Newborn Toques

Little Jacob in his new toque!

What do you do when baby arrives early?

I had all these elaborate plans on making a fabulous "superhero" quilt, but the little man arrived EARLY! Egads! I rushed out and found a superhero cape panel. Well what can you do with something like that? I took it apart and re-assembled (in a hurry !) I added extra pieces with the colours Momma requested, and added "Jacob" to the front.

Hanging it isn't quite as nice as displayed on a fence or somewhere with more pizazz -- but it is nice and square when laid flat! The colours are bright and should keep the little man occupied when he's having tummy time on the floor!

My great longarm quilter Karen did a fabulous job! I love how she has the stars in there. She backed it with incredibly cozy Cuddlesoft in a bright red! I just wanted to wrap myself up in it! It's a great weight!

I am new to machine applique and did have a nice satin stitch around the pieces. Once it was complete with the binding, I put it in the wash. I pulled it out and many of the edges were unraveling -- thus having to go on TOP of the applique's again and re-do it with a wider stitch. It worked! Yeah! saved! I always wash my quilts before handing them over  to make sure everything holds and puckers nicely. Unfortunately my photo's do not show as well on here, but I grabbed a couple of quick photo's with my point and shoot. The quilt is already to go to new baby!

I wanted to add a fun binding but I didn't want it to look like a candycane by placing it on a diagonal. It sure does add some more interest to it. Binding is my favorite part of the quilting process believe it or not! I love sitting in front of the TV with a cozy quilt on my lap, hand stitching the binding to the back.  I challenge myself every time to make smaller and smaller stitches to near invisibility. Just to see the finished product is worth it -- even if it's a quick quilt! 

Only one more to go -- but that particular little man is staying put for a couple more weeks! I'll be crossing my fingers that he holds out for his due date so I can take some more time for this one! Again, some more applique! SIGH.... maybe with each one that I do, I learn more and more? If anything, I won't be making the same mistakes!

If any of you have any tips on how to get that nice finished product via machine, let me know! I would love to hear how you get it done! (Without having to un-sew and say choice words throughout the process!)

Happy Quilting everyone!

FART -- Fabric Acquisition Road Trip -- to Montana!

We've taken advantage of "Reading Week" here in Alberta and of course "Presidents Day" in the U.S. We were planning on going somewhere "hot", but with the prices, it wasn't worth the ticket. We saved a bunch and drove ourselves to Montana -- of course giving me more dollars to spend on fabric! Love it!

We did most of our shopping in Great Falls and Helena.

We spent two days in Helena. We've normally just driven through, but thought we would do a little more walking around. We heard about the walking mall and went to Prickly Pear Quilts. It was quite expensive and geared to very traditional (read: dark) fabrics. Price-wise, it was the same as Calgary prices, but of course I did buy a bit of fabric to add to my stash along with another Purple Thang! (I love that thang! I use it to push fabric, pull fabric, measure 1/4" seams and I would be thrilled to hear what you all use it for besides that!)

 The fabrics I found there were for an upcoming baby quilt that I have planned. Momma-to-be is having the baby room in blue and brown (I did pick up some more coordinating fabrics to go along with this). Eileen was a great help to us and gave us some great places to check out for lunch and dinner! Always nice to hear what the locals recommend!

Just a couple of doors down was Aizada Imports. http://downtownhelena.com/listing/aizada-imports/

"Aizada Imports is a new store on the Walking Mall located at 26 N. Last Chance Gulch next door to the Holiday Inn.  The store features felted woolen handicrafts from the country of Kyrgyzstan.  Store owner and manager, Paula Halverson has been working with women in Central Asia for over 10 years, selling at fiber arts festivals, trunk shows and special exhibitions.  She chose Helena as a location for a new store.  The store also showcases other Fair Trade products from around the world.  One of the reasons Halverson selected Helena for her bricks and mortar store is because of the diplomatic relationship with Kyrgyzstan as part of the Partners in Peace Program with the Montana National Guard, the capital being a central location for this program."

This is such a happy place! It's full of color and of course incredible hand work. I had to pick up this little felt bird to hang on my shelf. Those are little beads along with the embroidery thread used on the felt!

Another little "bird" that I fell in love with, along with a needle work zipper pouch. Just beautiful! The little pouch is worked on both sides! I will cherish these items for many years to come!

 I just love the little beak on this bird! It has a little magnet in the back and he sits beside my sewing machine as well looking down over my work.

 My new necklace is from Gigglin' Grizzly Glass Studio. Some of her works were also in Aizada. I fell in love with this piece!  Very unique!

Any trip to the U.S., (other than the duty free for booze!) has to include a trip to Joann's! Of course I bought some bambo knitting needles and some cotton yarn for mom's dishcloth's -- but lookie at what I found! How adorable is this? I know it looks busy sitting on my ironing board, but this little pin "armchair" will be perfect on my sewing table! I fell in love instantly and grabbed it! I have been looking for one of these when I saw a "couch" in a quilt shop down in Arizona. Nice that I recently added some red to my sewing room! What a perfect fit!

Great Falls was on my list on the way down and on the way back to Calgary. Of course we had to stop in on Big Sky Quilts. Every time we walk in there though the women offer to send Chef away for a coffee! Why do they do that? He's the BEST when it comes to picking fabric and finding the deals! Why send him away? He gives me great ideas and supports my creativity like no other! I wish that quilt shops would embrace men coming into their shops. It's like this invisible cloak of protection to turn off men from coming into "their domain". I remember 3 Quilt Dude's in Arizona. They have a comfy couch, homemade cookies and fresh coffee and love it when the guys come in and browse! Now if you welcome men, the men are more apt to bring in their wives/girlfriends to browse! More browsing = more sales! I managed to keep Chef in Big Sky Quilts, but not for long. I bought some much needed fabrics, an extra pair of snips and of course added to my purple stash!

On to the Sewing Palace.... full of women, but very little help. We waited for a while holding bolts of fabric in front of the till before someone asked if they could help us. Not sure if there was a class going on or what. We weren't in a hurry, but when other people come in AFTER you that were dealt with first - makes you wonder. 

I always wanted one of those color tools so I could study up on "color" and how to work different colors against each other. 

Our last quilt shop tour was in Great Falls in Bernina Silver Thimble. I have been adding to my "purple" stash and found a great little pattern for those little duffle bags. This is the first time that I saw one with iron-on vinyl. You can use whatever fabric you want and you can iron on the vinyl. No more having to buy limited type of vinyl fabric -- you can make your own. Of course I had to buy some more heavy pellon for the bottom of the little bag to hold the shape. What a great little "gift" for someone. I am thrilled to have something to make in a pinch for those little gifts!

My next trip to Great Falls will have to be Bernina Silver Thimble "first" and not the last! I would have loved to browse some more, but we were trying to beat the snowfall that was coming!

Of course we had to make a stop to Costco (Helena) and pick up my Chobani yogurt (yum!) and we even bought our first Christmas Pressie! OMG...it's February and I'm already thinking Christmas! Maybe this year I will manage to sew a Christmas tree skirt BY Christmas? The grandson got some new clothes as did we, and of course always something that we swear we couldn't do without! 

All in all, it was again a most wonderful vacation! Getting away with Chef is wonderful as always! 

What do you look forward to when you go on vacation?

Knitting for newborns!

Well I've been absent for quite some time! I've been busy knitting away! I am NOT a knitter. I remember my first knitting class was a sweater that I absolutely HATED. Then I thought I would make my toddler a sweater with cable knit....was great when I did one sleeve with cables and finished the other without and then realized it when I was sewing it together! You get the picture!

So, in order to do something little, and something where I could give "back" to the community by volunteering, I started knitting little infant toques for the Rockyview Hospital. The company I work for encourages volunteering, but the things they suggest take me right out of the pool of volunteers (i.e. my asthma and environmental issues such as pollens, perfumes, dust, etc.) This was a perfect fit! The best part was my company provides grants to the non-profit that you volunteer for!  How great! I have been loving the new yarns they have out there!

One the best places  I discovered on the net is Willow Yarns that deliver right to your door! http://www.willowyarns.ca/ The prices are great and the delivery was excellent! It gave me a chance to try out those different yarns.... bamboo and silk to name a couple! WOW! No wonder people are getting hooked on knitting! Of course I also went to a local yarn shop with "self-patterning" yarns. The price for one skein was a bit hefty ($19 a ball!). I can say I tried it and I love them, but I can't afford them on a regular basis. Willow Yarns has a wonderful selection and they have regular sales for those who want to save a few dollars. The shipping was decent for what I ordered, so I'm happy with it all!

Are any of you getting into knitting? What are you doing? Are you a newbie or a seasoned veteran? What's your next un-quilting project?

Happy creativity!

Beauregard -- Chicken Shaman

On one of our trips to Kalispell, MT, I found a pattern for Elinor Peace Bailey's "Chicken Shaman" at Quilt Gallery https://www.quiltgallery.net/ . They had a sample all made up and I fell in love with it! The pattern sat in my sewing room for a year and I needed a challenge that was a bit "different" than quilting! This post is loaded with photo's.I had questions when I was following the pattern as there were limited directions (I am a picture person). I found the internet was lacking on the details and only found the finished product. Thank God for Beth Watts of Fabric Chicks http://www.epbdolls.typepad.com/fabricchick/ who helped me with "WRT" (with right sides together). Let it be known I am NOT a doll maker in any sort of the word and I just "wing it" with patterns! The last toy item I made was a simple frog full of rice. There was no depth or detail. So with that said, my photo's are here for anyone who wants to tackle this project so they can look at the details. It took me a couple of good days working on him but the outcome was so worth it! My daughter-in-law gave me the whole series of "Greys Anatomy" to watch, so I was in my happy place in so many ways!

My sewing room was a mess! I had many cups of coffee, but boy did I have fun!

I added some new yarn to bling out his tail feathers!

Chef and I went to Michaels to pick up some beads ("A few," I told him!) Sixty-seven dollars later I have enough beads to do about 20 more!

I even blinged out his feet a bit

I used beads to cover up the "boo boo's" from my lack of doll-making talent!

I had no idea how to attach the leg into the claw so I just went with it and blinged out my stitches that were showing! Trust me, these photo's will help those of you wanting to make one yourself. It really is forgiving and the bling helps you cover ALOT!

Fuzzy pic, sorry. The challenging part were the "joints". I had different buttons, but it wouldn't let me "position" the legs as it was not hinging at the knees. I am not thrilled with the buttons, but at least they work!

His wings are position-able as well. They are a bit floppy - I think the next one I would use a stiffer fusible -- what do they call it? The white board stuff you can use for your purses -- keeps the shape, but you can still quilt through it! Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the outcome here, but just saying....the next one I'd use different fusible. I don't know if you stuffed in addition whether it would be a look you would like. Do a mock wing and try it out and see what look you like the best! Of the photo's I've seen, some were joined with one button on the very back. I positioned them on the sides with a button on each wing.

The tail feathers were the last! I had so much fun. I added real feathers (sewn), as well as beads here and there. Of course there are more buttons on the back of his um.... bum... but very impressive tail feathers. Chef name him "Beauregard" because he is just not quite sure that this rooster is into hens or ahem....other roosters My apologies to the Beauregard's that are straight out there! Beau is here to stay! He'll be spending time in the kitchen to watch over Chef and maybe will take a trip to the sewing room to watch over me! Being a "Shaman", he is sure to bring in the good and chase out the bad!

Do something different this week! Take on a challenging project -- whether it be a Christmas stocking stuffer, a mug rug for a friend, passport cover for the traveller in your life, or maybe a "Beauregard" to watch over your creative juices!

Happy Quilting Everyone!

ps to my kids....do something creative! Do something you've never tried before! It's ok to make mistakes... you never know what you will learn from it!

Pink Chalk Fabric = Goodies!

I love Pink Chalk Fabrics! Of course with anything, there is a little story! I live in Canada -- I love shopping at my local quilt shops, but sometimes the costs are prohibitive. I want the best value for my dollar. Thus, I do order from the U.S., and I have had nothing but great service with Pink Chalk Fabrics. I browse their site on a regular basis and when the mood strikes, I order. Well to make a long story short (before I show you my goodies!), I placed my order. When the final bill was processed, the shipping was "almost" as much as my whole order! I had a fit! Here I thought that I had a great deal, but with the shipping, was it really worth it?

So, I emailed the gals and had a fit. OK, well not a fit, but asked why it was so expensive and I was thinking hard about whether it was worth it or not ordering from the U.S. It's good thing I asked! Apparently, the orders automatically "estimate" a shipping charge. It was reviewed and of course adjusted as my order was able to fit in a small shipping envelope which greatly reduced the shipping charge. Now THAT is what I call service. Less than 15 minutes after I fired off my email, I got a response! Yeah! So word to the wise, or the penny-pincher (like I am)....ASK. Apparently shipping costs for "notions" are somewhat higher. The notions that I ordered were small and fabric order was not outrageous, so they were able to reduce the shipping costs! My rule of thumb -- if I can order it on line with the shipping costs and it is substantially cheaper than getting it here -- I will order on line. Don't get me wrong -- I do support my local quilt shops on a regular basis, but if I find something that I can wait for and it's going in my "Rainy Day Stash", in goes my order!

Road 15 by Sweetwater for Moda and Barcelona by Brigitte Heitland for ZEN CHIC for Moda.

Robert Kaufman Classic Threads Small Stripe Primary (great for those bindings!) This is the panel from Michael Miller Fabrics - Norwegian! I can not tell you how many times I looked at this! One minute I was drawn to it and the next I had no idea what I would have done with it! The more I looked at it the more I thought it would be perfect in my stash and one day I would find something perfect to use it for! Chef was a dear and held it up for me so I could take a photo of it!

In memory of Remembrance day .... where does the time go?

I was watching the news today on an American channel where the news anchor was saying "Happy Remembrance Day everyone?" Chef and I looked at each other. It was a shock to me really, considering that I don't feel that Remembrance Day is a "happy" occasion. I am humbled by all the men and women who have lost their lives in order to allow me to live in a safer world. I am not "happy" celebrating their death, but I am THANKFUL for the sacrifices that they made for us. Now when I switched to a Canadian channel -- the news anchor did not wish us a "Happy" any kind of day, but reminded us to Remember all of those who sacrificed their lives for us. I bowed my head and said a silent prayer thanking all those, including my Grandfather who lost his life in the Second World War when the Germans bombed his little village. I am thankful for my dad who served two years in the army, and all my cousins overseas who also served in the army. It is through the Good Grace of God that we have not suffered loss any other family as a result of war and service for their country. Many years later, our countries still fight, we continue to lose good men and women who fight for their country. It will never be a Happy Remembrance Day for me, but one filled with sadness and profound gratitude for the sacrifice of others. I will never forget.

So much time has passed and I have not been blogging! GOOD news though! I have been reading all your blogs and am so thankful to you all! What motivation! What amazing creativity! I feel so humbled by you all! I don't know what it is! I come home from work I am just exhausted. The only motivation I have is to read blogs and take mental notes of things I would like to do! Without further delays, I do have a finish I surprised Chef with. I am in love with black and white bindings. I have no idea what it is. Could it be the element of not matching and being totally different than the whole project? Chef did help me pick out the fabric for the binding. My first choice was a text, and I found out that he totally "hates" text for fabric. Who knew?! I love the backing fabric. So full of colour and totally like Chef with his garden every year. He wants the garden full of colour and variances. We have such a short growing season, the quilt will surely brighten up those dreary winter days! I did surprise him with a new computer as well for his birthday, so I think he was fairly shocked when I gifted this one to him. We have been "sharing" our Arizona quilt, but now we each have a quilt to wrap in (since I was seriously hogging the one)

I love poofy quilts! It's so much better after the first wash! So comforting! This is the quilt from my Mystery Quilt weekend with Nimble Thimbles Quilt Club. Karen, my longarmer, did a fabulous job (as always!) I am NOT a pre-washer. The fabric on the back has a lot of white to it, but believe it or not -- no running of colours. I bought some of those colour catchers that go into the wash machine and just went with it. If it ran, it would, and I would be sorely disappointed, but regardless it would still be a cozy quilt! I was thrilled that all those wonderful colours showed through, even through the wash!

I wish I was more productive and could give her more work! But alas, I am not as productive as I could be. I need to prioritize again and spend more time in my beautiful studio! I have everything I need in there, except Chef. In the evenings, he and I sit and review the day and watch some television. I usually have my computer on my lap and browse those quilting blogs and every now and again I ask him what he thinks of the colours of some quilts, or we laugh at some jokes that are posted.

Every time I post, I vow to be more productive! Maybe I just have to keep posting so I have something to post about! ha ha! If you all have any ideas on how to keep "sewing" and have a good balance of "blogging" and "sewing", I would love to hear all about it! Happy Quilting everyone! I am off to start sewing on my Shaman Chicken by Eleanor Peace Bailey -- it may not be a "quilt" but "creative" none the less! I just came down here to collect my pin cushion!

Hexagon madness! Flower Power! (heavy in photo's)

I am always working on one project or another! I vowed that our kids would each get a quilt made by me. One down and four more to go (quilts that is!!) The hexagon quilt is for my youngest. She's a quilter as well but hates, detests, can't stand....hand sewing! Anything that has to do with hand sewing is a vehement "NO THANKS!" ha ha! Good thing that I love hand sewing and I know that she will appreciate all the work that goes into this!

My stack with so many more to make!



This is a freezer paper hexie ironed on to fabric and then trimmed as close to 1/4" as possible (give or take....a bit bigger is a bit better!)



Use a glue stick and paste on one side of the hexie on the fabric (don't worry if you get any on your giner/ washes off/ or the paper as you will be pulling out the papers down the road)

Fold down over the edge of the paper and press firmly down from one end to the other.

make sure that you have the edges down as well as your next step will include folding the next corner down.

This is where you glue the next side to the right of the one you just glued -- or if you are left handed, you will be gluing the side to the left of the one you just glued!

Make sure you press down firmly (ignore my horrible cuticles and nailes.... I am not a girly girl when it comes to my hands!) When you press down firmly, you get nice crisp edges and nice sharp corners!

You can see in this photo that the glue is even on the edge of my finger -- trust me...you want it to be right to the edge of that fabric so that it holds! Remember, this glue will wash out and the papers will come out once all the hexies are sewn!

This is your ready-to-go hexie!

I've used all kinds of glue! My favorite is Sewline -- it's white and has a smaller tip. My next fav is the glue stick, but it's larger and I have to wash my hands more often. My last choice is Fons & Porter -- which is blue and really sticky/goopey to get off -- but works fine on the hexies. Try them and see which one you prefer!

A fuzzy pic of the hexies ready to be sewn!



The hole-punch hexies make for easier removal when you are ready to pull them out. The hexie papers above I was not going to waste!

 If you have questions, please don't hestitate to ask. I can't guarantee an instant response, but if you email me at onlydiamonds@hotmail.com -- it will get you a faster response than just in the comment section (I'm not a great consistent blogger as you can tell!) My hexies are on white freezer paper. I cut them out and iron them onto 2.5" strips of all different cotton fabric that I have collected. I use scraps, purchased jelly rolls and fabric that I've cut myself on the Accuquilt. I have even used charm squares (but find that I cannot consistently get 6 hexies for my flowers, so I tend to just cut enough hexies for my center squares.) Find a hexie size that you like. There are tons of free printables on line, or you can draw a bunch of your own on graph paper and photocopy. When you photocopy -- make sure you copy on the SAME photocopier for all your hexies. Photocopiers vary. I print out my "master" sheets that I will use to cut my freezer paper out on. I then fold my freezer paper to match the size of the photocopied paper. I then staple in the center of EACH hexie. I cut (with paper scissors, each pile of hexies. I find that each stapled bunch that I can manage easily is the master top sheet plus 4 layers of freezer paper. Once all the hexies are cut out -- I hole punch each bunch and then remove the staple from each bunch, tossing the top hexie out (some die-hards will put a dot of glue on the center and put it on fabric -- I'm too lazy and just want to place the wax side down of the freezer paper hexies and iron them on! When sewing together, use s small whipstitch. Some people use the same colored thread to match the flowers they are sewing. I use a neutral color and find that my stitches are small enough that you don't notice the thread. Of course you are going to use what you are comfortable with. Some people want to use only cotton, some people will use a polyester. Again, it is your choice. If your quilts are going to be inspected by the quilt police, you already know what the expectations are! ;-) As for needles -- my absolute favorite are Clover Black Gold Needles specifically for applique/sharps (no.12). They are specially polished with Black plating. These needles pierce through fabric "effortlessly"! I totally am hooked on these! Considering that you have glue AND fabric to go thorugh -- they just glide right through! When you can sew without any hitches, you can work on getting those nice tiny whipstiches! If you have to pay a little extra, it is worth it! If you would like to see how I prep my hexagon's before I get them to fabric, let me know! Happy stitching everyone!

Learning Free Motion and another project down!

Well my last post was misisng the free motion quilting photo's! I tried to upload them and had nothing but trouble! But VOILA! Here they are! I am "learning". So there are a lot of boo boo's that I can see, but a non-quilter will be just fine with them. The baby recipient's will drag them around nonetheless, so all is good!





The twins have an older sister that I could not leave out. This little project was fun and took under an hour to complete. I started with random piecing of squares. Put it together like you would a little table runner. I then quilted it. Finishing was simple. Round the corners, put binding on only one edge, fold over your "runner" and then pin binding all around the whole piece. DONE! I think that the little twin pups love their new home!

The last of the project is now complete and can be delivered to their new respective owners!

Now on to a new project!

What are you working on??