baby bonanza!

I think those huge queen size quilts really took a lot of energy out of me..lol! So I have been recharging by making some quick and easy baby quilts! I love how quickly they get finished, and also like the fact that I can try out fun colours or new ideas on something small and not commit a lot of time or money.

I previously posted this pretty yellow and grey .... (and I had enough fabric to make 3 of them)

So then I tried it out in some different colours...

love this colour combo..

and they are all backed in fun,cozy flannel..

And had some fun practising my machine appliqué..(these are both basted, but not quilted yet)

you have seen this one...

And I just love this little guy..

And my final finish is a "cheater" panel.

And I just used the backing for the border, by folding it double and then bringing it to the front to stitch down.

I didn't mitre the corners either, just made folded corners. (I know....really a cheater !!)

I have given a few away already, and will likely give some to The Children's Cottage Society, where my daughter works.  It is always nice to have a couple on hand for gifts too.

so that's my finishes for now...I am going to link into TGIFF over at What a Hoot.

                                                      

batting bears!

Isnt this little bear just the cutest??

It is made totally of scraps! Scrap flannel from some Christmas p.j.'s....and stuffed TOTALLY with scraps from trimming and leftover bits of batting!  And I hand sewed on little felt eyes and nose.

This was a great idea from Making Rebecca Lynne.
Many of you may know and follow Rebecca Lynne ...she recently posted a about her "project fill a bear". You can read all about it here.  What a great idea!! I always hated throwing away all those little scraps, and in fact had a whole tub full of bits of batting...so now I have a plan....make bears!!

I wish I could tell you that I had a fantastic bear pattern...but I dont! The one I used, I found on the internet, and it was NOT EASY!! I have been sewing for many,many, many years, and still couldn't get this thing together! I tried a making it a second time, hoping I would have learned from my mistakes...but the pattern is terrible in terms of the directions. (I won't mention any names here!!) For example, she refers to pieces by piece number...but the pieces DONT HAVE NUMBERS!!  Even though I had to fudge some of the seams, and it didn't fit together well, once it was stuffed, it did look pretty cute!

So my plan is to keep one of these little guys beside my cutting table, and just keep adding scraps to it until it is full. My daughter works for the Childrens Cottage Society in Calgary, so I am hoping they will be able to find a home for these little fuzzy friends.

Rebecca Lynne was kind enough to give me the pattern number for her bear. She says it is a very old pattern (Simplicity 8418 Teddy Bears) but I will try to look for it...or at least another better pattern.  Or maybe I will just keep working with this crazy pattern and figure out how to fix it!! I hate being defeated by a piece of paper!! LOL

so I guess that is my WIP...

so lets link up to TN&TN

and Lee's WIP Wed.

                                          

where is spring??

We are home again in Canada....wondering what has happened to spring here ??? There is still lots of snow on the ground...and no tulips in sight!! Well....it can't be much longer....can it????

Anyway, because my camera was dead, I didn't get good photos of the 2 queen size quilts I finished up down in Arizona. My husband did get a couple of shot of them on the beds.

This one is in the master bedroom...

and this is in the guest room..

I have to say, managing those large quilts on my little sewing machine was quite a challenge!  I was not real happy with how the quilting turned out on the master bedroom one...but fortunately dont have any close up pictures of it LOL.

For the second one, I just did straight line quilting, following the lines of the rail fence pattern.

So it feels good to be home again...and back to my pile of sewing...love it!! :)

claiming my blog?

I am not really sure that I understand Bloglovin, or how it is different from just following blogs on the dashboard....but here goes....I am "claiming my blog"...(I think)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Photo free

Well, due to poor organization on my part....I forgot to bring my camera battery charger with me to Arizona. We are spending the next couple of weeks here, in Fountain Hills (Phoenix  area) and my camera is now dead as a door nail , as the saying goes! (every wonder where a saying like that came from??)

I can tell you that it is very nice here. The cactus are

 starting to bloom...they are beautiful!
  

 
 photo from phoenix.about.com

And I have been doing some quilting too. I have almost finished both Queen size quilts for the beds here! I can show you some pictures from previous posts.... Rail Fence..

And this one.. Arizona Gold....it is now finished and on our bed!

But I can't take any pictures of the finished work! Sorry.

I can tell you that these queen size quilts are monsters to try and maneuver in my little machine!! I now remember why I found the baby quilts so much fun!

linking up anyway to TN&TN and Lee's WIP wed.