#98 Baby Bumper pads

Well the cradle is with the new Mommy-to-be! She's been nesting and was awaiting the cradle. I think she's more at ease now, so my new Great Niece can come any day now!

You can tell there is a little wear and tear on the cradle. I think one of the babies parents down the line got some pain  (haha) paint on one of the sides, a chip here and there, but perfectly safe for the wee one. It's all cleaned up and the wood is in good shape. All the nuts and bolts are how they should be and it rocks perfectly or if she doesn't want that, they key locks it in place so it is still. My son, who is now 28, was in the cradle until he was 6 months old. It's quite roomy...and certainly great for a new wee one!

Your spot is ready wee one! May you arrive safe and sound and be good to your Momma! We are waiting anxiously!

Now on to wee one's quilt!

Happy Quilting everyone! I'll be in my sewing room!

Margo

Flower Wednesday.....er..... Thursday

I seriously do try to make it for Wednesday! These are the flowers I have been working on! Yesterday I came down with a horrid migraine that kept me in bed all day.....so Flower Wednesday is legitimately delayed a day! Now I can go and check out the rest o the flowers! Hope you all have a great gardening week next week!

Tigger the Supervisor, is watching over me as I spend my time sewing some not-so-quilty things! But I have a wonderful excuse...I'm going to be a GREAT AUNT! So exciting for my niece expecting her first wee one! We know it's a girl .. We already have Little Man in the family, so frilly little things are going to be fun! 

We all know that those wee one's spit up -- so I got a bunch of  cloths sewn up for those dribbles and spit ups that wee one's have. Hopefully the new parents will put these to good use when needed! The best would be to wear them out because then I know it was a good idea to sew! I was looking for those gauzy Gerber pre-fold diapers, but nowhere in Calgary were they to be found. I finally found some regular square fleece diapers that I doubled and then turned inside out and added the great fabric. They are thick and soft enough to do the job! I pre-washed the fabrics to make sure that once they go through the wash, they will stay the same size, if not softer and softer every time! |It was so easy to make and the end product looks nice!

I have a cradle that I have kept from Middle Son when he was born. I have loaned it out many times with the rule that anyone that borrowed it must put the child's name on the bottom of the cradle along with the date of their birth. So far, 7 babies have gone through it. I have offered it to my Niece and she said she would love to use it. It's been checked over and the bolts are all up to date. The spindles are fine and not too far apart and will be a great little bed until wee one grows into her crib. I made a new bumper pad that is much brighter than the plain white bumper pads. The white ones are great and just need new ribbons to replace the old one. I'll send that along as well in case she needs to put the bumper pads through a wash. Remember those explosive diapers and the spit ups? ha ha! Well, it always is great to have a "spare"! I made a couple of sheets to go as well, so it will always be fresh for the wee one!

This is one project that I bought double-fold bias tape for. I do not like it! The end result is "done", but certainly not as nice as if I would have attached to the front and sewn to the back. It just goes to show that I really don't like "sewing" the binding all at one time. I really prefer taking the time to sew it on the front by machine and then pulling to the back to hand-sew.It does in a pinch, but if I had to do it all over again, I would take my time. This project is a bit of a rush as we are delivering the cradle tomorrow! Baby is due "any day", so I am sure that once my Niece has it in the house, she will be resting a bit easier knowing that everything is in it's place!

So, all in all, it's been a busy week with sewing! Although not quilting, it certainly has been productive!

Stay tuned as I am approaching my 100th post! I will be hosting a giveaway to my readers for putting up with me and reading along!

Happy Quilting everyone! What have you all been up to?

Margo

One Flower Wednesday.....

Late again of course! Oh well....this is my second week! I will get there eventually!

So this week I managed ONE and almost another one!

Wish me luck for next week! I'm coming to see all of your's!

Here's the little man with "Barkey", his friend on the tree! 

Happy Quilting all!

Margo

Flower Wednesday..... a little late!

Well of course I have been busy this week...and have managed to drop a button on my blog. I am learning slowly! I have to say I am fine that I have managed to add a little more to my garden with the help of my fellow gardeners! Thank you all for the encouragement! I sure do appreciate it!

I thought I could add them to the screen of my sewing room and look out at the gorgeous crabapple tree! Those blossoms are only there this week and by next it will be full of beautiful green leaves! The more flowers, the more apples to pick in the Fall! 

And....while I was sewing...these three cool dudes were hanging out together! lol.... Pretending they didn't notice me with the camera! 

Happy gardening all!

Applique here I come!

Machine applique is not my favorite. It is probably  because I am new to it. I am learning how to machine applique so that it looks like an expert did it and not someone as idiotic as me! ha! I seriously need all the help I can get. I will continue to try. They say the more you try the better you become at it. 

This little airplane quilt is long overdue. The wee babe is over 6 weeks old and I still have to cut more fabric for this one. I think my hesitation is because I want it to work out well. It's something I am not comfortable with, but that is the part of learning new skills. One step at a time! Because it's a baby quilt, I know it will be going though the wash. I want it to last through all those washings without the edges fraying. Tomorow...I'll tackle it tomorrow! (I've been saying that for weeks!)

Maybe if I promise on here that I will work on it tomorrow -- I will HAVE to work on it! Voila! Maybe that's the trick!

Happy Quilting all!

Hexagons

Well the hexagon quilt is still going forward...s l o w l y. The Youngest will be 30 before it's done! That's ok as The Oldest turned 30 when I got her's done! So, in celebration of hexagons I have vowed to make one flower a day, rain or shine! So, in a year, I could feasibly have 365 flowers! She wants a queen sized-quilt. May God help me with this project! I haven't even thought about how many flowers I would need....and I don't think I need to really focus on that right now....I'll focus on one flower at a time!

All colors of flowers put together..

Pile of flowers

Stacked in a bread box for now

Hexi's packed and ready to go anywhere I go!

I tried to link up for a hexi-link-up -- but I am blog challenged. I would like to join, but apparently I am having more trouble signing up and getting all the tags etc., that I think I'd better focus on sewing instead!

How are you all doing on your projects?

Puddle Jumping by Camille Roskelly

This is the quilt that I made for Motorcycle Man's girlfriend. Kristi is a National Motorcross racer here in Canada. She races like the wind and scares the beejesus out of me (as does Motorcycle Man for his cross country racing... check out secondgearclub.com for a taste of what these folks do!) 

The quilt was an easy one. The pattern was easy to follow, but for older folks like me, the PDF format was great, but the colors on how to cut your fabric was hard to follow (blue background with silver printing...I had to turn it every which way to see the dimensions). Perhaps the newer patterns are easier to see. I did send an email to them to let them know (and no it wasn't my printer...brand new printer with new ink).

So....if you are looking for a great impressive pattern, check it out. When this was hanging at Heritage Park Festival of Quilts you could see it from a long ways! (200 meters or 656 feet ..thereabouts!) I have "Swoon" on my list, but the next quilt is a long overdue baby quilt for a co-worker! There are babies popping up everywhere, so I have quite a list of baby quilts to make...... but for today... we are going fishing!

Have a wonderful day all! Happy quilting!

Heritage Park Festival of Quilts 2014

Another year is over and I can barely wait until the next one! It's wonderful to see the amazing talent out there! Forgive me for not listing the artists and the names of their quilts! If you recognize your quilt, or you know who the artist is -- please comment and let the rest of us know!There are so many of them that I loved!

The Youngest and I had reveals today -- one for Motorcycle Man's girlfriend and another for Youngest's boyfriend.  I hope you enjoy all the photo's! Of course they are way better in person!

Quilts in front of the Wainwright Hotel

 #173 by Wayne Kollinger, "I Spy Richmond Square." You may remember Wayne from last year when I posted another of his quilts! I love this one Wayne! I think you need to let us know where to get this pattern! I think this one is also reversible. Love it! What a great gift for a wee one!

by Heather Tomlinson....don't panic! My hand is NOT on the quilt, but hovering above it to show you the scale of those tiny little squares! Her quilts were just beautiful!

Quilts along the fence by Gunns Dairy Barn

The other side of the Wainwright Hotel on Saturday! Beautiful weather for an ice cream cone!

This one was one of Chef's favorites! The photo does not do it justice!

Beauregard on top of the Beer truck. I felt sorry for the artist of the quilt Beau was sitting on! It should never had something on it to take away from the beauty of the quilt! Was nice to see that Beau was nice to it!

Beauregard relaxin!

#619 - Quilt by Donna Leuw - "October Rose" -- beautiful work.... little beads sewn on all over this piece. Just gorgeous!

#595 - by Vanecea Greene, "Scraps" - one of the Twelve (12) quilts that she had in the festival! WOW! I'm lucky if I get one in the show!

59? -- unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the whole number. This is a quilt with small hexagons for an "I Spy" -- just marvelous! All the little kids coming up to this wanted to touch it and point out all the things they found! The recipient of this quilt will be some happy!

Little One's boyfriend is standing in front of this amazing quilt! It's a whole scene. I was just gobsmacked when I saw it. As a quilter I realize all the hard work these take! Bravo!

The Oldest and Little Man came out to support Nana. Of course the rides were way more interesting! Can't say I blame him! I couldn't stomach going on the "Caterpillar"! I would have been done for! So great when my whole family supports my quilting! Thanks all!

The reveal..... "Kristi's Mud Pudddle" that I worked on for Motorcycle Man's girlfriend. (don't worry! I told her that she could touch it and she loved the label!) I am pretty sure she really liked it! Was a fun pattern to do, but even more so when it's appreciated by the new owner!

Kristi and I posing in front of her quilt!

Kristi posing!

#034 - by Morgan Brown (The Youngest) -- "Snow Tracks" -- This is the quilt that she reveled to her boyfriend. She tired Accuquilt's log cabin die for this one. I think she did an amazing job don't you? I am sure this is not the end of her quilting career!

She was excited to get a ribbon! This was her first entry! Way to go!

I think her boyfriend was suitably impressed. Don't panic! Morgan gave him permission to touch...she is the quilter!

Here is Youngest with her boyfriend. I think he was quite surprised!

Heritage Park Festival of Quilts 2014 and Family

So today I attended Heritage Park Quilt Festival with Chef! It was amazing and I walked miles and miles. Tomorrow is the day I was to surprise my son, Motorcycle Man's girlfriend....but ended up spilling the beans early! More to come in a couple of days.... Flash forward to this evening when Motorcycle Man needed to have a part for his flying camera helicopter...computer part...something that I went running for. So for all you guys out there..who love your Momma's ... remember that Momma's will always have some kind of photo of you to brag about.

Motorcycle Man's first quilt...before he got carried away with all his biking! (Now realize that there is a fine line between how expensive quilting is ... sewing machine...parts...fabric.... and parts for computers, bikes. the gear...everything). I know that quilting is the lesser of these two evils! (and...it has kept me out of the hospital! ok ok....thumb injections maybe!

Love you Motorcycle Man! This one is for you!

November 1998.... he sewed the blocks and I assisted with the rest!

Happy Quilting all and keep those tires on the ground!

Sewing Room Re-vamp!

My absence has been warranted...this time! I found a great deal on Kijiji for furniture and bought it for myself for Mother's Day! It's all handmade with tongue and grove drawers and once I had it in my room, I swear it was made for it!

I've been searching for new furniture to organize all the stuff that I have, but then again the room I have didn't grow! Limited by my budget, I am really happy with what I found and it has tons of space to organize! I can configure it the way I want to suit my purpose! I love it! Take a look!

When you stand in the doorway this is what you see

in the corner is where my TV sits. To the right is the stand that holds my Accuquilt and a few boxes of kits and miscellaneous fabric. The TV stand holds my ribbons and ric rac, along with the bottom basket is toys for the little man when he comes to visit.

The stand with my iron is still in progress. Chef is going to raise it to the same level as the TV stand and the cupboards below the window. The little cupboards that Tigger is sitting on, hold various craft supplies. the drawers below are for embroidery, hoops and of course a cupboard for the Little Man for his craft supplies.

To the left of Tigger is another drawer for fabrics. Rather than take off the legs, I wanted a space for my extra cutting boards and of course a couple of boxes with projects in the works. Below the drawer set are four deep cupboards that hold all my plastic containers with my fabric. All my pre-cuts are there (i.e. charm squares, jelly rolls etc.)

This next cupboard is to the left of the window. It can be either on legs, or as I have it. I put all my filling and batting in it. It's strong enough for us to sit on, or recently the Little man tucked his blanket and pillow on it to watch TV. I wanted it low enough that I am able to still use my design wall.

Next to the batting box was my previous drawer on wheels. It holds all my machine parts, thread and of course bobbins. The jelly cupboard to the left of that (with the black book on it) holds the rest of my thread. The bookcase is basically the same with my fat quarters. To the left is another corner bookcase that came with the furniture. It holds odds and ends right now and things I want closer to me.

Looking to the door, is my sewing machine and of course my cutting table. My extension table butts up to my cutting table, so if I am sewing a large quilt, I have the table to support it. I have two filing cabinets under the cutting table that I am still thinking about relocating, or repurposing. For now, they are staying where they are. Of course my handy retreat tote is close in case I want to pull something out of it. 

The view from my seat. Tigger in his glory being able to sleep and look out at the window when he wants (I'll have to sew a cover that matches the rest of the room). My TV is fabulous as the Blue Ray that is hooked up to it lets me watch You Tube as well as Netflix. It's a great set up and I love it! Now I have room for more stash (heaven forbid!) I'm working towards more creativity and using up the stash that I have! So far, I've been doing a lot of browsing and less sewing!

Next weekend is Heritage Park Quilt Festival! The projects are set and ready to go. More on that after next weekend! I get to drop them off tomorrow! Meantime this week is slated for finishing up long due baby quilts! My hand is feeling much better! I have arthritis in my thumb joint (MCL) and I went for an x-ray guided injection a few weeks ago. It is feeling much better now! Typing for most of my life for a job isn't something that great for it, nor is my quilting -- but it's something I never want to give up -- typing AND quilting! 

Happy Quilting Everyone! What do you have in your sewing room that works for you?

Quilter's injuries

Ok so it may not be a quilter's injury -- but most likely from typing for 45+ years! It makes me wonder what this new generation will be facing with their games, texting, iPod'ing, all that stuff. Communication is no longer just picking up the phone and speaking in person. I miss a lot of that old type of communication -- but I love meeting people through blogs as well as classes.

I have been taking a break from quilting for a couple of weeks as I have arthritis in my thumb joints. My left hand was so bad it ached constantly. My grandson grabbed my thumb to pull himself up and I thought I would pass out! Thus....I went for a cortisone injection. The injection was to help ease the pain of the joints pushing together..but it lasted for a couple of days and then boom...it's back. Sucks. That's all I can say! Getting old sucks! ha ha!

So this weekend, I am getting some new-to-me furniture in the sewing room. I'll be busy organizing, and re-organizing! That in itself is exciting!

So thanks for checking out my blog! Keep sewing and let me know what you are doing --- it will keep me motivated and work towards getting some piecing under the machine again!

Margo

Hoppy - who said kids can't sew?

Little man came over before Easter and decided that he and his Nana were going to sew a "bunny"! Well I certainly was up for the challenge -- especially since the last time he was over it was a miserable crafting fail! Have you ever tried to make homemade slime? The stuff that keeps it's shape if your hands are moving, but will slimmmmmmmmmmmmmmme through your fingers if your hands are still? Well we did! We tried to color it green and with adding more colors (because I didn't have enough green), it turned out a lovely brown! "Nana!" said the little man. "I can PLAY with it, but I sure can't look at it!" ha ha

He picked the fabrics because it looked like tires. We traced it out on the fabric after we folded it in half. He was the "Pin" guy. Of course, with his hands on top of mine as we sewed, he would S C R E A M "PIN!!!" at the top of his lungs when we came to one. I would stop and he would remove the pin. He was thrilled with the outcome and was helping me stuff it, poking down the stuffing with chopsticks. We drew the legs a little bit too skinny, so rice, here we come. His legs and arms were filled with rice, as were his ears, so Hoppy would be floppy and the rest was stuffed. 

Next came the eyes that he picked out. I was quite happy to embroider eyes, but he wanted them to stick out! Oh yes and "Nana he needs hair!"

his ears looked a bit wonky, so knowing that this would not be his "forever" Hoppy, we tied his ears off so they looked separated from his head. Of course Hoppy needed a few whiskers! 

I thought it was all done when he announced, "Nana! he needs a tail!" and off of to my sewing room to raid the crafting supplies. I thought maybe a white puff....but no, it had to be blue because "Blue is my favorite color Nana! Right Nana?" 

"Yes Little Man, you are absolutely right! I love your bunny!"

"I love you Nana! Thank you for helping me with Hoppy!"

Remember...it's not the precision that counts...it is creativity and working with love in your heart! Whatever you create, will be a masterpiece to someone!

Today..create a Masterpiece!

Margo

Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio and Suchity Such

Where have I been? Of course helping The Youngest with her sewing and browsing the internet for blogs! So exciting that I entered a draw and WON!

Check out Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio . Shea drew my name and I was so excited when I read her email that I screamed! Chef was worried, but then shook his head as I told him the exciting news and he said "Bravo"! He is such a good man! He supports my addiction!

Shea's blog is a great source of info and inspiration! I've been lead to books that I would not have tried in the past and looked at projects that I thought I couldn't tackle, yet knowing that really, really I can!  Shea was on blog party (is that what they call it?)promoting a new fabric collection called  PAINT, for Windham Fabrics. Quite a bit different than what I use and listening to the voice of my daughter, I have to stretch and try new fabrics!

Carrie Bloomston’s new line is beautiful! Soft and peaceful colors. I was then drawn to her blog as well (you know how that goes! You go to one blog and then forty blogs later you wonder where the time went!) What I enjoyed the most, beside the amazing creativity of this young mom . She recently was sharing prayer flags and explained the spiritual significance of them. As she explained to some people what prayer flags were to her, she quoted, "honor the sacred creativity within you. As you work, be filled with love, let your work be like a prayer..." She then goes on to say, "fill it with love from your heart as you work."

I've been more in front of the TV and computer lately instead of my sewing machine. I now know why.... I have been doing projects because I HAD to do them and not because I was filled with love or honoring the sacred creativity within me. Who knew that entering a giveaway would lead to such an "ah hah!" moment...so ladies, Shea and Carrie, I thank you both!

Remember to fill it with love as you quilt!