July Month in Review

The end of July.  The seventh month of 2013 complete and now the eighth begins.  Shocked I am...  Wild how the time is evaporating!  I think the anticipation of Fat Quarterly Retreat made the month zoom by very quickly!!

 So what did I make in July?

I've been busy making things for swaps - QAYG Nesting Fabric bowls, a QAYG pillow,  tea pot and mouse pincushions, + mug rug and a Journal Clutch.  For myself I made a Bucket Bag in black and white with grey lining.  

My favourite 'make' had to be the Tea Pot Pincushion.  After three attempts and 2 hours of my life wasted on making just the itty bitty tea pot handle, I finally got the handle made and attached!  The rest was easy compared to that!  Fun to make though - and so was the Red Mouse pincushion!

 
August looks set to be busy as well!  I shall be making and posting some swap things to a variety of different countries, making bee blocks and working on my WiP list - and make a Christmas present or two :)  Here is my X and + glasses flexi-frame pouch made at FQR:

Hope you had a good month.  Happy sewing.

On my way to the 'land of the midnight sun'

 

Fat Quarterly Retreat recap

Fat Quarterly Retreat 2013

I am home and have now recovered from Fat Quarterly Retreat!!  What a great way to visit with people I met last year, hang with the guild girls and fellow bee peeps, and to meet new people and some of the quilting bloggers I follow!  The weekend was a mix of learning, swapping, eating, sewing, drinking and a lot of laughing! 

Moustache anyone?

I only have time to sum it up in one post so here goes:

WORKSHOPS & TABLETOPS

Embroidery with John, Hand quilting with Mandy, Mandy's hands, Flexi-frame pouch with Tacha, Rubber Stamps with Tacha and the chaos of the table at rubber stamps!  I also did some doodling with Trudi and I sat at Kerry's Fantasy Fabric Shop as well.

 

 

 

 

SWAPS

Sample Swap - clutch, mini quilt and pincushion.  I gave Tea Wallets with a mug and a thumb pincushion.

Scrappy Trip Along Strip Swap and Ugly Fabric Swap.  No pictures of the FQ swap.

THANK YOU
Big thanks to Kris from Germany for yummy gummy worms, Krista from Canada for Canadian candy and chocolate, Di for these amazing linen fabrics (I love those doggies - looks just like my little dog Jax), Claudia from Germany for my apple zippy pouch and the homespun fabrics, Mary for the texty fabric for my typewriter block [not shown]. 

Thank you Kris, Krista, Di, Claudia and Mary

And a HUGE thank you to the sponsors for donating so much fun stuff!  

FQR 2013 Goodie Bag

RANDOM PICS

Oh yah.. me and Mr. Aurifil with my Mini Aurifil Spool wall hanging!

Lovely Lu and her hand stitched lovelies

May, Claudia and Kris

MEALS
-Thank you to Shevvy, Helen, Claudia, Lizzy, Nilya for meeting for dinner at Wagamama's on Thursday night. 
-Thank you to Amanda and Tammy for having yummy Pizza Express on Friday night after the trip out to The Village Haberdashery for a hot shopping trip!  Annie had delicious cupcakes there to keep my sugar levels up so I could shop and be happy!
-I had a delicious burger [no onions] at Byron Burger on Saturday night with Pennie, Kelly, Shevvy, Amanda, Cara, Ruth, Helen and Nathalie

That's all I have time for.  I hope to upload to Flickr soon!  Hope you enjoyed 2013 FQR! 

My new green cushion

A few weeks ago the lovely Suzie of terrysfabrics contacted me to see if I would like to make an 18" cushion using fabrics and pillow form from their website.  I thought YES PLEASE and off I went to pick my fabrics from the on-line UK shop!  I chose two different curtain weight fabrics in cream and sage green.  I do love green and these fabrics are quite mature and fun at the same time (just like me, yes?)!

Here it is on the opposite side.  The straps are attached from the sides so you can easily switch the flap to change the look of the cushion!

Initially I wanted to cut the stripe fabric and sew back together to make a square in a square pattern using the stripes but mathematics and I are not great friends so I abandoned that idea after making one block and using the seam ripper a few times.

I have a little bit of fabric leftover so I may revisit that idea again.  Can you guess what the best thing about this cushion is?  It coordinates with my recently finished handmade wonky log cabin king size quilt [made from two bee groups and using different shades of green, purple, grey and white]!  Check this out: 

The fabrics I used are called Lynette Curtain Fabric in Sage and Metro Stripe Curtain Fabric and are made of 100% Panama Cotton.  I didn't line the cushion cover as the material had a lovely home-dec weight to it so I adapted a pattern called 'Flip Side Pillow' on Sew Mama Sew to make my cushion.  Top tip - if you use this fabric, be sure to zig-zag all your finished edges to prevent any more fraying. 

Image from terrysfabrics

Image from terrysfabrics

Thank you terrys for letting me take part! 

Bucket Bag

In the run-up to Fat Quarterly Retreat, I decided I needed a new bag since my Pretty Pleats tote is getting pretty worn out (I closed the boot of the car and jammed the handle in the lock which cut the fabric so it needs to be repaired as well - oops!).  So, after rummaging through all the patterns I have in my binder, I decided on a KeekaLou/Michelle Patterns Bucket Bag.  I made it in black Kona with a grey Kona of some sort for the lining and with just a hint of black and white for the accent pocket top.

As an addition to the pattern, I added a clip for my keys in Chartreuse Kona - yum!  This is proving to be the best decision as the bag is narrow at the top and big on the bottom/inside which makes it like a bottomless bucket bag and trying to find my keys would have been a nightmare!  This bag holds so much so I am very impressed.  Note to self: I added 5 inches on the strap/handle and it was the best decision! 

Jax decided to photo-bomb my picture.  Oh and it looks like I should put my windscreen fluid away eh?

I still have lots of things to gather and prepare for retreat on Friday plus I am at Wagamama's for dinner tomorrow night (can't wait!!) so I guess I should stop procrastinating making bags and get to it!!

See you all soon!!

Mouse pincushion tutorial

Today I am over at The Village Haberdashery's blog sharing my Mouse Pincushion tutorial.  Enjoy!

Mighty Mouse Pincushion tutorial - [Amy's] Crafty Shenanigans

http://thevillagehaberdashery.co.uk/blog/2013/amys-mouse-pin-cushion-tutorial

Happy homes, tall trees

More wonky more wonky!!

Thank you to Charlotte for these two awesome homes for my village:

My phone hasn't captured how awesome the colours are - that is a purple house on the right!.

And thank you to Heidi for growing these unique trees for my village (and she sent me some gorgeous fabrics to add to the village too) :

What is this all about?  Check out my original post HERE to see what the heck I am up to (and maybe make me a wonky house or wonky tree too?)!!

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Also, thank you to Vicky of Generation Q who sent some 'scraps' as part of her January Throw Down.  She sent scraps to over 100 people worldwide and I was one of them!  Thanks Vicky - I will use them in the charity quilts that the LMQG are making!

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And one more thing to show you - this fab book by Katy Jones of Monkey Do [I'm a Ginger Monkey]:

Here is the block I want to do first:

I was lucky to attend Katy's half square triangle sampler class at the Village Haberdashery a month or so ago and Katy shared with us that her book was out and she was so kind to give me a copy of the book AND sign it for me too!  THANK YOU Katy - for a great class and a wonderful book :) 

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I've been spending more time on Flickr these days than on the blog so check out my Flickr stream (located on the right hand sidebar) if you want to see what I have been sewing.

Happy SUNNY Sunday!!

Moo

Last year at retreat, Moo cards were all the rage and I have nearly run out of my first order of 100.  During my prep for retreat I decided that I should probably order some more Mini Moo cards. I downloaded a few images and presto, a few days later I have received my cards:

They are a bit darker than I hoped but I still love them.  I hope to give a few out at retreat again this year!  My preps are coming along but I will no doubt be packing things last minute, just as I did last year!!!

Happy sunny Saturday!

Why thank you!!

Isn't she cute??

Tiana the turtle made her way as fast as she could to the UK.  I think she wants to experience our 'summer weather'!!  Thank you to Lisa from In the Boon Docks for drawing my name and to Noelle from Half Pint Knits who created this cute little turtle. She knits the cutest things and this turtle has been made with great skill and care.

Also, thank you to Fabricworm who sent me this gorgeous FQ bundle of organic canvas from Birch called The Grove.  It is delicious!  I may have to splurge with my next paycheck and buy some yardage to make the Super Tote as this weight of fabric would be ideal!

Look at the fab selvage!  Really cool fabric!  They have jersey fabric coming out to so I may have to splurge again!!  I think I need a second job to finance all my dreams!

And yay - I have another house to add to my village!  Thank you Wendy who sent me this wonderful house and pair of trees!!  And she included a few triangles so I could make a few more!!  Cheers!!

Again - if you would like to stitch me a wonky tree or wonky house and be entered in an exclusive giveaway for people who help me expand my little village, please get in touch.  Here is my original post!!

Thanks everyone!! Happy Friday!

3rd Quarter Goals

3rd Quarter Goals ~ linking with Leanne at she can quilt.

Month 7, 8 and 9 are here.  Yikes!  I continue to start new projects without finishing partially completed ones so I'm not sure if I will ever get through my to-do list!!  But, I managed 5 out of 7 completions last quarter so I am confident (if I) can stay motivated, I will get a few more crossed off the list.

My list for the next three months will be:
1.  Arrows quilt (bee quilt) 

2.  Girl on Swing embroidery

3.  House door stop and tutorial

[no picture]

4.  Cushion cover or bed caddy organiser for Modernista Homemade (bedroom swap)

Possible fabrics - partner hasn't replied yet!

5.  Forest Quilt-a-long block(s) made into something

 

6.  Union Jack paper pieced pillow from 2012 Fat Quarterly Retreat

7. Mod Sampler quilt

Wish me luck!!!

 

A Lovely Year of Finishes - JULY goal

My July goal will be to finally finish the Girl on a Swing embroidery.  I started it a year ago at a class taught by Aneela Hoey.  I am such a procrastinator.  I like the draw of shiny new projects so I tend to leave behind projects that take to long to do, hence why this project is still not finished!

I plan to make it into a cushion/pillow.  Wish me luck!

Linking to A Lovely Year of Finishes July goal setting party.
 

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day to all my family and friends! 

I wish I had made this cake - it looks so yummy!!

I'll be wearing something red and white today and drinking grape Koolaid ('coz that's what I want to do not because it is a Canadian tradition or anything)!  I will be dreaming drooling over memories and thoughts of Rice Krispie Squares, Kraft Dinner with hot dogs cut up in it, maple syrup on Ego Waffles, mom's peanut butter cookies, eating red Twizzler licorice, yummy gummy worms, grape Skittles and Swedish Berries or an Arby's Roast Beef sandwich, Mary Brown's taters, Little Caesar's garlic bread sticks or a Beaver Tail from the market in Ottawa!  I recall happy times spent while having the day off work (it is a holiday at home) so we could celebrate the day at Fairy Lake in Newmarket and then watch the fireworks put on by the town and the neighbour who was a firefighter so he would do the firework show for our whole street.  I am longing for the gorgeous July summer nights when we would sit out on the patio with the family after a dinner party and watch the sun go down and swat mosquitoes late into the night.  Card games, dice, 10000, betting with quarters and Nana winning most games!  Cribbage with dad and him telling me not to count on my fingers.  Vicki hopping the fence to come over to our house from hers.  Mom sun bathing in the garden, golfing all summer and the summer she drank beer!  Sadie-dog running around the back yard yapping at the three terriers next door.  Looking through the paper on Friday and planning our 'route' for garage sales on Saturday.  Lightning storms during the day.  Air conditioning/central air in the house to help get through those humid days.  Planting red, white and silver coloured flowers and plants in the front garden bed to show how 'Canadian' we were. 

I am proud to be Canadian.

Today I miss home.