Sometimes you just need easy

After 2 long weeks or work, a busy weekend including a visit from one of my best friends and my birthday I’ve done nothing in 2 weeks. Not only that I feel too sleepy to think about anything and so I finally decided maybe I would just start something really simple if I didn’t have the mental capacity to do anything at all tricky. Thus I began to put together a few cutesy blocks for a baby quilt. I’ve seen this sort of simple baby quilt a few different places including very modern examples at http://www.madebyalissa.com/.

I dug through my fabric stashes and found some cute animals and began piece the blocks. When I started I intended to use various leftovers for the outer parts of the blocks, but after doing four I’ve now realized that I have a polka dot theme going. I actually have 2 more fabrics with little dots on them one blue and one brown, so I’ll have to decide whether I stay with an all polka dot theme, or do half and half.

Time for a new direction

I love (and hate) getting to start new projects. I finished the full joys of winter quilt top, unfortunately I didn't take a photo of it before taking it to my parents place, where my mother hijacked it. I brought it over to square on her big cutting table, but she claimed it absolutely had to be steam ironed before we could square it and so I had to leave it there.

So today I got to start looking at some new fabrics and supplies I bought on the weekend, and dig into my bag fabric stash and start thinking about some fun smaller projects. I love all the possibilities but I think I worry that I'll 'waste' some fabric that later on I'll find the perfect project for. The modern Asian Toile above is one that I love but can never bring myself to use.

Some cool, environment minded fabric designs that I found this weekend which to me begged to be turned into some grocery/market bags.

A little bit of Amy. These are both home decor weight fabrics, which I thought would be nice for certain styles of bags.
Some new and old fabrics in contention for the next bags. A couple I also think would make beautiful cushions, and the brown and tan fabrics I think would lend themselves well to quilts. Decisions decisions. Hence the love-hate relationship.

Battik Beauty

I finally finished hand stitching the binding of this quilt last week. I had assembled the top by early August, but between finding a backing and then actually getting around to quilting it was quite the delay. I stippled in cordinating colours the half blocks because I really wanted the fun fabrics to stand out. I can't wait for summer when it will be easier to take nice pictures of bigger quilts.


I found this pattern in a quilting magazine, it uses 16 fat quarters and 2 coordinating fabrics, plus the border, I thought it was simple yet effective. I could fit a queen bed, but my intention in making it was just to have a fun quilt to through on when watching a movie or reading. I backed it with fleece for soft comfort.

Complete Colapse of My Sewing World

Literally! So this winter I've had no choice but to sew in my bedroom. I have one desk in a corner where I'm ironing, sewing and cutting. The surface is a desk top sitting on top of 2 saw horses, and apparently between the vibration of sewing and constantly shifting thing about I had unsettled what had become a delicate balance. So yesterday while attempting to make a small cut, I felt the world shift below me and watched (as what appeared to be in slow motion) my entire desk fell apart. I grabbed the iron before that did any damage, and luckily I had set the sewing machine on the ground to make room for cutting. It still made a pretty big mess, pins and supplies everywhere. Note to self: check table legs for stability every once in awhile.

Despite this I have finally started to make real progress assembling the quilt top. This is about 2/3 of the top. It definetly needs a good passing of the iron.I’m hoping that in the next couple of days, at most, I’ll finish the top and can sneak in a few small projects before I continue working on this project.




Here’s the dark one you can’t see very well in the larger photo

Little Distraction

So I gave myself a quick break from assembling the joys of winter quilt top and I started to use up some leftover scraps of fabrics to make bibs. I have a friend who's due late March, having a girl (obvious from the fabric choice).
I followed a pattern out of a book of baby projects, but I find myself a little perplexed. Does the neck whole not look a little small, can a baby's neck really be that tiny. I haven't been around as many babies lately as when I was younger but I don't remember them being that tiny. Unfortunately I can't exactly walk up to a stranger with a baby and measure their neck. It’s attached through Velcro, so there is a little wiggle room, but I'm not convinced it will be enough.
Maybe I'll try to seek out some other patterns and compare.

Progress ... SLOW but steady

It hasn't been as easy as I would have liked thus far, a few pieces are a little askew and so it’s definitely taking time to get this quilt together. This is the first 'section' that I have assembled. I still have the appliquéd stars to make but most of the smaller pieced bits are now together. Hopefully I will find a little more time this week and weekend to get this project moving along. I have one grouping that needs some serious stitch ripping and re-adjustment or its just not going to look right in the end.


But for all those of you who were concerned about there being no faces, as you can see they now have faces. All twelve blocks have faces, the snowmen have button noses in the shapes of carrots. Thanks to my mom and sister who helped me with the faces.

Night Train

Disclaimer - I have an affinity for baby quilts. I have tons of patterns for baby quilts that I would like to make. This is a paper pieced pattern which I really enjoyed. I generally like the look appliqued baby quilts better because the patterns are rounder/cuter but I really like this one, thought it was really sweet and fun.
Paper piecing is very accurate and easy once you get the hang of it, I couldn't believe how perfectly the little stop lights came out. I actually know someone who paper pieces most of their pieced blocks, and in all honestly I've certainly given it some thought now and again.