we have a winner!

The winner of the Domestic Bliss charm pack is 

sandyb!

She said:

Love the fabric choice and the hexies! My first job other than working for my mom at the snack bar counter was working at the snack bar counter at the diver-in theater. I was no nervous that I would mess up the pizzas:)

Thank you

Congrats sandyb.  You have 48 hours to get back to me.  Please don't make me pick a different winner.

Thanks to all who participated and shared their first jobs.  So many different things to do in the world!

Next time I hope to share the shorts I was working on.  I am planning to enter them into the Shorts On The Line competition going on over at Imagine Gnats.

I sure hope I can get D to cooperate with me when it comes to taking pictures.  I'm trying to teach her what cooperation is, but it doesn't seem to be sticking in her 2 year old mind yet.  So instead I wrestle her :)

summer's here

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!  It ends on Wednesday, June 27.

Enter here.

 

Summer is here and it sure is warm. At least for me. 

I used to love the heat. I lived in Australia for 6 months, right during the summer, and I loved the heat.  Now, if it is 23Celcius, I'm good.  Anything warmer and I just don't know what to do with myself any more! 

With it being summer, I am sure spending less and less time sewing and thinking about sewing.  Though I do have a pair of shorts cut out and waiting to be sewn up for D. They are from the most recent Ottobre magazine.

 Stinking cute!  

I am using a dark blue linen-ish fabric.  I am not really sure it is linen.  It seems to me to be more of a rayon linen wannabe.  The pockets on the side will be the balloon fabric from the Children at Play line by Sarah Jane.  

But this week is supposed to be rather warm, so D and I will most likely be on the deck in the shade spending some quality time in the kiddy pool.  Or as D calls it, the cool.

I am not doing much sewing, but I am doing some receiving.  

I received this package from Cherie for the June A Little Fabric A Little Chocolate Swap.

I know.  There's no chocolate.  But since being pregnant, chocolate has lost it's allure.  It's sad really because I truly got a lot of enjoyment from eating bits of chocolate.  Hopefully this problem rectifies itself after the baby is born.

Instead of chocolate, I asked for scraps and some squares.  She sent a bunch of squares.  I will have to find something to make with them now since they are not right for the hexy playmat.  

Maybe granny squares?  Hmmm.

I also received today a giveaway win from Art Gallery Fabrics.  

A while ago, she had a scrap giveaway on Facebook and I emailed my address and got to be included in the mass mailing of scraps!

Now, there is a lot of green in here.  For those of you who know me, green is not a favourite colour.  

However.  

I like these.  

I could become friends with green yet. 

hexies all around

I have decided on Hexie MF fabrics.  

Domestic Bliss was most popular in votes, and with my husband.   I usually don't ask my husband because his colour skills leave something to be desired, but this time, he swayed my mind.  I really like this line and am excited to be working with it.  

I was debating whether to also get the Modernology anyway and then decide when they showed up, but my fabric budget is simply not that big.  It's bigger when I am making things to sell, because then I at least make my cost back.  But just for fun stuff has a cost cap.

I only changed two things.

I took out the Mini Diamonds in Blue and Cream and replaced it with Out of Doors in Cream.  The diamonds didn't really seem to fit with the rest of my choices and I really liked the leaf print and wanted to include it.

I also went with Kona Charcoal instead of the Soho Charcoal.  It was cheaper.

The centres are Moda Bella Cheddar.

And did you know that it was impossible to get all these from one shop!!?  I had to order from 4 different Etsy sellers.  But they were all super friendly and super helpful.  

I love Etsy.

While I am waiting to start those hexies, I have been piecing these ones. 

I am squaring it off now because I am running out of hexies with kid identifiable images on them.  And really, 4 elephants is plenty.  LOTS of these fabrics came from my great swap partners and Flickr and Blogger friends.  

You guys rock.

Because so many of you were so generous, I want to return the favour.  

I will give one commenter a Domestic Bliss charm pack. 

All you have to do is answer this question:

What was your first job?

My first real job was working in a printing factory. It stank in there and I did not like it one bit.  My second job was in a bakery and I got to take home broken cookies.  I loved it!

Giveaway will end June 27.

*****Giveaway is now over.  Winner will be announced shortly!*****

some help please

This year I caught in on the fun and joined Craftaholics Handmade Gift Exchange.  This was the sixth exchange and there are two a year, one in the spring and one in the fall.  

This year Linda chose to use a site called Elfster to organize the swap.  Elfster blindly paired people up and then when you find out your partner, you can ask secret questions and look at their likes and their wishlist.  Some people don't seem to like or understand how Elfster works, but I thought it was great!  It was nice to be able to ask my secret partner questions about her style and likes.  That way I can put a gift together that I know is her style.

My partner collects owls and foxes, and I had some owl fabric left, so I made a reversible tote.  It turned out a little smaller than I hoped, but it is still a good size for when you don't need to take much along.

I had received some of the same owl fabric in a different colourway so I reverse appliqued an owl of the lighter colour on both sides of the bag.  I haven't done reverse applique before and I really like how it turned out.  I first interfaced the fabric I cut out of so that the edges wouldn't fray too badly.

My partner said she really liked colour so the reverse I chose a much brighter print from my stash. 

******

A quick interruption from our local elephant.

She used to be scared of this costume, but now she wears it weekly.  Even eats lunch with it on!

******

I am going to take a really big step.  I am joining a QAL.

I know!  What am I doing?  I'm not a quilter!

I make clothes and small quilty things, but I am not a quilter!

See, it's a big step.

I read over on Marian's blog about a QAL that Fat Quarterly is hosting.  Then I saw the quilt she was talking about and it was one I had pinned a while ago!  How could I resist!

The quilt is Hexie MF from Katy over at i'm a ginger monkey.

image from i'm a ginger monkey

I loved this quilt the moment I saw it, and now I have the opportunity to make it!  I am just a little excited to be making hexies all summer and then end up with this!

But now I have to pick fabrics.  I don't have a specific plan for this quilt, other than to make it, so my colour options are pretty open.  I headed over to the Fat Quarter Shop and Etsy to scope out some good fabrics and came up with three lines that I really like.  I want colours that will make the flowers pop from the background.  For all three lines I chose Soho Charcoal for the background.  I really wanted to find a crosshatch or sketch in charcoal, but there is none to be had, so this will work.

I need your help now.  Which of these three lines do you think will show off the pattern of the quilt best?

Domestic Bliss by Liz Scott for Moda Fabrics

Peachy Keen La Dee Da from Erin McMorris

Vogue Blue Modernology by Pat Bravo

some great mail

I did not get too much sewing or crafting of any kind done this week. 

I managed to make some progress on my hexie playmat. It is getting slowly bigger. I was making it using 'flowers' of hexies with a solid in the centre, but I think I have exhausted my solid collection, so now I am squaring the whole thing off.  So until I am satisfied that it is complete, I will be adding strips of hexies instead of flowers.  If anyone is interested in trading some 2.5"-3' squares for hexies, I am happy to oblige.

I did get some great sewing related mail this week.  First, I received my Modern She Made Swap package.  My partner was amazing with stalking me and finding just the things I like.  Honestly, when you open the card without looking at anything else in the box, and the card is perfect, you know the rest of the package is a winner.

My partner, Karen, made me this gorgeous cathedral windows mini quilt. What a lot of work went into this!  It really is absolutely beautiful I got completely spoiled.  She also included some lovely extras including some bike fabric from Spoonflower and a cute little sleeper for our baby who will join us in December, Lord willing.

Swaps like this really work to turn me into a swap addict.  

I had also won a Lotta Jansdotter scrap pack from Imagine Gnats for participating in the Covert Robin Swap, and that also arrived this week. 

Now I must admit, I am not as taken by Echo as others are, but when this came and I got to feel all the fabrics, I began to like the line a little more.  These fabrics are definitely quality fabrics and they feel so soft!  There is some quilting cotton, some linen-type, and a piece of corduroy fabric, and there is only one piece smaller than a charm. 

I love scraps.  And these ones are no exception.

And for one last question, how can I get rid of all these ants that have invaded my gardens?  I have a raised flower bed at the front and it is literally crawling with ants!  I have tried store bought ant bait, and homemade borax bait and they seem to survive it all.  

Any tips or advice?