All Fused Down and Ready to Sew

My Latest Project

I've been very busy around here, doing the job that pays the bills. I'm almost finished though and have a sewing project that needs my attention.

I've wanted to make a pictorial quilt for awhile - I like the way they look and I think it's a neat way to quilt. An opportunity arose for me to make one, so I've jumped on it.

My Uncle Gerald owns the family farm - my grandparents bought it in 1943 (or maybe 1942). My mom was born there and raised there as well. I spent a lot of time there as a kid and have many fond memories of being on the farm. My uncle has had several health problems, most recently a partial paralysis in February. He talked about selling the farm then - luckily he's recovered enough and is not selling right away, but I think a sale is in the works. He also turned 65 on June 21, so I decided to make a pictorial quilt wall hanging of the farm for his birthday present. There is a big party next Sunday, so I have a lot of sewing to get finished.

On the May long weekend my sister and her fiancee came home and we went to the farm so that Ian could take photos for me.

This is my master photo:

I took a Craftsy class to get some ideas - and it helped a lot.

Here are some progress pics - if there is a glare it's from the vinyl overlay.

This is my pattern master, printed actual size - 2' x 3' I think

making patterns using freezer paper

using highlighters to mark the colours of clouds

first layer of fabric, building forward

a tree

where I ended off tonight.

It's coming together really nicely and I'm pretty proud of myself. I just need enough time to get the sewing finished!

I'm linking up to Patchworktimes tonight.

Back to the Sewing Machine

It's been a busy few weeks at school so I haven't had much time to sew. I've been looking forward to this weekend so I could have a break from work and do some sewing.

I got three Dear Jane blocks completed:

L8

M4 - with 49 pieces!

M6

I have one more triangle piece then my homework is finished for this month.

Here's my design wall tonight

It's going to be a quilty week for me this week. Today I went to a quilt show in Ailsa Craig, where every year they host an international quilt show. This year it's quilts of Great Britain, and this blogger, who I read, had some quilts in the show and I wanted to see them. I took a bunch of pictures - unfortunately they have a strict copyright rule, so I can take for myself but I'm not allowed to share.

Tomorrow C and I are going to hear Zen Chic give a trunk show at a local quilt shop. That should be awesome. Then Thurs is guild night. Not much time in there for sewing though.

What do you have on this week?

Baby Shoes

My friend C found this, or one just like it, a while ago. It seems rather fitting right now:

You can buy one here.  It's a stressful time in my regular job right now and so I'm really busy and not getting much sewing time in. So I feel not very nice. Today I took a little time to do some sewing so that I'm nicer to people.

I finished these off

These are for a friend at work who shares the same first name as me. She just had a baby girl this past week - her little boy is only 13 months old. She'll be busy.

These are for the grandson of my alternative health practioner. I've been seeing her for 8 years and my health is so much better because of her. These are size 3-6 months. The baby hasn't been born yet.

These are also for the grandson. Size 0-3 months and organic cotton.

all lined up

all wrapped up

I also had a long nap this afternoon, which helped my mood. I'm going to bed at a decent hour tonight, getting up fairly early, going out for breakfast, then going to a coffee shop to get some marking finished (since I can't seem to mark at home or work these days).

How was your Saturday?

Decisions, Decisions

We are having a silent auction fundraiser at school for athletics. We used to do silent auctions and dinners years ago and they were great fun. I always made and donated something to be auctioned off. We have a young staff who are reproducing at a healthy rate, so I always made something baby appropriate because I knew it would sell.

I bought this fabric on my last quilt shop hop with C and L. This is the basic layout - I think

version 1

version 2

The fabric is folded in half so it would stick to the design wall. I will put random circles in the center white section that are made up of the other fabrics. I'm not in love with the dark fabric on the end(s). The binding was going to be the 2nd from right fabric - it might become the dark. I'll have to see. As soon as I get some time this week I'll update you on my progress.

Back at the needle

I've been away from the sewing machine for a bit - my paying job was making some serious demands on my time. I had a bit of a respite this weekend, so jumped at the chance to do some sewing.

On Friday, C and I had a sewing retreat at her house. I got two Dear Jane blocks finished there:

L5

BR 5

It was a productive day.

Saturday I did a little shopping with my sister - hit a quilt shop but didn't take any photos. I also did another Dear Jane triangle. Here is BR 6:

BR 6

I got back to my sewing machine tonight and fixed up this block:

K5

I had the bottom right hand corner mixed up - it wasn't mirroring the top left corner and it was bugging me.

Here's what my design wall looked like when my Dear Jane homework was finished:

I'm linking up to Patchworktimes Design Wall Monday.

Before and After

When I started renovations on my main floor last summer, I took down the 1980s peach vertical blinds and put up this beauty:

It's a blue gingham sheet I bought in the late 90s. It served it's purpose to cover the window but isn't very nice to look at.

I finished sewing my new drapes yesterday - they were only 11 months in the making. I bought the fabric last May and then couldn't start them until the renovations were finished, then I was afraid to start in case I made a major error - at $20/m it could be costly. I finally got started in March break a few weeks ago, then my machine broke - when trying to go through multiple layers of drapes.

My parents came over today and helped hang the new drapes:

I am very pleased with how they turned out - I wish I would have started earlier.

It's ironic that I was so worried about measuring correctly - I made a measurement error when purchasing the fabric - I calculated the repeat wrong - so I have a ton left over. I'll make some into cushion covers for this room and I have a room upstairs that needs something on the window.