Peace on Earth, Goodwill towards Men-----

Well Santa won't be delivering the Mp3 cover I was working on because I haven't finished it. Too many last minute Christmas preparations. I did, however, find a free download called Audacity that made it so I could read some of my son's favorite books and record them using the microphone in my web cam. I was able to save them as Mp3 files and them upload them to his new player.

I would like to wish all of the wonderful people who visit and read my blog a Happy Holiday's, Merry Christmas and a Happy Healthy New Year.

FNSI Results

I was all set to sit and make a cover for the Mp3 player that Santa will be bringing our youngest son on Christmas morning. I found a pattern, fabric and then life got in the way and it didn't happen. Hopefully I will be able to work on it during the coming week and have it ready for Santa to deliver.

Just Sittin' and Knittin'

Last night was the first of two Friday Nite Sew-Ins for December. I decided to work on this knitting that I started a few weeks ago. These will eventually become a pair of slippers for someone for Christmas.

Spoiler Alert!

I was able to complete the baby quilt for my husband's co-worker and his wife this morning. Their due date is next week and my husband is on vacation next week so I wanted to finish this so he can deliver it this week. Thank-you to my son for holding the quilt while I took the picture. While quilting this the thread kept breaking so I took a break from it for a day or two and made these mug rugs as Christmas gifts for my sisters and my mom. I made them from the scraps of my late brothers shirts left over from making this rag quilt as a memorial to my brother. I plan on getting mugs and maybe some coffee to include with these.

FNSI Results

Last night was the November edition of The Friday Nite Sew-In. A while ago my husband asked me to make a quilt for one of his co-workers that is having their first child. I thought I had plenty of time so it went on the back burner until I realized the due date is coming up fast so I better get a move on. After getting the house settled for the evening I put the quilt top that I put together earlier in the week in the quilting frame and started to machine quilt. I was able to get it almost finished.

A Double Finish

Two quilts finished in two weeks. I think that is a record for me.

This is the quilt top I finished a while ago for my SIL. You can read about that here.

The backing fabric wasn't quite wide enough so I added a grey and white stripe in hopes it would look like parking spaces for the cars that some little one would play with on the road mat on the back.


This quilt top was made for a friend to give to her great-nephew. His room is painted turquoise and milk chocolate brown and she wanted the quilt in the colors of his room. This is the second quilt top I made for this friend because she liked this pattern better that the first one I made. You can see that one here.

The dad is a big Edmonton Oilers fan so I tried to find fabric with that hockey team on it but couldn't find any in my area. I went with the next best thing being this fabric with hockey players on it. I plan to deliver this quilt this weekend. I hope she is pleased with this one.

A Successful Night!

My MIL will be 91 years old the end of November. She is a vibrant senior who still maintains her own home and still travels on her own occasionally. Last January her last surviving sister passed away at the age of 94 in England. When my MIL would visit her sister in England the sister would send back fabric that she had collected. I would put it in my "stash" and wait for inspiration for a project to use it. While surfing the net for a quick project for a Christmas gift for my MIL I found this tutorial for a shopping bag that folds to look like a wallet to store in your purse. A perfect project for a gift and to use some of the England fabric. I had started these earlier in the week and all I had left to do was put on the handles.

Earlier in the week I tidied up my sewing area and found some art work I had saved from my youngest son's school days. I am working on a picture slide show of my parents as a surprise for my mom for Christmas and I intend to make copies for each of my sisters and nieces and nephew. I decided to recycle some of my son's art work and make CD sleeves for the burned CD's. This way they will be gift wrapped and protected at the same time. Last night I made 20 sleeves.

Tonight is the Nite!

This picture was taken on the 7th of October. I really enjoy the colours of autumn, they are beautiful and a stroll in the park with DH was just what was needed at the end of a week when life was getting a little stressful.

Another way I like to relax is spending time at my sewing machine creating. The October edition of the Friday Nite Sew-In is happening tonight. What will you work on? Christmas gifts, UFO's, quilting, knitting, the list of activities is endless. As for me I have a couple of UFO's started and I think I may work a while on those or maybe start a small project? Come on back tomorrow to find out!

The Quilting Slump is over!

A friend asked me in June if I would make a quilt for her to give to her new nephew. She told me that the baby's room is turquoise and milk chocolate brown and the dad's favorite hockey team is the Edmonton Oilers and plays lacrosse on the local team. I spent some time looking for just the right fabrics and pattern but I just couldn't find anything that spoke to me for this project.



I finally decided to make an I Spy quilt using the room colours as inspiration. I first saw the pattern for this quilt on Treadle Quilt's blog and followed the link she posted to this tutorial on Obsessively Stitching's blog. The only thing I changed was I added a couple of borders to incorporate the room colours. This is the "flimsy" top I finished this morning. It has 48 different novelty prints and measures 50"x 62 1/2".

Still here and stay tuned!

What happened to September? This month has gone by so quickly. I have been working on several projects but haven't finished any of them and haven't taken any pics lately. I seem to have been in a quilting slump lately but I think it is coming to an end. I have been working on a new project this morning (pics to follow at a later date) and I am excited to try a new pattern.

Playing with Scraps

Last night was the August edition of the Friday Nite Sew-In that is hosted by Heidi from Handmade by Heidi and Bobbie from Crafty Vegas Mom. I decided that I wanted to make something from my scraps stash and this mug rug fit the bill. I found this pattern at Bejeweled Quilts by Barb. It was perfect for my morning tea on the deck this morning.

FNSI for August.....

The Friday Night Sew In for August is coming up this Friday the 19th. Want to sign-up? Just click on the button in the right sidebar. Hope you join us!

New Project!

My husband and I always take a week's vacation at the end of June. In previous years we have gone camping but this year we went to my Mom's house to help my sisters clear out one of the upstairs bedrooms that has become a storage room. There was a lot of stuff in that room! Some of the things we found brought back memories that evoked all sorts of emotion. In that room we also found a couple of bags that had some of our late brother's shirts and jeans in them. He passed away suddenly about a year and a half ago. Well I decided to bring them home and make something with them. Who will receive this and when I am keeping to myself for now because I know at least one of my sisters read this blog sometimes and I don't want to give away all of the surprise;)

I found this video tutorial by Eleanor Burns from Quilt In A Day on making a double pinwheel block so I decided to give it a try. I like this block because you make two blocks at the same time. These are the blocks I have made so far.

A UFO Finished!

Last February I decided to sort out my scraps and found this UFO. (Click the link to read the details.) The great thing about this project was I didn't have to purchase anything extra to finish it and was able to use up a lot of scraps at the same time. I was hoping to have it finished to use on the patio table this summer but I let other projects get in the way and I didn't finish it until yesterday. I can still use it but my patio table is one that has the umbrella in the centre and the table is small so I am not sure if the table topper will work but I just love the matching mug rugs.

When it comes to learning something new I don't have very much patience with myself to practice to get better at something. I want to be able to just sit down and be able to get it right straight away. The table topper was a perfect practice project for freemotion machine quilting. I am not pleased with the results but it is a practice piece.

Christmas Crafting Continued!

I decided to make something else to give to Mom for Christmas. I wanted to make something that was connected to the farm that she has lived on for the past 60 years. My niece took this picture of a deer at the bush line at the edge of the field of soybeans last spring. I wanted to make an embroidery pattern from this photo using this tutorial from Craft Stew.

Unfortunately I couldn't get the photo turned into a pattern so I went looking on the net for something similar and I found this.

With a little modification to the design I decided to make another pillowcase for Mom. This is the finished product.

A closer look:

Christmas Crafting In July!

I finished stitching the panel for this pillowcase yesterday while enjoying a cooler breeze on our deck. This morning the day dawned with more seasonal temperatures so I took advantage and sewed up this pillowcase for my mom for part of her Christmas gift. After looking at the finished project I wondered if I should have flipped the embroidery design around but after laying it down as if it were on a pillow I think it should be alright.

My oldest son asked me to make him a pillowcase if he picked out the fabric. This is the finished project.

Late to the party.....

Last night was the FNSI for July. It was just too darn hot to use the iron or even sit at the sewing machine. I started to embroider this panel last Saturday for the cuff of a pillowcase that I plan on making for my mom for Christmas. I worked on the rose leaves and started the butterfly while sitting in front of a fan and watching some T.V.

July FNSI

July FNSI is happening this Friday! What to work on? I have too many projects started and I really need to focus and finish something. Stay tuned to see which UFO I pull out to make some progess on and maybe even finish.

Another I Spy Flimsy!

My SIL asked me to make another I Spy quilt for her because she likes to use them for baby shower gifts. This is the latest quilt top I finished yesterday. It measures 45 1/2" x 54 inches. I am just waiting for her to give me the backing fabric she bought and I can get this quilt sandwiched, basted, quilted and bound.

What I Did On Our Summer Vacation.

UPDATE: Thank-you to Jacqui and her husband from Treadle Quilts for finding out that this machine is a Model 66 one of 50,000 that was commissioned in December of 1916.

For our summer holiday this year my husband and I spent a few days at my mom's house. She is getting on in years and my sisters and I are trying to clear out some of her "treasures" that she has accumulated over the years. While clearing out one of the bedrooms we came across this sewing machine. Since I am the one who does the most sewing-neither of my sisters are quilters-this beauty came home with me. The problem is I have no idea of its age or history. Does anyone in blog land know how I can find out the age of this machine? Any help would be appreciated.

Beat the deadline!

I gave myself a deadline of June 26th to finish my son's quilt and I did it! I finished putting the binding on it on Wednesday. I found a wonderful tutorial here by the Missouri Star Quilt Co. for putting binding on entirely by machine. It was much easier than I thought and hand sewing through denim would have taken me a very long time. By using the machine method for binding I had it completed in a little less than an hour.

The finished quilt held up by my husband. I was going to try to free motion quilt the borders but I found it just to heavy to control so I went with straight lines instead.

The jeans I used for the backing were castoffs from my husband, my oldest son, my youngest son and myself. The ones I had on hand were not enough so a friend gave me some of hers. They were not long enough for the width of the quilt so I added a panel in the centre using some orphan blocks I had in my stash.

Making More Progress

Earlier this week I finally finished basting this quilt and was able to start machine quilting it. I was hoping to be able to put it on the quilt frame but it is too wide for the space I have so I am using my dining room table. I couldn't decide how I wanted to quilt this so I decided to a straight stitch across the width of the quilt and maybe try a little free motion quilting in the borders. Hearts and loops maybe, we shall see.

I can only work on this a little bit at a time because I am finding it quite heavy so I hope it will serve the purpose of a weighted blanket. I think I may use some of the left over strips of plaid for the binding. Anyone have any ideas?

Making Progress

June's Friday Nite Sew-In is fast approaching! June 17th is the date and I can't wait. I have been making progress on my son's quilt. I hope to have it basted so I can start the quilting Friday night. Wish me luck!

A Flimsy Finish!

The quilt top I started for my son is finished! Already! I am quite pleased with the results. (I have a habit of not liking my finished projects.) See previous post for information about the pattern. When it came to deciding on the borders I went through my stash of fabric and couldn't find anything that I felt suitable. I didn't want to buy any more fabric so I decided to use some of the darker denim from jeans that I cut up for the backing as the border. I am now working on putting together the backing and hope to have it ready to layer by next weekend.

Another Start...

As some of you may know I have a 20 year old autistic son who sometimes has trouble sleeping. When he is up at night he enjoys bouncing on an exercise ball. The only problem with this is he has ripped every pair of pajama bottoms he owns.

His school teachers have told me that he seems to like deep pressure. That means he seems to settle down when he feels pressure on his body, something like a big hug. I decided to make him a weighted blanket. To purchase one it is very expensive so I am going to re-purpose his pj bottoms for this project. I found a Scrappy Trips Around the World block at Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville and thought this would be a perfect pattern for this quilt. For this quilt I am going to make 24 blocks using 2.5 inch strips from his pj bottoms and solid/tone on tone 2.5 inch strips from the scraps I just finished cutting and sorting. I am going to back it with denim from jeans that I have been saving. This isn't the way some weighted blankets are made but I hope this will be heavy enough for my son and it will be machine washable as well.

These blocks are the four I made last night. With the other blocks I have been working on that brings my total to 16 leaving only 8 more to make before I can assemble the quilt top.

May's FNSI

The Friday Night Sew-In for May is happening on the 20th. I think I may work on something new even though I have many UFO's calling out to be finished.

FNSI results--a little late

Friday night was the April edition of the Friday Nite Sew-In. The weekend was a little busy so I didn't get this posted until now. I sat in front of the television and worked on the quilt I started for my youngest son about 3 years. I have been hand quilting this quilt and I really love the look of it but my stitching isn't very straight sometimes so I end up pulling out almost as many stictches as I am putting in. No wonder it is taking me so long to get it finished! The batteries died in my camera so I had to use this older picture because I am now working on the block next to the one in the picture.

Friday Nite Sew-In

The April Friday Nite Sew-In is happening this Friday the 18th. After all the planning and organizing for the vow renewal ceremony and party for my husband's and my 25th anniversary I am looking forward to getting back to my sewing machine!

A Different Idea...

The vow renewal date is only a week away! The party is going to be small but there is still many details to work through. For our wedding we had a guest book for our guests to sign and I was going to put it out again for the vow renewal except I can't find it. So, after some exploring on the Internet I came up with this idea. I printed a couple of pictures on fabric and added borders to look like a framed picture. I have a fabric marker for signatures/comments.

I also made up a label and hanging sleeve for the back of this wall hanging so it is already to hang after the celebration.

This sign will be displayed with the wall hanging. I have been learning quite a few new things on the computer while arranging this party. My oldest son taught me how to make a DVD slide show of old pictures of my husband, me and the kids complete with music. I am looking forward to using it in the ceremony.