Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Another finish!!

I've had this quilt top finished since June, 2011 and I finally put the last stitch in it to finish it last night!  This was the first project I ever shared at Lee's WIP Wednesday, so I had to link it again now that it's done.  I was unsure of how to quilt it, so just decided to do the white spaces, and leave the colored blocks alone.  It's in the washer now, and I'm really hoping I prewashed that red fabric.....     Linking up to Freshly Pieced today and the Needle and Thread Network.    I was just advised about a TGIFF being held at Stop that owl, so I'll be linking there as well! ( I love linky parties)

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Monday, July 23, 2012

Bow-tie quilt finish

Hooray!  It's all finished, quilted, bound and in the washer as I type!  This is the first time I've basted a quilt with 505 adhesive spray and I have to say it was awesome, and made the job much quicker.  Thank you Linda, for all your advice with the spray, I was always a bit nervous to try it, but I think I've found my new best friend in a can!

I quilted straight lines 1/4 inc from the seam allowances, and I found the spray helped to prevent the seams from puckering when I sewed horizontally across the vertical lines.   I'll be linking this to Sew Happy Geek today and Quiltstory on Tuesday!

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Saturday, July 21, 2012

East Coast Momma blog article is up!

Hope everyone is enjoying this awesome day in Nova Scotia-just returned from the waterfront, it is the tall ships festival this weekend.  Check out the post on the East Coast Momma blog today- I wrote a little article on organization, you can read it in full here!

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Thursday, July 19, 2012

A fun week in PEI

We just got back from PEI this morning, after 1 week of visiting my family.

We went to Avonlea Village (one of the best places to go with your whole family for an entire day).  Had lots of fun there.
They had some old museum pieces there, and I loved this old sewing machine of course.
Loved this old wagon wheel in the garden.

And I even had time to make this bowtie quilt top.  I was inspired by a quilt top originally made by Jolene, Blue Elephant Stitches.  I'm linking today at The Needle and Thread Network

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Monday, July 16, 2012

Feature post today

I'm in Prince Edward Island this week visiting family so you'll have to forgive the lack of posting! Today, my scrapbook studio is being featured at Scrapbook and Cards today blog. No photos today,I don't know how to do that with my iPhone!

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Monday, July 9, 2012

Charming bliss is finished!


So I got busy and quilted this top on the weekend.  I did straight lines on the sashing, and then wente around the hexagon shape just inside the charm squares and on the white.  I'm really happy with how it turned out, I'll be dropping it off to Rusty Hinges tomorrow for sale at the store.  Thank you to Andy at A Bright Corner for having this tutorial available on her blog! I'll be linking this to Sew Happy Geek today and Quiltstory tomorrow.

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Saturday, July 7, 2012

Guest Post at The Needle and Thread Network!

Today, my blog is being featured at The Needle and Thread network, a site for Canadian Bloggers to share their work and inspiration! I chose a few quilts to show off over there, one of them I'll elaborate on a bit more in this blog post.


I'm most proud of this tulip quilt I made in a class at Thistledown Quilts in Lethbridge, Alberta.  It has machine applique, and then I hand quilted around the border, the tulips and the center.  I've not done any other quilts with this much detail to it since, maybe that's why I'm so proud of it- because I can't believe it's finished!


The other 2 quilts that are special to me are ones I made for my 2 daughters once they moved from their little cribs to their "big beds".  Here is one with stars and batiks I made for my oldest:


And, also one I made for my youngest daughter:


One more that I made with my Mom while she was here helping me right after the birth of my youngest daughter.  She was such a great baby and slept nicely, we'd take turns stitching a row here and there, and just left the work on the kitchen table all day.


I see how much fabric has changed over the years.  Most of the ones I've shared with you are between 7 and 12 years old.  But I love them because of the people I've made them for (and made them with!).

If it's your first time here on my blog, you'll find more recent baby quilts under the label section, but I really wanted to share my personal ones for this post.  I hope everyone has a great weekend, and don't forget to check out the mini-interview at The Needle and Thread Network!

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Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Where I Sew

Pink Chalk Studio's is having a Where I Sew event at their blog for the month of July.  There are 50 gift certificates available to be one, so in keeping with my Craft Room Storage post below, I realized I didn't include a shot of my actual sewing area.  So, here it is!

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Charming Bliss top finished!


I've had a Bliss charm pack in my stash since last June, but I finally found a tutorial that I wanted to use to make a new girlie quilt with.  I found the instructions to make this quilt at A Bright Corner .  It was quick and easy to put together, and now just need to find the time to baste and quilt it.  I have a super soft light green and white polka dot flannel that I'll use as a backing.  I usually put flannel on the back of my baby quilts so that it is softer for little fingers!  Beautiful day here in Nova Scotia-will be off to the beach in a couple of hours.
Linking this up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced (see button on sidebar).

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Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Craft Room Organization Ideas



Today, I thought I would share some photos from my craft studio.  I have 2 separate areas- one for fabric, one for paper products.  I'll show you the fabric storage first.

This is actually a shoe cupboard that I found at home depot in the closet organizer section.  I use it for smaller scraps of fabric, and have tried to separated the sections into different colors. 


This bookshelf is for larger cuts of fabric.  The bottom is filled with Minky Chenille, so it's great to have a large area for that.  The top is at least 1 yard cuts, and I've wrapped them around acid free Comic Magazine boards (purchased at a Comic book store in Halifax).  Here's a closer photo of the mini bolts.


Now, on to the paper/stamp side.  I had my father-in-law and brother-in-law build me some shelving for the stamps and 12 x 12 paper holders.  I don't know what I would do without these shelves.


Underneath the shelves for the wood mounted stamps, I hung an old curtain rod, and put a ton of pinch clips on it.  I clip all my sets of stickers and rub ons here.

Beside the stamp shelf, I hung up a pegboard, it houses all sorts of small items and my rulers for quilting.  Great place to hang scissors/cutters and all sorts of things that little hands should not be touching.
To the left of the peg board is punch storage.  Again, I used 2 old curtain rods tucked close to the wall and the punches are nestled nicely in the corner.
My paper craft table is just a full sheet of MDF with trim on the front, then I glued some fabric on the back side of the trim.  We laid that on top of 2 shelves (again, thank you Poppy!).
There are lots of cute storage baskets available for cheap at grocery stores and office supply stores, you just have to look around. 



I use this for craft show table display, but it comes in handy to store clear stamps by Stampin Up!

Hopefully, you found some of these ideas helpful, I'd love to know of any storage solutions that work for you too.  Have a great day!!  Linking up to the Needle and Thread Network

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Monday, July 2, 2012

Christmas in July...



Yes, those are Christmas cards.  And today it was 30C, but I stumbled upon a blog that is doing one sketch a week that you turn in to a card for the holidays, and then there is not as much of a rush when December comes.  So, I went back to her past sketches and printed them all off (there have been 26 so far).  I've done the first 3, and made 2 of each card (one for me, one for my craft fair table).  Let's see how long this idea lasts (I'm hoping until I have around 100- 50 to keep, 50 to sell).  So far, I have 6!  Long way to go, I know.  The blog is called Always Playing with Paper if you're interested in playing along.  I'm linking this to The Paper Players this week.

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