Saturday Showcase

Hi Peeps!

It's been a while, I KNOW, but life keeps on getting in the way!!!

I finished another table runner. This one is for my Mother in Law, for her birthday tomorrow. We will all see her tonight as we are going to supper at a fancy Italian restaurant. Yumm!

Here's the back. This is another remnant that has been hiding in my stash for years!!! Use it up, I say!

This is my next scrap project. This is the Jumbo Prism Pillow Tutorial by Lee at Freshly Pieced. Have a look at all the great things on her blog. I have lots and lots of scraps and plan to use some of my bolt of Kona-Snow for the solid.

Here are my vintage china tea cups. The green one is my favourite, it is made by Ainsley. I have been slowly collecting these from garage sales and thrift stores, though the thrifts stores around here charge a mint for them.

Post-war vintage platter, inherited from my dear Granny. She was a war bride from England. Her father said "on no certain terms was she allowed to date one of those hick prairie Canadians"!!! So, she married him!!!

Another treasure from my Granny. I think this one is from the 50's. The rooster comes off and there is a depression for putting chopped green onions or crumbled bacon in. I chipped it within a week of gaining possession…grrr...

The latest box of scraps from my dear friend L in Arizona. As you can see, I had a lot of fun digging through it! Aren't those little owls cute? I am still cutting pieces for my son's hexie quilt, though I don't have that many more to baste. I will take a break from basting hexies in the evening after this. I am planning to work on a EPP 6-bladed star quilt. I have cut the kit for it already.

This is on one of the walls in our 'dining room'. It is not actually a room, just more an extension of the kitchen, and the balcony sliding doors are just to the right. My kitchen is decorated in a loose Mexican style. I have been collecting Mexican painted pottery for years and years.

Canada Day is coming up next week…and the Aurifil thread giveaway is coming soon!

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Jacqueline

Got some Happy Mail!!

Hi peeps!

Look at this yummy fabric I got a few weeks ago from Fort Worth Fabric Studio! Those turtles are so darn cute I just couldn't help it!!! I am going to trim up some flour sack towels with the coffee bean and apple prints. I bought what they had left(3 yds) of that juicy Amy Butler print and might make myself a Washi Dress for the summer. 

See what they give you in your order? Some hot choco(this brand is hard to find up here) and a nice, thick pen. My order was wrapped in a clear plastic bag(not a zip-top one though), and sealed with a sticker. Yay!

I did get my coordinating Fabric Boxes done yesterday. I wanted to see if I could make a tall one for my scissors and a large spool of thread. I made the 10" square, then measured 2" in from the corners to make it skinny. 

It was a bit fiddly to sew down the inner flaps and sew on the buttons, as I have kind of big hands, but I managed! As you can see, I totally changed my ideas on the buttons. I think the little red ones are super-cute!

Here they are with my cute scissors that were sent to my by a friend in England. I am so, so, sorry, I don't know how to make my pics stand up straight!! If anyone knows how, please comment!!! Thanks!

I dug this book out of my sewing room and did up some tea towels for my Dad for Father's Day.

It has tons of well-photographed stitch how-tos.

I would love, love to learn how to make a Bullion Rose. So pretty!

Here are my ideas for trimming the towels; the red paisley is too dark and I am leaning towards the antique toys print. Any thoughts? I'd love some help on this one. The prob with the Debbie Mumm stars print is that I don't have much of it, so the trimmed edge might be a little skimpy.

This is my one and only finished hand appliqué project. Just not my thing I guess. I have large, fat hands and find needle-turn too fiddly.

A gratuitous shot of some hexies I did last night.

I store my basted hexies in a plastic shoe box from the dollar store. I wedge them in there tight so they self-press. No ironing for me on this project!!! I can fit about 1,000 hexies into the box and when it gets full, I dump them in a large, clear plastic bag.

I am ready for my close-up, Mr. Deville!!! Ha ha ha 

They look so good, just like a handful of potato chips! YUM!

I am off to sit in the shade,

Thanks for reading,

Jacqueline

A sunny saturday afternoon

Hi all!

I had a lovely morning sewing(while emptying the dishwasher and other nasty things like that!), and am at the halfway point on the fabric boxes tutorial I shared with you last week(link on Cute Tutes page).

These are the two fabrics I've chosen, as well as some buttons I am auditioning. Not sure which ones I'll go with yet...

One of the fatties had the designer's name printed on it, but the other did not. Love my little vintage fruit nappy, perfect for holding tidbits!

Can you see my shadow on the turquoisey-green fabric??? 

I wanted the quilting to show up a little, so I chose some Antique Gold-coloured thread. I hope to finish them up tomorrow(best laid plans... *wink*).

I was a naughty girl and did a little online retail therapy at Fabricworm. It arrived on my doorstep Friday. Happy Mail!!! I have plans for the black print, bias plaid and the teal, but bought the remaining 4 yards of the oh-so-colourful block print just because! It is in all my go-to colours, so it will be used! I am thinking maybe a scrappy BOM??? All the fabric arrived enclosed in a large, sturdy ziplock-style bag. That will be re-purposed as soon as I get the fabric into my stash. No, sorry, no pictures of the stash…it's embarrassing to say the least! hee hee hee

So I decided to jump on the blogosphere bandwagon and got the Sew Together Bag pattern by Michelle Tucker of Sew Demented. I just had to have that pattern! It is a great little zip-up organizer…perfect for my paper piecing supplies. I first heard about it on several of the blogs I follow and then again during the Sew Mama Sew semi-annual giveaway. I am a little concerned about installing all those zippers, but the 14 page pattern(it's a PDF) has loads of info. You can get your copy here.

Here's another sneak preview of the giant hexie quilt(I have to wait for the hubs' help to photograph the entire quilt):

You can see the border fabric in this one. I decided to sew the border on by hand as well, so now I can say it is pieced entirely by hand.

And this is the backing fabric. The gingham check is 1/4". 

Initially, I bought 6 yards(it is 57" wide), but by the time I finished the quilt, I realized that I needed much more. The Lord was in my corner, as I found the online store I'd bought the original piece from(they had moved their store to Etsy) and they had some left! Can you believe that? I bought what they had and now have enough! Happy story!

That's all for me folks!

Happy sewing,

Jacqueline

A new addition...

Hi all! 
I'd like to welcome my new followers! Feel free to share with your friends.

Soooo….guess what the UPS lady brought me last night??? Woo-hoo!!!! My purple camera has arrived!!! I have finally joined the 21st century! 
Thanks, hubs!

Now I can show you a few things…

This is my shoe box, get it? S.H.O.E. B.O.X. (*wink*). This is where I keep my pre-cut fabric for hexies.

 This is a view of what's inside.

These are my new quilting and embroidery books that my guys gave me for Mother's Day! Aren't I spoiled???

Last night before bed I decided to do a little rummaging through my fat quarters. I wanted to pick 2 coordinating ones to make the quilted fabric box mentioned the other day. Found them and then started playing in my huge glass button jar(it used to be a Biscotti jar, I love to re-purpose!)…well, the hubs gets out of bed and comes roaring into my sewing room, hollering "do you know how loud you are being?". It never occurred to me that my mindless fondling of all and sundry buttons was irritating the poor man! What could I do? I had to find some matching buttons, and yes, I did have to do it at that moment! He was not amused….

This is sneak preview #1 of the giant hexie quilt. Little blurry I know, I must learn to not breathe when I take pics!

This is sneak preview #2 of the giant hexie quilt! I love those blocks with the kitty cat faces and the one with the cactus.

Had my appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon yesterday. Turns out I have 'early' Arthritis in my knee and nothing can be done about it, surgery-wise. He gave me a physiotherapy exercise to do and told me to lose weight. Not so helpful, but I will do the exercise and cut back on the sweets. Groan…

The kid got called back for a second interview at the cinema, so he is quite excited and so are we!

It is a beautiful day, so I am going to have the hubs unearth my lounger and have a rest under the tree with my new quilting books.

Has anyone got any new books lately? I'd love to hear about them!

Thanks for reading and have a great one,

Jacqueline

Next small project

Hi all! Thanks for stopping by!

This is what's up next for me. Tina, of Seaside Stitches, has shared a great tutorial for these cute little fabric boxes. You can make them in lots of sizes and they are great for holding all sorts of goodies! I will be making at least one, cuz I really need to tidy my sewing areas…as Mr. Quilt, Sew Happy can attest!

Here is the link: Fabric Box Tutorial. This will take you to the page of the tutorial, but do stick around and have a look at the blog!

A person, who shall remain nameless, is selling the pattern for this tutorial on Craftsy, for $6. I am mentioning this as her photos and finished project are the same as Tina's tutorial, yet make no mention of Tina or her blog, Seaside Stitches. Craftsy won't do anything to help her. Just wanting to get this out there, so people know!

I want to thank those of you who have become readers and followers of my blog. Please be patient, my new camera is wisking it's way to me as we speak! Believe me, I am more impatient than you all! I wanna show you stuff!

Thanks for reading and please share with your friends!

Jacqueline