Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm soft :)

More yummy soft warm cage quilts for LAWS - I mailed off a batch of them on Saturday via Canada Post, so the box should arrive in Smiths Falls by Wednesday :) Have started making more for the next batch - all are, of course, Zoomer approved :D


A few weeks ago I made a fabric basket and a grab 'n go bag for a fundraiser that one of my fabric store ladies was participating in - the event was yesterday and she never contacted me to pick up the items! So they'll be donated to another organization ... I"m sure it was an oversight that she forgot to pick them up, and I hope their fundraiser was a big success :)

Brocade for Miss Friendly :D

Hehehe more cage quilts - the wine red quilt on the right (18" square) is for a bitchy special kitty - cousin to my Zoomer - she's not the friendliest cat around *hiss* *hiss* *arched back* *scratch* *hiss*, but she's gorgeous and S & S love her, so now she has a quilt with her initial on it :D Red brocadey fabric is from Aunt Heather, so this is a collaborative effort! I don't think the recipient reads this blog so I'm pretty safe in posting the picture :D The other quilt (the 13 X 20 rust one on the left) is another cage quilt for the shelter.

Here's the basket full of scraps and odds and ends and old linens that I gathered up from my studio - I'm trying to use up the whole basket before I go shopping for anything new. Not sure I'll succeed, but I'm sure trying! None of the scraps for Hissy's quilt came from that basket, but the rust quilt used up a 1/3 metre piece of fabric and 3 old dishcloths that had seen better days!

Keeping the furry ones warm :)

Got some more sewing done - as you can see by picture #2, I had a helper with me the whole time, LOL. Thanks for being there for me, Zoomer!! ;)

The smaller cage quilts (top picture) are about 15" x 20" (the snowman ones) and about 12 X 15 (the striped one in front - scrap fabric from Heather!) - the larger ones on the design wall - being studied by Zoomer for their suitability for the shelter ;) - are about 26" square. They were made with extra string blocks I had from other projects - these were the most fun to make, and fortunately, I have lots more extra blocks, so I can make more like these :) The pillowcases are going in my donation box with the other cases I've made in the last few months - I'm going to see if I can get more of that fabric - it's really sweet and fun!

More Pics :)

Am I lucky or what??!! A little while ago I was chosen as the winner of a blog giveaway at Cottage Magpie - my prize was A QUILT ... can you imagine??!!! The blog owner Angela generously added shams and pillow covers to my prize package, even tho she's in the States and I'm in Canada, and I knew the shipping $ would be scary (and it was, OUCH, sorry Angela!). Well - I got my prize on Friday but didn't have a chance to thank her as we were headed away for the long weekend. So now I'm sitting down to give her a shout-out for having such an amazing giveaway ... and for PICKING ME!!! YAY ANGELA AND YAY ME!! Thank you thank you thank you, and sending you huge hugs!!!

I just realized, on preview, that the small pillow covers aren't in the photo - I didn't have any throw pillows the right size so they're still sitting on my dresser, lol.


We went to visit my family for Thanksgiving - while there, we zipped Stateside to do a bit of shopping in New York - I picked up some sewing patterns, craft patterns, velcro, fat quarters, fabric and a "Pretty Little" book :) Oh how I love Joanns, LOL.


Here are the little surprise gifty sets I made for my "wimmins" (sister, SIL, two nieces) for Halloween - Pink Penguin fabric baskets, log cabin hotpad, and some candy :)

Last up - a couple of cage quilts I made today for my favorite shelter (hi Stac!) - the rust one on the bottom is 23" square, and the floral one on top is 18" square - both were made with stash scraps :)

That's it for now - I have to go finish peeling the potatoes, LOLOL!!!

Lots o Pics :)

Some items have been delivered so I can post pictures :) Here are some items I made for my sister and her daughters for their birthdays. Two charm totes in a sealife pattern (for my nieces), and a batik bag with a paper pieced orchid block (for my sister). There's also a small poppy tabletopper to go in my sister's poppy bedroom.

The two charm totes are from the pattern "Charm Party" designed by Penny Sturges. The batik tote was made "off the top of my head", and the orchid block was from the delicious Claudia Hasenbach in Germany. The poppy pattern is from Regina Grewe - I love her stuff, and will be doing more flowers.

More pics in the next post - I have to go start supper and do some housework, then I can play on the computer some more, LOL.

Pics Galore - aka Pic Obese :D

Pffft I can't figure out how to get my pictures centred with their co-ordinating blurbs, so you get potluck :p

Pic 1 - a "Sweet Blog Award" I received from the delicious Barb at So How Was Your Day - thanks Barb! Check out her blog - talk about eye candy!

Pics 2 & 3 - crockpot applesauce made with the apples my neighbour brought over :) This was the first time I made applesauce in the crock - it's a fabulous way to cook it!

Pic 4 - Blizzard Stew made in my brand spanking new KitchenAid dutch oven :) I always add some kind of meat to it - today I added diced ham - YUM!

Pic 5 - part of a Christmas gift I'm working on - so far I've made 2 hotpads, 4 placemats, a fabric basket and 2 decorated tea towels --- I have a few more pieces in mind to go with the set, and will try to find the fabric in New York next weekend :)

NSM 22 - 28 :D

4 more Christmas baskets (which brings my Christmas basket total to 8) and 3 steno pad covers brings my National Sewing Month count to 28. 28!! All small items, to be sure, but things I wanted to work on, and wanted to try - I'm so very happy! Thanks to Aunt Jo for the inspiration, and thanks to those great ladies who share their wonderful patterns online with us - it's so much appreciated!

The steno pads are a new project for me - the pattern is from Two Wacky Women (LOL!) - thanks a bunch Marilyn and Robin - the pattern is GREAT - easy to make, and very useful! I can't wait to make more! I'm sure I'm not the only one that remembers using these steno pads for the use that they were originally intended - taking SHORTHAND!!! I used to be able to do ??? wpm ... I don't recall the number, but I was damn good :D

NSM 19, 20, 21 - on a roll, lol

I tried to limit my computer time yesterday because I've been spending too much time surfing. I love surfing, LOL. There are such fun sites, and crafty tutorials, and ideas, and pictures - the world literally is at your fingertips if you have an internet connection and a computer! I love it, but I'm trying to love it a little bit less, LOL.

This basket and grab 'n go bag are going to be donated to a Rett Syndrome fundraiser on behalf of one of the ladies that works at my local Fabricland. I hope they like them :)

I decided to test drive an apron - similar to the 4 Corners Apron
I wanted to make sure it was big enough to fit calorically enhanced ladies such as myself ;). It's actually a bit on the big side even for moi, and it isn't quite what I wanted. I think I'm going to try a different pattern - this one won't work well with my directional cake fabric - it would look better with an overall print type of fabric.

Zoomer tried telling me not to use this fabric - I should have listened to the dear boy!! ;)

NSM 18 ... and waiting for DS2 to get home :p

I'm just waiting for our youngest lad to get home (with the car!) so I can't go to bed quite yet. Here's a picture of the cake fabric I picked up last week, along with some co-ordinating fabrics I got at our local fabric store. I got it to make 2 "theme" gift sets - the pillowcase is for one of the sets :) I'm not sure why the colors look so different in the pictures, but the colors in the picture with the collection of fabric, is the most accurate - the blue background is a soft light blue, not a gawdy Sponge Bob turquoise!

NSM 16 & 17 - Ho X 4 ;)

I made 2 more baskets, and added yoyo's ... and rick rack!! :D

NSM 14 and 15 - Ho ho ho!

These little pretties measure 8" wide X 5" tall x 4" deep - they're lined with the green/gold fabric that the handles were made from. They're just the right size to put on the hall table to hold the incoming Christmas mail ... or some pinecones ... or candy canes ... ;)

Edited to add: I think my spicy girlfriend in Cali has a good idea for the baskets:
"Love the baskets, fill mine with CHOCOLATE please, LOL! Lazy A$$ Juju "
A smart woman she is - chocolate would be an EXCELLENT filler :)

NSM 13 - heehee!

I made this set of hunky coasters with the hunk scraps left over from the pillowcase and Grab 'n Go bag :D I fussy cut the heads right offa these guys - I wanted the CHESTS to be featured - didn't care about what was attached to them ... HA!!! Found a scrap big enough to make a yoyo, and picked up a firetruck button at Fabricland today - to tramp up the yoyo. I think it's a cute touch, LOL. Now this set is complete, and I'm very happy with it :)

NSM 10, 11, 12 :)

I'm still not 100% from the cold I had last week - I got quite a bit better, then got sick again. I think hubby and I were passing it back and forth - I always knew boys had COOTIES!!! Yesterday I blew my nose and it popped my ears so badly that my equilibrium went for a dive and I fell backwards to the floor - good thing I slowed my fall down by grabbing the counter, lol. Today is the first day in over a week that I haven't taken any Tylenol, so hopefully I'm on the mend. If hubby will keep his damn cooties to himself, I'll be happy!! ;)


I got a bit more sewing done --- the kitty coasters are (National Sewing Month) project #10, and the pillowcase and Grab 'n Go bag are #'s 11 and 12 :) Isn't the fireman fabric a HOOT? This set is a Christmas gift - I got the fabric from here - excellent service!

NSM Project 9 :)

I joked earlier that if I needed to bump my numbers I might count a set of placemats as 4 completed projects, but so far I'm doing OK, so I'll count this as ONE ;) I finished up this set of placemats today - I'm VERY pleased with them! They'll be a Christmas gift :)

Fabric and pattern are from Evelyn's Sewing Centre in Newmarket, Ontario :) Two of the placemats are backed with the cat fabric (in the centre), and two are backed with the floral (outside borders). I have scraps left over so I might make a few little items to go with these :)

BTW - my new "quilting name" is ... don't laugh ... Hot Mama Binding Procrastinator. I SAID DON'T LAUGH!!! I do SO procrastinate ;)

(I just finished a set of coasters to match these placemats - will post a picture when I get the coaster holder made!)

Gratuitous Eye Candy :)

Meet Maggie and Lola - my girlfriend Mona's sweeties! Even tho I'm a CAT person (right, Zoomer?!), I thought it was a mighty sweet picture of two of her girls :D

NSM Project 8 :)

Here's my first NSM (National Sewing Month) completion for September - I couldn't post a picture earlier as I had to wait for it to arrive in North Carolina! It's a knitting needle case for my friend Karin :) The tutorial is here, but I made it a few inches longer than they did, to fit her favorite needles ;)

I completed NSM project #8 today, but like #7, I can't post it because it's a gift, and the recipient will recognize it, lol. It's part of the theme package I'm working on :)

Here are some paper pieced blocks I finished for my October Quilters Dozen project - I think the next blocks up are applique so I have to dig out the pattern to see what I need to do next.



I also worked a bit on some string blocks to try to use up some of the scraps in my scrap box - it's starting to overflow so I'll whip up blocks for a string quilt. I make 9.5" unfinished string blocks, and sew together 4 of them to make an 18" (finished) block ... the 18" blocks will be set 3 X 4 for a quilt that's approximately 54" X 72" - perfect throw size. These quilts get birthed with polar fleece, so 2 metres of fleece is enough to finish off one quilt. No batting, no binding, and stitch in the ditch quilting means they're quick to finish. These will be donated to ... ? (not sure yet where they're going).

NSM - Project 7 :)

Project 7 will have to remain unseen, as it's a Christmas present and it's future owner reads my blog ... I think, LOL. It's part of a "theme package" I'm working on and I can't post pics because the intended recipient will recognize that the bits and pieces are for her :D

I'm just recovering from a few days in bed with a cold, so I have a few blog posts to read. I see Aunt Jo has been busy creating, and has finished 8 NSM projects now - YAY AUNT JO!!! She's my inspiration for this National Sewing Month "get things done-a-thon" :D

My SIL likes the fabric baskets I made - even the slutted up one - so I'll be mailing those to her when I get to the post office.

And since I don't like to post entries without photos, here's my gorgeous kitty on Halloween last year --- ready to hand out candy to the kidlings :D

NSM - Projects 5 & 6 :)

I don't even remember the last time I spent this much time in my sewing studio - I'm getting lots of small stuff done - this is GREAT! I finished another basket very early this morning, then made another one tonight. I decided I wanted to start adding some embellishments to these, so I slutted one up with some trim I had in my stash - I hope my SIL likes them! Heather, they're quite little --- the small one is 9 X 4 X 4, and the larger one is 9 X 5 X 4 - they're big enough for a couple of converters, or a other small items.

I also got to go to the local quilt store today - they were having a sale, so I bought some fabrics to make some fall items - aren't these pretty? If anyone lives near Newmarket, Ontario (just north of Toronto), the sale is on for the rest of the month, and is worth checking out! I'm planning on going back once or twice before the month is over ;)

NSM - Projects 3 & 4 :)

I just finished these up - I have a lot of tubs and tubes of medication for my psoriasis, and I wanted a couple of little baskets to hold them PRETTILY :D


Aunt Jo currently has 3 projects done and a 4th one will be ready today, so I'm looking forward to seeing her newest project! Tutorial for the fabric basket available from The Pink Penguin :)

NSM - Project 2

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

The wallhanging finished to 16" X 20", and is the September block from Quilters Dozen Plus by Janet Selck. This is the second project I completed for National Sewing Month
:)

NSM - Project 1

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

Fabric from the Sew Sisters in Toronto, NSM goal inspiration from Aunt Jo :) I don't have a *firm* goal in mind, but Jo has about 21 projects in mind for the month, so I'm hoping to match her ... (did I just say that/type that out LOUD??!!) :)