Begin ... rant about car dealer in ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

May 2011 - less than a week after we got the brand new car it needed to be floated back to the shop as it broke down, and the mechanics didn't know that it has 2 gas sensors instead of 1.  The loaner car, which we had to ask for - was a soccer mom van.  Not a great substitution for a rather sporty vehicle.    Hubby didn't complain, but I think they should have given him something more appropriate.  

We have 2 "fobs" that start our car.  One wasn't working - it registered a "fob not found" error.  The dealer - MacIver Dodge in Newmarket, Ontario - informed hubby that they had never heard of such a problem (I guess they haven't heard of a little thing called The Internet, where a quick search certainly shows that the problem DOES exist).  When the problem continued and hubby called back they said to bring it in, they'd put it on the computer and see what the problem was.  He took in both fobs tonight (as per their request) - THEY LOST MINE!  They lost it, then said ... oh, did you give us 2???  !!!   This isn't the first time their service has been less than stellar - I think I'm going to have to give them their own tag and start keeping track of the problems - I do hope they call and ask our opinion of their customer service, as I definitely have an opinion about THAT! 

Signed, the fobless woman!

Edited to add --- they found my fob, and replaced both of them.  Despite the warranty we had to PAY to have them reprogrammed.  Only one fob was broken, but we still had to pay to have both of the new ones recoded - doesn't seem right, but at least we have 2 working fobs now! 

A very colourful day :D

These came in the mail for me yesterday from my favourite Etsy seller.  50 X 14" zippers cost me $26 with shipping - this size is about $1.48 out the door (or about $1.20 during the members sale) from Fabricland, but F-land's colour selection is limited - I can't even get my favourite colours there - lime green and hot pink :D

Here's the first thing I'm making to take advantage of my lovely stash of bright and fun zippers - I suspect the lovely Katherine knows what's coming!  ;)

Ironing board caddy :)

I pinned this tutorial a while ago and decided to make the project for a friend's birthday.  I typed up this post a few days ago but couldn't post it until I gave N the gift, which I did today - I think she liked everything :D

I picked up the vintage print fabrics during our last trip to Joanns:

Thread catcher with pincushion

Close-up

Pocket end

Close-up

Gripper fabric on the back

Vintage fabric scraps packed up to send along with the caddy ;)

I think I'm going to make one of these for my own ironing board :)

Epic: cat versus chicken! SFW!

(My 23 year old son found this for me, lol)

Kiss the Blarney Stone!

Bibs for L & J :)

Here's a print I picked up @ Joanns on a recent trip - I don't think the recipient reads my blog so they'll likely be a surprise when they arrive at their destination ;)  (I'm not sure why the bib on the right looks like it has a wobbly bottom on the right - it doesn't!)

Well, it worked out ... but ...

but it definitely needs some redrafting.  The roof line should be lower - somehow I miscalculated where to stitch the seam *oops*.  Also, the angle that the zipper is at, makes for a very SHORT zipper - the bag doesn't open very much and it was really hard to tuck the lining in and get it straightened out.

I think if I make the bag a bit narrower but taller (and get the roofline right) it'll make a big difference!  The original is here, for comparison :D

What I've been working on today ...

Drafting the pattern ...

Cutting out the fabric to use ...

It's starting to take shape now ...

Some pretty embellishments ...

I had to stop working so I could get some housework done, lol.  Man I hate it when real life interrupts sewing life!  This is a new-to-me project from Pinterest - I've not done a zipper installation like this before, but it looks pretty darn easy! :)

Travel trio :)

Patchwork travel trio :)

I used up the last bits and pieces of all those fabrics to make these bags.  Even the lining of one of the bags was pieced to get me the size I needed!  The backing is the same for all the bags - the gold TOT fabric is twin needle stitched onto batting, just like the fronts.  These little pieced bags are real "scrap busters", as opposed to "stash busters"!

I got my POS Babylock back from the repair shop - it ran well at the shop, but I haven't tested it out here at home yet.  Will do that tomorrow.  I'm fairly certain I got the ONE Babylock in the entire civilized world, that's a POS.  I much prefer Slanty (the 411) or Bella (my 201) to POS because they're metal machines that take a licking and keep on ticking - the Babylock has made me a confirmed lover of vintage machines!  Can you tell I'm a bit bitter about my very expensive paperweight?  ;)

Mr. Pibbs :)

Please meet Mr. Pibbs :)  The poor guy had been in a shelter for 6 years, and now he's got a forever home with a family who loves him and will take very good care of him (just read her blog and you'll see just how much they love their critters!)


Mr. Pibbs reminds me a lot of my Zoomer - he's a big boy and is on medication for health issues.  I thought I would make him something to call his very own, so this is what I whipped up :D  His mom can carry his treats in it, LOL!!!

Here's a close-up of the kitty zipper pull I added - meow :D

Mr. Pibbs has now received his panty bag, so I can go ahead and publish the "pre-prepared" post, lol!  I'm glad he likes it - Zoomer and I send high fives, good buddy!

Pink and purple ...

Hmmmm - the bags are pretty, but the zipper pulls seem too heavy.  I think I'll restring them tomorrow with seed beads if I have any purple ones, or with pink and purple ribbon if my seeds don't suit.  Even as I was attaching them my sub-conscious was telling me ... "Not quite ...", lol.  The purple shell buttons look great, though! ;)


Happy birthday Brian (Feb. 25/64 - Dec. 31/98) - imagine - my younger brother would have been 48 today! 

Patchwork triplets :)

Beaded pull 1

Beaded pull 2

Beaded pull #3

Here we go - a trio of bags made using fabric purchased a few years ago as scrap bags from Evelyns in Newmarket.  I took one of the bags of scraps and cut them into 3 1/4" squares to make pieced fronts.  One of the strips wasn't wide enough for squares so I used it as the top strip of the centre bag :D  The squares are quilted to Warm and Natural batting with twin needle stitching around each seam.  The backing is a yardage remnant of one of the prints from the front, also twin needle quilted onto batting.  They worked out quite well, I think!

Patchwork and linen :)

I'm very happy with this bag, and hope the recipient is as well!

Patchwork tall pouch with decorative twin needle stitching around blocks

Back of pouch - linen fabric, twin needle stitched

Canada tag

Handmade tag on inside of lining

Beaded zipper pull

Side of bag

Wednesdays @ 9:00 p.m. ...

DOWNTON ABBEY!  I've only caught the occasional episode but was very intrigued, and now Vision TV is replaying Seasons 1 & 2 in order, so Wednesday night is now Downton Abbey night!  This is one of those series that I would actually buy in DVD format :)

Here's the new boxy bag design I came up with - I spotted similar bags and wanted to try making them :)

Here's a close-up of the zipper pull on the cake bag --- that's a glass cupcake bead in the middle! 

UFO completion

38 x 38 quilt, backed with white fleece

Little hearts are appliqued into each block intersection.  Colour is the softer colour of the first photo - it's not as bright as this close-up shows :D  Quilt is going to Blue Hills :)

Fun with Nancy and Amanda :)

Tonight I went to Nancy's house with no-blog Amanda for a sewing hen party gab session :D  Nancy worked on a bag for her iPad, I made several zipper bags, and Amanda Pinterested most of the night, LOL.  Nanc will send me project photos tomorrow, I think, but in the interim here are the 2 flower bags I completed :)  I can't post the other bag until the recipient receives it in the mail, as it's a surprise :D Tomorrow I'll make a couple of beaded zipper pulls for them :)

Thank you ladies - as always it was a lovely night!  *kiss* *kiss* :) 

Ditty bag!

 My first Keyka Lou ditty bag!  This is the size medium - it finishes to about 6 x 7 x 2.  I added batting and quilted the outer fabric before sewing, just to give it a bit more body.

 Here you can get an idea of how deep it is - I stuffed it with plastic bags to give it more body for the photo :D

 Butterfly bag set - lined with the same fabric :)

 Here's a close-up of the bling on the panty bag - 3 buttons (oops, you can only see one and a bit of the other 2) and the beaded zipper pull.

 And here's the beaded zipper pull and the flowers on the other bag :)

Last, but not least, my acorn bag!  Note the acorn buttons on the front, lol!

The last of ... ;)

The last of the bandage fabric

An outhouse set *giggle* :)

The last of the outhouse fabric

The last of the cat batik, and almost the last of the travel fabric :D