remants ...

Snowman pillowcase and a measuring tape bag

Here are several projects that will go in the gift box for future gifting (or which will go to Blue Hills later on):

Handled boxy bag

Christmas zipper bags

Cherry zipper bags (the cherry fabric was a remnant from Joanns)

Shark zipper bags

Drawstring bags - there's a free tutorial @ In Color Order (but these were made from the purchased version of the pattern)

Cute zipper pouch for a kiddo :)

Now I'm off to make some desserts for tomorrow night - we're visiting friends and I'm in charge of dessert :D  If I don't post again for a few days, I hope everyone has a happy and safe Christmas - enjoy yourselves, and don't go crazy trying to get everything done, or trying to make everything perfect!  I didn't get to some projects, and some things didn't work out as planned, but I did what I could, and now it's time to relax and spend some time with my husband and sons!

Mystery project :D

Today I started a Christmas present - it's bigger and more detailed than what I've done in a while.  There are 15 pattern pieces, plus some pieces cut by measurement - and I'm tracing each piece onto tissue paper (most are too big to photocopy) to preserve the original pattern :D  The project is an Oliver & S project - I hope it turns out well ... especially now that I've posted about it!  Tonight I drafted, cut out and assembled the first 4 pattern pieces.  I still have quite a way to go, lol, but so far so good!  :D

I also finished this little cutie (a Christmas gift, and being posted to the Happy Little Pouch Hop) and baked 4 1/2 dozen cookies for DS2 to take to work to share with his crew :)

Measuring tape upcycle ... and BAH Humbug :D

Measuring tape snappy bags - tutorial here :)

Another measuring tape snappy bag :)

The last of that batch of measuring tape bags :D

A humbug/triangle bag - fabric cut to 6.5" x 6.5" - next time I'll cut to 6.5" x 7.5" and stitch the zipper onto the 7.5" side :D  No raw edges inside :)

Quicky zipper bag to finish off some cute Christmas scraps :)

EEEK love this one!  Loralie Christmas doggy block made into a little zippy - this is SERIOUSLY cute (iidssm!) :)

It's very handy having electricians in the house - I ask, and at least one of them will come home with a dead measuring tape for old mom to use in these measuring tape/snappy bags - thanks Nick! 

Easy Cinna-Minis :D

Recipe here :)

This post came up in my blog reader today - I popped over for a closer look, and then ran into my kitchen to make them, lol.  Quick, and very easy!  I haven't tasted them yet but I suspect the boys will have a lovely snack when they get home - don't they look great?!

Challenge completed - it's a DUMPLING!

Challenge extended and accepted here :D

I started my dumpling last night :)  I had a rough start - I made several dumb mistakes, and ended up having to froggy stitch the lining off of the bag and recut it, lol.  OOPS!

Basting the zipper to the curved bag, is quite tricky.  Getting both sides of the zipper pinned at exactly the right spot is pretty important to getting good results.

Happily, once the zipper is basted to the outside, the rest of the process is fairly easy - on the larger bag, anyways, lol.  I wouldn't attempt the small one - for my fiddly hands it would be an exercise in frustration :D  I think I'll enlarge the pattern by 15% (and maybe 25%) for future bags - I think that would make the bags easier to complete :)

Use LOTS of pins at this step and the rest will be a breeze :)  I actually added half a dozen more pins after I took this picture, lol.

I added ribbon tabs to make the bag easier to open :)

Close-up of the placement of the tabs :)

OOoooOO what's this?  A ravioli??!!

No - it's a DUMPLING!!  YAY!!! 5" wide x 2" deep x 4" tall :)

Thanks Val for the kick in the pants to try this bag, and thanks to Michelle for the *free* dumpling pattern!  I'll be posting this to the Happy Little Pouch Hop as my latest completion :)
 

Rub me for good luck :)

I found out today that I won 2 blog giveaways - it's my lucky day!  I'm having a fantastic time in the Happy Little Pouch Swap (thanks to the delightful Emily and Elaine), and I won a prize for Week 1 --- a gorgeous zipper bag pattern donated by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh Fransson! -- isn't it cute?  Then I won a set of 6 Christmas notecards from a HandmadeMN giveaway --- the cards are designed by Lori Lee Sampson of Starglow Studio - thank you HandmadeMN and Lori - I'm looking forward to Chester coming to my house, lol!


I was downloading some photos tonight from the camera and while I was resizing/adjusting the colour, my fingers slipped on the keyboard and I learned something new, LOL.  Here are a few recent finishes - most of them are Christmas gifts!

In Color Order drawstring bags :)

Fall/pumpkin boxy handle bag and zipper bag - these bags were posted to the Happy Little Pouch Hop :)

Zipper pulls for the fall bags set

Close-up of one of the zipper pulls

Loralie pouch :)

Close-up of zipper pull :)