Quilting therapy

What a day!

I could

A.  just crawl under a quilt and stay there until tomorrow morning.

Or...

B.  get to work on the Be Yourself quilt.

Raise your hands for Option A!

Popo the Pig

He's not perfect... but neither am I.
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He's cute, though. N'est-ce pas?

Made from the book Sew Me, Love Me.

p.s.

This post was linked on QuiltStory's Fabric Tuesday. Come and play!

Waste not, want not

Sometimes a solution just presents itself to you...

That ugly peach fabric I bought for the Be Yourself quilt? It ended up in the backing!

That solved two problems...my lack of fabric for the back and what to do with a metre of garish peach cotton.

I pin-basted this baby after work today, on the classroom floor as usual, so it's ready to be quilted. Maybe this weekend...?

A couple of you commented on the name I chose for the quilt. "Be Yourself" comes from a quote by Oscar Wilde:

I thought it was fitting, given that this is for the OnlyChild who is most definitely herself, and noone else!

Fun stuff in the mail this week! I won a giveaway from Autum and she sent me a wonderful package, all dressed up in pink tissue paper with pink flowers. A scarf, a wooden "peace" egg, and two flowers. Isn't it all so sweet!

Today, Sew Me, Love Me arrived (that didn't take long). I'm hoping to make Popo Pig this weekend. So cute!

I'm off to bed. I don't know why I'm so tired but at 8 pm all I can think about is crawling under the nice warm covers with a good book and gently m e l t i n g off to sleep. G'night all!

This space left intentionally blank

I can't think of a clever title for this post so I've left it intentionally blank...

It's been a busy and fulfilling long weekend (which will make it doubly hard to go back to work tomorrow, but let's not be pessimistic). This afternoon, I finished the Be Yourself quilt top. I LOVE this quilt!

Size: 60" x 68" (not quite regulation twin-sized but would certainly fit nicely on a twin bed)

Fabric: Authentic charm pack, Authentic Word Natural Sprout yardage, plus Kona solids in natural, straw and black

Design: Mine

Who knows when it will get quilted; I wasn't thinking that far ahead and didn't buy backing fabric. I may patch something together (although I don't have much leftover from the Authentic fabric).

Not to worry...there's always something else to work on. Bernice and I will not be idle for long!

I saw this book in a quilt shop when I was out with Kim on Saturday:

It was a little pricey at the quilt shop, but not at Chapters Online. I had a gift card burning a hole in my wallet so I decided to use it to purchase this book, plus another one I'd been wanting to read. Free shipping. My total for 2 books was about what I would have paid for just this one.

I can't wait to get it. See that pig up in the left-hand corner? He will be my first project!

And...

My mum sent me this book for Christmas (it was on my wish list):
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Last spring when I was attending a conference in the beautiful mountain town of Canmore, I stopped in to Sugar Pine and I bought 1 metre of this fabric - Fleur Nouveau.

Why just one metre? I have no idea. And as soon as I walked out of the shop, I was kicking myself for not buying more. But I didn't have a project in mind and I find it hard to buy without knowing what I'll be using it for, especially since fabric is so expensive here.

On Saturday, I saw a quilt made from the Fleur Nouveau line, including this fabric:

I think I swooned. But - alas! - there was none left in the store. It is last year's design, after all.

I did an internet search, which led me to Rosanna. She had written a post about Fleur Nouveau fabrics, so I left her a comment. On a year-old post. And she replied promptly with a link to this shop, which sure enough, still had some (and on sale, too - BONUS!).

Just for the heck of it, I also ordered a Moda Bella white jelly roll (so I can make the Postage Stamp quilt) and some of this:

Because I plan to make this skirt: (terrible photo - sorry)

And later on, I'm going to make one of these dresses, but that can wait a while because... well... I already have lots to do for now.

And I couldn't be more excited!



Buttons and Blocks and Bags

Yesterday, my friend Kim and I met for breakfast then headed to a couple of quilt shops. She bought a lovely quilt kit and I bought... some bobbins. Kind of anti-climactic. I bought a pattern, too, because you know I don't have enough projects on the to-sew list.

We also hit the Antique Mall. Such an amazing place!

I bought the globe on the right to go with the one Mr. P got me for Christmas. It's an oldie - it still has the USSR on it. There was another one I thought about buying. It is the exact same globe I had as a kid (except this one had Kevin Smith's name and phone number written in permanent marker on the bottom). I wonder if my globe is still kicking around my mother's house. Hmmm...

I also bought more buttons (the jar on the right). Remember, I'm the girl who went to a flea market in Paris and left with nothing but two bags of buttons. I love buttons. This particular jar was full of some very interesting things, besides buttons. Plastic horses and donkeys, tiny little belt buckles, snaps, curtain hooks and rings. But hundreds of wonderful buttons too.

The last time I went to the Antique Mall (with the OnlyChild), I picked up this little beauty:

I can't believe I forgot to show it to you until now. It doesn't work, but I didn't expect to use it anyway.

It wasn't all shopping and eating yesterday. I'm ready to put together all the blocks for Be Yourself. I laid them out on the dining room floor to have a look. I tried to be random, really I did. But random just isn't me so they're set in a pattern.

Now I have this pile to work on connecting for the rest of today (and tomorrow because it's a long weekend).

And I have another finish this weekend. I made the mini version of the Mail Sack.

 

The pattern didn't call for a zippered pocket but since there is no top closure, I added one.

And another pocket. I sewed on a button for extra security.

Good things all around. How about you? Did you discover any treasures this weekend?

In the end, I chose black

I finally made a decision. I chose the black fabric to border the final set of four-patch blocks for Be Yourself. And I'm okay with it.

This is going to change the plans I had for quilting, however.

Once I had finished all 14 black blocks (there are now 42 blocks in total), I cut into these beautiful fabrics that the OnlyChild gave me for Christmas.

I'm making the smaller version of this:

I love this pattern! I'll give you a peek at my Mini Mail Sack when I'm finished.

Today, I'm meeting my friend Kim for breakfast, then we're going to a quilt shop or two, and who knows what else. It's always a bit of an adventure with Kim. That girl can shop for days!

It's a long weekend...and with no marking. Plenty of time to visit and sew. Have a happy one!

Stay inside tonight

Because it's the Friday Night Sew-In. This month, we signed up with Bobbi over at Crafty Vegas Mom. There's still time to join in the fun!

I intended to keep working on the Be Yourself quilt. But I'm having some issues.

Remember the Black-Peach dilemma? The black seems too dark alongside the cream and straw fabrics I'm using around the four-patch blocks. Today I bought some peach fabric:

And I hate it! I don't know if you can tell from this photo, but it's really peachy. I forgot to take my square to the fabric store with me to match, but that didn't matter anyway because they only had one peach solid. It was pathetic. I bought a metre of it anyway, hoping that it would be the right shade, but it's too bright and sweet. I need muted.

I think I'm having so much trouble making up my mind on this because I'm stressed. It's not my job. It's not the OnlyChild. And it's not Mr. P (he's pretty easy to live with, actually). It's not even the Wild Things - Abby's peeing spree is not a regular occurrence. There are other things going on that have me a bit worried and upset. When I'm feeling this way, I have trouble making decisions and moving on.

I wonder if I should take my block and head to another fabric store or if I should just find something else to work on for tonight...until I can make up my mind or until this stressful situation resolves itself and I can finally get on with things. See, I can't even decide what to do. Sigh.

Sewing past midnight

I was up waaaay too late last night, sewing more blocks for the Be Yourself quilt.

I only planned to sew for an hour, while watching the latest episode of Parenthood online.

But...

When I went to put my pajamas on, I discovered that AbbyDog had peed on my bed. On the duvet, on the top sheet, on the bottom sheet, onto the mattress cover (but not the mattress itself, thank goodness). And laundry takes a while.

Mr. P was playing hockey (a late game that started at 9:30 pm) so I sewed while the duvet washed and dried, and the mattress cover washed and dried. I might as well have just gone to bed, since we ended up using another comforter and mattress cover anyway.

But still, I had some good quality sewing time and worked on blocks with a second background colour.

This is Kona Straw. I used it to make the Snowflake Table Runner for my neighbour. I had decided, at one point, not to use this fabric because it wasn't "green" enough, but when I put it next to the blocks, it looked really good.

Now I need to make one last set of blocks (there are 14 of each colour). My original idea was to use black, but I think it might be too harsh against the softer, muted colours. I may find myself at a fabric store in the near future...seeking out the perfect peach-coloured fabric. Peach is not one of my favourite colours, but I think it might work here.

(And if you're wondering about AbbyDog - she also peed on the stairs last night. She's on my blacklist for now. Just kidding - but she isn't allowed anywhere near my bed!)

Off to work now...

Be Yourself

The Authentic quilt... finally.

I've decided to rename it "Be Yourself".

I started out with an idea to use the charm pack I bought to make a Chinese Coins quilt.

I sewed all those little pieces together into long strips.

And then, of course, I changed my mind.

I can't tell you how many times I've designed and re-designed this quilt in my head. I have thought about it at work, in the car, while I'm supposed to be sleeping, during yoga class.

The other night, with Mr. P snoring beside me, a figurative lightbulb went on in my head and this is what I came up with:

Four-patch blocks inside larger solid blocks. But, as you can see, they are not all centred.

Here you can see the effect better.

I have other solid colours too, for variety. I'll keep you posted!

So far, I'm really liking this one.

I've linked this project to Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday. Come on over and see what others are making!

Red and Pink

Happy Valentine's Day!

In spite of the fact that we are not big followers of Valentine's Day, I do make or buy something for the OnlyChild every year. Last year, I made her a pair of sweetheart pillowcases.

It's so hard to think of Valentine's gifts - she has plenty of pajamas, she doesn't want chocolate because she's trying to eat healthier, and she's got enough "stuff" in her room that more trinkets would just be lost.

So, this year, I made a heart garland for her, using Betz White's tutorial. I didn't have any pom-poms so I used buttons in between the felt hearts. That's more my style, anyway.

Here it is hanging on a picture in my sewing room.

Hmmm...looks like it belongs here. I might have to steal it back from the OnlyChild.

And I tried it out on the shutters in the dining room too.

And on the picture of my grandfather and his parents c. 1917.

I did eventually hang it in the OnlyChild's room, up over her bed. That was after I made the bed and put the one sweetheart pillowcase I could find on a pillow.

(I had to clear a path from the door to the bed and almost lost my slipper in the process. Some mess in there!)

Drumroll please...

Snowmen in the Woods - finished and hanging in the front entry!
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Now onto the Authentic quilt...

But first, I have some work to do for our school's open house. Put a zipper in Goldilocks's dress, make Peter Pan's hat, wash Rumplestiltskin's shirt.

Extra! Extra!

This post has been linked on Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday! Go and have a look at all the other wonderful projects!