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

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

A cuttin' machine!

Hi peeps!

Here's a close-up of my appliqué wall-hanging I shared a few days ago.

I was in a cutting mood yesterday, so I got out my trusty AccuQuilt Go Baby and the Econo die(love it, has 3 different shapes to cut on the same die) and went to work on this pile of scraps from my stash!

They were sent to me by my dear, dear friend L in Arizona. She is a prodigious quilter and sends me a big box of her beautiful scraps a couple times a year. I love that peacock fabric near the middle of the pile! 

It looks like my hubs' empty booze bottles have done a little photo bombing!!! *sorry*

I got out my old loaf pans to keep the unruly piles of cuts from falling off my ironing board. I use my cutter on my ironing board as it is easier on my back, and I can place the board in front of the balcony doors to keep cool. I got a bunch of  2.5" HSTs, 2.5" squares and 4.5" squares done. I will probably add the 2.5" squares to my hexie shoebox for the Kid's quilt. I am thinking that the HSTs would make a great border for the Paper Bag charity quilt!

Here's an old pillowcase full of my off-cuts. Once it is full, I will sew the opening shut and donate to a local kitty cat shelter, for use as a kitty bed.

I had a hankering to make a Paper Bag quilt! Do you know what that is? You put your cut squares in a paper bag and mix it all up. Then you close your eyes and choose the next squares to piece together. I will be piecing mine with Kona-snow as my alternate, making a checkerboard quilt for charity. I still have A LOT of squares to cut(thank you Go Baby!!! It's one of the best investments I have ever made for quilting tools, other than rotary cutting supplies). I kinda over-did it yesterday, so have to take a breather today.

This is my sweet baby, GRACIE. She has had a bit of a rough time. She was the runt of her pack and never quite learned how to cover her litter box additions. She was two years old before she learned how to meow!!! She recently had a nasty infection and I really thought we were going to lose her, but she pulled through. Thank you, Lord Jesus!

I couldn't find GEORGE at the time of this post, so look forward to seeing a picture of him sometime soon.

It is such a beautiful day today, I think I will go outside and read a quilt mag in the shade!

Have a super day and thanks so much for reading!

Jacqueline