Jane, Jane, Jane

Not much to say. I've made two more blocks. And a whole other quilt but I need some daylight to get a decent photo. Might be the weekend before I can get one. In the mean time...here are my two blocks.

K-12 Doris's Dilemma (03/01/09)



C-1 Trooper Green's Badge (03/01/09)

Helping Others

Part of the reason I love being a quilter is that is allows me the opportunity to use my creativity and sewing skills to brighten people's lives and to provide them with a symbol of love and comfort.



This is the 25 block quilt top that I sent to Tia for the Bushfire Quilt Project.

Here is the signature square with some kind words for the recipients.



These are the 3 blocks I made for Project Improv.







They will be assembled into charity quilts with other blocks created in one of the three colourways. I can't wait to see the finished quilts. They will definitely spread some happiness.

Bushfire Blocks and Dear Jane

I have almost completed my 25 blocks for the Bushfire Quilt Project. I plan to mail them early next week. My mom is also making some blocks to send, so I will have to co-ordinate with here so we can mail our things together.

Here is the progress right now. All three pieces of the blocks made, just need to complete them, and sew the top together.



As mentioned in a previous post, I was contemplating what fabrics to use for my Baby Jane quilt. I made the decision that I want it to be fun, but not something too 'now' as far as my colour taste goes, since it will take a while to make, and I don't want to have that 'what was I thinking?' feeling when it is finished.

I've decided on Strawberry Jane. Colours are: Red, Bright Pink, Lighter Pink, Lime Green, and Bright Green with white background fabric. I began this project on January 25th, 2009 (the day before my 1 year wedding anniversary) and I'm hoping to complete it in 1 year. It may be a crazy goal, and I might need some cheerleading along the way, but I'd like to have it done for my quilt guild's show on Mother's Day Weekend 2010. Unless my machine quilting skills go through the roof between now and then, I will probably have it long arm quilted.

Here are my 13 Jane blocks so far with the date of completion for each block. I haven't worked on it for a week and a bit, because I was away at a retreat last weekend and worked on some other projects. And when I got back I heard about the horrible fires in Australia, and immediately started on my blocks for the Bushfire Quilt Project.

A8 - Florence Nightingale (02/01/09)



B-1 Batchelor Buttons (02/01/09)



B-4 Chris's Soccer Field (01/29/09)



B-13 Four Corner Press (01/27/09)



C-9 Jane's Tears (01/28/09)



D-3 Jason's Jacks (01/31/09)



D-6 Challenge (01/27/09)



D-13 Field of Dreams (02/01/09)



G-4 Shutter Bug (02/01/09)


H-13 Farm Fields (02/01/09)



I-3 Family Album (02/01/09)



J-4 Adelaine's Apron Strings (01/29/09)



M-10 Simple Simon (01/25/09)



Stay tuned for more progress and a photo of my Minny Muu quilt that I'm making for ME. It's about time.

Bushfire Quilt Project

I just returned from a fantastic quilting retreat with friends. When I got back, I found out about the devastation that is happening in Australia. The fires are spreading like crazy, and the taking lives and homes of so many people. Feeling rather helpless here in Canada, I found out about Tia and her Bushfire Quilt Project. I have stopped all progress on my other quilt projects to help out as much as I can.

I will make a 25 quilt block top (if not the whole quilt depending on shipping costs), to send. I have also asked my Mom to help out and she will be making blocks and I have the word out to some other quilting friends.

It's times like these that really bring everyone together and I hope to be able to send a quilt hug to someone in need.

Please help out if you are able. If you don't quilt you could make donations to the Red Cross, Salvation Army or Wildlife Victoria.

Dear Jane

I've been thinking about making a Dear Jane quilt for a while now. They are really stunning and I love the idea of working on so many different blocks to make a huge sampler quilt.

I ordered the book from our local quilt shop The Running Stitch I think this Summer. I've been researching all different types of Baby Janes on Flickr and I think I'm finally geared up to get started. I think I'd like to do batiks, and am thinking of using white fabric for the background colour because it is easy to get more of and I don't know if I'm ready to invest in all of the 20 yards right now.

My only worry with white and batiks fabrics is the colour bleed issue. I'm not sure if this is the best idea...I'm also considering using my scrap fabrics with white instead.

As you can tell, I'm a bit undecided. It's hard to make a decision like this for such a long project. I need to be thinking into the future, and what I will want in a few years when it is finished.

I welcome any suggestions.

Stay tuned for some blocks.

Contest Anyone?

I just entered a contest to win a ton of fabric from Lila Tueller's new line Soiree. Fantastic. I hope I win. I have fabric from her Woodland Bloom collection and I love it! Contest is at Callico Carriage Quilt Designs if you are interested in entering too.

October Swap Round-Up

I have just received my the last quilt to finish up October swaps.

Swap Till You Drop October ~ Theme: Halloween
Sent to upstatelisa



Received from upstatelisa



6"-12" mini quilt trading swap October ~ Theme: Out of the Box (nothing square or rectangle shaped)
Sent to WendyWTN



Received from WendyWTN



The month of October was really fun to work on. Since then, as you know I've completed my quiltie for Doll Quilt Swap. I will post more about that when I do the Sent ~ Received roundup.

For November I am only in the Swap Till You Drop 2 colour swap. I have already received mine from tlhcrawford very fun blue and white 30's prints, but she hasn't received mine yet. When she does I'll write more about it.

I've also joined the Mini Quilt in A Bag swap. What you do is fill a ziploc with fabrics and trims and send it to your partner. They take what you've sent them, and maybe add a bit, and make you a little quilt using your fabrics and send you the finished product. The good news is the deadline is January 26th, which won't be hard to remember because it's year 1 wedding anniversary. And it means I can get Christmas gifts done first. It will be fun to see what Kathleen does with this...



Till next time. I haven't forgot about my Christmas gift post, I'm waiting till I have more to show.

Busy Bee

Still plugging away on my projects. My next post will have some progress shots. Trying to stay away from as much computer as possible.



My Doll Quilt Swap 5 quiltie and it's twin. Ready to mail out to a secret person.

It’s that time of year again...

I’m starting to feel overwhelmed by the amount of things I need to complete for/before Christmas. I figured if I write it down, it might occur to me that I need to kick it up a notch on the productivity side.
Here is my current to do.

Swaps
~October 6”-12” mini – Need to cut, piece, quilt, label, bind, package, mail.

~October Swap Till You Drop- Need to package, mail.

~Doll Quilt Swap 5 – Need to cut, piece, quilt , label, bind, package, mail.

~November swaps (I shouldn’t even sign up for these but I know I will).

Christmas
~Black& White Quilt - Needs back pieced, quilted, label made, binding.

~Nintendo Quilt - Needs 8 more blocks cross stitched, top pieced, quilted, label, binding.

~Table runner - Needs hand quilting and label. (see sneak peek photo below).

~Table runner - Need to decide pattern, pieced, quilted, binding, label.

~Ornaments for friends – decide what to do and do it.

~Baby Quilt 1- Needs rows sewn, quilted, label, binding.

~Baby Quilt 2 - Need to decide pattern, cut, piece, quilt, bind, label.

Did I mention that I want to be finished before December 1st so I can enjoy the month? haha

Anyone else in this boat?

Here is a picture of one of table runners.



The fabric is It’s Snowing Charm Pack from Moda. Purchased from crazyquiltgirlfabricshop.com. The binding which you can't really see in this photo is from the same line from the Fat Quarter Shop. The other table runner I will be making is from the Moda Peace on Earth also from crazyquiltgirl. The Peace on Earth charm pack is beautiful.

Swap-o-Rama

I've started joining swaps on Flickr. It all started when I noticed what was going on at the Doll Quilt Swap. I had to get involved. But the sign up had already closed for DQS4 so I waited patiently for DQS5 and signed up right away.

In the mean time I joined two more groups. Swap Till You Drop and 6"-12" mini quilt trading swap. After planning my designs and jumping in with so much enthusiasm, I think I may be hooked.

Swap Till You Drop September theme: Hearts
This is the quilt I made for Swap Till You Drop for quiltinkimmie.



And this is the lovely I received! Very pretty. The flower blocks were fussy cut from the same fabric. And I love the striped binding.



Then I got smart and realized how sad it is to send away little quilt babies, so for the 6"-12" mini quilt trading swap I decided to make twins. This way I could send away my quilt baby without being sad that I would never see it again.

6"-12" mini quilt trading swap September theme: Quilter's Choice
This is the quilt I made for sew-do-i



And this is the rainbow wonder I received from her. I love flying geese blocks and colour. Couldn’t be more perfect.



I’ve signed up for October in both of these groups. Theme is 'Halloween' for Swap Till You Drop and 'Out-of-the-box' for 6"-12" mini quilt trading swap. I have ideas for both of these but haven’t started cutting yet. I also need to make two of each so I can keep up this twin thing. I may regret this decision.

Oh and the best news is the swap partners are announced for DQS5, a bit of technical difficulties with my first match up, but the swap mama is getting it worked out.

Happy Thanksgiving fellow Canadians!

My next post will be about the many Christmas gifts I am making.
Take care, see you soon!

It's been a while

It's been a while since I've posted. Lots of things have happened. Got married, went on a cruise...worked on lots of craft project.

I’m not going to start back where I left off. I've been posting on Flickr just not writing anything over here.

I've started working on Christmas gifts. Still not sure what to make for my parents and my new in-laws. I know what I'm making for my sister in-law (M) and husband (Shawn). Quilts! I've got the top made for M's quilt, and just bought tons of embroidery floss for Shawn's Nintendo Quilt. It's going to be a labour of love for sure. He knows about it. So I’m sure expectations are high.



My friend T is having a baby in September and I just finished a quilt for her. And some super cute bibs from Amy Karol's book Bend the Rules Sewing. It took about an hour to make all three.



Take care, I'll write again soon.

A day of appliqué

To celebrate Canada Day I spent the entire afternoon and evening in the sewing room. I am so happy to have my sewing mojo back. :)

I borrowed the book Applique Delights from our quilt guild for the summer and attempted my first NON-fusible appliqué project(needle turn hand stitched). It is really fun, and rewarding. I love the folk-art quality of hand stitching pieces to the background. Beautiful! If I do say so myself. I will definitely be using this technique again. I'm sure I still have a lot to learn.

This is little quilt # 1 of what I hope to be a whole wall of quilted wonders.



We did get ice cream last night and drive out to see fireworks. Happy Birthday Canada!

The Dress

I've been focusing on wedding stuff lately, making invitations, bookings, shopping...not crafting as much. I have however made some wedding progress and ordered THE dress.

I'm excited for the long weekend and getting some baby quilts done for a friend. She has ordered two. They are the perfect size and oh so fun. I will post pics when they are finished.

In the mean time...check out my pink dress. Ignore my less than thrilled expression. :)

Ripple-icious

The whole ripple blanket craze has caught me in the wave. I started near the end of February and have about 2.5-3 feet completed. Very fun, very therapeutic, and also very addictive.

I'm back on Etsy

Just a sneak peak or some of my wares up on Esty. I'm doing well with my New Year's Resolutions. :D

My store is: sillybutton.etsy.com

Our Dear Benny Dog

On the 14th of December, two days before my birthday, we lost our dear Benny dog. He lived a great life and was a constant comfort and source of enjoyment for our family. I don't live at home anymore so I didn't get to see him as often as I would have liked but when I was home, his company and spirit was unmatched.

I've made a little shrine/memorial of my favorite picture of him, an included his favorite things, walks, dog bones, squirrels/chippies, car rides, snow etc. I'm sure he would be proud. He will be missed dearly.

Productivity and Christmas in September

After starting the TV blanket for Shawn, I've started to realize that Christmas isn't really that far away. And when making handmade gifts, one needs to start well in advance in order to complete the gift on time. This got me thinking and using yarn again got me dreaming about all the other yarn I have stashed in a bin at the bottom of the closet. So I dug it out. And inside I found a partially completed scarf. Now if you've been reading my blog at all, this would come to no surprise, you'd know that I am amazing at starting, and not so great at finishing.

So where am I going with all this? I was beginning to wonder myself.

I finished the whole scarf yesterday, and am going to give it as a Christmas gift. And that means already, I have one down and many more to go. The great part is how economical it is to make gifts, especially when you have more than enough fabric, and every craft supply imaginable. So this year, I am challenging myself to make all gifts, and in the spirit of Simple Sparrow's Use What You Have I will try to use only craft items that I've already purchased. However IF there is something that is required to complete a project that I don't already have(i.e. quilt batting)these types of things can be purchased. So basically I will try as hard as I can to make these items with supplies I already own.

Back to this scarf, it fills all the criteria AND I've also finished something that was incomplete. I think this is going to be great. I’ll document the process.

WIP Thursday?

I know it really is WIP everyday around here. I promise there will be some finished projects eventually. As September started to approach I realized that it is time to start working on Christmas gifts. Especially those that require 140 crocheted granny squares. This is a gift for Shawn(my fiancé)he loved the idea of a TV blanket for snuggling up and watching TV. He's seen the blocks in progress and knows about it, but I will keep the finished product hidden until Christmas.

I sort-of knew how to crochet but never really made anything. A new friend gave me a refresher course, and now all I want to do is make these squares. On the bus, at my desk at lunch, at home in front of the TV. It's a real shame I can't make them in my sleep. I have been dreaming about it, but no finished squares on the nightstand in the morning.

WIP Friday

I'm really disappointed in my lack of posts. As it is Friday though, I thought I should post a WIP. since I have mostly WIP's. Tell me crafty ladies, how do you stay motivated to see something to completion? I just want to start projects. Too bad I couldn't teach the cat to sew, I need an assistant to do the finishing.

Note: My job is super busy right now and this week is just the beginning of extreme busyness. So I apologize in advance for not being in the computer mood when I get home from using it all day at work. :S

I'm Back

Wow, that was a fairly long week(month and half). I've been working on some craft projects, but was focusing more on getting the rest of my life sorted out. Eating better, starting aquafit, spending way less time on the computer. My current project is reorganizing the sewing room and perhaps a bit of a purge. I was thinking of selling some scrap packs since I have way too much fabric, and it doesn't look like I will stop buying (any fabric catches my eye)any time soon.

I will work hard to post more often, and with pictures.

Oops!- See ya next week.

In all of my excitement to go to the cottage for a week, I totally forgot about WIP Friday. I will make up for lost time when I get back. I'm bringing many in-progress projects with me in hopes of making them all a bit more complete.

Until next week. :)

my WIP was a WIP

In honour of Work In Progress Friday, I am now posting my WIP on Saturday. Is that allowed? I've always got a million projects on the go. This something I just started working on. A WIP in every sense. It is the beginning of a wallhainging about food. Not just any food though, all the foods that I should steer clear of or avoid completely. I've got digestive problems and this little quilt is my way of working through it. Some inexpensive therapy. At the moment he food is just construction paper(it will be appliqued fabric in the completed piece), I was testing out the idea of all these foods emerging from the bowl. I'm still not sure where it is going yet.



This is the border for the quilt.

Obsessed? or Insane?

Thursday near the end of the day at work I decided that I wanted to make myself a mouse pad. After putting up my sewing shrine, I felt like my desk needed even more jazz. The package I received from Kim couldn't have come at a better time. She'll notice that in the picture of my swapping goodies, I didn't include everything. And that is because I used some of it that night.

The colours of my favourite pieces in the package got me going on this design. It finally gave me an idea for using some of this very neat penguin fabric i have. I might go back and get the flamingo stuff too. :)



Because I have an optical mouse, the little bit of texture to the mousepad makes no difference at all. Now we need one for our computer at home. Perhaps a bit more subdued.

Swapping Goodness

I participated in my first swap with a fellow creative blogger and I am so happy with the results! After oohing and ahhing over items received by Kim of Dioramarama in a swap with Stephanie from Little Birds, she suggested we do our own swap. We set some criteria, (which neither of us followed) and sat patiently by the mailbox waiting for goodness. And boy was it worth the wait. Such beautiful fabrics, nothing like what I already have, but all wonderful. It is so neat how someone else can pick fabric for you and even though it is nothing you would gravitate towards in the quilt shop, you absolutely love it.

Yet another ode to sewing

Last week was absolute mayhem, I was having trouble focusing on the simplest of task, breaking everything and just overall having a rough week. In hopes of regrouping I made it a long weekend and took today off. Got some cleaning done in the sewing room and made this for my corner at work. My workspace is very bland, so I’m trying to inject some of my weird quirky craftiness. Not sure what my coworkers are going to think. Hoping they get the intended gaudiness :)

I really like making these things. The best part being that I get to make use of all of the embellishments I’ve been hoarding but not using. Not to mention they take a lot less time than any of my quilting projects. :) I have this cool sectioned wooden box with a glass lid that I’m thinking of using for the next one. It is much bigger so I think I’m going to have to plan it out.

A finished project or two

I realized that I never posted the finished baby quilt. This picture isn't the best (ignore the cat parts) but you'll get the idea.



I have been listening to Craftsanity on my ipod while in the sewing room (although the sound of the television is good company, it can also be a HUGE visual distraction). The podcast featuring Violet Clark a folk artist from BC got all of my bright coloured creative juices flowing. Swirling around in my head were the images I'd seen of her home years a go when she was on the TV program Weird Homes, accompanied by the funky shrines I' have seen around and was reminded of when I stumbled across Retro Revamp while digging through my pile of craft books. I had also been thinking about the bright colours of this beautiful sun ornament I bought when we were in Cozumel this past winter.



Since all of these colourful ideas came at me all at once, I figured it may be a sign from the crafting gods. Time to pull out the paint, plastic gemstones, buttons, and all the other forgotten crafty supplies. A shrine for the sewing and quilting gods. For guidance in hand quilting, putting on binding, trying out a challenge, and using my fabric. We'll see how effective it is. :)

Focus

I’ve been having a hard time staying on task lately, I’ve been bouncing around, and not really getting much work done one any one project. Hence, not any pictures of finished projects. I always blame it on my interest in such an array of crafting genres. But seriously, sometimes I can’t focus to save my life, and that leads to this defeated feeling.

Maybe I’m just trying to hard to focus, and I should just go for it and be pleased with any progress, no matter howlong it takes to finish something? Just make stuff, be creative, and if you finish something-good, and if you don’t, well it was fun to work on. Maybe that’s exactly what I need to do. Switch my focus from the finished item, to the process of making and creating.

I might be on to something here.