Busy beginning of the 2012 year...

It's been a busy year so far... which is the reason I haven't posted at all.

The biggest news (drum roll):  I GOT ENGAGED!!!

On Valentine's evening... Jim proposed, and I accepted. :)

No we have not set a date.  It will most likely be in the next year or two.  We're both very happy.
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Now for sewing/quilting related material:

For the most part my work life has been keeping me out of my sewing room far more than I'd like.  But... I have been able to do some stitching.

Here's a purse I made a few weeks ago.  It's called The Brentwood Bag, pattern #106 by Pink Sand Beach Designs... I love it!

And do you remember that I was a winner in a blog hunt?  Well, here are the fat quarters that I won.  They are so pretty!

There was another contest (I'll have to go back through my emails to find the name of it), and I also won 2 yards of fabric from that one as well.  These are the ones I chose.

Now, do you remember me telling you that I had given my old sewing machine to Jim's mom and taught her how to use it by starting on crumb blocks?

Check this out!!

I don't remember how many blocks she said were in it, but she went nuts making crumb blocks!  LOL  Isn't it gorgeous?  Now I'm going to put borders on it and sandwich and quilt it for her.

And guess what?  A couple of weeks ago I got her started on 6" string blocks.  Within a couple days she emailed me to say she already had 22 done (Feb 21st).  Holy!!  Then, Feb 29th I received another email, she has 62 string blocks done!!  I'll post pictures once I have some. 

I'm still working on RRCB, Orca Bay and my New Year's Eve Mystery quilt - when I have time.  I want to spend more time on my Jamestown Landing too.  Bit by bit I'll get there.

I've also made a dresden plate table runner for my glass coffee table, made a few fabric boxes (with the snaps in the corners), some other odds and ends as well.  Sorry, I didn't take pictures of everything.

This past Saturday I spent a good portion trying to clean up and reorganize my sewing room, it's getting there.

Then on Sunday I visited my girlfriend Dianne in Embrun to help get her started on the black and white quilt she's wanted to do, and has had the pattern and materials for over a year now.  I showed her how to read the pattern, cut the bricks and squares she needed for each block, test and sew a 1/4" seam, and put the block together.  It's a trip around the world pattern that is going to look really cool.  We were able to get 8 blocks done.  They go together in 4's so you end up with an 18" block.  In total she's going to need to make 120 blocks for queensize and then add the borders.  It's going to be fabulous!

That's it for now.

Thank you to some of my quilty friends for emailing me in the meantime to make sure I was still alive :) 

HUGS to you all.

PS.  Dianne and I have registered to go to the Ricky Tim's Super Seminar with Alex Anderson and Libby Lehman in Rochester, NY July 12-14th.  One of our quilt stores, The Running Stitch is organizing a bus tour to and from it.  That will be a blast!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Yes, for us Canadians, it's our Thanksgiving weekend.

Since we spend it at Jim's mom's house (tomorrow), I've made the stuffing, stuffed the bird, and put it in the oven. 

Later on today when it's out of the oven, I'll make the gravy and start on the pumpkin cheesecakes.  YUM!!  And for a low-carb, diabetic friendly version, they're DELICIOUS!  (I'll post the recipe on my recipe page later).

While the turkey's cooking, laundry's being done, you guessed it, I'm sewing!

First thing's first.  Fix my buckwheat husk pillow.  Jake decided to chew on it a while back and I hadn't had time to empty the husks and make a new case for it.  I used half of an old pillowcase for it, so that's done.

Next is to fix the comforter cover that he chewed a few holes in (aren't puppies wonderful?)  Put the cover through the washer and dryer.  I have one of the two pillow cases for the set (the one he chewed a hole in as well), and I'm going to use pieces of that to patch the cover.

But I swear I'm falling prey to that old joke where the elderly lady goes to do one thing, see's something else that needs to be done, goes to do that, finds something else out of place, goes to return that, realizes she has to put something else back in it's place, and you know the routine.  By the end of the day she wonders why she hasn't accomplished anything, especially the first items that she started.

Anyways, along that line, I had a pile of bow ties on my sewing machine table.  I'd cut up a ton of cheddar 2 1/2" squares and every other fabric I could lay my hands on into 2 1/2" and 1 1/2" squares to make some of Bonnie's bow ties.  I made 5 the other night just so I could see what they looked like.  I had already sewed the corners on all of them, and sewed one set of the pairs together.  I really didn't want to just gather them all up and put in a box until later.

Sew, sew, sew, iron, iron, iron, Voila!  Thirty five more bow tie blocks!!  hehehe

Now.. how many am I going to need for a quilt top?  These are 4 1/2" unfinished.  Oh geeze!  I've started another project that will have to be added to my UFO list... LOL

Jim saw them on my design wall and said he really liked them.

All in all, I can't say my day is unproductive.  I am getting things done, turkey cooking, pies later, sewing repairs, bow tie blocks.... just maybe not in the order I had originally planned.

Now where did I put my crumb blocks.... oh wait!  I still have to mend the cover... lol

I've put together a "sewing package" for Jim's mom.  She purchased a sewing machine from a yard sale or goodwill not long ago and wants to learn how to sew.  I figured I could grab some fabrics from my stash, strips, strings, crumbs, a rotary cutter, rulers, cutting mat, thread, machine needles, and my sewing machine repair kit. 

I'll take a look at her machine, give it a cleaning and oiling (where needed), and get her started on some crumb blocks.  Simple ones like 4 patches and maybe some triangles and adding strips until she gets the hang of it.  Who knows... maybe by christmas she'll have enough blocks to make a lap quilt.  Or she may decide she doesn't like piecing.  Who knows?  We won't know til we try.

If we don't fall asleep right after turkey dinner tomorrow, we'll be sewing!  I'm taking my featherweight so I can make some more crumb blocks for my project too.

Ok, back to mending.

Crumb Blocks

Another batch of pictures.  I'm participating in the "Crumb-a-Long" started by Jo.

These are seriously addictive! 

These are so cute and measure 6 1/2 inches (unfinished).  They're a wonderful excuse to just sit and sew with no real pattern in mind and talk about using up all the little bits and scraps! 

I love the little maverick stars... thanks for the demo of them on the cruise Bonnie!  :)