Getting closer

 ...to the end.

This is all that I have left to quilt. I'm trying to think of how to bind it - meaning what colour.

Butterflies and leaves are what I finally decided I would quilt in the big open sky area.

And when I'm not working on the quilt, I'm making more hats.

This is with the flash on my little camera. The green isn't a lime colour.

This green is closer to the colour but it's still not this bright - photo without the flash. My two little granddaughters need new hats so these are just trials. Pink and purple are this years colour so I shall see what I come up with. I will probably try a few different patterns too. There's bound to be someone who fits whatever size I make. I have a bench in my hall that has storage and so I keep hats, mitts, sweaters and masks in it for the little ones. They come in handy at times.

Finished baby quilt

 I did say I would show off this quilt once it was complete.

This shows how I quilted it.

I kept it fairly simple.

I used just parts of some of the quilt stencils I have.

The quilting in the border was just enough.

It's always nice to see the back.

I added hearts to the middle of each block. They don't show up too well on the front because the fabrics are prints.

Another label done on Aida cloth. 

The backing fabric actually has little baby motifs such as baby bottles, rattles and safety pins. (click on the photo to make it bigger.)

I'm now making some dresses for two adorable granddaughters who are turning four next month. Hopefully, I remember to take photos.

A bit of hand quilting

 I have been busy this week hand quilting a little 48 inch square baby quilt.

I started with a package of charm squares that my daughter picked and she arranged them the way she wanted them to look.

I had some solid cotton that was a perfect colour to frame all the four patches with. When I purchased the fabric, I thought it was gray but the lighting in the store obviously distorted the actual colour.

This was the finished top.

I made the border smaller at three inches to match the sashing instead of five inches that the pattern had. 

This is all I have left to do.

I didn't put much quilting in it. The middle of the four patches will have a heart quilted on it.

I just kept it simple. Once it's bound, I'll take more photos.


That's it for now. Have a lovely week. Our temperatures will be in the double digits for most of the week. With the sun shining, it should warm up the ground and maybe the bulbs will start appearing.

(I noticed when I went to 'Preview' mode that the alignment was off. I try to centre all my little descriptions but if it looks off, it's bloggers fault, not mine.)

I'm linking up with the Needle and Thread Network so pop on over to see what other Canadians are up to.

Sewing, knitting again

I have a few things that are finished and more things that I am still working on.

I finished this Harry Potter scarf for my eldest grandson. I purchased the yarn at Poundland in England (similar to our Dollarama.) I started it in England and just finished the fringe last week. I added fringe because the ends curled up. I will block it before sending it to see if that would help with the curling inwards of the whole scarf.

This is a baby sweater that has been unfinished for a while now and I thought it could be my next knitting project but...

I started (and now finished) this little rainbow baby hat. It was supposed to be a newborn to 3-month size but it turned out bigger. I shall try another pattern. There is a charity on Facebook called Warm Baby Project and it's based in England. They supply knitted garments to hospitals and other places that need them. I have learned a few things while following the site: some hospitals have different coloured hats for the babies in need. They are called traffic light hats because they are either green, yellow or red depending on the level of care the little ones need. It's easy to see in a hurry. Also, rainbow hats and blankets are given to newborns whose families have previously suffered a miscarriage, still born birth or have otherwise lost a baby.

And this is my current sewing project. It's the Quilters Trek - previously known as Row by Row. I wasn't going to participate this year but the theme was True Blue so how could I pass it up? I'm almost finished the rows, or blocks and then I have to put it all together. Lots and lots of work but I love blue so it's been fun.

Getting caught up

I have kept up with the Canadian Quilters Association sew along of 6 inch quilt blocks. 52 Blocks in 52 weeks is coming to an end soon.

I was about 3 weeks behind in making the blocks.

 I printed off the blocks each week.

The blocks are easy and they don't take long to make.

It was fun looking for light medium and dark purples for this set of blocks.

Here they are all together.

Charity sewing and Christmas decorating and sewing

I just purchased this booklet. I am planning on making some charity baby quilts. This was something I found while browsing the internet. I ordered it online through a quilt shop in Alberta called 'Along Came Quilting.' They have a wonderful website that is easy to use and they have loads of patterns. This wasn't one of them but I contacted them to ask if they could order it for me. Their service was excellent and the pattern booklet came very quickly.

I am not always on time with my Christmas sewing and decorating. I should start sooner but I do have a lot of other sewing and knitting on my list. Here are some links for you (and me) that I came across that I would love to make.

Christmas Baubles is made from little mini charm squares (2.5") but you could make it with bigger 5" charm squares. You would just have to figure out the size and make the corner squares bigger. I would also change the bottom and make a tree trunk instead of another bauble.

Wreaths. There are so many ways to make a Christmas (or any other time) wreath. I really like this one and would love to have the time to make it. I have so much green fabric to use up. This link is a modern take on the wreath and is a Dresden plate variation. It looks like fun.

This circle Christmas tree is so cute and so easy. Since it's only a small wall hanging, you could just fuse all the circles and sew with any stitch around each one. Quilt as you like, bind and hang it where you want. Super easy. You wouldn't even need a pattern (although one is provided and you can enlarge it 395%). Just use the picture as inspiration and create your own.

Moda Bakeshop has a Countdown to Christmas with a lot of block patterns you could use to make Christmas quilts.

Christmas Tree Napkins. These look so easy to make and they are so very nice to look at. Using up some Christmas fabrics that you have had for years is a great idea.

Paper piecing? Have you ever done it? It's not hard. Here's a link to teach you AND you can make a Christmas tree table runner, coasters, mug rug or a whole quilt with this pattern. Have fun!!

Or, if you don't want to sign up or don't want to do paper piecing but still want to make trees, then here's a tutorial. OR, there's this scrappy tree tutorial.

Have fun. I'm just working on my own list (which changes often) and in my own time. I refuse to stress over deadlines. I can only do what I can do and things will eventually get done.

Knitting, hemming and sewing

Way back in March, I purchased some yarn that was on sale. My idea was to make a quick baby blanket with it since I haven't knitted with that particular yarn before.

It took a while but here it is.

I used two balls of Bernat Baby Blanket in Lilac Dove.

It is so soft.

Here's a close-up of the colour and texture.

It was just knit in garter stitch with size 8mm. needles.

I just made it to keep in reserve in case one of the little ones needs a blanket.

It seems I am always busy doing something.

I hand hemmed a bridesmaid's dress for my daughter-in-law, Davina. The outer layer was chiffon so I hand sewed the rolled hem. The knit lining was hemmed with my serger.

For Mother's Day I made a mug rug for the same daughter-in-law from her little girl. Davina is expecting her second baby next month and these little hand prints are of her little girl Wren, who is a year and a half. If you look closely, the print has little birds on it.

Week 19 of 52 Blocks in 52 Weeks is complete. As you can see, it was a super easy block and took very little time to complete.

Projects in progress

I have found myself working on several things at once. Perhaps it's because there are so many interesting things to make or perhaps it's because I want to use up the fabric that I have accumulated.

These are the first eight blocks of the Canadian Quilters' Association's 52 Blocks in 52 Weeks. I decided to make it a rainbow palette. (the link will take you to the main page where you will find the blocks' link)

I am now working my way through the orange blocks. 

Here they are all together. Tomorrow is week 12 and therefore, a new block. As you can see, they are easy blocks and the instructions are very well written.

I'm also trying to finish up last year's BOM Gnome for the Holidays. I think I have four blocks left to make. This block still needs a gnome and a Christmas tree. I'm hoping to get to it this week.

My two eldest grandsons, who live in British Columbia, are Minecraft fans. I found this free pattern and decided to make it for them. There are a few more blocks to make and hopefully, I can get to it after I finish the gnome top. 

I started this before my husband and I left to visit our youngest daughter and her husband in England early last month.

I also decided to start working on a big quilt that was another BOM from last year. I liked the design, which was a sampler of a different kind, and since I have so much fabric, I thought I could use some of it up. The quilt is scrap friendly and the pattern for Bari J.'s Wild Bloom Quilt Along is still available. The nine patch on the right was already done and was sort of the stepping off point for my colour combo for this quilt which is shades of green with orange/peach. I get to use up some of my 'uglies' in this quilt.

The colours may be a little 'off' but the strips are in various shades of peach/orange with some green thrown in. These blocks are 12 inch square and the instructions, basically, were to add some applique on top. I thought of flowers but since I have been collecting butterfly fabric (to applique on top of errors that sometime happen when one is making a quilt) I decided to throw some on top and see how it looked. This section is the one I am currently working on - hand appliqueing the butterflies on.

So, as you can see, I may be quiet on the blog but I have a lot to keep me occupied. I shall post more as I complete it.

Sewing multiples

I got a request from my youngest daughter, Ayla, to make a longer sleep sack for her little son, Atticus. He has always been long and just keeps growing.

I already had the Thomas the Train fabric on my shelves and the flannel lining was purchased a while ago when Fabricland had a sale.

 The buttons don't match but they are roughly the same size. 

I didn't have to buy anything for this because I even had the long 22 inch zipper in my stash.

Here's the other one. I actually added a thin batting in between. I don't normally add extra batting but I wanted to try it out to see how thick it would be. This polyester batting is very thin and meant to be used in garments.

I originally cut this flannel lining to be inside the Thomas the Train sleep sack but I thought it was way too busy. I did purchase both the outer fabric and the zipper for this. It's yellow instead of the white I wanted. My closest Fabricland is closing and when I was there, the selection of zippers was sparse.

This time, the buttons do match. 

Two sleep sacks done. 

Eye spy roll-up travel games.
I had so much fun making these. I needed a small diversion and this one just fit the bill. I don't know how I came to find the site but the free pattern is here.

Each one takes 44 little 3 inch by 4 inch pieces of fabric.

I made two. There are 22 pieces on the front and 22 on the back.

Most of the fabrics were the same in each one.

One was for my granddaughter and other for my grandson (two different families) so a few of the rectangles were different.

I could have used velcro or a snap to close the strap.

But I decided to use a button and buttonhole instead. Once they are rolled up, they are small enough that they can just be thrown into a diaper bag or a purse.

My middle daughter and her family were going to visit the other set of grandparents and I made mug rugs for them of the little ones' hands.

They were fun to do. The bigger ones belong to Teemu and the other set are his sister Esme's.

Since most of my grandchildren wear (or wore) cloth diapers, sometimes store-bought pants don't fit all too well. I had made some 'big bum' pants before for Teemu and thought that I could make a few more for his little cousin Wren. These are gray, thick and thin wale corduroy.

All of the fabrics are soft and these are navy, thin wale corduroy.

Mauve sweatsuit fleece.

Little Wren wearing a brushed cotton light burgundy pair. I hope they all keep her warm.

So now you all know what's been keeping me busy sewing and not posting on this blog.



Oh, but there's still more to come.