2 More Quilt Finishes for May!

Here it is! The Bargello quilt all finished and ready to go to it's new home.

This quilt didn't turn out as well as I wanted it to. It was made before and after I had my machine cleaned and there is definitely a difference. I'm just happy that it is going to a home that will appreciate it and use it, even with all its flaws. (It's the thought that counts right?)

Here's the back. Some of my favourite fabrics. I hope the new owners will like them too.

Close up of the final border fabric and binding. I love the red fabric and only had a yard of it so the final border ended up being smaller than I wanted. It might be a little small for the queen size bed it is going to rest on. I think Michelle and Kurt will appreciate it anyway. Happy 10th Anniversary, Michelle and Kurt (I know I am a few months early). I will try to get this to you sometime this summer, even if I just leave it at your mom's place for you to pick up. Hope this is a good surprise. Michelle is my awesome sister-in-law who has just started quilting, she's been sewing for years (has made cloth diapers, kid clothes and some toys). Thought you 2 deserved a special gift after 10 years, 3 kids and several life challenges. I laughed a little when Michelle was the only one to leave a comment when I posted the picture of the top (without the borders). She said I could make one like that for them, not knowing it was going to be an anniversary gift. It was always meant for you 2, hope you enjoy it.

I also finished the Ribbon Tree quilt that was the project for quilt day back in March.

Free-motion quilting on the leaves of the tree.

Straight line quilting on the trunk. Ribbon was outlined in brown to help give it some definition.
Back is the same blue as the borders. This was going to be for my mom but I've given her a lot of quilts lately, and then I thought I would keep it, and now I am going to offer it to my brother's family. He is currently serving in Afghanistan. I will get to see him in June when he comes home for the birth of his 4th child. My kids and I are staying with them this summer before moving to Idaho to help with the older children and have some fun.

2 Books Finished

I finished 2 novels this month. First was the above, "Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet". A fictional account of Claude Monet's relationship with his first wife, Camille (who appears in several of his paintings. A lot of it was the author's imagination using what little is known about Camille. It was a good read. The author is Stephanie Cowell.

Second finish, is the latest book in the Elm Creek Quilts series. I read it in 2 days. Definitely not great fiction but they are a great escape from the everyday. If you read the series I would recommend it, if you like your fiction to challenge you and make you think... go read Margaret Atwood. I'll be reading some of hers later this year, once the crazy moving to Idaho business is over.

More May Finishes

Yesterday my son was at preschool, my daughter was home sick on the couch. What's a girl to do? Quilt, quilt, quilt!

First finish was a bag for my niece whose birthday is next month. She is having a recycle themed birthday party so I thought a market/ library bag would be a good idea. The rest of her gift will go inside.

I think my mom bought me this fabric. It says, "Kids can make a world of difference" and the kids are saying ways they can help the environment.


Then I sewed a little something for myself. I've been wanting to make it for awhile. Here it is all rolled up...

... and here it is unrolled. Love the fabrics. There is fleece in the middle instead of batting, which I really like. I told my daughter we can share it since she is learning how to knit.

My last 3 finishes for this post. 3 sleeping bags for either Groovy girls or Barbies. My daughter has been eyeing the Groovy girl sleeping bag (close to $20) and I figure I could make that. Not very fancy, used polyester fleece I got in the remnant bin at JoAnn's. I thought of adding some embellishments but these were mainly prototypes. I'll have to take a picture with a doll inside. 2 of them will be given to my daughter for her birthday next week and one may go to a niece - if you'd like it Molly.

I also finished the bargello quilt yesterday - yes, FINISHED! Need to take pictures and then I can post it.

My daughter is feeling much better. It seems to be a 1 hour bug. Unfortunately, I feel it today so I am glad I got so much done yesterday. I am currently lying in bed trying not to be sick.

And the Winner is...

#178 - Irina said...
right, just by looking at your quilts makes me want to finish the one I started a long time ago!So if in the odd chance I win this one... I'll be delighted!

Congrats Irina! Such a nice comment, hope she is delighted. I'll be sending you an email shortly!

Thanks to everyone who left a comment - 220 comments is amazing!

I was able to go and look at every giveaway. I didn't enter them all - I am moving and trying to declutter, not add to what I have but some things I couldn't resist. Besides all the awesome giveaways, I enjoyed the security words that were needed to leave a comment. Here are some of my favourites:
- froilmiz
- stessess
- eptico
- vereadal
- ircura
- moleskin

It reminds me of that game (Balderdash?) where you are given a weird word and had to make up a definition for it. I sucked at making up the definitions but enjoyed the words.

Thanks again to everyone who left a comment.

Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day!

It's Giveaway Day again, hosted by Sew, Mama, Sew. Here is my giveaway. It's a wall hanging quilt that is roughly 30 inches square.

Leave a comment below. Giveaway is open until midnight (EST), Thursday, May 20th. Winner will be announced on Friday. I will ship internationally.

Oh, and everything in my Etsy shop is 10% off from now until it goes on vacation in mid June. We are moving to Idaho and I need to sell some stuff to make room on the moving truck. Go take a look!

A Few More Finishes

I recently participated in the Potholder swap hosted by Stitch in Dye. Here are the 2 I made for my swap partner. Her name is Linda, go check out her blog.

Even though we decided that they didn't need to match, mine ended up matching.

We both like blues and greens, but Linda prefers lime green, so that is what she got.

Probably my favourite part, the back. Gorgeous vintage cheater fabric.

I also finished this baby afghan. This one however, is being given to my mother to give to a friend for a grandchild. An original design, my kids really liked it when I placed it out on the floor.

I think next time I will use a smaller hook so the puff stitches will be tighter.

Sewing machine is in for maintenance and won't be back ready until Wednesday. Hopefully I'll get some more finishes in after that.

Check it Out!

My sister, Sarah, over at SewJoy is the featured, guest quilter over at Amy's blog today! Of course my sneaky sister didn't tell me about it, so it was a pleasant surprise this morning. Congrats Sarah! I love what you had to say about quilting and not being afraid to try new things. Keep up the awesome work.

Happy Mother's Day!

Here is what I made my mom this year for mother's day (and it arrived in time, even better).

A piano bag. I made one last year for my daughter to take her books to piano lessons and my mother commented that she would like one too. Now she does.

A pin quilt. I had made one for all her Christmas pins and she requested one to use for the rest of the year. The middle is a block I made one day for fun but then didn't know what to do with it. I added the blue borders so it matched their bedroom better. It is roughly 16 inches square.

On the back I used blue fleece. There is no batting so it is easier for her to get pins in and out of the quilt. My son really likes the black and white fabric I used for the hanging sleeve.

Hope everyone is having a Happy Mother's Day! My kids bought me yarn. I'm suppose to make them something using the yarn they selected. We'll see what I come up with.

What have I been up to?

Picking, ironing and cutting fabrics. Here is the pile I created the other day. All projects I would like to have completed this month. You can see a bit of 2 baby quilts I made using the charm packs I got in North Bay. Just need to be quilted and they will be ready for the shop.

Here is what is on my chair. Some borders for the bargello, another baby quilt (the beautiful vintage cheater fabric). Guess I better get back to it. I completed 2 projects on Monday, but they are for Mother's day so I will post them on Sunday.