A few hearts for Valentine's Day

Years ago when my own children were small, I made felt heart pins for them to wear to school on Valentine's Day. Then I made a few for my grandchildren a couple of years ago. This year, I made them for all of the grandchildren who live in Toronto.

The colours are really a lot brighter than this photo shows. I think I made 14 altogether which gave me 3 extras. One grandchild has already misplaced hers so she got to choose another one. My youngest granddaughter is only 2 months old so she didn't need one. Two were orange, two were red, two were mauve and two were pinky/purple. I had some darker purple and some paler pink felt that I used too. They all have safety pins on the back so that they could be pinned on. Tomorrow is the school Valentine celebration because Friday is a PA Day. Monday is Family Day so it gives the teachers a four day weekend. I picked up some chocolate hearts today for all the little ones too.

Some 'little' sewing

One of my granddaughters turned 4 about a week ago. Her mom and dad bought her a Corolle doll and asked if I would make some clothes for the doll. I gathered up some fabric but it was a bit hard to find patterns to fit. Luckily, I had a Cabbage Patch doll clothes pattern that seemed to be the correct size for a 14 inch doll. I sewed up a couple of extra outfits so that her sister, who also had the same make of doll, could have different clothing.

I like the dresses and the matching bloomers.

I found this little piece of coral print and thought it would make a nice dress.

This is her sister's little doll outfit.

I never ended up showing these 10 little treat bags that I made for Easter. 

Each one had pompom tails but no faces.

They didn't take long to sew up. I found the pattern on the internet.

Having these little bags saved me from hiding the treats in the backyard.

Here's a few of the recipients with their bags.

They were filled with a variety of goodies.

I will now be concentrating on crocheting a blanket and sewing up some quilt blocks.

Hearts to applique

I have so many projects that I could work on and I don't need to start something else - but I did. Appliquing a heart a week. The blocks I am using are 6.5 unfinished. I gave the link to the site in my previous post in case anyone else wants to sew along.

These are the first two weeks of this sew along.

I noticed that the pdf that is provided isn't always true to size so a little bit of fiddling around with scale is needed. It's not a big thing and I saw that not everyone used the heart that was provided. It's all personal choice but it is a small thing to make each week. A new heart is posted every Friday. These were just some fabrics that were in my sewing room that I picked up randomly. I am hoping to sew one each week and keep up with all the others.

Flannel nightgowns

Nightgowns. I didn't get a chance to finish all of my sewing before Christmas so I am catching up now.

This is my youngest granddaughter modelling her new nightgown. I found the fabric in Fabricland just before Christmas. I was there looking to stock up on elastic and just happened to check out the sales table. There was about one metre left on the bolt and I just couldn't leave it there. The flannel has unicorns on it. To say the nightgown is a hit is an understatement. My son told me she cried when he suggested other pajamas one night. 

Here's one of two identical nightgowns I made that were Christmas gifts. Both recipients were born in May of 2017 - exactly two weeks apart. As you can see from both photos, I had to incorporate another fabric in order to complete the nightgowns. Luckily, I had all the fabric for these two green ones and didn't have to purchase anything. I have one or two more nightgowns to make and then I have some pajamas to sew. 

I am also trying to work on my quilt UFOs that are in bins and, in addition to all that sewing, I have two blocks to make for one of my twin granddaughter's quilts.

So, I have lots and lots to keep me busy for next several months.

Just a little sewing

 These are quilt blocks that I put together for one of the guilds I belong to. I requested 4 kits thinking I had time during the summer to get them done. The first one was a challenge. Those triangles (the sky) on either side of the roof had to be sewn in one way only. If they were switched, the sides were not straight. I think I unsewed them twice at least if not 3 times. As you can see, the top piece (the sky) is a tad longer. 

The block is supposed to measure 5" by 8.5" and the instructions said to use a scant 1/4" seam for all seams except the roof part which could be sewn with a full 1/4 inch. Well, try as I might, it was not to be. The 5 inches was fine but even with scant seam allowances, it only measures 8.25". I have to say that I did not cut the pieces out. The kits were pre-cut and you just had to sew them together.

The templates were all in the kit too and as you can see, the template for the roof does not match the piece of fabric that was cut for the roof. However, the piece that was cut was the correct size.

After sewing all four kits/blocks together, I finally figured out why they were not finishing to 8.5". As you can see, the sky fabric is 1/4" too long.

The 1/4" extra should have been added to the height of the piece, not the length. That is why all of my 4 blocks finish at 8.25" instead of 8.5". Apparently, no one has mentioned a problem with their kits. I don't know how many of these small house blocks were taken by the guild members because there were log cabin blocks and bigger house blocks to put together too.

While I was in England, my daughter requested a new cover for the nursing pillow that I had made her a few years before. It was made with that rainbow coloured flannel. She wanted a plain cotton on top because she felt that the flannel would be too warm for the summer. Well, I didn't buy any fabric but my son-in-law was getting rid of some brand new shirts that had logos on them. They seemed to be wide enough.

I put the nursing pillow on top of the shirt and used a pencil to draw around the pillow making sure to add seam allowances. It was all sewn by hand (back stitch for strength) since my daughter had sold the little sewing machine that I had used previously. Here, you can see that I left an opening in the outer edge so that I could slip the pillow in. I made sure to clip the curves.

All done. Not perfect but where there's a will, there's a way.

Something new from something old and other small projects

 Sometimes you can extend the life of an outfit.

I made two outfits that were similar for my twin granddaughters when they were about two (they turn 7 this month.) This is the top (minus the ruffle) and there were shorts too. It's a fairly loose fit and it has a zipper in the back. One of the twins' cousins is still wearing the top even though she is a size 4. It was just a bit short and I decided that I could add a ruffle so it would look a bit nicer. I couldn't find the fabric that I used but I did find something that was a close match. It just so happened that there was a lot of that fabric and since I had just finished sewing a little dress for another granddaughter, the pattern I used included pedal pushers (or Capris or cropped pants) with a ruffle on the hem of the legs.

Here's the new outfit. I hope she gets some wear out of it since the summer is almost over.

I finished another hat for one of the grandchildren. I'm stockpiling in anticipation of cold weather needs. This is number two. The pattern is free from Ravelry and is called Citrus Hat by Laura Treadway. The one from the previous post was called Rusty Barn Hat by Christy Houghton. I'm trying to add to my repertoire of hats. So far, I haven't found one that equals my favourite, Bankhead hat by Susie Gourlay. All the hat patterns are found free on Ravelry.

I also finished a small, preemie hat. This pattern is one of my favourites for babies. The pattern can be made in any size and it stretches so it fits different sized heads. The pattern is Bev's Baby Ribs pattern from Bev's Country Cottage.

These are what I finished up yesterday. Six face masks for a wedding party. The front of the mask matches the groomsmen's ties. The lining for the three men has golf clubs and balls because the groom likes to golf. For the bridesmaids, the lining is nurse-related because the bride is a nurse. I threaded thin elastic into the sides but left them untied so that the wearer could adjust it to their own liking.

We finally have some cooler temperatures and very little, if any, humidity so it's quite comfortable outside. I noticed that at 7 o'clock this morning it was 13C with blue skies. That makes it lovely walking weather. Stay safe and don't forget to wear a mask.

Still at it

Today is World Embroidery Day and I posted this photo of one of my quilts that has a some embroidery on it.

It was a block of the month from Diana Schmitz in 2011 (she no longer has a blog.) I had some fabric that I really didn't like all that much but I put it together with other fabrics and, because the pieces aren't that big, it all fit together and worked. At the moment, this quilt hangs in my hall and it's the first thing you see when you enter my house. I like it and thought it was a nice quilt to display for the spring and summer months.

Although the quilting and sewing has slowed down, I have still managed to do something other than repair jobs.

This is a small zippered bag that can be used to hold keys or hand cream or hand sanitizer in your purse.

It can be made in any size. My eldest daughter wanted another one (I made one last year or the year before.) The pattern is easy and it's all on youtube. The lady who designed this is Laura Ann Coia and she has a youtube channel called SewVeryEasy where she demonstrates how to sew many different things. I did make another one that was a bit smaller and my middle daughter took it. The red ribbon is a strap that can be attached to your purse with a pin so that the little pouch doesn't get lost in the bottom of your bag. Check out the youtube - it's less than 10 minutes long. This little bag took me less than two hours to make.

I have all my fabrics together to make a small quilt and once the top is done, I shall take a photo and post it. I am also knitting two sweaters in chunky wool for the little twins. One sweater just needs to be put together and the collar finished and I am currently knitting the two sleeves at the same time for the other sweater. It's yarn that I have had for decades and purchased when my children were little. I am trying not to buy anything and just use up what I have now.

Not finished yet

It seems I wasn't finished making masks. Luckily I put my mask fabric all in one place so I didn't need to go and search for anything.

My daughter in BC asked if I could make her two boys more masks since they are still attending a physical school (unlike the children here in Ontario who are all online.)

A few more for my daughter.

And a few for my son-in-law.

I then made some for my grandson in the UK who will be attending Forest School in August. He's only three and is eager to make friends. With Covid, the daycares shut down but things are slowly getting back to some kind of normalcy.

None of these have elastic but I added the elastic when I sent them. This way, the elastic can be cut to size and tied to suit whoever is wearing the mask. It saved me time and this way, the elastic will not be too tight nor too loose.

Some things completed

While I was in England during December and January, I knit my littlest (youngest) granddaughter a blanket that she could use while sitting in the stroller.

Here's Aurora using the blanket. We have had some really cold days but it looks like Aurora is bundled up nicely.

I brought home some double knit yarn from England and, since I like making small things in between bigger projects, I knit a couple of hats. These are free patterns on Ravelry. The one on the left is called 'Baby Hat With Top Knot - Tegan' and the one on the right is called 'Basic Baby Hat.' My daughter claimed them for her friend who recently had a little girl.

Here's the finished Christmas mystery top. I wanted to take a photo of it outside but there wasn't anyone willing to hold it up for me so I just placed it on the back deck. It worked out well. I have some of the light blue fabric left over to bind it with but that will have to wait for later.

This is one of the pillowcases I made for Christmas for one of my granddaughters.

As you can tell, the theme was princesses.

I purchased the co-ordinated fabric from Sew Sisters in Toronto. It was on sale and I thought it would make perfect pillowcases. The pink fairy fabric was in the mystery box I also purchased from them.

Here they all are. Unfortunately, because I wasn't here at Christmas time, they weren't handed out but once I got home, they were the first things the little ones got.

The boys all got dinosaur pillowcases.

Well, that's it for the finished projects at the moment.

Works in progress

 I am finding myself switching up what I work on daily.

This is a little baby blanket that I am making for no one in particular. I belong to a Facebook group called Warm Baby Project that is based in the UK. They have offered free baby blanket patterns and they usually have some kind of design knitted right in. The first five patterns were free and this sixth one was only a couple of dollars so I decided to try it. I'm only on row 122 and there are 167 rows altogether. That means I have two more pages to go. Counting is all you have to do since it's just knit and purl.

This is the yarn I'm using. It was on sale somewhere and I thought I would pick it up and use it for some charity knitting.

I have also started a slouch hat. This is on hold right now.

In the sewing department, I'm also working on finishing up this Christmas quilt top. It was a mystery quilt that I started early in December before I left for England. This one is a fused applique project. There is another red and green pieced Christmas mystery quilt that I signed up for too and was working on at the same time but I have left it for now. Too many things to do all at once and I found that some of the fabrics were too close in shading and it was confusing me. I need to concentrate in order to complete it.

My eldest daughter requested some bags just to keep things in. Odds and ends or toys. I have a lot of longish zippers and a lot of these Ikea scraps (that are heavier in weight than cotton) so I thought I would use both to make some bags. After I found these pieces, I noticed that four had already been sewn together. Bonus for me.

And lastly, I have started a baby quilt for one of my daughter's friends who had a little girl in late January. These were charm squares that my daughter arranged in a four patch. She wanted something more modern and neutral in colour for them instead of pink and mauve. The pattern is an easy one called Breezy Charm Quilt and it's a free pattern from Tacy Gray. I had all the fabric put aside before I left for England so I haven't had to hunt around for anything. I shall show you the completed top once it's all put together. Same with the Christmas blue and white one.

We had a bit of snow this past week.

We had some really cold days too.

Some of the snow on the sidewalks melted in the sun and a bit of it came back. On Monday it's supposed to be a high of 3C and Tuesday we should be at 4C so perhaps more of this snow will be gone again.

We are still in lockdown and it has been extended for another two weeks. I don't mind since I'm such a homebody anyway and I have so many projects that I can work on to keep me occupied.

Stay home, stay safe.

More handmade

 

I finished this hat and sent it off to British Columbia. It matches the fingerless mitts I made. The string of lights is a new tablecloth that I bought.

These holiday pajamas were made with a little boy in mind but I realized that once I got the measurements from all the grandchildren, these fit his cousin. I could have added some of the solid lime green fabric to the sleeves and the pants hem but since there was a smaller cousin who could wear them the way they are, I gave them to her.

I then made these in the right size and sent them off to England.

I made this years ago for my youngest daughter. The pattern is called Emma's Tree. My daughter picked out the colours. I would like to make more in different colours but there are so many other things on my list.

Next week is Christmas. Stay safe, wear your mask, wash your hands and keep your distance.

I'm linking up with the Needle and Thread Network where you can see what other creative Canadians are up to this past week.