Christmas Gifts

Pin It Now! Good Morning!

I though I would post some quick pictures of what I have been working on lately for Christmas in July :)

Christmas Napkins!
I will be posting a tutorial for this in the next week or so (hopefully! depends on how crazy work is :S)
I am doing up several sets of christmas napkins to give out as gifts and also a set for myself. I have been making sets of either 8 or 12 as those will work for most families :)

You can see my stack before it's "garland" was sewn :)

I think I prefer it with the 3 tiers versus the 2, but it shows there is options!

This set will be for my Mom and Dad, my mom and I actually learned to make these at a quilting class we were at and she picked the fabrics but never did them. So I stole the fabric and made them for her :) Also shows that you can make them look pretty folded either side.

Love the green peeking through. Almost looks like it snowed on the napkin trees!!

Japanese Flower Garden

So possibly worst lighting ever but I am in a bit of a rush and could only take a quick picture. And my kitty Kalesh was not co-operating. Although I think he thought he was helping! I was able to pick up my Japanese Flower Garden the other day and just started sewing a couple pieces together so it feels like I am making some progress. The brown flower and the green flower are attached along with the black connectors. I am hoping to keep working on it over the next little while when I can as I would be super happy to have the top finished by the new year. 

Random gratuitous picture of my cute kitty Nox who fell asleep beside me while I did some hand sewing 

Omigosh!
Well I didn't win any ribbons at Stampede, although that might be due to putting it in the wrong category!! Ooopps! They did not explain the categories and in my ignorance I assumed since I had it quilted on a longarm I should have to enter it in the long arm category. Should have realized they meant custom long arm quilting and entered it into the machine piecing category. Oh well! Live and learn right?

But it was fantastic seeing it hung up there in the stampede hall along with so many other amazing quilts. And I can officially say I entered it into the 100th Calgary Stampede :)

They had the quilts super high up so no one could touch them. It also meant you could not see a large amount of detailing unfortunately.

New Books!

So I have picked up some new books in the last couple weeks and figured I would share them with you :) 

This is an amazing book with some stunning piecing fun scrappy patterns  http://www.laundrybasketquilts.com/Shop/shopindex.htm

Stunning english paper piecing that makes me want to finish my Japanese Flower Garden and start on itty bitty hexagons!  http://www.connectingthreads.com/Books/Quilts_from_Grandmothers_Garden__D45654.HTML

This book has some incredible modern quilt patterns and I really suggest flipping through it! http://www.connectingthreads.com/books/Quilts_from_the_House_of_Tula_Pink__D45564.html

This is just to leave you with a lovely pic I took the other day on the way to quilting. Just look at those clouds! So pretty :)

Hope you all have a wonderful day full of stitching!

Happy Stitching!

Kallie

Omigosh it`s Omigosh!

Pin It Now! Omigosh with an Irish Twist!

Well my Long-Arm Quilter Theresa called me Sunday evening to let me know Omigosh was finished! I couldn`t believe it, she had finished in just over 2 days. I had dropped it off on Thursday night and she still had one on the machine to finish up and picked mine up sunday evening! So thankful to her!! I managed to put on the binding and make/put on the hanging sleeve in just under 3 days (I had to drop it off at Stampede on Wednesday!) and I worked Monday and Tuesday! Holy crumbs it was the only thing I was doing haha!

On top of that I needed to move my sewing room since my brother just moved out here to Calgary on Tuesday and will be living with us for a bit, and I put it off as long as possible. So my poor sewing room has been crammed into our bedroom as our apartment is pretty small.

When making my hanging sleeve for Omigosh I found an amazing tutorial I thought I would share with you all by Jacquie from Tallgrass Prairie Studios. She uses tons of pictures and has easy to follow instructions to show you how and she also has other sewing tutorials and tips/tricks on her site. So head on over and check her out!

http://tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.ca/2012/02/hang-your-quilt-hanging-sleeve-tutorial.html


Well I am assuming you actually want to see the finished (minus the binding because silly me ran out of time to take one with the binding on) Omigosh!

Here is the front! Sorry for the crappy lighting it has been raining a lot here lately. I love, love, love how there is now an Irish Chain pattern in it as well. (oh and please ignore the mess in the background, its from moving my sewing room!)

And the back. I didn't have enough of this gorgeous blue fabric by William Morris so I had to piece the backing. Not sure if I like the pink blocks in there but oh well! Too late now haha! The longer brown section at the top is where I ended up putting the hanging sleeve in that same brown fabric

A close up of the back to see the William Morris fabric design

You can see the quilting a bit better here Theresa the long arm quilter used the pattern Rhapsody in a soft pink thread 

My cat Kalesh is in love with it and would move the lay on the quilt wherever it went. Another good pic of the quilting

Kalesh is just in love with this quilt. So cute :)

Farmer's Market


So I was able to work on my Farmer's Market quilt that will hopefully be going to my in-laws for Christmas. I still don't know if I like it or not. This is a BOM through my local quilt shop and I have definitely changed some of the "recommended" colour schemes a bit while using the fabrics in the kits. I will likely flip flop back and forth until it is all together. I am thinking of maybe splitting up the sections a bit so it's not so chaotic. Maybe with a nice creamy 1"-2" border it would go between around the centre square and between the 4 star blocks in the corners and the rectangles in between those. If that makes sense lol.  I like each block individually and each section individually but all together I think its too busy to actually work but oh well. I will work on each section and just not sew them together yet!

Any opinions?!?!?! I would love some ideas on this one. It might just be that I am not used to working with this colour palette.

Bottled Rainbows
So I might just be late to the game from my extended absence here on the web but have you seen any Bottled Rainbow quilts!!!! Oh my they make my heart go "pitter-patter" :)

I found an amazing tutorial here for you all to go see. It is by  Rachel Hauser from Stitched in Color
http://www.stitchedincolor.com/2011/03/bottled-rainbows-how-to-make.html


Well I am off to continue some Farmer's Market blocks before I have to go to work.

Happy Stitching!

Kallie

How Does Time Fly???

Pin It Now! Hello All!
Well I seem to be the worst blogger ever lol! I keep meaning to post and have been writing them in my head as I work for when I get a chance to get on here and then it doesn't happen. Super sorry everyone!

Well on to updates!

Currently Dear Jane and my Grandmothers Flower Garden kind of fell to the wayside for the time being. I am trying to get christmas projects out of the way so I can be done and hopefully there is not last minute panic and rushing to finish. (I know I will anyway but I am hoping!!)

Omigosh is almost finished!!!! I changed the layout of the blocks becasue I got really, really sick of making double nine patches and if I didn't figure out something else it would never get completed! I have a sneak peak photo here for you of just the top without borders cuz silly me forgot to take a picture with the borders on! Or of the back lol. But it is currently at the quilter's. I am last minute entering it into the 100th Anniversary of the Calgary Stampede and the quilter should have it finished by Monday (I am hoping tonight!!) That gives me Tuesday morning, on my breaks Tuesday night and Wednesday morning to put the binding, hanging sleeve and label on! (Crazy or what!?!?!) So I may not be sleeping much Tuesday night but it will be totally worth it. The Wednesday deadline is because I have to go drop it off at the fair grounds by 7pm that night.

I will be sure to take some pics and show them once I get it back :)

Do you remember the Friends With Benefits Swap I talked about a couple months ago? Well I completed my project for my new friend in New Zealand and received mine in return!!!

Here is what I sent out to Raewyn:

Front of the little wall hanging!

And the Back! 

I also sent out a hexagon needle book and some pretty fabric :)

Here is the loveliness I received in return from Raewyn! Tons of pics as it was fun to open :)

Yup you saw that right Hazelnut instant Latte! Omg it was so good. Wish I could find it here in Canada!

Isn't it lovely!! Its so beautifully made and I love the little Kiwi Bird in the centre of the "Quilt" Its a super useful batting book where I can store the blocks I am working on so they don't end up in a little bile in a ziploc and stay organized! I have been using it tons :)

And the Back!!

 Thanks Tons again Raewyn!!




I also started/finished the top of a quilt called Go With The Flow. This is either going to my brother or my brother in law for Christmas. I have a different pattern for which ever one doesn't get this one but am using the same fabrics. The fabric is Curious Nature by Parson Gray, I think it is perfect fabric for guys! Of course my kitty Nox always needs to test it out and get in the picture!!

 Isn't the fabric line gorgeous? Here it is all bundled so pretty :)

Another one to think back on! I think I mentioned that I would be starting a quilt called Farmers Market. Well this is the first 4 months of blocks. This is my next major "need to work more on" as soon as I get back Omigosh and finish that. I am hoping to gift this to my in laws for Christmas but we will see! I think today once I am done the hanging sleeve for omu

 So I was at Heritage Park Quilt Festival near the end of May and at one of the booths I saw an amazing folded start pot holder. When I asked for the pattern I was told it was a free one from Moda Bake shop!!! Anyway I can attest to how ridiculously easy it is, I made the top in an afternoon and then took my sweet time in doing the backing. But it is done now! It ends up being super thick but I did put some insul-bright in between just in case. I only used 3 fabrics in mine although the pattern suggests 4, just because I could only find 3 that I thought matched :) All I need to do still is the quilting but I think I might hand quilt it. I plan on making a couple more using the same fabrics just in different order.

Here is the link and while it looks intimidating, just read it though a couple of times and pin really well. Good Luck!
http://www.modabakeshop.com/2011/09/fancy-folded-star-pot-holder.html

Well I think that is it for now and I hope to get back into blogging again! So I will leave you with a couple fun pics!

Oh so true. I know sometimes when I need the seam ripper I need to remember to stay calm!! Haha

My kitties trying to keep warm with a quick lick of ice cream. (Don`t worry we didn`t let them have much!)

Happy Stitching!!!

Kallie

Baby Blanket!

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So I finally fixed the tension issues I was having on my Janome. After a whole heck of a lot of this:

And then some of this:

I then switched needle sizes because I had switched thread weight and low and behold it worked!

So then I could finally finish the baby quilt for my nephews 1st birthday party on saturday! 

Remember the sneak peak I showed earlier?

Well here it is completed!

I love the backing fabric!! I only did a simple stitch in the ditch for quilting as I do not have much practice with that aspect of making quilts. Although I do plan to start practising! I used a 100% cotton batting and Wonderfil 50wt thread I think in konfetti. I did not add much of a label as it is a baby quilt that is going to get alot of abuse, so all I added is a simple "Made for you with Love" label. 

My best friend loved it when she opened it with/for my nephew so that makes me super happy :)

I have also finished the needle book that Janet won and will be posting it likely on Wednesday! So I will show pictures after Janet has recieved it. Don't want to spoil the suprise!

Working on Omigosh slowly but surely, I hope to have all the little pieced 4 patched together tonight. Only about 300 to go :S But then I can start making them into the actual block and that is the easy part!! 

Here is the centre row for my blocks. I have 40 of these done like this! Which is 80 of those teeny weeny blocks!

Here is the next 80 to square up in 2" squares these will be for the top and bottom rows of the above 40 blocks to be. 

The pile so far after squaring up the first 80 blocks. 

I also dived into my UFO bin and pulled out two Double Wedding Ring Blocks. I had started making this quilt for my in-laws back in September using fabric from my stash which when I bought was told was a fabric they ALWAYS got in. As in for years. So of course when calculating it out I knew I needed to get more as I am only using 3 different fabrics. I did up a few blocks and cut out some parts for more and when I went in to buy more fabric, I find out they no longer get it. None of their stores get it. It was discontinued. Of course!  So I now needed to figure out something to do with it, and a pillow 2 of the blocks became.
I might stitch something into the centre part as it is so plain looking. Yes its a bit wrinkly at the edges but thats ok to me. This is definitely not a 5 star sewing award but I like the colours and it makes use of a block that could have otherwise been thrown out. :)

I am going to head back to working on Omigosh now and hope to get all those little blocks done today!! Hope you all are having a wonderful day,

Happy Stitching!
Kallie

First Block of OmiGosh!

Pin It Now!  Omigosh!
Well as I am sure you got by the title, my first block for Omigosh is done!!

However, now that I see it in the picture I just noticed I need to take it apart and switch the corners. The pink half squares should be where the brown/blue ones are and visa versa. Crap. Oh well! This is why you always do one block up first before you start chaining everything, haha! 

I am trying to have all the pinks on one angle and alternating blue/brown on the other angle. I don't think I need to say how much of a pain in the neck that is going to be!!! But it should be worth it in the end. I will fix it and repost how it should be tomorrow. 

Dear Jane

I also got my 3rd triangle done for Dear Jane!!! Super excited, so far they were not as bad as I was expecting, which is quite nice. I know they are going to get worse though, haha. Isn't this one fun though? I love the crazy orange print. Technically this is now a catch up week for the quilt-a-long but I think I might try to work ahead if I get the chance. We shall see. I still need to get that baby quilt basted and quilted before Saturday, I have Thursday and Friday off so I should be good :)

Friends With Benefits Swap!

Have you heard about the Friends with Benefits Swap being hosted by Kathy at Sew-Happy House? 

http://sew-happyhouse.blogspot.com/p/must-know-dates-confirm-your.html?showComment=1330327928539

The link above is to the instructions on how to join in. There is still a couple days to join. You need to let Kathy know by Thursday March 1st. 

On March 3rd Kathy will email out our partners 

We have to have the swap item in the mail by Friday April 27. 

So there is a nice chunk of time to do it in, you can also choose if you wish to have an international partner as well. 

This will be my first swap and I am sew (hehe pun intended!) excited. 

So please stop by Kathy's site and check it out!!

Contest Closes Feb 29th!

Remember to enter the Hexagon Needle Book Givaway, All you need to do is leave a comment with your favorite colour on the Giveaway post

Click Here:http://aquiltingwewillgo.blogspot.com/2012/02/snow-much-love-giveaway.html

Or if you don't want to do that you can post here if need be.  Contest Closes Wednesday Feb 29th Midnight Mountain Standard Time. 

Randomness & Giveaway Reminder

Pin It Now! Good Evening!
I have been holed up in my house today sewing as it was pretty gross out today! Lots of snow this afternoon as well, plus more in the forcast for this week. Unfortunately I start my stretch of 6 evening shifts in a row tomorrow, Just hoping I can get some sewing done!

Comrie
So I have been able to find out very little about my gorgeous new sewing machine. From what I can tell it is a Singer 15 Clone. I am doing more research to try and see if I can maybe figure out what year span it could have been made in. I think pre or during the WWII is when it was made as post WWII pretty much all the clones were made in Japan. If I can find out anything more I will definitely let you all know!

Dear Jane
Not much progress here, but I got my templates for my 3 triangles I need to complete printed out and I have B10 mostly complete. I did mine a bit differently and used reverse appliqué and  did my piecing differently from the original. I plan on appliquéing white triangle into the corners of the center square the cross is in.

Omigosh
Huzzah! Getting some progress here. I have everything cut and all my half square triangles sewn back together for my Shoo-Fly blocks. This means I can finally start piecing the half triangle to my four patches!!
You can see my pile of half square triangles that have been pieced back together below.

Randomness!!
Below is what I am entering into the Sliced contest hosted by Moda! They are open for audition pieces until the 29th and then they pick 4 people to compete against each other out of all the entries. They have some amazing prizes for those 4 people too!! In the likely event I am not picked by Moda, I will post a tutorial here about how to make it!

This is a keyboard/sewing machine mug rug! You can have your keyboard on either end of it and the mouse works just fine on it as well. The thing in front of the keyboard is one of those things to help keep your wrists at the right angle when typing. It also doubles as a heating/ice pack!! I used beans for the filling so if your wrists, back or shoulders start to hurt, go pop it in the microwave and instant relief.

Antique Sampler
Have any of you seen Sue Daley's new book New English Paper Piecing? There are some lovely projects in there! There is also a quilt outside of the book that I am going to dabble with when I have time called Antique Sampler. This is all done using English Paper Piecing and appliqué. Crazy. I know. But I am loving my choice to go with browns and creams. I might add a bit of green. We will see.

Organization!
I got this lovely bookcase today from Walmart as everything was previously just dumped in a laundry basket and I had no idea what I did have! So now I am starting to get organized. Its kind of exciting to me but thats ok if its not for you :)

Spray Starch!
So as I was doing those little English paper piecing blocks I decided I did not want to baste them with thread or glue. I had heard somewhere that I could starch it and just press over the seam allowance. OMG I LOVE IT! It is so ridiculously easy! Make sure not to use too much  though otherwise your paper curls up and distorts alot. I learned the hard way!

I was using Best Press to do this while at my LQS (they let me sew there too in the classroom when I come down) But they had just sold out a couple days before I was there. I liked the spray start so much I decided to make my own.

How you ask? (I love how I can make you ask just the right questions when I type them out!)

Vodka.

Yes Vodka. No seriously. I added about 1/3 cup vodka to 2 cups water, shake and spray. Use the crappiest vodka you can find as the starchier the better, but you can always add more vodka to your mixture if its not starchy enough for you.

Mine did not scorch or brown at all on my test fabric and after 2 spray, iron, cool cycles was pretty ridgid/ had that new fabric feel.

I have heard to be careful of it in really humid climates as sometimes bugs are attracted to the potato starch but it is completely dry here in Calgary and should work amazingly!

Anyway, it is 1 AM here in Calgary and I should probably sleep!


Contest!


Remember to enter the Hexagon Needle Book Givaway! All you need to do is leave a comment with your favorite colour on the Giveaway post 


http://aquiltingwewillgo.blogspot.com/2012/02/snow-much-love-giveaway.html


Or if you don't want to do that you can post here if need be.  Contest Closes Feb 29th Midnight Mountain Standard Time. 


Good Luck and Happy Stitching!!!


Kallie

EDITED: for putting in Link and adding title.