Baking ... and sewing :)

Check here for these yummy dishes - Mac & Cheese , and Mocha Chocolate Chip cheesecake:)

September is National Sewing Month - I'm going to see just how much I can get done from my To Do list :D Thanks for the inspiration, Aunt Jo!

Now to pick out backing and binding :)

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 ;)

Just a few more checkerboards ...

and the blocks will be finished for September :) I have to catch up with Wilma and Patty, lol!

Quilters Dozen ;)

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 :)

Of course, I might just finish one block and never get the rest done - that's entirely possible as well ... ROTFL!!!

I got my homework done, mom :p

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 :)

I just realized something - in the picture I have the 3 sewing themed baskets front and centre, but I just noticed that the first basket (in blues) is visible too - I have it right beside my sewing machine, holding my converters, lol.

It isn't MY fault ...

it's Nanette's fault. Oh yes it is!! So --- thank you Nanette, LOL. Here's another little fabric basket I made today - it's #3. Is cute :) Barb made one too ... Nanette has made several ... it's like a fabric basket explosion ... taking over the world, one basket at a time :)

Nanette it's YOUR fault!

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!

Birthday gifts - late, of course ...

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

Don't laugh at the bags (especially the Christmas one, lol) - I'm trying to use ONLY fabric/reusable gift bags this year instead of paper products, so sometimes my bags are a bit ... inventive, shall we say? It just happened that the Christmas one was the exact size I needed for that particular gift, even tho it's for a summer birthday. Sue me :p

Happy birthday to Sherry, Jennifer and Stacie :D

BTW, Jenn ... "And I thought it was kinda fun 'inverted' too :)" ... I'm biting my tongue right now :D

I'm a basketcase :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!!!

It still didn't work, lol

Here was my first attempt at the jewellery bag --- as you can see from the photo, it didn't quite turn out according to the pattern, lol. From all the comments and ideas sent in (thank you!), I tried it again with thinner fabric, and I sewed a wider (5/8") casing.

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 :)

Not the results I was expecting!

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 :)

Shop Til You Drop :)

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!

9-4 for Pat ... the SPICY version!

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!

Pear, anyone?

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.

My husband spent the day out and about with her husband - they ended up going to the Ohio State Reformatoryfor a tour, plus they did a car show and visited his brother. Thanks Charlie for taking care of my hubby, and thanks Patty for all the fun yesterday! Special hi to Lucille, who came over for a visit, and brought over her wonderful projects to show us. Another special hi to my sweet buddy Buttons - hi sweet girl!! *tickle* *tickle* :)

I'm just waiting for the girls to get here so we can go shopping, so I hope everyone has a great day - I'm sure planning on it, LOL!

Mesh - not just for screens! ;)

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.

I quite enjoyed working with it, and had no problems. I had to be careful pressing the project because I'm pretty sure that the iron would have melted the mesh, lol. I'm going to test using a pressing cloth to see if that works. The tote came out fine, although I prefer lined bags so next time around, I'll line it. But for a first try - I'm very happy!

C'est finis :)

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!

Relief at last :)

Our incessant and seemingly never-ending computer/internet problems may finally be over and done with - we had TWO Bell techs come out to the house last week. Routers were replaced and moved, ethernet wires were replaced and rerouted, two laptops went in for servicing (that HURT! LOL!!!), fingers were crossed, curses were uttered, patience was stretched, but in the end, it seems everything fell into place. Our sons went without XBox live for months, and now that's up and running too, as are our laptops. Even my old clunky dinosaur back-up desktop computer is now online! Life is GOOD!!! I LOVE THE INTERNET, lolol!!

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 :)

Yo yos are fun to make ;)

More computer/internet problems - thats the story of my life now!! Yadda yadda yadda Sympatico yadda yadda yadda nice technician today yadda yadda yadda :D

I finally learned how to use my Clover yoyo makers - they're fast and fun - I have two sizes of the round ones, and I think I have the heart and flower, but I'm not sure where they are in my studio, lol. I've made a couple now to decorate some of my grab bags, and I decorated a couple of gift bags ... I keep finding great ways to use them!


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 :)

Happy sewing!! :)

The housework never ends - more tea towels ;)

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 :)

Tea towels, anyone?

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!

P.S. They made it through the washer and dryer just fine, so the post is in no danger of removal, LOL.