Crummy weather

Hi all!

So, I was planning to shoot a tutorial today, but the weather isn't cooperating…grrr…it is overcast and starting to rain. Bah…

I thought I would share a pic of my winnings, from the semi-annual Sew Mama Sew Giveaway. They arrived safe and sound and Tina, of Seaside Stitches, had included a nice little card, too! The tiny lapel pin is so sweet. I can't imagine foundation paper piecing such a small item! I think I will stick to my scrappy hexies!

I thought I would share a photo of my beloved Pffaf! She is Model# 7530-Quilt and Craft Pro. I have had her for over 14 years, can't believe how the time has flown by! She has quilted so many quilts and other crafty projects. Every once in a while, I think I will go ahead and get another machine, but she is such a good old gal, I really don't need to. 

I have never had a Bernina, but have lusted after them for sooo long…it is a Bucket List item!!!! 

Which kind of machine do you sew on?

The guy who lives behind us has been running his table saw all morning and now I've got a Migraine on deck.

See ya later,

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

Holiday Monday

Queen Victoria

Hi all, happy Monday!

Today is a holiday here in Canada, named after the above dour-looking lady. She reigned for many years and is the grandmother of the now-sitting Queen of England. Those of us living in a former British Colony get the day off, paid!

That being said, it also means there are no newspapers…grrrr….

So, I spent my morning-coffee newspaper-reading-time flipping through an old quilting magasine and a new-to-me quilting book.

I love foundation paper piecing as you get such nice, crisp points. Something which is kind of a hit or miss in my sewing room(groan…). This book has a bunch of great patterns to try and the foundation patterns are all to size. She even gives directions on how to re-size the patterns on your printer. Another thing I like about her pattern pieces is that they don't include the seam allowances. I just find that the least bulk possible is the best, when it comes to FPP, and I would cut the excess allowances off anyway, then trim my fabric to 1/4". And, instead of using pins(which can bend and become dull when going through multiple layers of fabric and paper) she suggests you use plastic-coated paper clips to temporarily secure your fabric to your paper. You wouldn't want to do that at intersections that need to be precise, she adds.
I got my copy on Amazon.ca.

Last night the kid was at a guy's games-night-sleepover, so the hubbs and I watched 3 movies on Netflix. The first was The American-George Clooney. Now, usually in my eyes, he can do no wrong, BUT this was a miss in my humble opinion. I guess that is why it wasn't at the theatres for long. We then watched Trespass-Nicolas Cage. Not bad, but I had figured out the twist soon into it. Last was a Pirate feature animation, voice of Hugh Grant, among others. My comic-book-artist husband giggled all the way through, but I was kind of meh…got A LOT of my hexies basted, to say the least.

I have been searching high and low for my digital camera, but have a sinking feeling that DH might have tossed it by accident. No fear, I have things in the works and hope to have a camera and pics on the blog, in the next 2 weeks.

That's all for me today, thanks for reading.