Sunday, September 30, 2012

Farewell, September

September is one of my favourite times of year. I love the slight crispness in the mornings that warms up to beautiful, late-summer days. I love the energy of back-to-school, even though my kids are long finished with that. And I like the colours that show themselves as the leaves turn from green to their autumn palette.  It always seems like September manages to fly by!

So welcome, October, and I'm starting it off a few hours early by showing off my October blocks for the Happiness circle of Do.Good.Stitches. Chelsea has come up with a great colour scheme for these string-pieced blocks. I enjoyed making them. My second one is much better than the first and I am glad I had a chance to learn and try this technique - it was new to me, but the tutorial is well-written and easy to follow.

I didn't set out to have October's blocks done so soon, but it just worked out. Over the past few days I had bits of time here and there which lent itself well to putting these blocks together. It is a good thing because in five short weeks our second daughter is getting married so this month is sure to get busier with each passing week.

Hope your week is a good one!

e.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

WIP Wednesday

Yay! I actually had a chance to work at the sewing machine and I do indeed have a work in progress to share. Such an exciting moment certainly warrants a blog post (I think)!


This is on its way to becoming a baby quilt for a dear little one expected to arrive in about a month. The weather was beautiful today and even the wind played nice so I could snap this photo. I'm hoping to be able to share the finished project in the next week or so.

Linking up today with WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

e.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Repeat


 

I'm sorry, but this is a bit of a repeat. I am still a novice blogger with a fairly small blog but I really want to grow my circle of quilting friends. So. That means I'd like to play along with a linky party going on over at Canoe Ridge Creations. My favourite thing about this is looking at all the links people put up and discovering new bloggers as a result!



I had wonderful intentions (and everything prepared!) to finish off a modern baby quilt yesterday and be able to show it for the link up today. But, it just didn't work out. I'll finish the baby quilt tonight but I don't think the light will be so good by then for taking a picture, so I am going to repeat a photo I have shown before because it IS a modern design and it DOES use modern fabrics, so it meets the criteria for the linky party!


I called this the Hootlet quilt and it was made for my friend's brand new baby granddaughter! The blocks are based on Ashley's Converging Corners quilt and the colour scheme was drawn around the owl fabric which I fussy cut for the centre of each block. Although each block took a little while to make, I am pretty sure I want to make another quilt using this design - only I might want to keep it for myself!

So that is my Sew Modern Monday post! Hopefully I'll have something new and current for next time!

e.


Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Tuesday at the [newlyweds'] table

Our newly married daughter and her husband hosted their first family dinner at their new place on Sunday. It was my first time seeing their apartment and I love how they have set it up and really made it a home - they look comfortable and happy!

Dinner was homemade pizza and homemade chocolate cake for dessert - yum! The reviews were good all 'round.



You can see there is a bare table underneath the plates and all that food. She made sure to point that out to me and has asked for a table runner or placements or "whatever you think would look good, mom". This is the table she bought for herself at Ikea when she moved away for university last year. Even though her dorm apartment was not very big she is my girl who insists that meals are eaten properly - at the table! The table works perfectly in their apartment and they even picked up a couple folding chairs so they have enough seating to go around!

It was wonderful being able to enjoy dinner at their place. They entertained with ease and put on an enjoyable evening - we are so proud of them!

Linking up with Tuesday at the Table!

e.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Hootlet!

I realize hootlet is not a word but I like it just the same. This quilt became known as the hootlet quilt because that sounds like what we'd want to call a baby owl (and yes, I know that is not correct!). For the past few weeks I have been working on a baby quilt for a friend of mine who just became a grandma for the first time. It took me a little while to finish but sweet baby girl  was good about being patient and waiting to get here. I finished the binding earlier tonight and managed to get a picture. My wonderful son-in-law to be was a good sport about being the quilt holder for this photo.


The inspiration was Ashely's converging corners quilt and I fussy cut the owl (and other critter) motifs for the centre of the blocks. It was a lot of fun to make.  I wanted to personalize the backing so I added in a strip across the middle. I traced one of the owls from the focus fabric and I think it turned out pretty cute!


I hope grandma and the parents and this sweet new baby girl like it!

e.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Take two...

Oops...it wasn't until I posted to my blog about my two blocks for Do Good Stitches that I realize I had totally biffed one of them! How on earth did I manage that? The colours are blue, green, grey, and orange - one of mine was brown! Oh dear! I am so glad I put up a post and spotted my error. So today, I made another block - this time, in the right colours.



Whew! This is much better. I think I will still send along the brown block, just in case it can be used somehow - maybe on the quilt back? 

I will finish another project tonight but it is already too dark for photos, so I will have to show it off tomorrow. I'm very excited and look forward to sharing!

e.

Friday, September 7, 2012

BEE September

Yesterday after work, I was in the mood to do something productive in the sewing room. For me, being productive is usually associated with having something to show for my time. My blocks for September didn't take very long at all and were fun to make. This month, our leader is Laura and she asked for fussy cut wonky star blocks using this tutorial. The quilt will be for a boy so she asked us to use green, blue, grey, and orange in our blocks.


I haven't made a lot of kid's quilts - particularly boyish ones - so finding those middle squares in my stash was a bit of a challenge, but I think these ones worked out. The tutorial is very well written and simple to follow - it was a quick and satisfying project. The blocks are ready to go in the mail! Go, Canada Post! 

It is a nice autumn Friday morning here on the prairie and the weekend is supposed to be even nicer. So much to look forward to!

e.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Happy finish!

Last night I finished stitching down the binding on the wedding quilt for my daughter and her new husband. They are returning from a honeymoon in Mexico later today and I am so happy to have their quilt (almost) finished; I have to say almost because my other daughter's fiancee pointed out that I still have to add a label to this quilt - he is pretty insistent I always label my work!


The pattern is called "Going Buggy" by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. I modified it slightly; the pattern called for a pieced border (four patches) where I have used the solid Kona Snow border around the outside. I felt the quilt was already plenty busy and I think the crisp, clean border gives the quilt the contemporary look my daughter was going for. My daughter asked me to make a quilt based on the colours used in Ashley's quilt shown here.


The binding is a cream-on-black polka dot from the Circa 1934 collection and the backing is from this year's reprint of Flea Market Fancy.

It's so exciting to have another project finished! It is also exciting to have some big events out of the way and (hopefully) a lot more time to spend at the sewing machine!

Happy Labour Day weekend.

e.
 
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