Stroll Down the Garden Path - Complete!

My giveaway is still going on!  Go check it out!

Hooray!  I finished another quilt!  

I started this one at the beginning of July and have had an on-again, off-again relationship with it ever since.  I have another quilt that needs to get done asap, as well as a few other pressing projects, so I wanted to just finish this one up and get it out of the way.

I saw this quilt by Red Pepper Quilts and thought it would be a great quilt to use up some of my vintage sheet as well as some other scraps.  Some of the fabrics were even my Oma's, so it was nice to be able to find a good home for them. 

I named it 'Stroll Down the Garden Path' because in my mind the green forms a path that winds its way through the garden - the floral and patterned fabrics.

The back is another thrifted vintage sheet.

This one has found a home on my couch downstairs and keeps me warm while watching TV.

Scrappy Mug Rug Swap

Don't forget about my Apron Giveaway!

I have decided that I really love Flickr swaps.  They're a great opportunity to meet other sewers and quilters from around the world, and who doesn't love coming home from work to find a package full of goodies!?

The Fall/Halloween round was my first round with the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap.  I was a little worried because I don't have much experience making mug rugs.  My partner wanted a Halloween themed mug rug. I had a bit of a hard time coming up with a design because I'm not really big into Halloween, and I didn't have ANY Halloween fabrics.  My partner specified a few fabrics that she liked (of course none of which I had...) and also mentioned she liked purple and green together.

I started with the Bare Trees background, which was similar to one of her favorite fabrics.  I then decided to try my hand at appliqué and added a little scared pumpkin.  I got the idea for the button spiders from some picture I saw once on Flickr (I can't remember where, sorry!).  

Then for the back I did some wonky piecing in purple and green.  

To the mug rug I added a few extra goodies:  a stuffed jack-o-lantern, some googly eyed spider stickers, Lindor chocolate pumpkins, some Basic Grey buttons, and a brown and orange vintage pillowcase.

When my partner (who happened to also live in Calgary) received my package, she seemed pleased with everything which really made my day.

A week after sending my package my husband emailed me a picture at work of an envelope with a customs sticker saying "Mini Quilt".  I couldn't wait to get home to see which mug rug I had received!  I loved looking through the group photo stream and dreaming about which of the mug rugs was going to be mine.  There was on in particular I had my eye on, and right from the initial sneak peak I had secretly hoped it would be the one that showed up on my doorstep.  Imagine my delight when I opened the envelope and there it was!!

I love everything about it, and it's clear to see that so much effort was put into it.  Stephanie from Spontaneous Threads was worried that it wasn't quite what I was hoping for, so she made me a second one as well!!

I love them both - I think they're fantastic!  I think both of these beauties will go on my wall in my sewing room.  They're truly pieces of art!!  Check out her blog post about them here.

Basted... Ready to Quilt

It's all basted and ready to quilt!!

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.  :(

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!

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.

Mini Me

I'm in a quilting book club on flickr.  This month we discussed where we sat in the whole Traditional vs. Modern scheme of things.  The challenge at the end was to complete a project that could be as small as a mug rug and as large as a full sized quilt that represented us.  I decided I wanted to make a doll quilt that I could hang on my wall.  

It was actually quite challenging.  How could I sum up the whole of my personality in just one quilt?  I started by pulling 2 of my favorite colors... green and aqua.

The more I thought about it the more confused I got.  I decided to simplify things and take out the aqua and just go with the green.

I decided to go with the City Bank quilt from the book City Quilts by Cherri House.  I shrunk it down a bit and cut 1.5" x 7.5" strips of my 4 greens and white, intending on making 4 blocks.

I then felt sad for taking out the aqua so I decided to put two more back in and make 2 green blocks and 2 aqua blocks.

But then once I had created all 4 blocks I felt the quilt was a bit small, so I added back in all the other greens and aquas I took out initially and made 9 blocks.

For the back I used fabric that was my Oma's years and years ago.  It was a little to short, so I added a strip of green and aqua fabrics.  But then that strip was to short, so I added in a bit of white to make it the right length.

I then quilted it with diagonal lines and bound it in another green fabric.

I think it's pretty much "me"!