Happy Mail and Some Sponsor News!

Hi peeps!

A few weeks ago, Craftsy had a free-shipping sale, and I was all over that, as shipping to Canada is surprisingly costly. So I got these two Fossil Fern 100-piece charm packs as I am planning to cut them up for hexies and make a large quilted tote bag. I have been checking out my books and cruising the internet, looking for that 'perfect' tote pattern! Does anyone have any ideas?

On payday, I headed on over to the Connecting Threads website, as I always have an open cart going! I had been hearing all about Amy Smart's book, Fabulously Fast Quilts all over blog-land, and since it was on sale, I bought it as well as two more copies of Katy Jones' 25 Quilt Blocks…to giveaway sometime soon!

I got 7 yards of this white-on-white print for my Impromptu quilt. I actually only need 6.5 yards, but as it was on sale for $3.56 a yard, I got extra. There is always a need for w-o-w prints here. Darn, as I think of it, I probably should have ordered more! I mean, how often do you see a w-o-w on sale?

Do you remember all the  4.5" squares I had started cutting with my Go Baby, for a paper bag quilt? I sort of stalled on it as I was kind of meh on having to cut a bunch of Kona-snow squares(I mean, how boring is that, anyway?). Then I got the Amy Smart book! The second pattern is this one(Fast Four Patch) and uses the same size squares, along with red and white strips, both of which I have on hand! Serendipity at it's best!

Lastly, I loaded up on the CT Essentials thread, which was on sale for $1.95 a spool. I use this for everyday sewing, machine piecing and English Paper Piecing. I never use my Aurifil thread for EPP shapes, as eventually, all the thread gets removed and thrown away.

As promised, here is a part picture of the purple Batik sheet I bought Saturday at the Caribbean Festival. You can see the Celtic cable border and hand-knotted fringe.

A close-up of the stencilled red turtles. I think they look happy!

My last bit of Happy Mail is from my sponsor, Paper Pieces. They sent me a small pack of hexagons and a small pack of tall triangles, as well as 2 mini charm packs, to be given away soon.  You can click the logo on my upper left border to go straight to their online store. Don't forget to use the savings code!

I have more happy sponsor news, but you will have to wait till next post to find out!

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Jacqueline

A WIP, a Win, and the Caribbean Festival!

Hi Peeps!

It has been a long time..I KNOW…but the excessive heat we have been getting laid me low with an awful 5-day migraine…NOT fun! I did manage to get started on the HST's for the Jumbo Prism Pillow(link on the Cute Tute page), though.

Aren't those trimmings colourful?

These are the smaller HST's, all trimmed and ready for pressing. I have to finish up trimming the large triangles. They are a bit tricky, as I only have a long ruler that is wide enough. I better check on Massdrop to see if they have any there on sale!

I won this cute Yoko Saito pattern from a giveaway at see how we sew blog. You should check them out. If you go to the pattern page and scroll down, they have some free patterns too!

The Hubs and I went to the Caribbean Festival in Maple Ridge this past Saturday. It is an annual event, and we do try to go every year. We didn't have the teenager with us(out sunning on the beach with his friends), so were able to catch some shade in the beer garden while eating our (expensive) Jamaican Jerk chicken. It was really good, a treat I look forward to every year! It was smoking' hot and by the time we headed home, we were done. 

I did buy a large Batik sheet(purple, of course, with stencilled red turtles all over it). We will use it as a top sheet during the summer months. Show-and-tell next post!

I finally figured out how to rotate and crop my pics! YAY! The Hubs took this picture of a brave couple dancing in the street on a hot summer day. The young lady looked very warm in that pretty costume.

I have some Happy Mail to show next post and I received a surprise package from one of my sponsors…I think a giveaway is coming soon!

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Jacqueline

A finish and some extra special Happy Mail!

Hi peeps!

I finally managed to finish the table runner I was making for my Dad's birthday. We are having him over for supper on Sunday, though his birthday is actually today. Link to the tutorial is on my Cute Tute Links page.

Here's a close-up of the quilting. I did 'in the ditch' for the side pieces and a continuous decreasing square in the center. 

I just love those cavorting chicks and chickens! Aren't they cute???

I backed it with an piece of Debbie Mumm fabric. I have been hoarding this scrap piece for ages, I think it was from one of her first lines! 

I had JUST enough, with a strip left over for my 'string' box…will make a string quilt one of these days...

Got some Happy Mail from Connecting Threads. They had a rare pattern sale, so I stocked up, and the 2 books were Clearance. 

I really need to make that Sit & Stitch pincushion. The arms of my easy chair are getting a real beating from all the pins and needles I stick into it!

More from Connecting Threads…I rarely buy kits as they tend to sit around and get lost in my sewing room. I really wanted this pattern(Wedges), and of course, the blue-green batiks were a must! The thread was on sale for $1.95 a spool, so I stocked up on some favourite colours. The lime and orange are being discontinued!

Spoiler alert: I wrote their customer service to complain about the many thread colours that sold out too fast for me to purchase…they got back to me to tell me they will give out a special coupon code(on this coming Monday) to all their customers who lost out, and the code will make the thread @$1.95 again. Not sure if they will give this code to everyone as I only got notification for it because I complained.

Now for the extra special Happy Mail!!! Soon after I started this blog, I contacted Mr. Alex Veronelli of Aurifil threads to see if I could get some samples to try and some to give away as well. The man is a sweetie and did not disappoint! Look at what he sent me!!! Those colour cards are a $30 value!!! The local UPS guy was impressed that we got something from far-away Italy!

I received 12 spools and I have chosen the spools I'd like to keep. I have 8 spools to give away! I will be having a giveaway soon…for 4 different people! Each person will receive a large spool, a small spool(curtosy of Aurifil of Italy) and a package of John James needles(curtosy of little old me!).

I am giving you a heads up, so you can get organized!!! I will have 2 conditions for this giveaway; you must follow me by email(that includes my Google+ and Bloglovin people!), and; you must comment and let me know what kinds of tutorials you would like me to show you. But not yet!!!

I will let you know when the giveaway is to start(hint: Maple Leaf) and you will have a few days in which to register. I am giving you time to put on your thinking caps, let your creative thoughts flow and think up tutorials...

I did do a tutorial recently, but am having a hard time attaching it to this blog! grrr…

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Jacqueline

Bella Clutch, aka camera bag!

Howdy folks!

So, here is my modified Bella clutch all ready for my camera. I lined it with soft baby flannel, in pale yellow. I didn't have the metal hardware needed for the handle, so just inserted the handle strip into the side seam as is. 

Please note that my bag is much deeper than the original pattern. I needed it that way so it could hold my camera and a few necessities.

Thanks so much to Clover and Violet, for having this great tutorial. I will have a link on my Cute Tute page soon. Have a look round their blog, it is packed with lots of tutes and other great ideas!

I made this table runner a few years ago. I will try to find the tutorial for it…might be lost in the Forbidden Room, aka; my sewing room!

Here's a close-up. You can see I did a bit of simple hand quilting in the white border. I used to do a lot of hand quilting, but since I had Carpal Tunnel surgery on BOTH wrists I don't have full range of movement anymore.

Got some Happy Mail from Christa's yesterday! Just love, love that juicy gumdrop print! I had been eyeing that cube of Double Wedding Ring sticky notes for ages. She is having a close-out sale and I got the last on at half price!

Also fron Christa's, these cuts of Kona cotton. This is; Azure, Sand, Robin's Egg Blue and Lipstick Red. I got 3 yds of Sand and 2 yds each of the other three. I should have got more of the red. It is my favourite shade of red…but it is so hard to tell on a computer. She is all sold out of Kona now.

Last, but not least, I got this Cheese and Crackers boy quilt kit. It was $60, but I got the last one for $30! Such a smokin' great deal; an Atkinson pattern, 10 fatties, half yard of the blue and yardage of Kona-white.

That's all for me today, the hubs needs the computer…grrr..I can't complain though, his need is directly tied to getting a paycheque!!!

Another hexie shot! Can't get enough of these little, happy bits of scrappiness!

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Jacqueline

Gettin' caught up...

Hi all!!!

Thought I would show off the ~1,000 hexies I have already basted for the Kid's quilt. Just under 3,000 to go! (Notice how I have re-purposed the bag that my fabrics from Fort Worth Studio came in!)

We managed to catch the tail-end of Saturday's PM Day parade. Our little town is celebrating 100 years of incorporation this year.

The firefighters come armed with spray guns….

…and the kids too! It is an annual event and kids are encouraged to join in the fun. It was a really hot day and I ended up getting squirted too! Eek!

The 4-H kids were showing off their sweet bunnies. Poor things looked a little hot, even though they were in shade.

Here's me in front of an equally hot(yea, right!) red car. That dorky, floppy hat came in real handy! There were a whole bunch of booths this year and I bought a big bag of Kettle Corn. Sooo good, but soo bad for me…hee hee hee

Do you remember me telling you about saving up my pharmacy store points? Well, they had that extra points sale this past weekend and I got all this for $12.22!!!(you just have to pay the taxes on the non-food items). I spent $219.93 of an available $220.00 worth of points. YEA!!!

I got 2 x 8-packs of Duracell batteries(on sale) for my camera, Tylenol(on sale), 2 x Lactaids for the Kid, 4 x Palmolive dish soap(on sale) and tons of food(most on sale) to a total estimated $300.00 worth(full price) of products/food! I did bring a list and a calculator, but even still, both the hubs and the cashier were uber-impressed! She said I should go on The Price is Right!!!

Next post I will be showing the finished Bella clutch and some Happy Mail!

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