received and made

I joined the first edition of Sweet & Scrappy Swap on Flickr where we had to swap 50 charms plus a handmade pouch and a few notions.  This was what I received from Jera - I love all the charms and have already started playing with some.

The pouch is also great because it stands all on it's own!  

I also finished a swap item to be sent sometime in September.  My partner in the Sew Sew Modern swap asked for a bag, and I've always loved Anna's bag patterns, so I treated myself and my partner to the 241 Tote.  

I did want to make it extra special though by doing something more than just using a single piece of fabric for the front and back centre panels.  So I pulled out my paper pieces and came up with this.

After I pieced the whole works together (wrong I might add - you'll see later), I was not so impressed with how the stars looked.  There was a gray hexy in the centre and not a star as I had hoped.  Plus I only managed to get three on for the most part because the way I pieced them together put more space between the stars.

So I tried again and pieced this together.

This was definitely centred, but I couldn't not use the other panel!  It had taken me a while to get together, so I just used both.  I'm sure my partner won't mind : )

I went with the pink glasses and an Architextures print for the sides and some Madrona Road for the strap.  

I love how this turned out!  I kinda want to keep it, but I guess that's the point of making a good swap item - it's usually something you want to keep yourself.

looking back

Summer has been good to us.  We've spent a lot of time outside taking walks, having water fights, camping, and this morning, going to the parade and catching candy!

  

I've also been busy with my small garden, weeding and picking a bit here and there.  We built a small playhouse and slide fort for D and then I painted it red with white trim.  We go for a weekly coffee visit to a friends house - D loves playing with the other kids there and since we live far away from her friends, it's nice for her to have the visit day once a week too.  I'm going to miss summer when it's gone.  But that's always how it goes. 

This school year, I'll also be going back to my old job on a very part time basis.  I used to teach before D was born and they've asked me to come back to help out for one class with a total teaching time of 3 hours in a 5 day cycle.  That means I'm also busy getting ready for that as well.  I'll be teaching Social Studies (Canadian History) to a group of about 15 grade 7 kids.  

And somehow, in the middle of all this, I'm finding time to sew.  Well, I have to find time to sew as I am making 2 bridesmaid dresses, a flower girl dress and a matching ring bearer tie for my little sister's wedding in September.

I've almost finished up the flower girl dress.  I just have to add buttons to the back and a teal ribbon with a bow at the waist.

I hemmed 4 circles for this dress. Definitely a labour of love, but it's so cute on that it was also worth it.

The bridesmaid dresses are about 1/2 way.  They are a two part dress, a slip dress with an over dress. The over dress is sewn from lace - any tips on hemming lace?  

I also had a few orders for sunsuits.  I have to admit that though I probably wouldn't put my baby in one (I'm just too practical for that), they are just the cutest!

Soft pink with gray and blue ruffles - for a 1st birthday photo shoot.

Black chevron with hot pink.

And I've still been swapping.  I just can't help it.

This generous swap package is from Laurel and was part of the Fat Quarter Blender Swap.  We are supposed to send 4 fat quarters that are tone on tone or white and tone, but as you can see, Laurel was so generous she included this gorgeous pouch (I love the colours!) and tags and paper and a pen. 

This paper pieced bit is for the Sew Sew Modern swap.  I'm sewing up a 241 Tote (I've wanted that pattern for a while and finally got it) for my partner, but instead of making a plain bag, I'm hoping to make it amazing by having fancy front and back panels.  Cross my fingers this will work as I imagine!

And, yes, there's still more!  I am also keeping up with my bees. 

August Get Your Hex On block

August Simply Solids block

I'm sure when I'm more 'house-bound' because of cooler weather, I'll become a bit of a more regular blogger again.  But for now, it's still sunny.

midsummer post

Wow. 

It's been hot here.

I could handle the heat a lot better before I had kids.  Now I seem to overheat a lot faster.  Maybe that's because I'm sensitive to how my kids handle the heat.  D seems to take it in stride, and K gets cranky, though she still sleeps like a champ.

The other day I plunked the excersaucer in the pool along with D so K could get some cool feet.  She was happy for a good 20 minutes, and then she'd had enough of D's sporadic splashing.

Yesterday we hit 28°C, but with the humidity it felt more like 43°C.  It was an absolute wall of heat when you walked out of an air conditioned building.  Then that night, we had a flash storm - thunder, lightning, some hail, and it poured. 

Not so bad as to the south of us though.  Edmonton/St. Albert got large hail.  

And even further south, Calgary and High River have had severe flooding in the last month.  The water has gone down now, but many people have lost their homes and business, even jobs because of the floods. 

Cheryl from Dining Room Empire has put out a call to her quilty friends to make and send her slab quilt blocks so she can make quilts for those affected by the flooding.

She writes:

Just a slab. One slab. Grab some scraps of fabric and sew them together.

Maybe you can't spare the fabric or time or postage to send a whole quilt as we try to recover in Calgary and Southern Alberta. That's okay. But I bet you can make just one block. And the more of you that can make and send just one block, the more quilts we'll be able to donate. I will put all the blocks I get together into quilts. With an army of local long armers lined up to donate their time we will get some beds and hearts covered in no time

Can you make a block?

 I hope to make some in the next couple days.  I have the scraps for it, so why not.

I finally received my PTS10 package yesterday.  Turns out I needed an angel, and what a wonderful angel I was given!  Kristine made me this gorgeous pillow in some of my favourite colours.  She also sent me some scraps and my first ever roll of washi tape. 

And now that the heat wave has subsided, I've gone and sewed something!
This little beauty is my first ever attempt at QAYG, and it's not bad.  Not as 'focused' as I had hoped, and in some spots I actually covered an entire piece of fabric... oops.  But I love the colours.

This will become a mug rug for my Modern Scrappy Bits partner.  Not sure how to finish the back yet as the front is already quilted.  Maybe I'll have to quilt another piece and bind them together.

it's summer here

We've been having some gorgeous weather lately and I've been getting my hands dirty in the garden, mowing the lawn, sitting outside with D while she plays in her pool. Today she was running under the sprinkler with an umbrella.  We also recently got a buggy board for the stroller and we're back to walking again.  D is 3 and not fond of long walks.  I'm 30 and I am fond of long walks.  The solution was the buggy board.  Now D can stand and roll along with K and the stroller while I push all that weight and walk to my hearts content.

I've also had a few dress orders come through, so between all the summer fun, I've still been playing with fabric.

And I'm still sewing for the two bees I'm in.  This block I just finished today.

I sure hope I never have to make a block like that again.  It looks neat, but it took me forever to make and it took more thinking on my part than I think it should have.

I also made another block for the hexy bee, but I totally forgot to take a picture of it.

This is my Simply Solids reward.  

I got all the members to make a large triangle from small triangles.  They each got a random bunch of colours and had to randomly piece them together.  

By the end of it, one member seems to have disappeared and so no block from her.

I came with a solution to fill the hole though.  First I was going to just use a single solid, but after playing around a bit, I went with three colours in each other.

I love how this turned out. 

Right now it's between lap and twin size.  Now I'm debating adding a border or not.  If I do, I will probably do a solid... Dark gray maybe.

pts10 finished!

I finished it, and just on time too, as the deadline to mail is Monday. 

I really challenged myself with this pillow.

Drafting a paper pieced patter.

Setting a circle into a square.

Putting a pillow together in a new to me way.  The zipper is on the bottom so this is a double sided pillow.  I followed this tutorial for a Zippered Pillow Cover from Make It and Love It.

Doing some random piecing - completely new for me!

And after all that, I hope my partner will love it as much as I do!

swaps and a gift

I sent this pillow cover out this week along with a little cathedral window pin cushion.  I also added scraps to this package, but didn't take a picture

.

My partner was silent as a church mouse and so I was a little nervous to send it.  Also, sadly and maybe badly to say, a little less enthusiastic to send it.  A swap is so much funner when you have a chatty or even slightly chatty partner.

And I do have a partner like that in the Pillow Talk {Swap}.  After stalking her, knowing she likes Catherineholm and low volume, I've put this together.  Not sure what background to go with yet.  I have a good week to decide before I commit.

all yellows...

grays and yellows...

I also finished up this hexy butterfly for the Get Your Hex On bee. 

 

To top off my good week, I got a super surprise in the mail.  Remember I got 'published'?  Well, Sew Sisters, despite sending me fabric to play with in the first place and then letting me keep what I'd made, sent me a Thank You gift for writing up a tutorial for them!

They were absolutely generous and sent me a 1/2 yard bundle of Kona solids and a charm pack of Summersville Spring by Lucie Summers.

I sense a quilt coming!