Boxed in :D

I made this little guy today (finished to 8" long x 3" high x 4" wide) loosely based on this tutorial. I actually made 2 of them but in the first one, I didn't add the ribbon tabs - without them the bag is somewhat awkward to handle, so I changed things up when making the second bag. The original tutorial called for fabric cut 6" x 8" - I knew that would make a very small bag so I cut my fabric 8" X 10" --- the zipper is sewn along the 8" length. I cut out 1 1/4" squares to box the ends (1 1/2" squares in the first bag were too deep for my taste). Next time around I'll make the bag a little bit longer, cutting the fabric 10" x 10", and staying with the 1 1/4" box cutouts. (Posting this information to my blog gives me a way to look it up the next time I make these, LOL). I'm going to have hubby take this to work to give to a guy he works with - my husband and I are friends with the co-worker and his wife, but she doesn't read my blog so this will be a "just because" surprise :)

Gifties :)

I completed a couple more gifts to go in my box - a puppy tote (with matching zipper bags, of course) ... and some fruity lady zipper bags using up the last scraps of that FQ. You can see each bag is pieced differently - that's because I was using up every last inch of the fabric, however I could make it fit, lol. Nick's jeans have certainly proved useful for me, after they were too worn for him! ;)

Brian's lilies :)

11 or 12 years ago (ish) my brother dug up some tiger lilies from his house in Smiths Falls, and planted them here in our garden. Over the years we had to move the lilies several times - once because the flower bed got removed when the front porch was replaced, and then again when we realized that they didn't like their new home at the side of the house. They apparently didn't like their new home at the back of the house either, as all we ever got were skinny spindly stems with bug-eaten leaves - no blooms for probably 8-10 years. This year hubby suggested moving them to the front yard where they would, we thought, get a LOT of sun. Apparently that was the ticket, as we they've been doing well since the little stems were transplanted. And today, Brian's lilies bloomed. They're decendants of the ones he planted, so they're still Brian's lilies. He's been gone for just over 10 years now, but his lilies are back and blooming beautifully. Cheers, Buzz! :)

And ... Happy 34th anniversary Sherry and Mark!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope you're going out for dinner tonight ... or something!! :D

I'm still addicted to the zipper bags :)

I can't stop making these little sweeties - I just finished these ones up for a gift - isn't the fabric a hoot? LOL!

Tote 'n zippies :)

I made up this little set yesterday and today - the tote is 15 x 13 x 4 with a box bottom, is lined with the pink striped fabric, and has one pocket on the outside (with a yoyo decoration) and one on the inside. The two zipper bags are fully lined, and measure 8" x 6". The set will go in my "donate for a fundraiser" pile :D

A little bit of shopping :)

Thanks to my Humira injections, my psoriasis has improved to a stage where I can not only walk without my cane, but I can now spend some time shopping :) For a while hubby was doing ALL of the shopping as I wasn't able to stay on my feet for longer than a few minutes at a time (and those few minutes were agonizing). Some days are still better than others, but overall things are so much better than they were less than a month ago (I started the Humira on June 22). I am positively THRILLED :)

Hubby and I went to Buffalo on the weekend for a bit of a shopping trip. We went to a Lavender Festival in Niagara on the Lake, then headed across the border to visit a couple of Joanns stores :D Joanns didn't have anything on sale that I was interested in so I only picked up a couple of books, a little bit of fabric and a few notions. We also hit Aldi (thanks to Kim & Heather for telling us about that fantastic store a year or so ago) and stocked up on cream cheese, shredded cheese, sliced real cheese, butter and some pantry items :) My feet held up for the entire trip (we left at 9:30 a.m. and got home at 10:00 p.m.) - life is GOOD :D

I've gotten a little bit of sewing done in the last week or so - some bibs for a friend who's expecting her first grandy in September, and some more zipper bags. My son gave me some old jeans he had worn out (poor child thought I'd actually FIX them for him - instead, I cut them into as much useable fabric as I could, HAHAHA) and I used them as the basis for a bunch of the bags - waste not, want not! I'm so happy to be able to sew again!!

She's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack :)

I've been on Humira now since June 22 (3 injections so far) ... I started to improve 48 hours after the first injections, and I'm continuing to improve. It's miraculous - it really is. Hopefully I don't grow a second head, get TB, die or get inappropriate numbness/tingling ;)

Now that I'm feeling better and can use my hands, I've gotten some sewing done - more zipper bags :D The denim for the top two bags was recycled from some jeans my oldest son wore out, and the bottom bag, with the puppy fabric, was given to a girlfriend's daughter last night - just because :D The top two bags will be mailed this weekend - I hope the recipient likes them :)

Taking a blogging break

I'm going to take a little break from blogging until my health improves a bit. At this point in time I'm not able to do much sewing, and I don't want to turn this into a psoriasis blog. I'm pinning my hopes on a new medication that holds a lot of promise, and if I get approved by the insurance company it will be a while before there's any improvement. When (I don't want to say "if"!) things get better or at least under control, and when I can get back to my sewing, I'll get back into blogging. I still read my favorite blogs, but typing is difficult so I rarely post comments. I'm typing this post with one hand because the other hand is soaking in medication, lol.

In the interim, since I dislike posts without photos, enjoy this bit of eye candy - I stole the picture from my sister's blog - this is her and her daughter's kitty Lucifleur ... I mean FLOWER!!! *whew* :D I love this picture because the colors in the photo are incredible, and the poppy project above Miss Fleur, was made by MOI :D

Birdy bags :D

I don't get a lot of sewing done now because my hands hurt too much, but I'm still totally enjoying making little zipper bags. Everybody on my gift list should know that they're getting zipper bags for Christmas, LOL. Here are a few more that I've finished recently - the owl fabric is from Joanns, and the flamingo fabric was a gift from a sweet friend Barb (check out her blog - she makes AMAZING stuff, and always uses such delicious fabric!)

Our newest family member ...

Chris got his very first car today - a 2007 Mazda 6 :) He just now pointed out that if he takes out the car in the middle of the night, we can't give him shit ;) When he was first licensed, we discovered that Chris had, several times, taken our car out at 2:00 a.m. to go on a coffee run with buddies. He was insured on our car, but didn't have our specific permission to take the car out for the middle of the night runs. He learned a valuable lesson when he lost the use of the car for a month - that was a very LONG month for him, lol!





Another new family member - our older son Nick's new "ballin" rims - he just got these put on yesterday, lol. Apparently "ballin" is good!

Not much going on here ...

I'm waiting for permission from hubby's insurance company to go on heavy duty psoriasis medication (injections) - at the moment there isn't a lot I can do because my hands and feet are in bad shape. Today I had a melt-down at the clothesline - I hope nobody was watching - I'm sure I looked ridiculous :D

Here's what's happening in our end of the world - our new car, my new clothesline (Mothers Day gift!), and my cabana project progress (sandwiched and pinned) for Week 8. We told DS2 he couldn't drive the new car so he went out and bought a 2007 Mazada 6 - he takes delivery tomorrow if it's ready - he's BEYOND excited! We only have room for 3 cars in our driveway/garage - we'll have 4 vehicles (hubby's work van, our car, DS1's truck and now DS2's car) so the guys will have to find somewhere on the street for him to park :D Not my problem - the guys can take care of that :D Hard to imagine my baby will be legal drinking age (19 in Ontario) next month - HOLY (*&)(*#@$)$#@(*$# !!!!!

Gifty bags :)

I haven't been doing very well lately so haven't gotten much of anything done. I did manage to get a few little gifts sewn - the two tropical bags and the two fairy bags are for some friends of mine, and the extra fairy bag and the prism owl bag will go in my gift or donation box for "later" :D

Even tho I haven't been very mobile, hubby and I did manage to do a bit of car shopping, and on Saturday our newest family member will be joining us :) I can't find a picture of our exact model and color on the web, but this is close :) It's a 2009 Dodge Challenger SXT (with a sunroof! IMAGINE!). We're trading in the Impala, and have told DS2 he can't drive the new car, so he has to get his own, LOL. So now he's out car shopping as well :)

When hubby is working ...

wife will sew :p A couple of zipper bags (about 6 x 7) - one for a gift, one to donate ... plus a tote bag (15 x 13 x 4) with matching zipper bags (about 6 x 7) - also to donate.

UFO Challenge - week 6 update :)

Well, the last border is added, and all the paper is removed. I hate that job (removing the paper) - the palm trees were really fiddly to depaperize, lol. But the top is now done, and ready for embellishment! I have some fabric to cut out and applique, and I have a few fishy type buttons to sew on, but I'll need a trip to Michaels to get some more goodies. I'm sure hubby can drive me to Newmarket soon to see what I can find :) Quilting and embellishment will be rather minimal - I really just want to get this project done and ready to hang - it's so big (I think the top measures 58" X 66") I'm really not enjoying working on it!

Lots o pics :)

Tough week between health issues, visit to the naturopath, new diet regime - no dairy, no sugar, no wheat, no caffeine, no red meat ... not much left to eat except vegetables and frigging BROWN RICE! ARGH!! And don't get me started on the supplements they have me taking - eeeeeeeeuuuwwwwwww!!! 'nuff about that :D

Hubby and I got in a day trip to New York last weekend - I wasn't up to a weekend visit like we originally planned, but I did manage to visit a few Joanns stores :) I picked up some fabric and notions (pics 1-3) - gotta love the 50% off coupons :D






I did get some sewing done in between whining about my ugly new dietary restrictions - I finished another baby quilt for Malawi (36 x 36), made another cage quilt (18 X 24) and made 6 zipper bags - not bad considering how crappy my hands have been!

UFO Challenge - week 5 update :)

My goal for week #5 was to sew on border #2 and to make and sew on border #3. I got those done, and have most of the last border sewn as well. I like the way the cornerstones look - I've never done them before, but I'll definitely use that technique again - it does a really nice job of separating the border strips! My goal for week #6 is to get the last border sewn on, and then start removing the paper from the blocks. That's definitely not my favorite job, as I think most paper piecers will agree, lol. BLAH!

While I was down in the studio I got some other sewing done too - I fixed 3 pairs of jeans for hubby and DS1 (they're going to $hit when they see I actually DID the mending, lol), made another zipper bag (meow!) and put together another shelter quilt. It just needs a bit of freemo quilting on it and it'll be finished - I think it measures 18" X 24" - it's backed with part of an NHL fleece blanket (from the thrift store) :D

Tomorrow - if nothing bad happens to my feet - hubby and I head to Niagara Falls (stateside) for a quilt show and some Joanns shopping - I can't wait! If I'm up to it we'll spend the night so I can do more shopping on Sunday, but if my feet are bothering me we'll come home tomorrow. My fingers are crossed for an overnighter :D

OOPS forgot to post this on Friday ...

My week #4 UFO Challenge photo - my goal was to get two borders sewn and attached, but I came up a little bit short - I got them both sewn, but only one got added :D Here's the photo - you can see the unattached border hanging on the left.

My goal for week #5 is to get border #2 attached, and border #3 sewn and attached. I think I'm going to do cornerstones to separate the borders at the corners - that should look pretty :) Hubby and I are going to Buffalo this weekend if my feet are up to it (Quilt show in North Tonawanda) - of course I'll be hitting several Joanns stores, so I'm going to look for some beachy seaside embellishments for my project :D

A little bit of sewing ...

The snails bag is lined with hot pink gingham fabric (I have to get more of that - it's gorgeous, lol) - the yellow bag is self lined, with a beaded pull. I didn't have any hardware to make the pull so I just threaded some beads onto fishing line - it's really cute!

I seem to be getting a lot of sewing done!

Baby quilt is finished and ready to go ... plus I used up a piece of stash fabric making the make-up bags - with all the sewing I've been getting done my stash should be shrinking ... but ... well ... does anybody's stash actually shrink? LOL NO it doesn't, and we know why!!

Sugar and spice, ribbons and lace :)

I have a couple of little boy quilts ready for Malawi, so now it's time to cover the girls - pun intended ;) I found a bunch of pink string blocks in the studio from a couple of projects that weren't going as intended. The blocks got tucked away until the right project could be found. And now they can come out of hiding and become several pretty little quilts for some sweet little girls who could probably use a bit of a boost :) This set of blocks was made to use up stash ribbons and lace - the rest of the blocks are laceless, but still pink. Two different + similar sets of blocks will become two different but similar quilts - hopefully in very short order! I just have to check my flannel stash for backing fabric! These are 9 1/2" unfinished blocks, so the quilts will be 36" finished. My favorite size to make :)

Bugs for Malawi :)

I finished this little guy up tonight to send to Malawi (a local nurse is going to spend time in the hospital there, so she's gathering quilts and receiving blankets to take for the wee ones). I now have 3 boy quilts done - I need to make a girl one next!! This one measures 36" square - the backing is the same yellow print as the binding. It's freemo quilted all over, but I also did a tiny zigzag in all the seams for extra strength. The batting is a warm and natural type batting. The quilt is very soft, very sweet, and I'm very happy with it :)

Book bag for Matteo :)

I finished this little bag just in time for Matteo (great nephew, 14 months old, adorable as hell!) for Easter - I like how it turned out, although my kids laughed at it and called it a "murse" (man purse), the brats, LOL. Matteo seemed to like it, as did his momma - so that makes me very happy! It measures 10" X 8" X 2.5", has a pocket on the inside, and is lined with a turquoisey blue fabric.

Spring, anyone?

Quicky post while I wait for hubby to get home with propane for the BBQ -- I found a pretty remnant at the fabric store on Thursday and made some springy make-up sized bags with it - each one is decorated differently :)

While most of our snow is gone, it's still somewhat chilly - currently 7C/44F - it'll be in the low 50's next week, but by the weekend we're expecting a rain/snow mix - Mother Nature is really messing with us !!! I doubt we'll get much more snow tho, and certainly none that stays!!! *said with fingers crossed* :D

UFO Challenge - week 3 update :D

I got the first border attached, and started piecing the outer border with batiks - the project is looking really good (albeit still TOO DAMN BIG!) - I'm sure I'll get this finished and ready to hang by the time summer rolls around!

Easter Keester!

I just got this in an email ... ROTFL!!!