Delivery!

The mailman finally brought me some goodies today!  

Let's start with the smallest one.  A while back I ordered a vintage dresden clutch from Stephanie at Sand & Starfish.  Silly Canada Post took FOREVER to deliver it, but it finally arrived!

I actually have the same vintage sheet she used for the lining.

Cleo got excited when she saw me open the box, and wanted to check it out for herself.

Here's what I got:

Some awesome Christmas sweater type fabrics.  Every year we take a family photo the night of my company Christmas party when we're all dressed up.  Mr Mouse thought it would be fun to have a goofy picture this year.  I figure he's put up with me making him dress up all purdy, I might as well let him have some fun, too.  Keep your eyes peeled for what I'll make with these!

I'm hoping to make a rainbow quilt with one of my quilting bees.  I bought these cool leaf prints to add to my rainbow fabrics.  

This grey and yellow pattern is to be the binding for my Engagement Ring Quilt.

Teal & Brown Argyle.  Need I say more?

These teeny tiny argyle prints were just so fun!  Great stash builders.

It's never too early to start thinking about Christmas!

Blue for my Jamieson Quilt (more on that later).

Just some fun extras!

And batting for my Stroll Down the Garden Path Quilt.

Cute flannelette charm pack.  Maybe for a baby blanket?

I've washed the whole bundle... now to fold it!

Vintage Sheet Doll Quilts

A coworker of mine has the cutest daughters.  Here they are at my wedding (2.5 years ago):

Last year Sherrie asked me to crochet them each a sweater.  One girl wanted pink, and the other wanted purple.  Unfortunately I can't seem to find a picture of them right now...

The other day I thought I'd make them each a doll quilt just for the fun of it.

I made them out of vintage sheets.  They're pretty much identical except for the quilting.  I didn't want to make them to different in case they both liked the same one, but I wanted to make sure they could tell them apart.

I did one with straight line quilting 1/4" on either side of the seams.

And I did the other with diagonal lines.

for the back I used some thrifted fabric.

Then I rolled them up and tied them with matching ribbon.  All ready to go!

Hard Working Quilt Top

My inlaws dropped by with very little warning the other day.  In order to make the house a little more presentable, Mr Mouse threw my Strolling Down the Garden Path quilt top over the pile of coats on the chair in our front room.

Cleo then decided to claim that as her new napping spot.

The quilt hasn't even been completed, but it's already proven to be useful!

Engagement Ring Quilt

I've started a new quilt.  Unfortunately I can't tell you who it's for or explain the name just yet, but I will once it's in its new home.

I joined a new quilting bee - Neutral and Not.  The idea is to create a quilt only using one neutral and one color.  I thought maybe I could get my bee mates to help me with this quilt since it's grey and yellow.  However, I didn't want to send them the required fabric and a patten and get them all to make the same block.  I would much rather have each person be able to put some of their own creativity into the block instead of just doing what they were told.  I also made a test block and it came together really quickly, so I figured I might as well just do it myself.  Plus, now that I have all the fabric cut for it, it should be pretty quick to make.

Now I just need to find the energy to work on it.  I feel a cold coming, and that's zapped all my get up and go.  :(

Another Pillow!

I made another pillow!

A few years ago a coworker gave me a cloth handkerchief.  

I'm not sure where he got it, or why he gave it to me, but I guess he figured I would get more use out of it than he would.  It sat in my desk drawer for a few years, and when we moved office buildings in April I took it home.  But it sat around at home for a few months until I remembered that I can sew, and that I should be able to make something useful out of it!

The handkerchief was pretty flimsy and kinda see-through-y, so I ironed on some fusible interfacing.  I didn't have any fabric that matched, so I popped over to Fabricland and was pleased that their quilting cotton was still $4.50/m!  I stocked up on some white (as well as a few others) and found some fun remnants.

I made an envelope back (it's kind of wrinkly in this picture) and stuffed it with the pillow form I had bought from the thrift store that was too large for my last pillow.

So far neither pillow I've made matches each other or my 'decor' in my living room, but they're still fun and add a bit of color!

Pillow Talk

With the scraps left over from my Stroll Down the Garden Path quilt, I decided to make a pillow.

I had bought the ugly thrift store pillow hoping to cannibalize the pillow form, but it was 4" to big  :(  Silly me didn't bring a ruler along.  But that bag of stuffing came in handy!

Here it is, sitting on my couch!

Thrift Store Haul

I hadn't been to a thrift store in a while, so I went the other evening to check out what they had.  Sadly there were no vintage sheets, but I did find some interesting fabrics, a pillow, some Pyrex, and stuffing.

I bought the pillow for the form inside, not for the beautiful pattern  ;)  I got 2.6 meters of brown cotton, 1.8 meters of an aqua and orange vintage flower cotton, 1 meter of a fall patterned cotton, and 1.6 meters of a green and teal flower and vine patterned cotton.

On the way to the till I spotted the Pyrex.  I thought they were so cute, I couldn't pass them up!

Stroll Down the Garden Path - Quilt Top Complete!

Even though I have several projects on the go (a few with deadlines coming soon...) I wanted to get this one out of the way.  I'd had it cut and sitting in piles since the beginning of July, and wanted to clear the space it was taking on my desk.

I was inspired by this pattern by Red Pepper Quilts.  I used a combination of vintage sheets, vintage fabric, and a few new fabrics.

It was a windy day when I was trying to take these pictures, and they're a little washed out from the sun.  I'll make sure I get better pictures when I've completed it!

Contents of Package

Sorry to keep you in suspense about my package that arrived a few days ago.  I was excited to open it and find my Basic Grey Sampler I won a few weeks ago!!

It came with several cute buttons and a pretty pink flower.  Once I finish off a few WIPs I'll try my hand at completing this!

Package

This package came for me the other day. What could be inside?   Check back in a few days (when I have more time to take photos and do a proper blog post) and see!

Jump Start on Christmas

I thought I'd get a jump start on some stocking stuffers for Christmas.  I planned on buying some inexpensive towels and adding some details.  I went to Walmart to see what they had.  Their selection was limited but I picked up some feed sack towels thinking they'd do the trick.  I got home and opened the package and was disappointed with how thin and un-square they were.  I still went ahead and created a prototype which looked ok.

I figured if I'm going to go to all the work of making the towels, I want them to last and look nice.  I hopped in my car and went to my local Bed Bath & Beyond and bought some better quality towels.  Now I just need to find some time to work on them...

Current Project

Check out what I've been working on lately:

I should have this quilt top completed soon.  Keep your eyes peeled for a post in the next few days!!

Rainbow Mug Rug

I made a little mug rug.  I can't say who it's for because she reads my blog.  Sorry, Mom, it's not for you...

I discovered the quilting guide that attaches to my machine!  Look at those nice, somewhat even lines!  I don't know why I haven't used it before!  I also tried machine binding.  Normally I like to do my binding by hand, but I wanted to try a new technique.  I can't remember whose blog had the tutorial, but all you do is sew the binding to the front like usual, then pin the back in place and sew in the ditch along the front.  It worked really well for the most part, but there is one place (top of the left side) where things went a bit wonky.

It was a hot day when I was taking these photos.  Cleo was outside, and when she saw my shadow she immediately flopped down in it, glad for the cooler shade.

Pretty Kitty

Mr.  Mouse and I have decided to try and have people over for dinner once a week.  Sometimes our lives get so busy and we can go for months without seeing friends.  When Cleo learned of our plans she requested some new party dresses.  She wants to look her best for company!

I started by taking an old Christmas dress that was too small for her...

...and cutting it up.

I then traced the pieces and added some extra room to make a new pattern.  Mom came over on Monday evening and we started working on some new outfits.  Here's the first one we completed:

I think it fits her quite well!

Maybe I'll add a collar and some embellishments to the next one.