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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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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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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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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I'm in love...

Last December, I participated in a craft show in Middle Musquodoboit  where I met Rick Elwood of Ruff-Stuff Woodworking .  I immediately fell in love with his distressed frames, mirrors, cabinets.  I contacted him in May, and with a sketch I drew he built me this cabinet.

The side panels are made out of an old wooden door that I found in my parents basement!  It had been there for years, and had purple paint underneath the white.  If you look close you can see a bit of it coming through the white.

I put a little runner I had quilted last year on top, with the same turquoise as that lovely hydrangea button artwork I have (made by a local artist). 

There you have it, showing off what I am truly proud of.  And how can I stop at just one?  Now, I have a taller cabinet on order for my dining room-this could be seriously addictive.  Have a great Canada Day tomorrow!

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C & C's jewellery

My girls have been enjoying making jewellery over the last few weeks.  Thought I would share a few of their creations with you.  (And FYI- I know nothing about jewellery making, so they have done this by themselves).  The top necklace was made by Claire and  is a gift for my friend, and the bottom bracelets  Charlotte made for her school friends.

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Works in Progress

I had a custom order for 10 girl bibs and 8 boy bibs, I had most in my stash, just had to make a few more so now just have to add the velcro.  The blocks on the bottom are samples from a baby girl quilt I have started.  I used a tutorial called Charming Lucy from A Bright Corner.  Hopefully will have time to start sewing the blocks together tonight.  I'm linking this to
The Needle and Thread Network today!

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A card for Kate!

I made this card before the girls were out of bed this morning.  Now that summer vacation has started, I'm thinking I won't be getting much crafting done!  That's okay though, summer is meant for relaxing!  The East Coast Momma Collective Fair went awesome, lots of customers/sales and met some really nice ladies with lots of amazing product.  Now I'm really looking forward to the December 2nd fair!! (not that I want summer to rush by though).

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Dusting off my tombows....

I haven't done any watercoloring with my tombow markers in ages, and I really thought these images I ordered from Purple Onion Designs would work great for that type of coloring.  I'm in love with these stamps, so cute and the designer is Canadian!  (Stacy Yacula, hope I spelled it right)

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Thank you!

At the suggestion of a friend, (who also happens to be a teacher!) I'm adding a few thank you cards to my table to add to last minute teacher gifts.  I could be posting more later in the day, these turned out so cute, I may have to make a few french ones to give out to my daughters' teachers!  Hope to see all you locals tomorrow at St. Mary's Boat Club!

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Friday Cards!

A few more to add to my sale table....now to start pricing and packing up everything!

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I love new stamping supplies!

 Awesome new color by SU! this year called Summer Starfruit-love it!

 Stamp set called The Open Sea, great for all those masculine cards that seem so hard to make!

No, not a new set, in fact a very old retired set called Fishy Friends, but I love them so much, have never even considered selling them!

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Drawstring bags

Yep, still making inventory for the show on Sunday.  I used Jeni's pdf pattern from In Color Order for the bags and I've restocked some girl crayon wallets (pdf pattern courtesy of JCasa hanmade).  I'll be working on cards the rest of the week.  Linking up to The Needle and Thread Network and Quiltstory today!

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