My little corner of the interwebs :)
You're not seeing things - the picture is on a 4 degree slant :p When I took the picture it came out a bit crooked, so I adjusted the photograph so the wallhanging is straight, lol. I just learned how to do that today :D 
National Sewing Month Project 1: I can't post a picture of the finished project as the recipient reads my blog - will post when she receives it :) Here's the fabric I used for it tho :D 
Check here for these yummy dishes - Mac & Cheese , and Mocha Chocolate Chip cheesecake:)
Ready for backing and binding :) My 20.5" ruler came in handy to square this up to 16.5 X 20.5 ! When I was piecing the apples, I forgot that I wanted to "wonk" one and put the stem on facing in the opposite direction - by the time I remembered, the apples were all pieced - oh well - next time ;)
I'm working on this project, starting with the September block. Here are the sections I have done so far - I need to do one more apple, and the checkerboards, then put the pieces together. Each miniature wallhanging finishes up to 16" X 20" (I think - I'm going by memory, lol). I'm going to change some of them - I don't really like the February one and might borrow a groundhog/heart idea I saw on a webshots album belonging to Wilma, who is the sister of a quilty friend of mine in Ohio (hi, Patty!) ... I still have a few months to plan :) I'll probably eliminate most of the applique and replace it with paper piecing :)
After I made the first fabric basket I decided to make 3 out of some sewing themed fabric I had in my stash - and I finished the third one last night - YAY (the newest one is the one with yellow handles) :) Now I need to pick some fabrics to make one for someone who "hinted" that she'd like one (but without the sewing fabric, lolol) - I love it - you KNOW someone will like something when they drop hints like that! That put a big smile on my face :)
Just finished this one, and have two more ready to work on :p Tutorial available here :) I made this one a little bit bigger than the first one - it measures about 5" tall X 10" wide, with a 4" bottom. Fun and fast to make!
but at least they're now wrapped and almost ready to mail, lol. Hey - I'm sending them in the right SEASON, which is an improvement for me - sometimes they dont' even get sent in the same YEAR :p
Inspired by the EVIL (wink wink!) Nanette over at Freda's Hive, I've whipped up a little fabric basket to test drive the tutorial I found a while ago at the Pink Penguin blog. Gotta say ... I liiiiiiiike it. Liiiiiiike it a lot, and will make more of these little cuties! Thanks for the tutorial, Miz Pink Penguin, and thanks for the inspiration, Miz Nanette!!!
My second try came out better - it closed more, but it still didn't close completely. Although you can't tell from the photo, that gap is at least an inch wide - that's a pretty big gap :D The bag is so sweet - it really does look like a flower with those petals - with the right fabric, it would be a delightful little bag to present a little gifty in! And others have managed to create their bags with no problems. However, it isn't working *for me*, so I'll just pass on this pattern for the time being - it's actually stressing me out trying to figure it out, and I just don't need to add more stress to my life :)
My bag won't close! I've threaded it with ribbon according to the directions, but because of the thickness of the fabric (quilt store fabric, so it isn't thin/broadclothy stuff) it won't draw up any more! Their bag draws up just fine - I'm thinking they used thinner fabric, but I wonder if that's enough to explain the different results? Am I just a bad sewer? LOL!! I hope some of my spicy friends will try the bag too, and post their results - it's such a sweet bag, I'd really like to conquer this pattern!
A few hours later - well!! Spicy Karen tried the pattern and ended up with the same results I did, so I know it isn't just me :D I'll post at the Cotton Spice site and see what they say - if it's both Karen and I, there might be others out there too, that got the same results! Perhaps they'll have some hints and suggestions for us :)
Here are most of the goodies I got in the States this past weekend - some were gifts from my quilty spicy girlies, the rest were from the various quilt/fabric/department stores we visited :) I didn't post pictures of all the groceries we bought at Aldi's - be thankful, LOL!
In my previous post I mentioned that I would post a picture of a project that a friend and I were working on during my visit to Ohio. I didn't want the intended recipient's wife to see it until we presented it to her husband ... it was a surprise! One of the hubbies in our spicy Yahoo group was very sick in the spring, so the members of the group sneakily made blocks and sent them to Patty in Ohio - she assembled the quilt top and sandwiched it, then I arrived and helped do the tying and finishing. Here's the finished quilt we made - it was presented to Pat and Trish a few days ago. It was a big surprise for both of them! We did manage to keep all mention OFF the group so Trish hadn't seen any of our sneaky emails *grin*. I think they were very happy with our project :) I'm standing behind the quilt holding it up, so that should give you an idea of how big it is (and keep you from getting an idea of how big "I" am ... ROTFL!!!). It's backed with soft cuddly red flannel, and tied with red floss. I think it's sweeeeeeeeeet!
We're here in Ohio visiting some spicy quilty internet girlfriends - yesterday I spent the day with Patty in West Salem, Ohio ... we worked on one project (will post pics later - I didn't get any with my camera) - and then we went downstairs and each made a pear from Nancy Halvorsen's "12 Days of Christmas" book - fast, easy, fun and cute! Hers is on the left, mine on the right. I got to sew using her Singer 301 - what a fantastic machine - just fabulous to sew on. 
I haven't been sewing much for the past week - it's been too hot, I was waiting for my kitty to get better (and I think he is, now, whew!), and I just didn't feel like it :D I did make some gift bags, and today I decided to try making a mesh tote, like the ones I've seen online. The black mesh - normally used for screens - is quite cheap even here in Canada - something like $7 for a roll that's 24" X (84? I can't remember). The colored stuff is way more expensive - a friend in Ohio just bought some and paid $9.99/yard (36" wide). It's something like $25/metre here in Canada - isn't that awful? Anyways - I wanted to try with the black first because it's very cheap, and if I didn't like using it, or if it didn't work well, the cost would have been minimal. 
Finished and installed, and I'm very happy with the results :D The colors are truer in the top picture - they seem to be a bit faded in the bottom one. I did learn a valuable lesson tho - make sure your machine is switched off before covering it up!!! I went downstairs today to finish the project, and realized that I had put the cover on last night to fit for size, but I left it on overnight, and the machine was still on - OOPS! 
I've received a weblog award from my fellow Canuck (fellow Ontarian, too!)Nancy-Rose - isn't this cool! She likes my eye candy! :) I'm struttin!!! Thank you kindly, neighbouroonie ... I'm honored! Please check out her blog to see her fabulous projects, stories and pictures of her yard sale finds - I never find goodies like that - everybody in this area seems to specialize in baby and kid stuff - been there, done that, not going there again until I get grandies!
I haven't gotten much done in the last week - it was hot, and I was stressed and cranky. I did make this little bag last night to use as a gift bag ... I've LONG wanted to do this kind of project. This flickr album is what originally inspired me, and this particular picture is the one that got me going! Check out her fun blog for fun reading with lots of eye candy :) YAY for Vicki H. @ Turkey Feathers! 
Here's what I'm working on today - a sewing machine cover, starring my delightful model Zoomer (lol) :) - using this pattern :)
I got a few more small projects done in the last few days - one of my favorites is a couple of gift bags I made using some fabric a girlfriend had given me. Thanks Chris - check out what your scraps turned into!! ;)
I also got a few more pillowcases made for ConKerrCancer.org ... some bibs for my great/grand nephew Matteo, and a couple more grab bags for the gift box - these are the ones I've already made yo yos for (for decoration), but I haven't attached them yet. Will do that soon :)
I've sent my applique projects through the washer and dryer and they came out just fine, so I'm considering them an unqualified success :) Here are 3 more I finished yesterday :)
I made these babies last night --- they're in the washing machine right now so I can test to make sure I did enough zigzag stitching so the appliques don't shred when they get washed! If they don't come out of the washer and dryer looking this good, I'm going to delete this post!
Last night I cut out the pieces, and this afternoon I sewed up 3 more pillowcases for ConKerrCancer.org --- thats 12 or 13 cases I have ready for them now, and it means I finished my "7 in 7" resolution - days early :D Admittedly these were all small projects made with stash fabric, but --- 4 pillowcases --- 3 grab bags - 4 bibs - done in 5 days - thats pretty good! And it's certainly a nice little chunk out of my stash :) Each pillowcase takes about a metre, each grab bag is almost a metre, 4 bibs is 3/4ish of a metre - thats about 7 metres of fabric used up!
Tonight's dessert - Fruity Soda Bread - blogged and recipe here - DELICIOUS!
This site had a freebie pattern online a while back for Lobster Time Placemats. I downloaded it with the intention of lobsterizing a project some day. Well - some day was today, and I whipped up this applique'd bib for someone who shall remain nameless until she receives this in the mail ;) Her initials are JDB tho! (Aunt Sandra is such a card!) I'm not an applique expert but this came out quite well, I think - I'm pleased :) This is a surprise gift, so if it had gone shitty, I would have tossed it into the trashcan without a thought - I guess the lack of stress contributed to my success!
I finished the two (cat and batik) grab bags earlier tonight but didn't feel like going upstairs, so I whipped up 3 girl bibs for a gift - a gentleman my oldest son works with, has just had a baby girl - I'm pretty sure he doesn't read my blog - LOL - so I'm safe posting a picture ;) I'll count this as one project completion, as they're all for one gift. 
Here's the fabric I got yesterday at Sew Sisters Quilt Shop in Toronto - I could have done a lot more $$ damage, but I refrained, so my credit card will live to purchase another day ;) 
My 7 in 7 goal is moving along ... I finished up two more grab bags today - thats 4 projects done, with several days left to go. I really didn't enjoy these bags the first time I tried the pattern - now I can't stop making them, LOL. I really didn't like the way they did the pockets so I've been doing them my own way - it's made a huge difference. In the (black) cat bag (on the left) the little pocket inside is decorated with a piece of eyelet lace and pink trim - I just happened to find the pieces in my trim box, and they were the exact width of the pocket. Obviously it was meant to be ;) 
