Monday, November 18, 2013

Needle Book Swap Cuteness

Alternate titles could have been, "Look! I paper pieced again!" Or "Yay me! I finally cut into a favourite fabric!" Or "Nope, I'm not dead, blogging just eluded be for awhile." Ahem.


I was very excited about this tiny finish so I thought I would share. The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild is doing a needle book swap with The London Modern Quilt Guild. An international swap! Oh la la!



The night the swap was announced I won a free download of Christina's(The Sometimes Crafter) needle book pattern. I took that as a sign and used it. It's so super cute. Thanks Christina! :)
 

I really enjoyed this project and it reminded me that I should do more small things. There is something so satisfying about quick finishes.


I hope whoever receives it enjoys it. I can't wait to see what arrives from London!  

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

My pledge to finish all the things!


No not really. That would be crazy. I have decided though to join in the 4th quarter of the 2013 Finish along going on over at She can quilt. My friend Holly participated last quarter and finished some great projects and as I need to finish some things up(don't we all?) I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon while I could.

Then the decision. Which projects to actually pledge to finish in the next 3 months? You know, arguably the busiest time of year. One of the busiest for me anyways.
Here's what I decided on.



1. Penguin Pillow, I started this almost a year ago and it has sat prettily on my wall since then waiting to be finished. It should be done before this Christmas right?


2. Christmas quilt, this was an unplanned, on a whim, start a couple weeks ago. I finished the blocks in a frenzy of activity and then it's been sitting. I don't want it to stay sitting for a year like the penguin pillow.


3. Needle book, This is for a swap, I finished the front a few weeks ago, I just need to finish it up or I won't be able to send it off!

4. Sam's quilt, My kids were next on the list for receiving quilts, and Sam had picked out a half square triangle design. Then the VMQG announced the Cotton Couture Challenge and I thought GREAT! I'll combine the 2. And cut 252 squares to be made into 252 HSTs. How many are now HSTs? 4. I have a ways to go! Go Michelle go!



So to re-cap:

1. Penguin Pillow
2. Christmas Quilt
3.Needle book
4. Sam's Quilt

And I'd better stop there. Is this realistic? I'm not sure. But I'm going to give it a good
go!


Saturday, October 5, 2013

My first finish

Do you know how long it's been since I've blogged? No, don't go look back at dates. I'm not talking  time wise, it's more important that that! It's quilt time. In quilt time I haven’t blogged in 3 quilts time. Since I've blogged I've finished(quilted, bound, labelled, everything!) 3, yes THREE, quilts! I should probably add here that I have only ever finished 3 quilts :)

I believe I can now officially call myself a quilter. I'm a quilter. Yay!

And funnily enough my first finish wasn't my first start, nor what I expected.

In May I suddenly decided to make a quilt for my Grandpa. He's ageing very quickly and lives in Alberta so I don't get to see him very often. We were going to road trip out there and I wanted to leave something of me there with him.

 The front

I had only a month or a bit over until we were leaving so it had to be something quick and simple to make sure I would be able to finish it in time. And I decided to pick fabrics entirely from my stash. Oy. Picking fabrics for others can be tricky!


 The back.


Grandpa with his quilt. Which I perhaps a little uncreatively named "Grandpa's Quilt".


 The kids had a surprise from Grandpa too. His care home had a wood shop and when he was doing well he made these absolutely beautiful gifts for his great grandchildren. They loved them. I love that they have something concrete to associate with him as we don't see him often.


All of us together. Payton has a beautifully painted birdhouse, Sam a dog piggy bank, and Theron a stool. Absolutely priceless gifts.


As those of you with kids know June, end of the school year, is crazy busy. And there were moments that I though I was crazy. But I got it done! With even enough time to show it at the June VMQG meeting. Which was nerve wreaking as I don't like to be the center of attention. But I did it! And now that I've shown 3 times it's no big deal :)

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

To Boston With Love

In response to the events in Boston, VMQG has started a project to unite crafters worldwide and send our love and support to those affected. From the VMQG website:  "What we’re planning is a public exhibition of flags strung into banners that will be displayed in Boston..."

There are now many many other quilt guilds from all over the world joining us and I've seen flags popping up all over the internet. This is an awesome project and a flag could be completed in an afternoon. I'm so excited to see the vision unfold!

Interested in making a flag?? You don't have to be a member of a guild, anyone can participate.

 For all the details(and a much more eloquently written post) visit the VMQG  here.
A list of flag making tutorials and inspiration has been compiled here.

Now go forth and SEW!

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Doctor Who? And yes I'm still alive.

Hello Bloggy Universe. Yes. I'm still here.  Dec got busy then I got caught up in the do I post my Christmas projects because now it's Jan/Feb/March/April....Or catch up on other things that now happened long ago? Or do I just jump right in where I am now....And somehow that got me stuck in a cycle of not posting at all.

So now I'm just jumping in. With a little catch up thrown in there for kicks :)

A very special person to me delivered her third son in Jan. Her and her husband(because they are awesome) decided to do the nursery up in a Doctor Who theme. Being a fan I knew I had to contribute to the room. I decided, despite the fact that I'd never cross stitched before, that I needed to do a cross stitched T.A.R.D.I.S . I may be a little insane sometimes, one really shouldn't try something for the first time that is intended as a gift. But I persevered and loved the end product. Just don't look at the back. Really. It's not pretty.

Ta-Da!

The baby was overdue. The first 2 where on time or early. I blame myself. I had told the baby that it couldn't come until I was done working on my project. Wouldn't you know it but the baby came just hours after I finished. I didn't realize I held that kind of power or I would have made sure I was done much sooner....Oops! :)

 
In the nursery.











On a related note Caroline from Trillium Design and Soma from Whims and Fancies announced a Doctor Who themed Quilt-A-Long today! I am SO excited! I really do not need another project but seriously how could I say no? It starts on May 7th. Check it out!