Finish It Friday

My second commissioned piece.  My sweet friend Marla's mother was a quilter and she passed away before she could finish this quilt.  I quilted and bound it.  It is such a lovely quilt, I did not want to give it back!!

Cute little blanket.

A little Densye Schmidt action for the inside.

A little nesting going on... the two bottom quilts were made from minkee scraps and some cute flannel.

Still not sure if I love the dark backing but I sure love the softness of it.  I do like the gingham binding.

Linking Up to Quilt Finish Up's

My husband's co-worker's wife just had a sweet baby girl and we had them over for supper.  He asked me to make her a quilt- here it is.

I didn't have a lot of time for it so I decided to make the piecing simple and then embellish it with the flower- love how it turned out.  The main floral print was a new crib sheet I found and the co-ordinating green was some fabric I bought at Jo-Ann's two years ago.  The backing (not shown) was from my stash that I bought 7 years ago!!

I have wonderful news!!  I am the proud owner of a brand new brother Nouvelle 1500s (very similar to the Juki 98 Q).  It is a dream- here are some of the quilts I quilted this week-

I've had this car fabric for at least 9 years- yikes.  I love the way the co-ordinating fabric  goes.  I have a red and white polka dot fabric for the bindng.  I am keeping one for the new baby and the other one will go in the shop .

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I won this fabric (only time I ever won any quilt give away anything).  I love the swirls.

I love this sweet fabric and decided to use this minkee that I have had in my stash for 6 years.  I  am a little worried that it my be a little to dark for the front of the quilt but I have really got to use from my stash and I think once the binding is on it'll tie it all together.

These aren't techincally finished but the speed that I can go now- they will be bound and completed in no time.  It really is amazing what great tools/equipment can make in the process.

New Beginnings

Ta Da- My New Shop

http://www.etsy.com/shop/sistersinsewing

Here are some goodies that you will see:

I have A LOT of these and need to get them into the hands and mouths of sweet little babes,

This I-Spy quilt has over 200 different pieces- hours of fun for a child.

I find that there is always a need for more boy quilts- this bug plaid quilt is sweet and super soft- flannel on both sides.

This is twin size- super cute and colourful.

Classic girly quilt crib size.

One of my favorites- is backed with a green and white gingham dragonfly piece.

Super soft- flannel on both sides.  A beautiful collection of sweet girly prints.

Fabulous boy quilt with a great variety of fabrics and the quilting is so fun!

Pretty warm and cozy post!

Happy New Year 2012

I had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's with family and friends.  I love homemade Christmas's and this year was no exception.  Here are some of the 20 caramel popcorn jars I made for family and friends. The popcorn was delicious and the vinyl turned out pretty cute!  

Here are the cute bags that I wrapped the jars in.  I really love multiples of things.

After all my long arm quilting I did back at the beginning of the year, I had an entire garbage bag FULL of cotton batting scraps so I had this great idea to make the kids rag quilts.  I cut just over 350 squares!!  I thought I had more flannel than I did- I had to buy more fabric!!  It kind of defeated the purpose of using up all that I had, but I really do love the end results.

 What a happy girl on Christmas morning!!  The front...

 The back is with minkee, all I can say is that it is really like cashmere but washable the best of both worlds.  I love the weight of this quilt.

 I made this mini dool sized quilt for my daughter's new "Our Generation Doll".  I actually ended up making 3 others for a friend of mine who has three girls.  She came over a few nights and helped put the quilt together- it was so much fun (especially because we are both 6 months pregnant bending on the floor mix and matching fabrics).

 This is the back of my sons- love the cow print!!  The funny thing about the other two brown minkee fabric is that the kids found the fabric a while ago and have been using the fabric as blankets to watch movies with- talk about the shoemakers children not having shoes- the quilters children didn't have their own quilt for snuggling with (the horror).

 I made another one for another son but haven't got a picture- it has lots of frogs- he's 5.  I decided to wait to make one for my other son until he gets a little older since the baby/crib quilts still work for him.

This quilt is for Brianna, a cousin who is going in for major surgery in two weeks.  When she was over for Christmas dinner she wrapped herself in my daughter's quilt and couldn't get over how comfortable and cozy she felt and asked for one.  I knew I had to do it.  She has had health trouble for the bast 15 years.  When she first went to the hospital at 15 she received a blanket from Project Linus.  She has kept it ever since.  I was so happy to make it for her.  When I asked about her favourite colours she said navy and gold- I'd say it fits the bill.

I opened an esty shop today to sell some of the quilts that I have been making.  I do not want to be on Hoarders so I figure I'll try my luck.  That is one new beginning I am curious about starting.

This year will be full of adventure and excitment as we anticpate the arrival of baby # 5 in early April and possibly a cross Canada move in the summer... much to prepare and look forward to.

I Love Christmas

I am one of 'those' people who put up their tree before December.  I start playing Christmas music about now.  When I saw this I was thrilled.  I love to give and feel that I am spreading the real meaning of Christmas to all.  So if you see this consider taking this challenge yourself.  If you feel that you are not super crafty than perhaps you stretch yourself by trying something new- there are TONNES of great ideas and tutorials out there- just do it.

My Second Birthday Charity Celebration November 3 @noon

Another birthday is rolling nigh
So rather than groan or have a big sigh
I have decided to host another charity fling
Bring a potluck item to share and a few other things.

We will be donating to those who have less
Diapers, wipes, toiletries and non-perishable food would be best.
We will be donating to those who live in the city,
Giving to others always helps to feel 'giddy'.

So write down the date and make sure to attend
We'll have such a great time that you won't want the party to end.
Please let me know if you will be there
So I can know how many with whom my birthday I'll share.


Please let me know if you can attend- I am excited to share this day together!
Dara

Leave of Absence

Our family has had a pretty exciting time this past month.  We had an incredible 2 week trip to the east coast and were able to discover some wonderful new places in the world ( Boston, Maine, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI).  We put 5014 km on the van!

When we got home we had just over a week to get ready for school, host two birthday parties and prepare for my 10 year anniversary trip to Iceland.  This also meant preparing the house etc for my parents in law to stay and watch the kids.

Here are some photos of our trip.  I really fell in love with the country and the people.  My husband's great grandparents came from Iceland and we had the opportunity to meet with many of them.  It truly was a trip of a life time.

original Icelandic horse- brought along with the vikings when they settled Iceland

60 m waterfall

there was a real shortage of wood so this is how they built their homes

some more traditional homes

beautiful photo of a fisherman's home right beside the ocean

the world famous Blue Lagoon- it was quite amazing

Since we have benn home from our trip I did two presentations on how to write a family history blog at a geneaolgy conference (my other blog www.myfourgenerationsproject.blogspot.com).  I was selected to do an 'I Am Mormon" ad (see www.mormon.org) and so I have been getting the house ready for a camera crew (curtains, pictures on walls, autumn decoration).  I got a call a few days ago that plans have changed and they aren't sure when they'll come!!  This was a great push to get me in gear and I have been grateful for the schedule I have made.

I have a FABULOUS motivation to get this house into order-

Yep- baby number five will be arriving sometime at the beginning of April so I want to make sure that I have everything in order.  We are so excited for this new addition to the family and I want to make sure that I can hold this baby as much as possible instead of painting walls and renovating bathrooms.
So there you have it all my many reasons for a leave of absence.