Benjamin's Quilt

It seems like ages ago that I started this little flannel quilt for Benjamin. It has been so crazy busy around here that I haven't had much time to sew, and also didn't really feel like it when I did have some spare time. However, the last two evenings have been pretty good, I am almost finished Benjamin's quilt!

I did my first attempt at free motion quilting:

And I loved it!!

This is the back, which is my son's favourite.

I am now working on the binding. At first I thought because this quilt is so busy, I should probably go with a solid binding, but I didn't really like the look of it. I went with the dots and stars print instead, and actually like it!

On a different note, my boys are crazy about the Ikea beads that you can iron together. 

Now, if only I can actually get them to make something with them. That would most likely save me a HUGE mess on the carpet. Every. Single. Day. But hey, at least they're having good fun!

Hexie Fun

I am really having fun making hexagons, and swapping fabrics.
It is a little bit like buying fabric, except you don't know exactly what's coming in the mail. And the best part is (or at least, according to my husband...), it's way less expensive than buying fabric.
And then there is, of course, also the part where you get to know some people who are dealing with the same crazy addiction. Hexies Anonymous. Or something like that.

So this is what I have been up to:

So much fun!

My New Happy Place!

My sewing machine has never had a 'spot'. It was mostly stored on top of the piano, which didn't look very good.

Our computer room was always messy, as you can see in this post.

Now that we have a lap top instead of a desk top, that room didn't need to be designated for a computer anymore.

So now it turned into this:

I have lots of storage for my stash

My books and magazines...

...and I have a real scrap bin!!

Sigh...I love Ikea!

Some New Fabrics and a New Addiction

We returned safely from a great holiday in the beautiful Okanagan in BC. The weather was perfect. A few hot days, a few cooler days, and even a couple of rainy days.

I suppose a rainy day is the perfect excuse to visit the local quilt store...

I have never been to a different quilt store than the one in our town, so I was excited to see what was out there.

There was a cute little quilt store in Armstrong BC. I was looking for some fabric for Benjamin. He has been waiting for me to make him a little blanket. His 'baby-blankie' fell apart last year, and I told him I would make him a nice new blanket, but then the old (yucky) one, will have to be put away in a box.

He really wanted a construction fabric in his blanket, but the one that I found in flannel didn't look very nice. It looked great in cotton, but the fuzziness of the flannel just didn't work.

I ended up buying some very boy-ish (motor)-cycle fabric along with some coordinating prints.

Not sure exactly what I am going to do with it, but it will likely be my next project.

While standing in line to pay I saw a Jelly Roll of Frolic by Sandy Gervais. It was 33% off, and I just couldn't leave without it...

I needed a project for the holidays, and (very last minute) put together a little hexagon package to take along.

I am SO GLAD that I did. I have had so much fun with this! I worked on it in the car, on the beach, and by the swimming pool, and every spare minute at the cabin. I have used all of my scrap prints though, and don't really want to use any unused pieces of fabric for this. I would hate to be short a small piece for a project only to find out that I used it for my hexies!

This is definitely a fun project that I want to keep handy. Perfect for bringing along when getting together for coffee or a craft night!

Now to work on getting some more scraps...

We returned home with the van full of fruits. I had a big case of apricots that needed to be turned in to jam the very next day. It worked really well!

The day after that, I got together with two friends to turn 75 lbs of peaches into canned peaches. It was a lot of fun, and the nine kids that were there all day behaved just great!

That same evening I checked the mailbox, and I found a package from Sew Mama Sew! I had won their giveaway, and they sent me these beautiful fabrics! The funnest part is that most of these fabrics I probably wouldn't ever buy myself, but I love them!

Especially the brown 1 inch gingham. I think it might be my favourite...

Finished!

It took me just a little longer than I had hoped, but who cares! I finished my quilt, and am very happy with it.

It is far from perfect but I love it regardless. Making this quilt taught me so much and definitely makes me excited to tackle another project like this one.The basting was where things went a little funny. I basted, but didn't do a good enough job. I ended up having to take a whole bunch of quilted lines out. Then I took apart the layers, and decided to spray baste it instead. It worked like a charm (with my husbands help:).

I did make the mistake after my first basting attempt of trimming the edges before the quilting. When I spray basted, it was hard, and almost impossible to line up the front and back properly. So the back is a little crooked. Also, the quilt turned out just a tiny bit smaller because I had to 're-trim' the whole thing.

My binding is very skinny, because my seam allowance was way off. I wasn't paying attention. I guess things like that shouldn't be done after midnight...

This made for not very nice looking corners, but I don't care. It is finished, and I am happy with it.

Maybe sometime down the road if the binding really bugs me, I'll take it off and replace it. We'll see!

I am going on holidays next week, and I am sorely tempted to start this.

It looks like something horribly addicting. But it is a project with small pieces, which would be nice for using scraps, and for taking along.

I might be doing some cutting tonight!

Something Finished

The quilt is coming along, finally. I have half of it quilted, and hope to have it completely quilted by the middle of this week, and maybe even have the binding on by the end of this week.

I needed a break though!

I really wanted to make something quick and simple, so I ended up making a Sweet Little Dress (which I have made probably more than 300 times by now, so it doesn't take me very long anymore!).

I have this thing though with diapers showing under dresses. For some reason I just can't get myself to put a dress on my daughter without covering up the diaper (unless it is a cloth diaper, because they don't look like a diaper, they just look cute!).

So I decided to make some bloomers. I used a pattern from Amy Butler's 'Little Stitches for Little Ones'. It was really easy to make these. I did pre-press the hems and the elastic casings (before I do any sewing), as I find it comes together much easier and faster when I do this.

I made the dress size 6-9 months, and it was a little big, and the bloomers were 6-9 months as well, and they are on the small side. They fit fine, I'm just not sure if they'll still fit fine next week ;) Next time I think I will go up a size.

It came together in one evening, and it was a lot of fun. I just love this fabric!!

Girly fabrics

I don't know how long I've drooled over girly fabrics. I just never dared to buy them. I think it was mostly because I would want to keep them to make something for 'the-girl-we-might-someday-have'. And what if we would be blessed with just boys? Then all that beautiful girly fabric would just sit there unused...

But...the girl did come along, and so did the girly fabric. Today actually...in the mailbox!

Summer Song from My Minds Eye, for Riley Blake. I loved this line from the first time I saw it. These are the Orange and the Green fat Quarters, and the Pink is still on it's way to my mailbox.

I also finished my first Rag-quilt, but did kind of a half job. The next one will be better, but here is a picture anyways: