A day with Jesse...

Good Evening,
So this past weekend Jesse and I went to Port Stanley for the weekend (her boyfriend house is on the main road). We went down mid Saturday and once we unpacked "Grandma", Jesse and I walked down to Port's Pets (the local pet store) - and of course Jesse got a couple of treats :)

We had a very yummy dinner Saturday night (roast beef, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, green beans and Brussel sprouts...although I didn't eat the parsnips or Brussel sprouts), and then apple crisp for dessert. The food was really, really good! And we wound up in bed around 10pm (which for those who know me is VERY VERY early compared to when I have been going to bed lately).

Here's how the rest of the night and next day went ....

10:00 pm - Time for bed
10:30 pm - Jesse finally settles down.
1:00 am - Jesse's first wake up
1:30 am - Jesse settles down and goes back to sleep
2:30 am - Jesse wakes up for the second time
5:00 am - Jesse wakes up for the third time (and gets to have his breakfast)
6:30 am - Joe (mom's boyfriend) wakes up, Jesse hears him and wakes up again...this time for the day as Jesse wouldn't go back to sleep and so we were up for the day .... far too early for a Sunday if you ask me :)
8:00 am - Breakfast time for the Humans...Jesse got a bit of egg too!
9:00 am - Watching TV with Mom and Grandma ... Jesse is all snuggled up at Grandma's feet ... Time for a nap :)
11:00 am - Time for Mom and Grandma to start getting ready for the day.... Jesse got to go for a walk with mom, and then a wee bit later with Grandma ..... So many walks on the weekend :)
12:30 pm - Walk with Mom, Grandma and Grandpa Joe... we walked down to Little Beach ... got to see some big boats, and a couple of other dogs along the way.
1:30 pm - Car all packed up .... off to Mackies for lunch ... Jesse fell asleep on the way there, and on the way back
2:30 ish - Car ride back to London.... Jesse gets to sleep on Mom's lap
3:15 pm - EVERYONE gets a much needed nap :)
6:00 pm - Time to wake up (for mom at least)
6:30 pm - Jesse still sleeping, except now he is now sleeping on his favourite chair
7:00 pm - Jesse wakes up, just long enough to have some supper, and go for a walk
7:15 pm - Back on his chair still sleeping
8:45 pm - Still sleeping .......

Well that was our weekend... How was yours?

Have a great night!

Katie

A Patchwork Wristlet and a Needle book

Good Evening,

I have been busy working at the sewing machine to finish some of the teapot mug rugs....and I am happy to report that I have  3 of the 6 almost completely done! All that is left is hand sewing the binding (and I am leaving that part until the weekend as I will be away from my sewing machine for 2 days).

So, knowing that I would have to bring a bunch of items to work on the binding (besides the mug rugs/mini quilts) - I thought that I should make something to hold them all.

Then I remembered that I had one of Ayumi's (of Pink Penguin) tutorials half finished and that the wristlet would work perfectly. Check out her blog and look through the many wonderful tutorials - I promise that you won't be disappointed. and I will apologize now for the time that you will spend making many of her lovely items :)

As for the needle book (which I neglected to take a picture of it by itself) - I made it using some fabric and batting scraps. You can't tell in the picture, but I machine quilted the outside of the book with straight lines before sewing the outside and inside pieces together. The ribbon that holds the book together was truly an after thought. I added it just before attaching another batting scrap piece on the inside (that's where the needles will be held). There are a few tutorials out there to make a sewing kit (one that would hold needles, thread, scissors etc) - but they were too involved for me.
(And if you want me to - I will make up a little tutorial on how I made the needle case).

So here they are: The Patchwork Wristlet and The Needle Book.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great night :)

Katie

Fabric Friday....

Hello,

So yesterday Santa (this is what we call the mail carriers/UPS carriers around here) brought me a wee present...some yummy new fabric. I ordered the fabric on the Thanksgiving long weekend and it arrived fairly quickly.

The fabric that I am going to be showing today is designer fabric! A first for me - I see the designer fabrics all over the place in the blog world and have admired them for ages. (Oh, and I promise to share the other bundle next friday).

Without further ado - here is Terrain by Kate Spain. It is a selection of fat quarters especially hand picked by Kate Spain herself. And no - I did not pick the fabric because of the designers name, although I will admit that she has a GREAT name :)

The fat quarter bundle included 12 different prints and 3 solid pieces. (Some of the prints are the same print, just different colours).

Here are 6 of the 12 prints....

And here are the other 6....

Here are the 3 solid prints....

And all 15 fat quarters together....

So...what do you think?? Isn't the fabric beautiful?? People sometimes save the salvage edge of fabric, and I will definitely be saving the edges of these ones.

I should be back later with some FQWAL blocks.

Thanks for stopping by.

Katie

More Teapots...

Good Evening,

I have some more Teapots to show you. I added some handles to these teapots (because how can you pour the tea without a handle?!?)...So far I have 6 teapot blocks made. I am going to turn them into mug rugs.

Here are the teapots...

This one is made using Stampin' Up!'s Candy Cane Christmas Fabric

Made using Springtime Vintage.

Another one made using Springtime Vintage...this time I switched the pink and blue fabrics.

Anyways, I am going back to the sewing machine...to create more mug rugs

Thanks for stopping by.

Katie

FWQAL - End of my week 2

Good evening all,

I have a wee update on my FQWAL blocks....and since there really is no time frame for these blocks (at least not right now) - I have only completed one block this week.

Now before I post a picture - I need to ask a favour - because I am not completely happy with how this block turned out. I like the fabrics that I chose for the block, just not the piecing.

I can admit that I thought that it might come together fairly easily (especially after how easily the teapots have been coming together) - but I was wrong. REALLY REALLY WRONG.

It probably would have helped if I re-read the instructions before assembling the block....I was good up until the point where I had to add the blue triangles...first I attached them to the seam to the left of the blue triangles to the green/white triangles, then thought that I attached them incorrectly, un-stitched it, attached them to the white square and then realized that I had them correctly the first time.

OK, so for the favour part...don't look too closely at the corners of the blue triangles....promise ?!? OK then I can post a picture.

Block #47 Homemaker

In my opinion this is probably one of the harder blocks in the book....and considering that there are only 18 people who have posted pictures of this particular block in the flickr pool (my block included), I would say that it is easy to assume that others feel the same way.

I think that once I get a few more of these FQWAL blocks done I may attempt this one again.  

Thanks for stopping by (and for not looking too close to my terrible corners) :)

Have a great night!

Katie

Spice Cake Teapot and Pumpkin Spice Bread...

I have been busy making Teapots and adding different handles to the original Teapot pattern - because how can one pour tea without handles?!? The second teapot that I have made uses Stampin' Up!'s Spice Cake fabric. I am REALLY liking this pattern (and I plan on making lots of teapots).

Here is a picture of the teapot.

And on the weekend, I had come across a recipe for some pumpkin spice bread and because I happened to have an can of pumpkin in the cupboard. On the weekend we made a batch to take up to my cousin's in Ancaster. The recipe makes two large loaves so we used the "pumpkin patch" loaf pan that we have (the bottom looks like a pumpkin patch when flipped upside down) and my mini loaf pans.

The can of pumpkin that I had was twice what the recipe called for, so I made some more today (using some mini loaf pans).

You can find the recipe On allrecipes.com (the link will take you right to the recipe). The recipe calls for cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. I didn't have any allspice and cloves so I used pumpkin pie spice instead (and I doubled the amount of spices that are called for in the recipe).

The pumpkin loaf is so good. It reminds me of Tim Hortons' pumpkin spice muffins.



Thanks for stopping by and have a great evening.

Katie

A Christmas Teapot

Well, tonight I pieced my first Teapot based upon Ayumi's Tutorial. You can check out her blog Pink Penguin here. She also has a Flickr Group in case you want to see what other people have made based on her tutorials.

Here is the Teapot that I made using Christmas themed fabrics. I will probably turn this into a mug rug or a hot plate...and I may add an additional border (haven't decided yet)

What do you think??

Katie

Goal for the weekend...

Good Evening,

I am setting a crafting goal for the rest of the weekend (seeing as Saturday is done)...I have a number of craft projects that I want to get started and/or finished. So without further ado...

1.    Finish the Friendship Star Christmas Table Runner. (All that needs to be done is the binding) Stil in progress. I might just plan to bind all of the small projects at the same time. We shall see.
2.    Iron all the fabric that arrived (and was washed) on Thursday....there are about 12 fat quarters that need ironing. Done!
3.    Start working on some pieced Teapot mug rugs (I plan on making a few of these....some Christmas ones perhaps one with the Stampin' Up! Spice cake fabric). Need to make the templates and cut the material for at least 3 teapots. 1 Teapot Made (with Christmas Fabric no less)!
4.    Start Christmas themed card swap (they need to be done by Oct. 24th). Need to make 10 card fronts,
plus 1 full card...also need to type up a materials list for the card. Well, I haven't started this yet. Still trying to decide on what I am going to make.
5.    Plan which FWQAL blocks that are being made this week and cut the materials.
6.    Finish the Christmas Fabric basket.

Well, that's all I can think of at the moment...I may add more to it.

Anyways, I am off to bed. Have a great night!

It wasn't planned by I helped Marcia plan the quilt that she is making for her cats (which will sit in her window bench)...got half the fabric cut (found out that it was half after cutting the blocks into 5.5" squares and discovered that we need twice the amount cut). The blocks that were cut are all sewn and just need to be ironed open. She is coming back Tuesday night to work on it again.

Katie

FWQAL - End of Week 1

Hello All,


Here is an update on the progress of my FWQAL blocks.


But first some acronym information for you. I will be using these acronyms quite frequently so I figured that I should explain them early on.


FWQAL - Farmer's Wife Quilt A Long
HST - Half Square Triangles
QST - Quarter Square Triangles


Here are some of the blocks that I have completed.

Block # 4 Basket Weave

I am not the happiest with this block. It should be 6.5" unfinished and it is closer to 6.25" square. I will probably turn this one block into either a square mug rug or a pot holder/trivet.

Block # 20 Churn Dash

Block # 41 Friendship Star

I had planned on making block # 6 (Big Dipper), but I discovered after I had sewn, ironed, and trimmed the blocks that I had sewn the triangles on the wrong edge (thus making 8 HST's instead of 8 QST's)... and I could have ripped out the thread, but since the seam was on a bias edge (and I was concerned that if I ripped out the seams that the bias edge would stretch). So, I decided to use the HST squares in different blocks.

I am not sure which blocks that I am going to tackle next, but seeing as there is no time frame on making this quilt, I am going to take my time.

On a different note...I ordered the fabric for my brother's wedding present. My brother Graeme and future sister-in-law Alysha know that they are getting a quilt - just don't know the exact fabric or pattern - but Alysha has provided me some input on some different fabric and the pattern of the quilt but said that she trusted me with the overall design.

I should be back soon with some more quilt tops....I am starting to work on some Christmas presents, but it should be safe to post them here as the intended recipients most likely don't visit my blog.

Off to bed soon. Thanks for stopping by.

Katie

FWQ - A block and a goal...

Good evening,

Well, I have made my first block from the Farmer's Wife Sample Quilt book. I decided to start with block #4 Basket Weave because it was one that I could make without having to print and cut out the templates.

Does the fabric look familiar?? Well that's because it is left over fabric from Butterflies in Blue - and it is made entirely from scraps (gotta love that)!!.

Now on to the goal part....to make 2-4 blocks this week for the FMQ (and yes the above block counts).

I am now off to do some more creating.

Have a great night and thanks for stopping by.

Katie

Demo Event Card Swap

Good Evening!

I posted earlier today a picture of the fabric basket and card that I made for Heather Summers 'Demonstrator Only' Event today at Kings College. And now I will share with you more details about the card for the swap that I participated in.

Here is a picture of the card that I made (just in case you don't remember or didn't see the earlier post).

Here is what you need to make this card:

4 1/4' x 5 1/2' Whisper White Card Base
4' x 5 1/4' Pool Party Card Stock
3 1/4' x 2 1/4' Island Indigo Card Stock
3 1/8" x 2 1/8" Whisper White Card Stock
Calypso Coral and Island Indigo Markers/Ink Pads
Blender Pen
3/8" Ruffled Ribbon - Calypso Coral
Simply Soft Hostess Stamp Set
Pearls
Dimensionals
Big Shot
Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder.


To start off, I sponged some Island Indigo ink around the edges of the pool party card stock, and then ran that piece through the big shot using the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder. Then attached the Pool Party card stock to the card base.

Next I inked and stamped the outline image from Simply Soft. I inked the outline image in Calypso Coral and Island Indigo. (There are a couple of ways to do this - you can either use markers to ink the stamp...or you can ink the entire image in one colour, remove the colour from the parts that you want in a different colour with a blender pen, and then ink the parts that you just removed the ink from with a marker). I found that using the ink pad and blender pen/marker combination worked better than just using markers (it produced a nicer outline and image). Then I added the solid image, stamped off once on some scrap paper and then stamped within the outline (well, I tried - but some did not get right inside the lines - but that's OK with me).

I then attached the whisper white and island indigo pieces together, attached the ribbon and then using dimensionals, attached this layer to the pool party layer. There, all done. :)

Anyways, I am off to take some pictures of the cards that I received.

I will share some of those cards later.

Thanks for stopping by.

Katie

Fabric Basket and a Swap...

Good Morning,

Well today is October 1st - which means that it is time for Heather Summers' - "Demonstrator Only" event at Kings College! This is the second one of her events that I will have been to, so I know a little bit about what to expect.

Before the day starts, there is going to be a 'convention style' card swap (which means full cards, and they have to be made with current Stampin' Up products). I have to admit - it was a bit of a challenge for me as I have been in sewing mode lately. I wanted to make a card that was new to me (as well as the rest of the swappers - two of which are friends and have seen most if not all of my cards). I struggled for about 2 weeks with the card but knew that I wanted to use the hostess stamp set "Simply Soft" as well as the new 2011-2013 In Colours. Once I decided on the card, they all came together fairly quickly.

This is what I finally came up with. I will post instructions on how to make this card a bit later.

And of course the cards needed to have a special basket to carry them. I made the basket so that it would match the messenger bag that I had made previously. You can see the bag here. I used Ayumi's fabric basket tutorial as an inspiration for this basket. You should check out her blog Pink Penguin. The only difference is that I made the basket a bit bigger. I was able to get all 30 swap cards in the basket and I love how it turned out.

And here is the bag with one of the cards next to it. I am glad that I took pictures of the card, because while there is a sign up for the swap it is not set in stone, so I may not wind up with any of my card (but that's OK because I can always make some more).

I hope that you like my little basket and swap cards.

Anyways, I am off to the event. It should be a lot of fun. I will share more later.

Until then,

Katie