About us
There was fabric, there were sewing notions, and there was an explosion - perhaps several small explosions. The result was this:
and this....
It's terrible. Shameful.
There have been times in my life when I have been fortunate enough to have a sewing room, and times when I haven't. The sewing room has been the kitchen table, a desk in my bedroom, or in the home office. Currently, it's a small bedroom. It's not a large, "pinterest inspired" sewing room with clever ideas and matching motifs, but I am lucky to have it - so I don't complain. So why do I not take care of it?
Because creativity is MESSY business!
I couldn't even sew in it anymore.
And SEW I fixed it. It didn't take long, only a few hours of folding, sorting and dusting and it is beautiful again!
My desk found a nice sunny spot by the window, so I can spy on my son and the neighbourhood kids. (A great spot for sewing machine photography too.) The iron found a necessary spot away from the curtains.
My fabric is folded, and the shelves are clean and organized.
Best of all, Lady Liberty has found a great spot between Pinky and the Juki. The Brain, my Pfaff, stays packed in her travel bag for sewing guild meetings so Pinky and the Brain are not a duo any more. Juki has taken center stage!!
It have to say, it feels AMAZING to have a clean room to work in again. Going through all of my fabric enabled me to sort it so I know where everything I want is. I did realize that I really don't have that much fabric, and that is soooo sad... but easily fixable !!
After it was all done and sorted, I made up a cute little coin purse with a purse frame, and I sewed up a quick and easy fabric strap to hang my new round handmade bag labels from. I intend to put up a little blog post to help anyone that wants to make a fabric strap for them. These suckers are HUGE. A bit larger than I had intended when I first designed them, but I think they will look pretty amazing hanging from a strap ring on a large bag. Watch for them in the shop November 3rd!
How have your sewing rooms been looking lately? Lost your sewing mojo? Clean your room!! I am ready to go work on a quilt AND a new bag pattern.
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| Please DON'T click to enlarge ;) |
and this....
It's terrible. Shameful.
There have been times in my life when I have been fortunate enough to have a sewing room, and times when I haven't. The sewing room has been the kitchen table, a desk in my bedroom, or in the home office. Currently, it's a small bedroom. It's not a large, "pinterest inspired" sewing room with clever ideas and matching motifs, but I am lucky to have it - so I don't complain. So why do I not take care of it?
Because creativity is MESSY business!
I couldn't even sew in it anymore.
And SEW I fixed it. It didn't take long, only a few hours of folding, sorting and dusting and it is beautiful again!
My desk found a nice sunny spot by the window, so I can spy on my son and the neighbourhood kids. (A great spot for sewing machine photography too.) The iron found a necessary spot away from the curtains.
My fabric is folded, and the shelves are clean and organized.
Best of all, Lady Liberty has found a great spot between Pinky and the Juki. The Brain, my Pfaff, stays packed in her travel bag for sewing guild meetings so Pinky and the Brain are not a duo any more. Juki has taken center stage!!
It have to say, it feels AMAZING to have a clean room to work in again. Going through all of my fabric enabled me to sort it so I know where everything I want is. I did realize that I really don't have that much fabric, and that is soooo sad... but easily fixable !!
After it was all done and sorted, I made up a cute little coin purse with a purse frame, and I sewed up a quick and easy fabric strap to hang my new round handmade bag labels from. I intend to put up a little blog post to help anyone that wants to make a fabric strap for them. These suckers are HUGE. A bit larger than I had intended when I first designed them, but I think they will look pretty amazing hanging from a strap ring on a large bag. Watch for them in the shop November 3rd!
How have your sewing rooms been looking lately? Lost your sewing mojo? Clean your room!! I am ready to go work on a quilt AND a new bag pattern.
About us
Holiday Sewing, New Sewing Machine, Secret Handbags & The Birds and the BEES!
11/27/2013 08:44:00 AM |
| My new Christmas coffee table runner. |
I've been having some great fun with my new sewing machine. This is a cute and table runner I made from an old charm pack I got years ago. All it needed was some binding and my Juki zipped through it like lightening.
Yes, that's right, I have another machine. My Pfaff Ambition 1.5 and I are on a break. That's right, the Brain has be kicked to the curb and designated "back up" machine. I know, our relationship is only 1 year old, but although I have heard raving reviews about the IDT, mine was not quilting great for me and it always pushed the top layer. So frustrating!! I changed the presser foot tension, I pinned and pinned AND spray basted at the same time. Still sliding. Also, being a bag maker, I needed a better motor that would go through anything and I got that with my new Juki TL2010Q. Love her!
Pinky and the Brain are still part of my life and will be used often. Pinky for heavy leather, the Brain for free arm, zig zag, button holes and every other stitch. But, after reading review after review about this great straight stitch, mechanical, Juki - I knew I had to have one.
Sara from Sew Sweetness's sewing machine review tipped me over the edge and put me on the google search war path. Yes, I am keeping up with the Joneses, or Saras. Being in Canada, I could not order from Sew Vac Direct, but after much searching, I did find a machine at Sewing and Embroidery Warehouse out of Winnipeg. The call was made, and after requesting a discount and extra bobbins, the lovely ladies in sales sent me out the machine the same day and I had it from Winnipeg 3 days later. I have to say, my life has changed. It just.. is.. wow!!
Secret Handbags:
After finally setting up my "Bag Makers Sewing Supplies" section in my website shop, I am finally able to get to some sewing today. I am working on a bag pattern for a Spring issue of a Canadian quilting magazine. It's a bit of a secret.... and I'm pretty excited about it because: a) I love the bag and b) I am going to be in a magazine! Whoop!
I've already made one sample and I'm working on another to send while doing instructions. Instructions will mostly be digital diagrams, so not too many photos to take and that's good because the lighting is terrible today. Here is poor quality teaser:
OH my gosh I have to tell you what happened this morning. It's hard having a husband working away because I can't just run and tell him something when I want to, but this is cute so you will have to hear it.
I was working on this blog post this morning before my son woke up for school and after I got him up, I put it aside and got him off to school. Now I am back at it, with a smile on my face because that kid is so darn funny and OH MY we need to teach him about the birds and the bees. I am just NOT READY!
My girls are 21 and 23 and on their own and poor Jace (8) is on his own here. He was saying he wished he had a brother, because he is bored and this is the conversation that happened:
Me: "Well hon, Daddy and I wanted you to have a brother or sister and we really tried but we just couldn't." Immediately I knew that this was going to lead to more questions because I didn't phrase that one quite right. I thought that it was time I was straight with him. I need to provide him with a little more knowledge, but not too much quite yet.
Jace: "Well why not?"
Me: "Well, I was just too old to have more kids."
Jace: "How do you make the baby anyway?"
Thoughts: Crap, Crap... darn it... I am not ready for this 10 minutes before he is supposed to get on the school bus, or ever. Delay, delay... deal with this later. Oh darn, I have put this off long enough!
Me: "....stammer..... uh....uh... well the Mom and Dad make it together."
Thoughts: Ooops bad, bad. No time for this!! Ack. Please don't ask, please don't ask!
Jace: "Do you drink special baby juice?"
Me: "What?!" pause.... gulp.... "Drink it? No, you don't drink it."
Thoughts: Why did I say that?
Jace: "What?!"
Thoughts: Oh my! What am I going to say now?
Jace: "Can I have an orange in my lunch? Can you peel it?"
Me: "Yes, I'll send a Christmas napkin with it! How about cookies!"
I did not handle that well. Again.
Can any of you recommend an age appropriate reproduction book for me to read to him?? I can't do this!
Okay, I am going to fill my hardware orders and SEW!!
All of my sewing friends will have to be patient with this one. When you have an 8 year old son, life is more about finding nerf bullets, watching hockey, and hearing about Minecraft worlds, than it is about sewing gorgeous bags and quilts. My life needs to fit nicely around and in between the above mentioned activities and part of that is knowing that it's my job to make an awesome cake, perfect for the "trend" of the year. Minecraft of course! If you know who Steve is, and have heard about Ender Dragons, and diamond pick-axes... please read on, otherwise - thank you for sticking with me!
My son's birthday cake would NOT have happened without his talented and industrious Auntie Shelley - SHE made all of the fondant figures for the cake and I only had the task of cake and icing. I made the cake at my house, she made the figures. We met at the Laser Quest party, and she assembled while the kids and big man-kids had a blast playing laser tag. I have to say, I've never seen a group of kids so excited about a cake before! It was CAKE SUCCESS and a VERY happy birthday boy!! Ahem, I only wish I took better photos.
This was too easy. I made two square chocolate cakes and trimmed off the rounded edges. I sliced one straight down the center and pulled it apart to leave an opening in the middle. I cut 1/4 off of the other, and 2/3 of the piece that was cut off was put between the two halves of the first cake. The large piece of the second cake was set on top (a bit saggy, but oh well!) and the small 1/3rd cut off was set up in the corner for the candle.
I froze the cake so it would be easy to ice, and put a thin layer of light green "crumb coat" on top. (I cheated and used a can of Duncan Hines pre-made whipped icing, that I tinted with food colouring.) I put this in the freezer after so it would be easier to add the "grass" after.
To make the river and grass, I added blue and green to the same icing in two different bowls and chilled them for a bit so they would be firmer to work with. Using my cupcake piping bag and a couple different tips, I first put the river on and then started in with the grass. I didn't have a proper cake board, so I ended up icing right on the tray. I've never iced like this before and there were a few "oops!" but it was fun anyway! No this is probably not the right way to ice a cake, BUT gee I don't make cakes, I SEW!!!!
Shelley said making the fondant figures was SO FUN!! She loved playing with the icing colours and making the shapes. Since our boys are 8, our play doh days have been almost non-existent, so I think it may have been fun for her to do some creating of her own again.
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| A Minecraft Cake complete with Steve, a dog, pig, a creeper and trees. |
My son's birthday cake would NOT have happened without his talented and industrious Auntie Shelley - SHE made all of the fondant figures for the cake and I only had the task of cake and icing. I made the cake at my house, she made the figures. We met at the Laser Quest party, and she assembled while the kids and big man-kids had a blast playing laser tag. I have to say, I've never seen a group of kids so excited about a cake before! It was CAKE SUCCESS and a VERY happy birthday boy!! Ahem, I only wish I took better photos.
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This was too easy. I made two square chocolate cakes and trimmed off the rounded edges. I sliced one straight down the center and pulled it apart to leave an opening in the middle. I cut 1/4 off of the other, and 2/3 of the piece that was cut off was put between the two halves of the first cake. The large piece of the second cake was set on top (a bit saggy, but oh well!) and the small 1/3rd cut off was set up in the corner for the candle.
I froze the cake so it would be easy to ice, and put a thin layer of light green "crumb coat" on top. (I cheated and used a can of Duncan Hines pre-made whipped icing, that I tinted with food colouring.) I put this in the freezer after so it would be easier to add the "grass" after.
 |
| A cute little Minecraft Pig! |
To make the river and grass, I added blue and green to the same icing in two different bowls and chilled them for a bit so they would be firmer to work with. Using my cupcake piping bag and a couple different tips, I first put the river on and then started in with the grass. I didn't have a proper cake board, so I ended up icing right on the tray. I've never iced like this before and there were a few "oops!" but it was fun anyway! No this is probably not the right way to ice a cake, BUT gee I don't make cakes, I SEW!!!!
Shelley said making the fondant figures was SO FUN!! She loved playing with the icing colours and making the shapes. Since our boys are 8, our play doh days have been almost non-existent, so I think it may have been fun for her to do some creating of her own again.
Thanks to my gorgeous sister-in-law, Shelley! You are a very special Auntie!
About us
Catch Up: Lucky Stars Blocks, a FREE Gift on the WEB, and a Puppy Pic!
8/10/2013 02:05:00 PM
Woohoo! Finally got some sewing done last weekend. I finished up the June, July and August foundation paper pieced quilt blocks that I'm doing in the Lucky Stars BOM hosted by Don't Call Me Betsy. I think this quilt is really starting to come together, but it's getting increasingly hard for me to pick fabrics from my selected stash that have enough contrast between lights and darks. I'm finding a lot of my fabrics fall into the medium (warm) level when it comes to colour values.
Here are the blocks, I particularly LOVE July, but June and August didn't turn out how I had envisioned. But.. I don't think they are horrible. They will go with the rest of the blocks even though I don't think they look good individually. You can see the rest of the blocks HERE in the flickr set on my photostream.
AUGUST SPECIAL:
"Double Happiness" Zipper charms! Right now I have a special going on my website where you get a free gift if you purchase over $15.00 worth of bag hardware/purse supplies. (This does not include sewing pattern purchases and this promotion is only available while supplies last.) Get yourself a double happiness zipper pull, they are cute!
What else have I been doing? We have a new puppy named Laney. She is a mixed collie/lab/terrier (possibly), 6 months old, and we adopted her from the Second Chance Animal Rescue Society that operates here in Alberta. She's a lovely companion for our 8 year old son. We love her, but my flower beds have lovely new holes in them, so that keeps me busy. When I'm not filling holes, I'm PLANNING the next time I can get some bag making and tutorials done. Summer is so short here in Canada, so I guess I'm making the most of it too!
Thank you for reading! I would love to hear what you've been up to.
Here are the blocks, I particularly LOVE July, but June and August didn't turn out how I had envisioned. But.. I don't think they are horrible. They will go with the rest of the blocks even though I don't think they look good individually. You can see the rest of the blocks HERE in the flickr set on my photostream.
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| June Block - Sunlight Star |
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| July Block - Dulcet Star |
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| August Block - Pinwheel Star |
AUGUST SPECIAL:
"Double Happiness" Zipper charms! Right now I have a special going on my website where you get a free gift if you purchase over $15.00 worth of bag hardware/purse supplies. (This does not include sewing pattern purchases and this promotion is only available while supplies last.) Get yourself a double happiness zipper pull, they are cute!
What else have I been doing? We have a new puppy named Laney. She is a mixed collie/lab/terrier (possibly), 6 months old, and we adopted her from the Second Chance Animal Rescue Society that operates here in Alberta. She's a lovely companion for our 8 year old son. We love her, but my flower beds have lovely new holes in them, so that keeps me busy. When I'm not filling holes, I'm PLANNING the next time I can get some bag making and tutorials done. Summer is so short here in Canada, so I guess I'm making the most of it too!
Thank you for reading! I would love to hear what you've been up to.
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| Laney, 6 months old. |
How do you feel about asymmetrical quilts? I have to admit (shamelessly) that I am LOVING this gold and grey, very asymmetrical quilt, I made for a wedding gift. I've been waiting a couple of weeks to show it to you, but now the wedding has been enjoyed and the gift has been given, so bring on the quilt photos. UPDATE: Find the instructions to this quilt HERE!!
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Why is it a wedding quilt? To me, even though this quilt is not a wedding ring or double wedding ring quilt, it's still a wedding quilt. I was playing with the grey and gold HST's on my computer prior to any cutting or stitching and a center diamond started forming and repeating and no matter how differently I manipulated the HSTs, they kept getting changed back to this pattern. I always knew I was going to use the golds and greys from this brilliant fabric collection, I just knew. Ideas and thoughts kept fleeting and blinking in my mind about Krystle (the bride) and her family. My family has known theirs for a few generations now. Our family farm was near theirs. Krystle's Aunts used to babysit me when I was little, and my sister and I babysat Krystle and her sisters when we were teenagers, and in turn Krystle and her sisters babysat my daughters. Krystle has very loving parents, a close family and a wonderful circle of friends from her community and beyond. Krystle's ties to family and friends are strong and this quilt just illustrates this for me. How? I will tell you how the best I can, but it's not just visual, but also a feeling I get when I look at it.
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| Click to Enlarge! |
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| Click to enlarge! |
Without all of this inspiration, if it was just fabric stitched together randomly, I would still love this warm quilt for a wedding quilt because it's just the perfect size for a couple to cuddle under on the couch after a long winters day.
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| Click to enlarge! |
After I saw the yellow and orange wedding invites, I just knew the quilt was going to be perfect. Here is a picture of my table at the wedding. Gorgeous flowers in mason jars, arranged in a wildflower bouquet with class! Burlap, chalkboards, and candles. Best of all, little jars of honey from their family farm with cute little labels. This is a picture of my clutch (there will be another post about this craft fail/resurrection at a later date).
If you would like to read more about this quilt, the block that inspired it, the fabric requirements, and how to sew HSTs, please watch the blog because I'll be putting that together for you. UPDATE: Find the instructions to this quilt HERE!!
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| Before quilting. |
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| The quilting process. |
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| Lovely lines... |
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| The back. |
I hope you like it. I think I'll make another...
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