An EMERALD finish...sort of

I changed direction with my Pantone Colour of the Year: Emerald project.  This new project is what I have created and 'finished'.  Not a finished-finish but a finish none-the-less:

I made a GIANT 'variegated' Aurifil spool of thread.  I used 26 different low volume prints and solids for the background and some Kaffe Fassett shot cotton for the orange parts of the spool.  The green 'thread' on the spool is made up of Pearl Bracelets, some Oakshott cottons, some Kona solids plus a few other remnants that I had.  I wanted a scrappy patchwork style so it looked like variegated thread.  I shall emphasise that more when I do the quilting.  Maybe Aurifil would like to send me a spool of thread that I could use to finish this off!!??  Ha - a girl can dream right!!?

I drew this sketch of what was in my head on Tuesday at work on a piece of scrap paper and started sewing Wednesday night and finished Thursday night.  Not bad going for me considering it was just an idea on paper!!

However... I did a sketch but no real or sensible math to make the project!  I just started cutting fabric and sewing together which resulted in only one (some miracle really) seam being ripped out for a trim so that the 2.5" squares would fit along the bottom of the thread and still line up! I really love the low-volume and text squares. 

My first emerald project will be set aside for another day I guess since I can only enter one into a2(w)'s linky.  I do realllllly love my Oakshott wonky plus mini too:

It will be hard to decide which one to enter!!  I hope to finish both for Monday - fingers crossed that I do :)

Linking to crazy mom quilts.

Winner winner chicken dinner

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who entered my 1-year blogiversary giveaway (which was month or so overdue, oops)!  I love that there are real people out there who actually pop in and read my blog!  Thanks - you have made my day YEAR!!  There were so many lovely comments - I appreciate them all and I am sorry that I didn't manage to reply to everyone!   

So who won?  The winner is Indianna!

  Indianna said...

I'm your newest follower....though I've been lurking for a while!

Congratulations - I will email you now!

I couldn't have a blog post without a picture so here is one of my 'assistant' who was very kind and picked the winner while I was busy sewing tonight!  [just joking - Jax is clever, but not THAT clever!]

I seriously found Jax sitting like this on the couch!  I DID NOT stage this photo - he really was sitting like that when I found caught him!  What a crazy little fella [I love him].

Happy sewing!!

Sew Sew Modern - received!

Oh.
My.
Goodness.

How lucky am I?  My jolly Royal Mail man brought me my Sew Sew Modern swap parcel yesterday:

Thank you to Monica (buttoncounter) for making me this gorgeous table runner.  Look -- it has DACHSHUNDS on it!  How cool is it that she included my little Jax on the project!!?  Very very cool, let me tell you!!  No note in the parcel so I had to go back into the Flickr photostream to know who it was from as I couldn't tell from the packaging.  The runner has all sorts of yummy text prints on it - wow she 'got' me!

Monica also made me a generously sized Zakka style fabric basket which is the perfect size for scraps (or candy)!  She picked all the best colours and prints for me.  I love red, aqua, blue, green, grey and text -- so I got everything I love in both of the projects!  The grey is lovely and soft tee-shirt material.  Leaves = gorgeous. 
    

The sewing on both projects is immaculate and precise.  The appliqued circles on the runner are perfect circles!  How is that possible?  And the hand stitching on the Zakka box is amazing - I wish I could stitch like that!!  And look at the inside of the Zakka box - how cool are these fabrics!!?  It even says 'Eat more chocolate' on the bottom so I have been doing my best to follow the instructions!  ;)

I was also sent some fab goodies too - a pot of red BUTTONS (I love buttons - great stalking Monica!!), a Noteworthy charm pack, a mini charm pack in Snap Pop and some Lotta fq's!  Yum! Christmas in February for me then!!!

So, to sum it up (in case I wasn't clear), I ADORE what I have been sent and send a huge THANK YOU to Monica for being a super swap partner!!  xx

What did I send?  Click here to see!

Mod Sampler

In the past 17 days I have made:

• 12 blocks (a variety of bee blocks, block of the month blocks and some secret sewing)
• 3 pin cushions
• 1 GINORMOUS quilt backing for King Kong Wonky
• 1 Doll quilt
• 1 Triple Zip pouch
• 1 needle case and 
• 1 neckerchief

And we are now past the half way point for the Lovely Year of Finishes February goal and I am halfway through having that finished too....  but it isn't "FINISHED" yet.

With thanks to Charlotte, it is now 505-basted and waiting for me to quilt it.  We basted it on her design wall (a new technique to me) which meant we did not hurt our knees.  She really is the most cleverererest person I know! 

That is all I can report on the Mod Sampler.  I'm so pleased the hard part is done -- I hate the basting!  Question - how should I quilt this?  And place your bets on me getting it finished in the next 11 days (quilting and binding)!

Doll Quilt Swap 13 - received!

The postman rang the bell today and got me out of bed!  My post does not come to my house, nor does it get delivered on a Saturday but since the postman knows where I live, he decided that he better ring the gate bell to give me the three squishy parcels that had arrived!  He often shares in my excitement (he humours me really) of receiving ANYTHING in the post!!  But today I had three things so he thought he would bring them round so I didn't have to wait until Monday!  Cool eh?

And I am so glad he did because one of those parcels was my Doll Quilt from {sew}Allegorical!

 

Yay it arrived!!  Allegory has sewn for me before in a different swap so she knows what I like -- wonky!  As you can see, she gave me a wonky gnome, mushroom and floating houses!  And she made it in my favourite colours and some awesome fabrics!  She also sent some extras - a Cloud 9 charm pack (oh so amazing) and some Wonder Woman flannel!  Too cool or what!!?  And the back of the mini has a yummy green trees (?) print and some hanging corners (thanks Al - I needed those):

I plan to create a wall of mini quilts - here is my new gnome mini beside the mini I received from Judith of Just Jude in the Brit Quilt swap in August.  I have three more mini's to hang alongside so I will post a pic in Flickr once I have done that!   

Oh how I love participating in swaps!  All the time spent looking at the fabric that has been gathered to create something and at the sneak peaks that are posted - it makes it all so exciting to see what eventually arrives and becomes your own!  And also the anxious wait to hear from your partner to see if they like what you have made and sent them!  = I am addicted!

Thanks for letting me take part in DQS 13 and thank you to Allegory for my lovely mini doll quilt and extras!  My Saturday is complete. 
_______________________________

One of the other squishy parcels was my prize from my random win with Rhonda at Quilter in the Gap's 4th Quarter link-up!  I won $10 from Quilt n Bee and I used it towards a parcel of yummy fabric and a Generation Q magazine (my first).  I purchased some white on white, some grey Anthology fabric called Fruit slice and some pale blue fabric that looks like tulips called Wild Thyme by Carolyn Gavin - so pretty.  I got a couple of other things too but they are a secret, for now!!  Thank you Rhonda!

Doll Quilt Swap 13 - sent!

Ahhh - another swap project completed and sent!  What a fabulous feeling of relief and accomplishment to have it done in advance of the deadline and posted within the mailing time frame!  It is my first time being in the DQS group so I didn't want to break any rules!!  I am feeling a touch of trepidation and just hope that my secret partner likes what I have made for her.  Fingers crossed...  At least it is on its merry way!
 

Three out of four of the blocks are paper pieced.  The top right hand block is the January Lucky Stars BOM in 6.5" and I love that I was able to make it for this doll quilt.  I know my partner loves green (I stalked her well) so I went for it!  I used some Kaffe Fassett shot cotton in green and fuchsia pink, along with some Mama Said Sew sewing dictionary text print, dotty green fabric and a green/pink floral as the main print fabric.  No selvages on those two so I have no idea who they are by or which manufacturer but they were purchased because I loved them.  Originally I had thought a white border with a pink flange would be nice but I was advised to not go that route.  I went with the Cactus (?) Kona as a border instead.  Now that I see it in picture form, I wonder if the Cactus was maybe a bit too bright.  Hmmmm...

Can you see that I even did (a little) bit of hand stitching?  Yup - me - hand stitching!  I have a LONG way to go to be a confident hand stitchererer person... and to be any good - but practise will make perfect I suppose!  Each block has a bit of green Perle that I bought from Annie a few weekends ago.  I did some tiny free motion quilting stipple too.

I put a touch of the pink in the binding too which is my favourite bit of the mini I think!  I added some hanging corners in case my secret partner wants to hang it up.  I forgot to measure it but it is approximately 15-16 inches square so remind me to ask my secret partner to measure it for me!  You can see the free motion quilting in a stipple pattern here on the back.  I quilted just the white areas on the doll quilt.  It turned out pretty well I think.  Looks great on the front anyways!

Here is the whole package that I sent.  I added some green fat quarters for her stash.  Hope she likes chocolate and candy (I sure do)!!!  I know my secret partner has grand kids so I added a pack of 6 Freddo's in and some Chupa Chups lollipops (or 'suckers' if you are North American), and a hand-made card.
  

All in all a very bright, happy and hopefully much loved doll quilt and swap package!

Oh and I nearly forgot to mention that this is one of the items listed to be completed on my 1st Quarter Finish Along.  Yay!

_________________________

P.S. - I have just found out that my secret partner has received her parcel and loves it!!  Phew - what a relief! 

And Sew On...

'And Sew On...' is a Block of the Month all to do with sewing.  How cool is that!!? 

The first block, Measure Twice Cut Once was January's block and I have finally completed it (only 15+ days late)! 

The second block, You Little Ripper, is February's block and it was one I pattern tested for Kristy at Quiet Play a month or so ago.  It's super fun don't you think!?!  Here is my version:

You Little Ripper is free to download until the end of February so get downloading and sewing!  You can purchase the January block on Craftsy as well if you want to catch up and sew-along!  Join the Flickr group too!!

Oh and in case you don't know yet -- Kristy rocks!  I just purchased her Just My Type upper and lower case letter patterns from her Craftsy shop and plan on doing more paper piecing!   I see another word quilt in my future!!!

______________________________

P.S. If you would like to enter my one year of blogging anniversary GIVEAWAY, click here - and good luck!!

Belated Blogiversary GIVEAWAY

My one year "Blogiversary" came and went at the beginning of January (oops - I was busy sewing my '4 Things' word quilt) -- so why not celebrate NOW with a belated love GIVEAWAY?!!

Thank you to all of my lovely followers for your kindness and encouragement and for following me through all my crafty shenanigans!  I love this quilting/sewing/crafting bloggy community and all the inspiration that can be found in it/amongst it and around it! 

The giveaway:
I am giving away two Kona fat quarters, one fat quarter of 'First Love' (minty green with purple/mauve LOVE written on it) by Westminster Fibers/Kathy Davis for Free Spirit and a long skinny piece of the 'Bliss' also by Westminster Fibers/Kathy Davis for Free Spirit (pink and mauve flowery fabric).  I have added a couple of extras and you may find a couple more things added later as well! 

My giveaway is for anyone anywhere - yay!  Feel free to leave any old comment!  Followers can have a second entry because I 'love' you guys (see what I did there!!??)!  I will do the draw on Wednesday the 20th of February and announce soon after!

The fabrics are really quite lovely - sorry for the indoor night time lighting!!  Happy sewing and Happy Valentine's Day.  Good luck in the draw!

Handprinted

OMG  I am so excited!  

I've just signed up for Handprinted: a fabric swap III.

 

Press HERE for the details.

Thanks Aunt Marti

Thank you Aunt Marti - your parcel has arrived and it is awesome!!  Look at what I found inside:

Aunt Marti of 52 Quilts in 52 Weeks, sent me a quilt kit called Farmgirl's Garden and I can't believe how yummy it is in real life!  I haven't done a pinwheel quilt yet so it will be fun (and a challenge for me - triangles are hard!!).  The fabric is from the Farmgirl's Garden Collection by Joined at the Hip for Clothworks. 

Aunt Marti added extras into the box too - she sent her Madrona Road 'scraps' (big generous pieces - not scraps at all!!), two pattens - A Royal Rainbow' and 'Poinsettia Splendour', a baggie with hexagons cut outs and some squares of Kate Spain fabric with instructions on how to make an EPP pincushion, and lastly, a cutting/sewing guide thing which I am yet to play with and figure out!!!

Am I lucky or what?  It certainly has cheered me up :)  Thanks Aunt Mart!!

Pannakookur

My maternal great grandmother was born in Iceland.  Growing up, my Nana spoke Icelandic until she was ten.  Her great Aunt didn't speak any English when they emigrated to Canada all those years ago - amazing!

So, with that in mind, there are a few Icelandic recipes passed down through the generations in the family that my sister, aunt and Nana make but the only one I was ever interested in making was "Pannakookur".  [The first letter o should have two dots over it but I don't know how to change it here in Blogger.]

What is 'Pannakookur'?  The way I say it is 'punnacooker', which are basically crepes!!!  We put granulated sugar on them then roll them into cigar shapes to eat them!

They were always so much fun when my mom would make a batch when my great grandmother and my great uncles would come to visit (or when we went to their house in Stratford Ontario).  It always seemed that as soon as one was made it disappeared - eaten before it even got to the serving plate!  Two people to cook them with two pans on the go was necessary!!

As you can see from my recipe card, it is a much-used recipe!  Hope you have some pancakes today too!

Linking to Tuesday at the Table.

 

Triple Zippydoodah

If you are looking for my giveaway, click here - ends 20th February, open internationally.

__________________________

Yay I made one!  I dithered about the fabric for a bit [a couple of weeks] so I finally went for it this afternoon after work and errands.  I set my mind to it and got it done! 

I love the graphic green/white/blue/grey fabric that I used - they are all my favourite colours in one fabric!  In the Flickr group someone had put a 'D' ring on their little Triple-Zip pouch so I borrowed that idea for my own too - and it worked!

My corners are nice and crisp (some miracle happened to allow this!!) and I am thrilled with how the zips turned out too!  Mr Toyota doesn't have a zipper foot so I just sew with my eyes closed [not really] and hope for the best and somehow it worked!  Ok, there are a few wobbly stitches here and there, but generally it looks pretty good!
  

I love my new little Triple-Zip pouch!  Now I'm off to add it to the dozens and dozens already in the Flickr group! 

If you want to make your own Triple-Zip pouch, here is the link to the FREE tutorial.  It is rather clever and comes together quite quickly.  Make sure if you print the tutorial to do it in colour so you can see the pictures better and understand what needs to be done.  There are fab tips and tricks in the Flickr group too so check it out.  Have fun!

 Linking to Finish it Friday.

February book project in Oakshott

For my February Book Project [with Ange over at Heart of Charnwood], I decided I should FINALLY make the "Peppermint Neck Warmer" [aka neckerchief which is what I keep calling it!] from the Malka Dubrawski book - Fresh Quilting.  I purchased the corduroy ages and ages ago for this specific project -- I guess I was waiting for the right fabric to present itself to me!!  I decided to use some of my precious Oakshott cottons from the Colour Box given to me on my birthday last year.  And here is the finished project:

I used part of four pieces of my precious and delicious Oakshott fabrics for this scarf.  I have not photographed them very  well here but if you were to EVER splurge on some fabric, DO buy some yummy and delicious Oakshott.  Worth the money for the rich colours that's for sure.  There is a sheen equal to magic in these shot cottons and they shimmer without being shimmery.  Yum.

I dug through my button box [one of my favourite things to do] and found this glass beauty which was perfect for this neckerchief-thing!  This button looks more amazing in real life - it also didn't photograph very well.

 
I made my neckerchief a little longer than the book called for which I think I like but perhaps I made it 2 inches too long... time will tell once I start wearing it.  It was a miracle that I even had the right colour thread in the house when I decided to sew it together so I am pleased I could start and finish it in one sitting without having to go buy something else to complete it!  I'm not usually this organised!  It didn't take long at all to put together once I had decided on the fabrics (always the hardest part, no?).  And lucky me, I have some really fine wale corduroy in black that I plan to make another neckerchief with another time.

 
Great book by the way - especially "Annie's picnic quilt".  It is a green beauty!
 
Linking to Heart of Charnwood, Whoop Whoop, TGIFF and Amanda Jean.

hurt(ing)

Johnny Cash:  HURT

I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything

What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
goes away
In the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liar's chair

Full of broken thoughts

I cannot repair

Beneath the stains of time

The feelings disappear

You are someone else

I am still right here

What have I become

My sweetest friend

Everyone I know

goes away

In the end

And you could have it all

My empire of dirt

I will let you down

I will make you hurt

If I could start again

A million miles away

I would keep myself

I would find a way

Setting a Lovely February Goal

February already!  Month 2 of 12 of goal setting and (hopefully) some Lovely Finishes!  I am happy to say that I accomplished my January goal of finally finishing my Scrappy Wonky Star quilt.  Boy does it ever feel good to say it is finished!

I have been trying to decide which work in progress/unfinished project will be my February goal.  I think I have decided it will be my Mod Sampler quilt.  This is an Oh Fransson pattern and I started it over a year ago!  Ooops - I guess it really is high time I got it finished!!

What has been the hold up for me?  BASTING.  Yup, I absolutely hate basting!  I simply don't have the space here in the cottage so I tend to procrastinate and set things aside instead of just getting it over with!  Oh and my quilt back needs another strip on it to be big enough and I'm afraid LAZINESS was the hold up there.

So, all (hahaha) I have to do to finish my Mod Sampler is to:
1) add some fabric to the backing
2) baste it
3) quilt it
4) make the binding
5) bind it
6) label it and
7) wash it and dry it

So, not much to do then!!

Linking up to Fibre of All Sorts for the February goal linky party.

January 2013

The first month of 2013 is over already.  Are we on warp speed or what!?  Only 11 months until 2014 - yikes!!!

In January I managed to make two quilts tops, finish a quilt off of my Lovely Year of Finishes list / 1st Quarter list and make a couple dozen (or more) blocks for a variety of bees and for my own quilts and projects.  I finished my first swap item(s) of 2013 too - yay!

Health wise, I suffered from the 'January blues' which I tried to cure with fabric shopping and signing up to a few more swaps and joining two Block of the Month programs.  All of that on top of the four bees I am already in plus the self-imposed pressures of finishing what I started LAST year THIS year...

So, back to what I made in January!!  Here is the abridged version in picture mosaic form:

January summary:

• 2 quilt tops competed
• 1 quilt finished
• 4 (+3) magnets completed
• 1 pin cushion made
• 1 'heat bag' made
• 1 fabric bucket made
• 24+ blocks sewn 
• 2 panel pillows
• 1 tutorial completed

My favourite finish of January was my Scrappy Wonky Star quilt which has a flannel back to it and is super soft and lovely.  I also love the mouse pin cushion I made for Annie using Anna Maria Horner leopard print fabric!  I named him Mighty Mouse!

Off to link up with Fresh Sewing Day over at Lily's Quilts.......and that reminds me -- I still have do my Part 2 of my 2012 re-cap!!  Please can someone donate more hours to the day to me!??  Cheers! ;)