Sewing machine cover made for me by Laura!

Yesterday I received the quickest package ever. Usually it takes about 2 weeks for mail to arrive from the states. This beauty was mailed on Friday and arrived the following Wednesday! Crazy fast! I have to say I was beyond thrilled when I opened this package from Laura at littleandlots to find this gorgeous cover. You can read about her process here. (She even sent me some goodies too! I love those strawberries)

She used my most favorite pattern in Pillow Pop, Garden District. There are lovely fabrics in there like beautiful Liberty prints, AMH prints, DS prints (that I wish I had bought) and so many more. I am in awe! It is so beautiful.

A while back I asked Laura if she wanted to do a sewing machine cover swap with me. (I had wanted to join the sewing room swap on Flickr but with moving and such the timing just wasn’t good.) Luckily Laura said yes! We agreed upon being done at the end of September she was quicker than me so hers is still a work in progress.

The back is super awesome too!!! I am so glad to get some COLOR in my sewing room!!!! Thank you sooooooo much! I think I could go on and on about how pretty this is. It is okay to be jealous, lol.

Laura was also sweet and did some personal shopping for me. (We don’t have a Joanns up in Canada) I really needed (like we need fabric…lol) this print by Juliana Horner to make some long awaited placemats. It is lovely!

Thanks Laura for being my blog/quilting friend! You are amazing! A true inspiration!

Mini Dresden Pouch

I have been itchy to try a dresden plate. I actually want to make big ones but I have been wooed by so many cute small ones that I had to just give it a try plus there was a free template over on Craftsy found here.

I decided to use some reproduction prints that Paula so kindly gave to me when I was in a bind for a swap. They are so sweet and there was even enough variety there to make a rainbow! That just makes us all happy! I just started cutting and sewing then I realized it was waaay past my bedtime, Oops.

I stitched this sweet thing on some Kona ash. Then went searching for a circle to trace to make the center. I used some Architexture crosshatch. (I have to say that I will sad when that print is all gone. Eek! It almost is…) After I was done the Dresden plate I really didn’t know what to do with it. After some suggestions from lovely people I decided to make a pouch. I used a text print. I think it gives it a little edge, lol.

I threw in some green for the lining and a turquoise zip. I will admit that since I was not using a pattern or tutorial for the pouch and didn’t have the steps right in front of me I completely forgot to topstitch the zip. Luckily topstitching went fairly smoothly after it was all sewn together. This pouch measures approx. 6.5” by 9.5”.

Oh and I also practiced a little hand quilting! I hope that this sweet pouch will be loved by the receiver. I have to say that I do love sewing projects for others! Trying new patterns to me and learning new skills too!

Linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story and Sew Cute Tuesday at Better of Thread

A little EPP

I wanted to try a English Paper Piecing pattern I saw a couple weeks ago. So a few days after we moved I just had to just sit and relax! A perfect opportunity to create especially since it was my sister in laws birthday coming up. I decided to print the template at 80%. You can find the template here over at Bryan House Quilts. She made an awesome pillow with these stars!

It came together pretty quickly. My center wasn’t perfect (sorry for the cell phone pic.)  but it didn’t really matter since I was going to turn it into this:

A pincushion! I hand sewed this lovely star onto some linen-ish fabric. They I used my 6.5 inch square ruler to square it up. I then sewed this sweet pin cushion together leaving an opening to be able to fill it with crushed walnut shells. I happened to find the perfect button in my button bin too it hid my wonky center quite nicely!

It was kind of hard to give this away but my sil was thrilled with her little gift! Yay!

linking to finish it up friday at crazy mom quilts and Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

A space of my own!

We started planning on building a house with my in laws about 3 1/2 years ago. We bought some land and then set out to build. There were a few hiccups. It took longer than we all planned but we are finally living here! We still have things to do, I am sure it will be that way for quite some time.

In our original plans my sewing space was shoved in the laundry room but then when we were building we made the decision to use beams. Beams meant we could fill in the attic which meant a playroom and a craft room! I feel really lucky to have this space. I would love some shelving and a design wall but for now I have two old dining room tables and an old unit we used for a pantry once upon a time but I am not going to complain about it. It totally works and I am happy!

Now to add some character to my space and figure out how I want to cover that storage space up there. It is too white in here…

Speaking of color I got some fun mail in the midst of packing. Miss E’s Posy quilt was featured in the Pink Chalk Fabrics newsletter a few weeks ago so I was lucky to receive a $20 gift certificate. I went on that day and found Organic Amy Butler Soul Blossom prints in the clearance section. Needless to say I got them plus one text print for a steal of a deal!

And then when I was unpacking these pretties showed up. Both of these bundles are allotted for Christmas presents.

We are starting to feel a little more settled. Yesterday I took some down time and made a little something for my sil’s birthday. I will share it with you later this week. Sometimes it is just good to sew and create. It makes me feel better at least!

My pretties!

Well I was going skip pulling my stash out to share but somehow it got all tousled around and needed some love. I think that this is a good way for me to get a handle on some of these projects too! See what I really have to work on.

Okay here it goes…

First we have my brothers quilt. I have everything to make it. I hope to have it done for either his birthday or Christmas. Those dates are only a month apart. You have random prints that I picked out to go with the boy toys race car print. I am making the Orbit quilt with these.

Here is what you have when you buy twice as many Posy charm packs as you need. I was originally going to make Miss E a Dutch pinwheel quilt then quickly discovered I bought too much or should I say my Husband bought me too much for Valentines day… So she got her Inside Out quilt for now and the Dutch Pinwheel will happen one day.

I was super lucky to win this jelly roll of Simply Color. I have big plans to make this. I think it will be an awesome quilt for up in the kids play room. The turquoise is a vintage print I found in my moms workroom. It might be enough for backing.

You know how I said I had the best brother ever well it is true because he also bought me a six 1/2 yard cuts of Amy Butler Alchemy! I love it. It will turn into a pretty quilt one day. There are also some Cameo prints in there plus a couple other Amy Butlers.

I am coming to realize I like pretty fabrics. Next up is my Mothers Day present. I have big plans to turn this stack of Bijoux FQs by Bari J into the Bangles quilt from hand quilted with love book.

This is the bundle I will have the hardest time cutting into. I love it. LOVE it! My Joel Dewberry Notting Hill FQ bundle plus backing. My husband actually order fabric online for me last Christmas. Oh how I love him! I am planning a Swoon quilt I need to collect a few more fat quarters.

Next is my stack of Indian Summer. My awesome Australian quilting friend Brie aka littlecreatable and I are exchanging X-plus quilt tops. There are also some 1/2 yard cuts of random prints I picked to go with it.

I would like to say that is all but I somehow still have a stack of 1/2 yard cuts… the top two are for my super tote!

And plus this stack of large scraps… Although I have made something out of all of those fabrics and they will be used!

Lastly there is another FQ stack of Savannah Bop I have to make a baby quilt with and some random FQs

It all fits in one bin except my brothers quilt that is in the black bin on top and my little scraps… that is different.

Oh I forgot about my charm packs that I have in a different box. I have two Architextures that I won from Laura over at littleandlots and two Cuzco charm packs from Christmas.

All packed up and ready to move! Then I need to unpack and get sewing!!!!

Linking to Sarah quilts

All finished

I finished up my “WIP to do list” of sewing for the month of July. At first I didn’t think that I would be able to do it but I did! Looking at my list and the feeling the pressure of wanting to free motion quilt it was a little scary. I am proud to say that I am moving with no quilts as work in progresses.  Miss E’s 241 tote bag snuck in there somehow. I must love her or something.

1. Lilly Belle Wave Quilt, 2. Flower 241 Tote Front, 3. Posy Inside Out Quilt, 4. Strip Baby Quilt

Now that it is August and we plan on moving next weekend sewing is down to a dull roar. I do have a pouch or two to make for birthday presents but luckily one is already cut out! The other one can be late if needs be.

So it will be quiet around here for the next couple weeks. I would rather be sewing than packing and unpacking. I will be back trust me. I have a list to work on!

Okay I am getting off the computer and packing something up…

linking to Fresh Sewing Day at Lily’s Quilts