Just Take a Deep Breath and...

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Jump right in! That is exactly what I needed to do to start free motion quilting on my machine. I have been watching tons of Craftsy classes and finally felt a little prepared to start doing this on my home machine. Now  I have used a long arm machine before and love it!! Eventually I will purchase one once we have a home of our own and the space to do so. (read: not in the near future!) So I needed to learn to do it myself at home on my lovely Janome- Winter.

I spray basted, for the first time, and I think I love it. It was a little hard to do on my little balcony outside but it worked and so far no tucks or pinches of fabric that I have found! Hurray! I guess I should tell you what quilt I am quilting! Haha! It is called Baby Love and its a pattern from my local quilt shop that was in a kit. It will be for my wee niece for her first Christmas as she seems to have fallen in love with the one I did for her brother and won't go to sleep without it (and she is only almost 6 months old! )

There is always a cat to be helping out! 

You can see the pattern I traced out

I am not done the quilting yet I have completed 10 out of 20 blocks to quilt plus the small details to do but it is a start!!

And here it is quilted. The lines are not the straightest of the best but its a start!

I am debating about doing the same quilting in the blocks between but I am not sure if it will be too dense for a baby quilt. 

Rubies, Diamonds and Garnets Too
Progress is happening on Rubies, Diamonds! I have added the borders to the quilt and plan on putting hexie flowers on 5 of the 9 blank squares.  (The ones on there now are not sewn on yet)

Please ignore the mess. I was shoving things out of the way to try and take pictures and its a very small apartment!

Dresdens are going in the other 4 blank spots! They were so fun and quick to make, I could not believe it! I definitely need to make a dresden plate quilt now!!

Aurifil BOM

Have you ever been at the point where you put off doing something for a super long time because it seems like it will take a long time? But when you actually do just sit down and make yourself do it, the projects goes by super quick and you enjoy every minute? Well that was me with the july-september Aurifil BOM stitcheries. I just could not get into it and had to make myself just do it. I am super happy I did because I now love them and its one  three more things off my to do list!

July

August- Still need to add some words

September

And now it is bedtime according to my little kitty! So happy stitching everyone!!

Kallie

Lucky!

Pin It Now! Word Verification
Before we get started I thought I should mention I have turned off word verification. I had no idea that it had been on and I do apologize because those things are a pain in the patootie! Those of you who refuse to comment because of them please feel free to comment now :) I love hearing from people!

Luckiness!
Been super busy at work lately but I have gotten a couple squishies in the mail in the last week or so that I will share with you until I can update with some more sewing :)

The Aurifil BOM stitcheries that I had been doing has a flicker page where we can post our finished projects and each month they pick one stitchery and that stitcher wins an aurifil prize pack! How lovely right!? Well I found out that I had won one of those lovely prize packs a short while ago for my March block pictured below:

Here is the lovely thread pack that I won. I am super excited to try it out as I have never used this thread before as I have not seen it in stores near me :)

I also won a giveaway hosted by Quilt Jane and Possum Blossom! I had mentioned this one earlier and showed pictures of what can be done with these lovely templates! I am so completely impressed this these templates and paper pieces. It is a very sturdy and visible acrylic and you can very easily see the size and name of the template. I would absolutely recommend you pick some of these up!!
Here is the link to Quilt Jane's shop where she has tons of lovely templates!
Quilt Jane

I also received these lovely die cut paper pieces from Possum Blossom Patchwork. These are very nice feeling. Sturdy but should be thin enough for those who baste through the paper. Plus they have sizes to match all the above templates and more!! How awesome is that!!! I can't wait to use them and am so thankful to have won them!!
Here is the website for Possum Blossom
Possum Blossom Patchwork

She also has the ability to have layer cakes diecut into the sizes you need so you don`t need to do any cutting, once you get it you can just start piecing!! So awesome!

Shopping
I also did a bit of shopping and picked up the 4 fat quarters below. The top red one is going to be for some hexagons in the Rubies, Diamonds quilt. Don't you just love the blue with gold butterflies and the leaf stencil?! Perfect for fall :)

Japanese Flower Garden
Still slowly working on my Japanese flower garden. Have one more full flower complete and 2 flower centers comple as well!

Playing Catch-Up

Pin It Now! Hello All!

Hope everyone who had a long weekend was able to enjoy it! It was Canada Day here on the 1st and I missed the fireworks :( Which sucks cuz I love fireworks, there is something about them that is just magical to me :) But I am hoping to see the huge fireworks displays that will be happening here in Calgary over the next two weekends for the 100th Anniversary of the Calgary Stampede! They are going all out this year and setting off the fireworks in 5 different areas all over the city this weekend and next in celebration so I should get to see them!

Aurifil BOM



So I apparently have been hugely lacking in updating for the Aurifil BOM. I have been working on it I swear! Although I need to finish May and June's today hopefully so that I can start July's when it comes out on the 5th. So here is what I have done so far!

January

February- My Second Favorite Block! So Cute!!

March- I think I want to do a different one for march, I am not a huge fan of it. 

April; I think this one might just be my favorite so far. I Love the little birdie!

So now I am hoping to get my butt going on May and June since I have showed you the first 4! Sorry for the picture quality on some of them I had forgot to take a picture of them and they are currently at my LQS as a display!

Snow Much Love & A Giveaway!

Pin It Now! Hello Everyone!
Hope you all had a lovely weekend. Here in Canada it is a long weekend for Family Day tomorrow (Monday).

Random Project!
Well I was looking at the calendar and realized in shock that it was almost my "nephew's" 1st birthday -March 3. I say nephew but he is actually my best friends little boy, we are not related but I was there when he was born so therefore we go with nephew :) Any-who... Here is a little sneak peak of what I am making him. I was fortunate enough to find a jelly roll at Walmart of all places, and it was on clearance so it was a super sweet deal! It is paired here with Kona Snow. I am hoping to baste and quilt it by next Wednesday which gives me a couple days to do the binding!

 I also wanted to show you were I was piecing this all yesterday:

That's right. Cross legged on the floor. My lovely husband needed our kitchen table for a project he was working on. So it was either the floor or not sewing at all. Unfortunately we do not yet have another table I could use. Needless to say my back was kind of sore this morning, and I had to take frequent breaks!!

Hopefully I get my kitchen table back soon!

Aurifil BOM
Super Excited that I finished stitching the February BOM from Aurifil! It was soooo much fun to do as it is such a cute piece. This piece was designed by Sherri Falls and the link to the block is below
http://auribuzz.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/february-aurifil-designer-of-the-month-sherri-falls/

She also has posted the cutest finishing instructions if you want it as just a wall hanging here on her blog for Valentines day:
http://thisandthatpatterns.typepad.com/

Omigosh:
I have officially finished piecing and ironing all my teeny weeny four- patches! I am currently piecing all my half square triangles back into squares (print/white). I also cut up all my 2" squares into triangles which will soon be framing my four patches! Just keep plodding along and it will all get done....

All 575 of my teeny weeny four-patches!

My 2 3/8" half square triangles awaiting to be pieced. I have finished about half of one bag so far. 

Dear Jane:
 Slowly working away at Dear Jane. Not much progress done in the last 2 weeks but I only have 1 more block and my first 3 triangles to do before March 4. So not too bad! Most of my last few blocks worked out to be reds which was entertaining for Valentines day.

Giveaway!
Now I absolutely love, love, love my little hexagon note book. And Honestly I think you might enjoy one too! Heck yesterday I was using it as a pin cushion as I sewed on the floor.

Now who would like to win one???

To enter leave a comment with your favorite colour. 

This way I can go through my stash and make the winner's notebook in their favorite colour. 

Winner will be drawn on February 29 at midnight here in Calgary (this is Mountain standard time) by the random generator.

So get your comments in before that, tell whomever you wish as well. 


**Remember to leave your email so that I can get a hold of you if you are the lucky winner**

Here is a picture of what it could look like!

Good luck and have a wonderful day!! 

What a week!

Pin It Now! My goodness! Where in the world did this week go!

My apologies for a week going by without a post! Work has definitely kept me very busy this week with no time to post. I really dislike my day shifts as I feel exhausted afterwards and don't get much done when I get home. And this week I worked mostly day shifts. So not much was accomplished.

However you are here for quilty goodness and not to listen to my complaining :)

Comments:
I am trying to get a reply back button to be able to reply back to all the lovely comments you have been leaving me. For some I have tried to just leave a comment myself but I think that may get confusing and it is hard to remember to go back to a post you commented on for a reply. I am going to try to start replying by email to those who leave comments until Blogger lets me reply to those comments directly. Is everyone ok with that? Please let me know what you prefer as I do not want to be "spamming" your inbox if you don't want a reply that way!!

Red & White
My LQS did a quilt kit way back in 2006 and at the store I saw it completed and fell in love. It was called Rubies, diamonds and garnets too. Don't try looking for it online as you will not find it. It was done through just this quilt store. But I will post pictures as I work on it. I had been looking for a Red and White quilt pattern for my Mom & Dad for christmas and this fits the bill perfectly. Lucky for me they still have some kits available and  I can buy the blocks as I need them. SO just another project to add to my list.


Hexagon Needle Book:
I also make some cute hexagon needle books which will be another post likely tomorrow as it is long and a semi tutorial! Here is a sneak peak though!!

Aurifil BOM:
Now I am sure most of you know that Aurifil is doing a stitchery BOM. 12 different designers are creating cute little patterns for us to turn into blocks. Here is January's Block download- It is about halfway down the page.
http://auribuzz.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/january-aurifil-designer-of-the-month-roseann-kermes/

Here is my block:
Not the greatest picture, I know but best I could get in the lighting.

Now I don't really have access to Aurifil thread as I have not been able to find anyone local who carries a good range. So I used good old DMC floss in colours I liked. I also changed the pattern a wee bit so I liked it more.

February's block is adorable and I can't wait till I have some time to stitch it. The link is below and again the pattern is about halfway down the page.


http://auribuzz.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/february-aurifil-designer-of-the-month-sherri-falls/


Dear Jane:
Not much done on the Dear Jane front but I completed block B3 and I think it is my favorite so far! Don't you just love the little arrows!! Perfect for Valentines Day.

And here is the block I am currently working on B12,  using a mix of reverse and regular applique:

Omigosh:

Still plugging away at Omigosh. I almost have all my 4 patches together. I have a huge pile to cut apart (I am chain piecing) and iron. My current chain is as long as my apartment is wide!! And I still have half a baggie to piece!

Current pile to be cut apart and ironed

Pile of ironed 4 patches

Each teeny tiny 4 patch is 1 1/2" unfinished! 

I also managed to get all my 2 3/8" squares (white and print) cut in half and matched print with white. They are next to be chain pieced together for my Shoo-Fly blocks.

I am hoping to get the Shoo-Fly Blocks completed by end of February but it is looking more like mid-March! Eek!! Hopefully I will be able to find lots of time in the next two weeks to get my butt in gear!

Well I am off to make a tea and get some crochet done. Yes I crochet as well! I have some ladies in the NICU who order hats from me ad I have sadly been neglecting working on them. So I am hoping to get at least 2 finished today! Wish me luck and hopefully I can post their pictures tomorrow!!

And I shall leave you with a pic of my tea making set up just for fun!!