WIP Wed...back to my sewing room!

It is soooo good to be home again for a little while! I have been spending quite a bit of time in my sewing room, sorting through what I have started and what needs to get finished. It is just nice to see all those goodies again! LOL

I must admit, I have kind of lost track of what I have taken pictures of, and posted..I will have to catch up!

I am making a HST quilt for my nephews wedding, and liked it so much that I made one for myself (like I need another one around the house!! But you can never have too many....can you ??) So I have the top finished, and got it basted yesterday..

I also made a "Falling Charms" quilt from the Missouri Star Quilt Co. tutorial. I just love Jenny in these tutorials! (and the duck quack!!) This one is using a charm squares, and is really easy. I love how bright and cheery it is. The fabric is "Birds & Berries" by Moda. Love it!!

I have to get some backing for this one, and then figure out how I am going to quilt it. 

There is actually quite a pile now ready to quilt, so I had better get busy finishing some of these up!

Today though, I am off to a Hand Stitching Class, at Creative House, here in Saskatoon!! Who would have thought....me doing hand stitching??? Well, I am going to give it a try. It is my friend, Monika, from My Sweet Prairie who is teaching the class, so that should be fun!

This is a picture from her blog about what she is going to try to teach me!!  WOW!

                              

So that is my work in progress...better go get my needle and thread warmed up !!

Linking up to TN&TN WIP...

and Lee's WIP Wed over at Freshly Pieced...

                                                     

Total Splurge!

As you know, I have been away from home for the past 5 weeks...and really suffering sewing machine withdrawal. So......I just happened to stop in  at my favourite quilt store in Edmonton, Quitler's Dream ...and that was probably a dangerous thing to do!! Given my vulnerable withdrawal state ..LOL

I bought a little travel sewing machine!! YIKES!

But is is so small and cute...and only weighs 12 pounds! I thinks my purse weighs more than that!!
And it was on sale for half price.....how could I pass that up??

They had used several of these for a workshop...for a few hours! So were selling them off at a great price!

So then I had to buy a few accessories, like a small cutting mat and rotary cutter..and some fabric of course!!
I got busy right away,in my hotel room, and whipped up a little baby quilt top to get my "fix" ....wow...that feels better!!

This is a very simple  quilt..just strips of different fabric, the width of fabric, sewn together, but I think it is pretty cute! And it is the first creation on my new little "Baby Jen"

So that is great finish for me !! my first in a long time!!
I am going to link up to TGIFF over at Quokka Quilts today!
                                      

back on Canadian soil

We have been travelling for the past few weeks, and I didn't take my laptop, so feel really out of touch!  We are back in Canada now, getting closer to home!

We started off in Scotland...mostly visiting family there.
But I do love castles!! This is Stirling Castle, near Glasgow..

There is something fascinating about old stone buildings.. So much history here!

Then we spent a few days in Marrakesh! It was truly an experience of sights and sounds!
The streets are windy and narrow, and busy with bicycles, motor scooters, people and cars...all milling together, in seemingly no particular order!

oh...and the many donkey carts mixed in..

The Souks (markets) are crowded, busy and a bit overwhelming!! There is anything for sale there that you could imagine.. and they are all intent on selling something to you!!

The Medina (old town) is surrounded by a wall...

with several beautiful gates..

and some storks nesting on top of  one of them...

We stayed at a Riad in the Medina..owned by Annabella and her husband .... who I found through her blog at Life's Rich Pattern.  It was certainly a very peaceful escape from the hustle and noise of the streets..

Then we went back to London, England, to visit more family!
We went to an outdoor concert of the London Symphony Orchestra in Trafalgar square...

and a Jazz concert in  the crypt of St Martins in the Field Church.

and lots of walking ..... exploring Hyde Park..

....Kensington Palace..

They must feel the need to remind us North Americans which way the traffic is running..this is printed at every crosswalk!!

Then back to Canada!! Great trip!
We are in Alberta for a week, then back home again....and then I get to touch my sewing machine again :)
It's been a LONG time!!

Leaving on a jet plane

I have found it challenging to keep up a regular schedule of blogging lately (you may have noticed LOL)  Now that my husband has retired our time seems to get filled up and I am not quite sure where the days go!  I have been getting in some sewing time, but need to take more pictures!

Now we are off to Scotland and London, England to visit family.

                                           
And I am very excited....we are also taking a side trip to Marrakesh!

I have connected with Annabella from Life's Rich Pattern and will be staying the their Riad (like a small hotel)  It is called Riad Elsagaya, and it looks amazing!! This is a picture from their web page..

(picture from:  http://www.riad-elsagaya.com/ )

Isn't the blogging world amazing! The travel book has so many interesting pictures...can't wait to see the sights!
                                    
Anyway, I will be out of computer contact for awhile..see you later!

trying triangles

I am getting over my fear of triangles and all those pointy bits!
Really...not as hard as I thought! :)

My colour favourite this week is navy and lime green! So pretty.

 And this is just a preliminary layout on the "design floor". It is my attempt at RANDOM!! Think it needs a few more hours of random tweaking! (I still have some issues with random LOL)

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.