Photographic evidence of productive snow-days :D

The weather has been crappy - cold and snowy and polar vortexy - I've gotten a lot of sewing done, but hadn't felt like doing any photography because it's just so dark and dreary.  The projects were starting to pile up in the dungeon basement sewing room so it was time to get out the camera so I could put them away!  Also - I made a few new-to-me items (either from pins, or from patterns) and wanted to boast share :D  I actually tried a couple that turned out so badly (user error, not designer error) that I threw them in the garbage, and will never speak of them again ;) 

Christmas pillowcases using Dr. Seuss fabrics bought on sale from my favourite Toronto quilt store - Sew Sisters :)  This project posted to the Ho Ho Ho and On We Sew linky party here :)

My new addiction - bunny zipper pouches - free tutorial from Ashley @ Lil Blue Boo :D 

Reacquainting myself with a project I first tried a few years ago - the Ditty bag by Michelle Patterns :)  This one is a size medium :)  (NAYY)  Finished to 7" tall (excluding handle) x 6" wide x 1.5" deep.

(Collage photos were made with Fotor)

**New to me project - double zip pouch - free tutorial @ Sweet Bee Buzzings :)  Finished to 8"w x 6.5" t.  Thanks Bethany for a great tutorial!**

Suzy's Sack - (NAYY) - another new to me project :)   I made a few mistakes during construction but I really like the pattern, and I'm sure my next attempts will go more smoothly :D  Finished to 4.5" wide x 6" tall (excluding strap) x 3" deep.**

Yet another new to me design - a monster pouch!  HA!!!  This guy is so cute - I pinned this a while ago and finally got around to trying him :)

And just for fun - our oldest lad one day last week when he came by for supper - he was very happy about the Cranberry Awesome Cake I made him :)  He's being goofy in that picture - he's not actually constipated :D  He's also just gotten to our house after work, so that's why he's  filthy :D

**Linking up to New To Me in 2014 over at Celtic Thistle Stitches **

Cinnamon Rolls :)

I came across this recipe this morning, and since I had all the ingredients and I'm trying to bribe DS2 from moving out of the house for a while yet (we're not sure if he's joking or serious, but he has started to talk about moving out by the spring ... colour me rather sad!), I decided to whip them up. The original recipe calls for them to be rolled into a heart shape - yeah - right - I could barely get a log roll made because the dough kept sticking to my counter, so a roll that looks somewhat like a roll is as good as it gets :D They still look pretty good, iidssm!

Cinnamon Rolls - recipe courtesy of Mennonite Girls Can Cook :)

I don't think he'll starve :D

I got this picture tonight from DS1 - something tells me he's dining fine in his new house :)  It doesn't look like he's pining for mom's cooking!

Greek Pasta Salad - by Chef Nick ;)

Don't let it's cuteness fool you ...

... this is the quilt from hell - the Titanic of quilts!  From beginning (in about 2008, I believe) to finish, whatever could go wrong - DID go wrong - sometimes more than once :D  This was the quilt that started my years-long absolute hatred of Babylock sewing machines, as my BL just could NOT function with any competency during any part of it's construction.  Lordy what a nightmare.  I actually CRIED multiple times during construction, out of sheer frustration.  I finally gave up and put it in a box for 5 or 6 years, only to pull it out last year to catalogue it for my UFO completion attempt.  I didn't get to it until this year, and I'm ashamed to admit that it was only about 3 - 4 hours away from being completed.  I can't even remember all the problems I had, but when I pulled it out, I didn't really see any evidence of hair-pulling-out-worthy errors or screw-ups.  (@#)*$&@)#($& !!!!  I finished it today, and despite the fact that it looks pretty darn cute, it will ALWAYS be the quilt from hell in my mind :D 

Quilt from hell!  60" x 66" of batik cuteness, with a dark and evil undertone :D 

When you shoot your hamster, does he play dead? :)

Nick being a goof - 2011 :D

Happy birthday to our oldest son Nick - he turns 25 today - holy smokes!  We're taking him out for dinner tonight to his (and my) favourite restaurant - The Keg - and then he invited us over to his house for dessert.  He asked if I could make and bring the dessert, LOL.  Dunzo - I made pumpkin tiramisu, and Bailey's Irish Cream cheesecake - shhhhhhh don't tell him - he doesn't know what I'm bringing :)

Nick being a goof in 2005 :)  I'm starting to think our son is actually ... a GOOF!!!  ;)

LilBlueBoo - my new bunny :)

My first bunny using LilBlueBoo's tutorial :)  He measures 9 1/4" tall by 6" wide :)

I didn't follow her construction techniques as I have my own way of doing zipper bags, but the pattern is 100% LilBlueBoo's :)  I quilted the outside fabrics, which makes for a nice sturdy bag, but made it quite difficult to turn those ears right sides out, lol.  Let's just say there may or may not have been some cursing involved, but the end results are DEFINITELY worth it :)  Thank you Ashley for sharing such a fun project!  More bunnies will follow - this guy is too cute to be an only :)

ETA:  I found this page with lots of LilBlueBoo bunnies - very cute - I like her fabric combinations!

After Christmas Sew Along - week 3 - aprony birthday gift :D

I've been sick with a cold most of the week, so haven't spent much time in the sewing room. I did complete a few things for Blue Hills that I'll photograph later, and here are a couple of aprons I finished for a birthday gift. I'm posting this photo to the After Christmas Sew Along 2014. 

This is the larger size of this apron - the robot one is a birthday gift for a little boy, and the pink floral one (baby wale corduroy remnant from Joanns!) is for his BFF :) 

To go along with the aprons, I ordered a few little extra goodies from Amazon:

Available here :)

Available here :)

Available here :)

Hopefully the recipients will like their little gifties :)

One last photo-heavy post - 4/4 :D

Final part of the tour - the basement and the outside :)

Stairway going down into the basement - that's the doorway to a small storage room at the bottom of the stairs.

Built-in shelving in the rec room.

Rec room.

Gas fireplace with hearth.

Dennis checking out the water softener in the laundry room :D

Washer and dryer - yes, he DOES do laundry :)

Storage in the laundry room :)

And now a quick peek outside into the back yard - yep, lots of snow! ;)

Left side of back yard.  He has several mature trees back there, and some shrubs and flowers - we'll have to wait until the spring to see what kind of flowers he has :)  He'll definitely be planting rhubarb!

Right of back yard - that's a stone fireplace on the patio.

Storage shed in the back yard (right side).

And that concludes our tour of Nick's house (although I need to get pictures of the front and of his new hall console table :D) - don't forget to sign the guest book on your way out!  ;)

More house pics - 3/4 :D

Living/dining room :)

The living room is pretty much entirely set up now - he bought the couch and loveseat new, and had the rest of the furniture at our house in his mancave downstairs :D

Shelves on the wall behind the couch - I think they're weird - I'm not sure if he likes them or not, LOL.  Obviously painting needs to be done here as well - I don't think he's the two wall colour type :D

Patio doors leading to the back yard - they mark the end of the living room, and then the next window is in the dining room. 

Looking into the dining room from the kitchen.

Nick assembling his hall console table :D

Priceless dining room chandelier!!  I hope he replaces that thing - it's even uglier in person than it is in the picture - UGLEEEEEEEEEEE!  Good thing we know an electrician or 3!  ;)

House pics - 2/4 :)

Kitchen:

Dennis checking out the leak in the ceiling - the leak has now been fixed by our lovely plumber friend Taylor, but now Nick needs to repair the kitchen ceiling :D

Large picture window at end of kitchen - it overlooks the front yard

This is where we store our beer - NOT!  The ladder and one of the garbage cans used for leak repair :D

Nick pretending to be mad at the photographer (aka ME) :)

Looking for a screwdriver ...

Cooking tortellini soup :D

Nick's bar, LOLOL!

Why yes - he DOES do dishes!

The kitchen needs quite a bit of work - Nick will eventually replace the cupboards and the counter, plus he needs to get a table and chairs to go in front of the window.  All in good time :) 

Hall and guest bathroom:

Dennis and Nick bringing in Nick's new hall console table.

Door to the guest bathroom.

Bifold front closet doors in front hallway (they're in pretty bad shape and will have to be replaced eventually).

Looking into the hall from the living room - the glass door leads down into the basement.

Sink in guest bathroom :)

Window in guest bathroom - on the opposite wall, over the toilet, is a big mirror with a shelf.  Hard to get pics in there - it's very small :D

For Nick's aunties (and some cousins) - house pics - 1/4 :)

Upstairs :)

Bedroom #4 - overlooks back yard (I think)

Bedroom #3 (overlooking front yard)

Looking into main bathroom :)

Office - aka bedroom #2 - overlooks back yard (I think) :)

Master bedroom - check out the sexylicious "lamps" installed on the wall on either side of the bed - they're made of PAPER, lol.  Painting and lamp removal to commence in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... (or whenever he gets to it) :)

Linen closet :)