A new quilt

I have two granddaughters who turned one in May. Neither one got a quilt when they were babies so I decided to make them one now. 

This is the quilt that I made for Esme. I got the inspiration from a quilt I saw on the internet called One Big Cabin by Row House Creations.

This is how the raccoon started out. After making the owl sitting on the tree branch and the beaver with the logs and branch over his head, this little raccoon looked a bit lonely. I was thinking of adding a garbage can beside him but decided in the end to just make a little tree stump to blend in with the other blocks.

I had fun picking out the fabrics for this little owl.

This beaver is not part of the original pattern. I didn't like the squirrel and since the beaver is Canada's official animal, I thought it appropriate to add him. I also had the log fabric and thought it was perfect so this whole block is my own idea. The beaver was something I found on the internet. Did you know that the beaver's teeth are actually sort of orange in colour? I didn't know that until I read a bit about the rodents.

I still haven't put a label on it but I will since this quilt will be in a quilt show in September. I have already added a hanging sleeve. The other quilt for the second May baby, Darcy, is in the planning stage.

More little people garments

Teemu's mom, my daughter Maili, asked if I could make him more summer pants because he doesn't like to wear shorts. I made him some pants last year in a seersucker and he promptly got a hole in the knee. He still wears those. I found the pattern that Maili liked and some other seersucker as well as some heavier fabric (bottom weight) in light blues and made him three new pair in the next size up.

I don't have a photo of the lighter blue pants I made because I gave them to Teemu before I finished these. The fabrics have been on my shelf for years and so it's nice to find a use for them.

My youngest granddaughter, Wren, was going to England and France with her parents, my son Eric and his wife Davina, and since I had heard that it was quite warm (hot) there, I made her a little sundress with matching panties. This was such a quick little dress to make and it was the first time I had made it. I hope I can make a couple more.

Here she is trying it on for me to make sure it fits.

Here she is with her daddy on the beach in Brighton.

Don't you just love that smile and her sunhat? She's 8 months old.

I also managed to finish up this little sweater for Atticus. Since Wren and her parents were visiting Atticus, I asked them to deliver this. It's a 12 month size and my daughter Ayla requested a v-neck cardigan. The yarn was purchased when I was in England a couple of months ago.

Now, I'm off to get some Row by Row blocks done.

Champagne Quilters update

Marg and I will be breaking for the summer but we decided to get a couple of tops done so we'd have something to quilt when we get back at it.

This one finally got done and the binding was sewn on. I do the sewing machine part and Marg does the hand sewing part.

Not much quilting. Just around every block and then a cross through the middle. This one will be a wheelchair quilt. Marg's daughter is in a wheelchair and used a big bath towel to keep her legs warm. We just took the dimensions and decided to use it as a model for our wheelchair quilt size.

This is the beginning of our next top. We got this much done in one evening. We selected the fabrics, I cut the rectangles, sewed them all together and this is basically, three 12 inch squares.

I got the idea for this from Christa Quilts blog.

 We used up all of the solid coloured light gray fabric and decided to use borders to make it the size we wanted. Next time, we are hoping to get the whole top finished so we can make another one.

Summer sewing

I have a lot of fabric that's not just for quilts. I have sewn since I was a child and during my high school years, most of my clothing was homemade. If I didn't make it, my mom did. 

I don't know how many metres I have of this fabric but I thought I would use some of it to make some summer dresses for my twin granddaughters.

This was the first one I made. It has straps that crisscross the back. 

I wanted to try out this pattern. I found that the pattern fit too loosely.

This is a different pattern. 

I just happened to find two pink kitty buttons and thought they were appropriate. The girls have a cat named Ben.

I have had this pattern since my own children were little but it's the first time I have made a garment using it.

Row by Row has begun again. I shall be gathering patterns and making a quilt. This year's theme is 'Sew Musical.'

June installment

I have been absent from my blog because I have been travelling and busy sewing/knitting other things. Once my photos have been downloaded and made smaller, I shall post them. 
In the meanwhile, here's my June installment of the Gnome for the Holidays BOM.

Just presents in this block. No Gnomes. I need to think of sashing for this wall quilt. Maybe green, or blue or perhaps a darker gray. I shall be auditioning some fabrics.