22 years ago today ...

I was in the hospital having a baby who decided not to wait for the doctor to arrive, so who ended up being delivered by the nurse on duty :D  Happy birthday Chris! 

If you're having "one of those days" and need a pick-me-up ...

Check out all the pics here :)

 Guaranteed to make you cry ... or at least ... SNIFFLE!  :)

Kitty in a basket :)

The gorgeous Miss Hermione :)

Hey Deb - do these fabrics look familiar??!!  ;)

Hey Nanc - do these look familiar? LOL!

Miss Hermione, the gorgeous kitty posing seductively in a basket, is the owner and boss (hehe) of my friend Allie in Michigan :)  Zoomer thinks H is HOT, but truthfully, given the choice between [a date with the seductress] and [a bowl of kibble], he'd pick kibble.  I didn't say he was a SMART cat!

The zipper bags are recent finishes using some scrap fabric that was gifted to me by a friend in Arizona - hi Deb!  The pillowcase fabrics came from my friend up the street - hi, Nanc!  I also have some gift bags finished but I need to find something to stuff them with so I can photograph them nicely :D 

Summer Sewing Contest entry :)

This is the bag set I completed for the Summer Sewing Contest @ Ellison Lane Quilts - per usual I wanted to get several more things done but ran out of time!

Let me in!

Let me IN!!!

Hide and seek - can you find me?  :)

Just in time to be mailed 2 months late *ahem*, today I finished this penguin gift bag based on Jeni's adorable pattern - I added an applique penguin ( this guy was the template) for fun :D  Mr. Penguin jumped in so he'd be safe for his snail mail trip :)

Here's the original post about Clarence the Penguin :D

Added July 14/12 to the Gift Wrapping linky party @ Threading My Way - here :)

Trial by Salt :)

This is somebody I would like to know, or be neighbours with, LOL!

Source

Read the comments - here - posted by readers - some of the language is rather *drumroll please* salty (hehe) but the theme is a hoot!

New bag design :)

I love this tutorial by Jeni of In Color Order - what a gorgeous bag!  Will definitely be making more of these :)

Here are a couple of (birthday) gifts I've completed in the last few days :)  The baskets are based on the Pink Penguin fabric basket tutorial.

Dessert, anyone?

Puppies :)

My basket construction notes:   rough cut to 10 1/2 x 13, quilt, trim to 10x12.5 outer, 10x12.25 lining.  Handles 3.5x7, boxed bottom measured from seam = 1.25".  1/4" s.a. for box, 3/8" s.a. for the rest of the bag
Tall pouch - quilt, trim to 10.25" x 12.25".  Box bottom = 1.25" measured from seam.

Pugs 'n other stuff :D

This is just precious!

Here are 2 sets of Canada Day bibs I got finished today - the two little ones are for twins, and the two bigger ones are for 2 older babies - nobody knows they're coming so they'll be a surprise :) 

A close-up of the fabric (from Fabricland) :)

And here are a couple of recent zipper bag finishes - the watermelon bag was a gift for a neighbour whose daughter was sick last week, and the skull one will likely go in my gift box :)

Tonight I tried a new-to-me tutorial - will post a photo tomorrow - it was very dark in the basement, lol.

Protesting the protestor :)

The young man holding the second sign is Fyraxis -- my hat is off to you, sir! 

It's travel time :)

But not for me!  A friend of Nancy's and mine is going on a cruise this month so Nancy and I thought we would make her some bags for the trip.   Here are my bags - a boxy bag and an Across the Pond pouch :)  I haven't seen Nancy's tote yet! 

A few more finishes:

Patchwork tall pouch

Watermelon zippy

A few last finishes for May :D

2 Pink Penguin fabric baskets - girl version :)

2 Pink Penguin fabric baskets - boy version :D

Oh look - they STACK!  :)

Small boxy bag and Across the Pond pouch :)

Peek a boo drawstring bag :)

I do have a few more projects to post but I have to wait until the recipient receives them, or until I can post them for the "challenge" :) 

A collage of my May projects - a Shape Collage, that is ;)

iPenguin :)

Clarence the Penguin!

I'd like to introduce you to Clarence the Penguin :D  I bought the pattern a while ago from a fellow Canadian - Christy Mooney from the Etsy shop JuneandJuly :)  The pattern is called Clara but this is for a little boy so his name is Clarence :D

Pattern review (my own opinion only!):  the pattern is fabulous - well written, well photographed, and very easy to make.  This was my first one so cutting and assembly etc. probably took a bit under 2 hours, including me doing laundry at the same time, LOL.  I didn't run into any difficulties, and only made a couple of very minor changes.  I appliqued his eyes as I don't do embroidery (and I didn't want to use a button or google eyes because it's for a little guy), and when I stitched the body right sides together, I used a 3/8" seam allowance instead of 1/4" - that gave me a bit of extra fabric and made it easier to turn under and close the opening.  Next time I might add a bit of stuffing to his little wingies.

Clarence is sized perfectly for littlies - he's about 6" x 6" (15cms) plus his little wings.  For older kids I might try resizing the pattern up by about 50%.  More Clarences and Claras will follow - I really REALLY like this pattern :)

Pinterest challenge :)

I finally got my butt in gear and did a couple of projects I had pinned on Pinterest, thanks to a challenge from Bryanne from Michelle Patterns :) (posts here and here).  I hope the challenge continues - fingers crossed! 

My first attempt at a pop bottle drawstring bag was laughable, so no photo :D  Attempt #2 came out better, but I would still make the pop bottle portion a bit shorter.  Will try again when I get more 2 litre pop bottles!  Very happy I tried it - I want to make more of these :) 

This project is based on a bag I pinned that was embellished with studs.  I found some cute studs recently so gave them a whirl.  I need more of these - I really like how they look, and on Ebay/Etsy, they have them in lots of shapes and sizes and colours :)  Another Pinterest completion - YAY!

3 itty bitties :)

I've been doing some sewing lately, but hadn't gotten around to taking pics, hence the lack of posts :D

Here are a couple of the bags I've finished lately --- the orange/linen one was made to use up some tiny scraps of orange, the butterfly fabric was a gift from my friend Nancy (the organza ribbon embellishment was an old Etsy purchase - I'm finally getting around to using it), and the butterfly keychain on the owl bag was a gift from my friend Deb in AZ :) 

A little teaser about a craft I'm working on - I had to borrow a candle from a neighbour to help me prep the item for sewing - hopefully I'll get it done this weekend and can post it ;)

Little owlies :)

Here are a couple of little owl projects I finished recently (and couldn't post until the recipient received them, lol) - the owl boxy bag measures 7x4x2.5" (I think I cut it 10" x 13"), and the little owls are made from scraps, using this tutorial :)

Moms Come In All Sizes, Sexes And Species!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers, and grandmothers, and mothers-in-law, and step-mothers, and mothers-to-be (congrats!), and mothers-by-proxy :)  They've said it really well over at cuteoverload --- "Many thanks to all of you who have mothered somebody – whoever you are, wherever you are."  

Special congratulations to my sister Sherry - AKA GRAMMIE!!! - on her first grandmotherly Mother's Day ... her daughter Jenn on HER first Mother's Day (hi, LL!!! *kiss* *kiss* from Auntie Sandra!) ... and to our niece Cassendra on her first Mother's Day with twins Madelena and Massimo (and of course big brother Matteo) - I hope everyone had a magnificent day! 

Eat your veggies :)

Between both of these bags there are probably only about 40 calories, LOL!

My knees are aching tonight - I was out walking with my neighbour and her dog today - I was behind the dog, and at one point she stopped suddenly -- unfortunately, I didn't!  I started to fall towards her so I tried going to the side so i wouldn't hurt her, and of course landed on my hands and knees on the sidewalk. She was unharmed, but it was definitely not a graceful or gracious moment for me :D

I almost forgot to post these, lol

Here are a few recent finishes - I was finally organized enough to find the camera AND the camera card at the same time :D

Cancan zipper bag - a birthday gift for a friend :)

Close-up of the zipper pull - it's a bra, LOLOL!!! 

 This is the Across the Pond pouch I finished last month - it's a birthday gift ...

I finally got the zipper pull done so I can wrap this and get it off to the recipient!  The camera seems to have given the beads an unusual tint - they're salmon orange and lavender purple, to match the bag :D

Here's a house pouch from Zakka Style - note that there's a kitty sitting in the window - imagine that!!!  :) 

Here's the back of the pouch - there are flowers growing in the back yard :D  My friend No-Blog Angela gave me the idea to use vinyl for the window (yay for trying something new!) - I thought it would be a hoot to see a kitty IN the window, LOL!

Dipes 'n wipes 'n bibs

Last night I worked on a new-to-me project that didn't work out quite as well as I hoped.    I tried an Aivilo Diapers and Wipes case, but will have to make a few changes the next time around.  I somehow got the pockets on in the wrong order (and believe me - they're better her way than my way).  Also - there are many layers of fabric in this (12, IIRC, including batting) - it's more than 1/2" thick in places!   I have to get a Huggies travel wipes container to make sure the thickness didn't make the pockets too snug for the case.  If the case slips in and out nicely then I'll probably use the batting again, but if the pockets are too tight I may try flannel instead of batting.  We shall see!

These worked out fine, though, in contrast with the dipes 'n wipes case :D  They're for next year - I wanted to use up the last of this Easter print :)

From the humour files ;)

A friend  sent me this - it made me LOL :D

And then we have ... 

Hellmann's Mayonnaise - a bit of history!

Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England . In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico , which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York . This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico . But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York . The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost. The people of Mexico , who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day. The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as -

Sinko De Mayo.