in praise of the pindot...

My most favorite fabric of all times is something that I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't regard as being as lovely and versatile as I do... a simple red-with-white-pindots print. It's one of those goes-with-everything staples that I reach for again and again. Here's proof...

 Kind of like a "Where's Waldo" game, isn't it?

 Sorry if there are duplicates (although I think I did pretty good!) There were a LOT of pictures to go through to make these collages and I probably missed some! I know for a fact I have a couple more pieces with the pindot in them that have not been photographed yet!

I love how well it works with collections such as Flurry, Bliss, 12 days of Christmas, Reunion, Ruby, Oh Cherry Oh, Chloe's Closet and other 30's reproduction prints... and these are just a few off the top of my head! Yay for versatility!

Do you have a favorite go-to fabric?

quilting around the {retro} Christmas tree...

I've been going full tilt here this week... the Open House and Vintage Market will be here before I know it! (Info for both is on my right sidebar  --> )This is just a little of what has been going on in the sewing room lately...

I finished quilting my reindeer stitcherie quilt, bound it, and ran it through the washer and dryer... I love it! I'm sure that for a quilter, nothing beats that crinkly goodness!

Here's a close up of rudolph...

I made a Christmas bunting to match, using coordinating 12 Days of Christmas pieces to match... and also another bunting based on a fabulous Michael Miller retro print.

And just this morning I finished off this awesome quilt top, and am so happy with it although I have NO idea how I'll manage quilting it on my small machine! (Pssst... Santa... are you there...?) I took this while standing on a chair and barely got it all in one picture!

It was a kit I purchased from Amy Smart and I'm so glad I did... having all the fussy cut squares delivered to my door was well worth the money, and her pattern made it a snap to put together. The square I placed in the centre is my favorite...

So now it's either time to figure out how to quilt this sucker or start something new! I'm sure I'll keep you posted!

wasting not is so rewarding!

So a little while ago, yours truely was featured on Moda Bake Shop with my "About Town {Hometown} Ruffle Scarf". (Did you like my reminder and shameless plug??) Anyway, if you read the tutorial, you saw that I was bound to have leftover strips after cutting the Hometown jelly roll into pieces for my scarf. The strips weren't all that long, but I was determined to make them into something beautiful. So yesterday I decided to get creative and managed to use 'em alllll up. Are you ready...? Here goes...

This is what I started with... mmmmm, a delicious fat free jelly roll...

Here's my scarf... project #1. (I wore it about town yesterday with jeans, a long dark grey sweater, wooly brown clogs...and bare feet 'cause I'm just not ready to give in to fall!)

I used this pattern and made a mini version of it with leaf shaped cuts of Hometown sewn onto a solid osnaburg backing... it needs to go through the washer and dryer and then it'll be frayed to perfection... project #2.

Then I took the leftover leaves and borderd this little cutie. The squares finished at just 1 1/2" and I used a red from my stash for the binding... I love it! Once it goes through the wash and dryer I think the crosshatch quilting will really pop! Project #3.

Next, it was a mini mat with the font inspired by a Sweetwater pattern ("City Block") that they gifted to me during their Random Acts of Kindness promotion. Sweet, right? Project #4.

And finally... last but not least... I made three adorable fabric covered button rings... you can see them, and also the barest of leftover scraps from the jelly roll if you enlarge this last picture. Project #5.

It has been a good, good couple of days in my sewing room!

my {Ruby} Tuesday timeout...

I was a little under the weather this past weekend, so I spent my time in my jammies... sipping tea...and handstitching...

I'd cut into my coveted Ruby jelly roll and just kind of dove into it without a plan in the world. I pieced a couple of runners... (the top one is ready for handstitching the binding in place)...

...and with some orphaned blocks that I'd made incorrectly, was able to make a third little topper so they weren't wasted... (I took it out of the hoop for this picture, but there's still more stitching to do)...

Today's Tuesday timeout involved a lot of cutting with scissors and my hand is sure feeling it! I've been selling quite a few bags out of my etsy shop and thought today would be good for getting ready to restock a bit. The choosing fabrics and cutting everything takes forever so I'm glad to have that job behind me!

But today was also good for finishing off the binding on one of my Ruby runners, making it a great {Ruby} Tuesday timeout!

something spooky...

What do you get when you take a few odd sized Halloowe'en scraps...

...add to them a fat quarter bundle that you got on sale at JoAnns...

...and mix them together with some wonderful pinwheel patterns by the very talented Rachel of psiquilt ?

A quiltie that's off to a very spooky start! {Hopefully this little baby will be close to completion by the end of the day...}

my Tuesday timeout...

Pair a great bundle of prints picked up on etsy with a few sample pieces found at a local quilt shop... add a couple of free hours while the kids play outside... and what do you get?

A happy me. What else?

what's better than fresh cut flowers?

Fresh cut fabric, of course!

(Strawberry Fields,  Hoo's in the Forest, and Flurry)

my Tuesday timeout...

Another Tuesday... another sewing project! Oh how I love routine!

Andrea and I decided that with it being Spring Break (for her kiddos at least - my girls' break starts next week) maybe now's a good time for starting the Pinwheel Sampler that we've always wanted to make since there are no pressing Mommy/Children commitments to attend to! We each had a layer cake just screaming to be sacrificed for the cause... hers is Punctuation, and mine is Fandango... and today despite the activity that a house full of kids can add to the mix, we each got a few blocks under control. Here are mine so far...

and so it begins...

I've had this incredible 'Civil War Homefront' jelly roll for ever, just knowing that somewhere out there was the perfect quilt pattern that would do it justice. Well, I think I've found it and today's the day...

almost totally bliss-full...

*sigh*

I really could look at this little block forever. I love it THAT much!

Since I'm jumping on board this BOM project with some friends, I thought I'd better get my blocks made and ready to go before we have our stitching day. I prefer to stitch through to the batting layer so I wanted to make the entire quilt top before I start stitching. The scrappy border is made up of Bliss, the three prints I picked up from Stampin' Up of all places, and a little Oh Cherry Oh for good measure. See what I mean? It's almost totally Bliss-full!

(Click on the pic to enlarge to see it better... I'm planning to stitch it in redwork since I don't know what each block will look like... what do you think?)

phew, I made a decision...

...and let me tell you, it took a lot out of me! A few friends and I have decided to hop on board a sweet BOM project and so that meant I needed to choose some fabrics. Believe me, it was easier said than done! Anyway, after much deliberation and changing my mind once or twice, this is what I came up with... I'm excited now that the hard part is over and I can get on with the fun part, the stitching!

And speaking of stitching, my two snowman stitcheries from my last post should be ready to list in the shop by Monday or Tuesday... and I've already started on another. But this one won't be up for grabs... it's a Valentines swap with my bloggy buddy Julie. Hope she likes it! Happy stitching everyone!

what have I gotten myself into?

I have a friend who sells Stampin' Up and despite my best efforts not to take up a new hobby, a little before Christmas I somehow found myself with an inspiration-filled catalogue in hand, and a desire to give it a go in my mind. It didn't help that my girls are incredibly creative and began recreating the cards in the book as soon as they saw them... see what I mean? How could I not want to jump on board?

But let me back up a little bit. I guess it all started when I was told that Stampin' Up was having a sale and the fabric collections they had were half price. I took a deep breath and ordered two sets of the collection I loved because fabric is always a good thing, right? Well I was delighted when it arrived (along with the catologue) and I realized that it worked quite well with the '12 Days of Christmas' line that I'd already been collecting. So now I have even MORE great Christmas brights to work with than before. The SU prints are the dots and stripes. Aren't they fun together?

Oh, and I also ended up placing an order for stamps, ink, a punch and translucent envelopes. Guess what's on MY ever-growing to do list for 2011?

my Tuesday timeout...

Tuesday seemed to sneak up way too fast last week and the pre-planned time out/sewing day just never happened. That's ok though... Andrea and I took the morning to head south of the border to do a little fabric shopping instead of sewing. We picked up the usual, thread and batting, but the highlight was when we discovered this wonderful bundle of fat quarters... I love how they're similar to Moda's Fruitcake by Basic Grey... and I also love that after we applied our 40% coupons to the bundles, they were only $6.99 each. Aren't they yummy? I picked up a yard of the brown with a tiny blue/grey dot to go with them... now we'll have to see what I can come up with! I'm telling you, there are visions of sugarplums dancing in my head right about now!

Today I packed up my machine and headed to Andrea's for a much needed Tuesday time out. After all, we were a week behind! She made the chai, I brought some biscotti, and we got down to work. This week we started a pattern that we'd made years ago... and thankfully were each able to sell the finished quilties. We're doing "Always Home" by Country Quilts and it's the BEST scrap busting project! Here's my progress so far... trunkless trees and a few houses... all from my scrap bin.

And now, the lasagne that I was lucky to have planned ahead and removed from the freezer is bubbling in the oven, so all I need to do for dinner is toss together a salad. You've just gotta love a Tuesday like that... time for sewing and dinner made ahead of time!

oh, to be list-less!

Hardly a day goes by when I'm not thinking of what needs to be done next.

I posted a little while ago about being more of a starter than a finisher and something I'm really working on these days is seeing things through to the end so my "done" pile grows faster than my "to do" pile. Now that I have a couple of events on the calendar, I'm starting to feel a bit of the crunch. It's helped in a huge way that I haven't really had any down time since Christmas in regards to my sewing projects. Usually I crash once my Open Houses are over, and don't do much through the summer. But this year I pushed through and I'm so glad I did! I really think that blogging has helped me... it's been fun having such a great group to play "show and tell" with! I've loved showing and that meant lots of doing!

Still, there are always lists on my table, and lists in my head. What should I be working on today? Bibs, diaper totes, shoulder throws... for being a mom with kids long out of diapers, it sure seems like I have babies on my mind a lot lately! Or, at least sewing for them! But, since I've chosen to bring Brown Bag Bibs to Yarrow Days on June 6th, I need to see that I'm ready to sell! Of course, it doesn't help that I picked up this yesterday...

...and saw this... I'm drooling over the star portion in the middle!

...and then I bought this...

...to make this... it's in the Winter edition...

(friends of ours have a beach house in Pencticton and we just booked a few days in July... a little quiltie will make a nice gift to leave behind)

I think if I can clear just a few more projects off my table, then I'll have room to start something new. I'm looking forward to piecing a couple of fun projects again... but first I need to cut bibs out of the 20 meters of flannel I bought yesterday. That's #1 on today's list!