The big reno

 It has begun. My kitchen is being demolished.

The white wall had tall cupboards.

There's lots of light coming in.

My children didn't like my desk and thought it was just a catch-all. I always thought it could have been used to do homework but it never was.

It all went out the back door. 

The peninsula is gone (but it will come back.) The microwave will be moved. It was always in an awkward spot. There will be less cupboards.

These will be gone.

The lighting will be potlights and pendant lights over the peninsula. The flooring will be removed. You can tell by the floor where the tall cupboards used to be. All gone and not coming back. It will be a big kitchen with lots of wall space.

Still sewing

I had to update some items that I made years ago. I had the fabrics, the pattern was oh so easy but I lacked initiative and time.

My twin granddaughters turned 7 last month and they had needed bigger hooded towels for a couple of years now.

My daughter Maili agreed to model them for me since the girls are not allowed to have their photo on social media.

These were birthday gifts but not total surprises since I had them choose the flannel and the towel that they wanted. This one was Mackenzie's choice.

This is the flannel that Severn chose.

They are long on the girls but not quite floor length.

Severn had first choice of fabrics and she chose this turquoise colour towel. Her favourite colours are actually pink and purple but I didn't have any.

I purchased the flannel a couple of years ago in Stratford, Ontario when my husband and I were travelling around collecting patterns for Row by Row.

This was in Fabricland and the words are all Finnish words. That's the reason I bought it - my heritage is Finnish. Severn chose the flannel because she likes cats. I also have a smaller piece of the same fabric but with a pink background. It just wasn't enough for the whole hooded towel. On hindsight, I could have made the hood part in pink. Oh well.

I did make one for their cousin Teemu since he was in need of a bigger one but I forgot to take photos.

Today

 Happy Thanksgiving.

These are two of four loaves I made. 

We had our big feast yesterday and the day was perfect. Family time. Lots to eat - outdoor style since my kitchen is being renovated. 

Testing, testing - again

I am a pattern tester for a few quilt designers. One of those designers, Aimee Leptick of The Little Bird Designs needed a pattern tested with a quick turnaround. It was a paper pieced pattern and since I had tested another paper pieced pattern for her, a landscape (you can find it here), I thought I would give it a go. I did have other sewing to do but I made the time to this.

This is the first part.

The pattern is 15" X 22.5" and since there are several large pieces in the pattern, I sewed a basting stitch in the seam of those pieces. As a matter of fact, I sewed  basting stitches on several smaller pieces just so things would be easier to sew together.

Here's my take on the finished block. The original pattern shows a pink truck on a background that is all one colour but since I like blue and have quite a bit of it, I made my truck blue. I also wanted it to be travelling down a road and the pattern pieces easily lent to changing the fabric evenly. I'm sure this would look great if I were to use trees as the overall background or maybe a fabric that had houses printed on it. There are loads of possibilities.

There is another version of this block that includes an evergreen tree in the back of the truck which would be perfect as a Christmas wall hanging or included in a Christmas quilt. It's a great pattern and you can find it here as a single truck or as a combination pattern which includes the evergreen tree. 

Both patterns and the bundle are on sale until the end of September.

Have fun with it.

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.