Saturday, February 2, 2013

Reversible Toddler Cape - A Big Sister Gift

Two of my great nieces (Gillian and Magna) will be three years old in June and August 2013.  Gillian has a baby brother Seth and the Maggie will have a sibling in March 2013.  I made both of these precious little ladies Strawberry Shortcake tutu cute quilts. 

As most children love to play dress up, I decided to make them fairy princess capes for big sister presents.
 The cape in this pattern has a lined hood with facing in the cape.
By modifying the pattern, with lining and no facing, the cape is reversible.
 This lovely pink 100% cotton fabric has sparkles!
 Light blue rip stop nylon for the second side.
 Matches the blue in the fairy wings.
 
 Lime green rip stop nylon.
All the seams were surged before sewing the lining in place.
 Green and pink ribbon tie.
The green cape was sewn on my Pfaff Creative 2 with green thread, the pink on my Husqvarna Lily 555 with pink thread.
After reversing the cape, a decorative stitch of tiny pink flowers was top stitched on all the edges using the Husqvarna Lily.
 
 
 
This one is finished and ready to be mailed, along with Seth's quilt.  
I'll finish the blue and pink one this weekend, though it will be challenging as I do not have enough blue for the cape and hood.  My options are to either modify pattern again to fit the fabric, choose a different fabric or make the cape light blue with a pink hood on both sides.  As the craft emporium has tons of fabric, it is one of my goals to use only fabric on hand rather than buying more.

Dear Readers, What are 2013 projects?  Do you make lists?

Happy stitching.
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My next big adventure - Retirement

I'm retiring on February 27, 2013 after 32 years as a public servant for the Government of Canada.  Soon every day will be Saturday and I get to be the boss of me.

Good riddance to January 2013!  It was a horrible month...bitterly cold weather, plus I was sick for three weeks.  If that wasn't enough grief, my Mac Mini computer kept running slower and slower.  Finally, I took it to the computer doctor on January 28.  I got it back after three days with a new hard drive and bumped up ram from 2 to 5 gigs.  $274 CAD later the Mac is running like new.  Sheesh!  On to better things.

On February 1st, much to my delight and surprise, while Corina was in Brandon running an errand for her husband, she came to visit me. We have been internet/blogger and telephone friends for a couple of years, but this was the first time we met in person.  It was awesome, I regret that I didn't take any photos.  After my retirement, I plan to visit Corina for a play date with our sewing machines.

I'm feeling a little lost without the 2012 Free Motion Quilting challenge to work on.  In no particular order, 2013 projects include:
  • two reversible capes for big sister presents
  • a baby quilt for my new great nephew or niece expected in March
  • sewing a dozen or more re-useable grocery bags we have five weddings this year
  • reversible placemats for Shannon
  • a jelly roll quilt like Corina makes
  • updating the computer room with new paint, window coverings and flooring
  • downsizing my sewing machine collection currently at 14 machines to 8 (an ongoing saga)
  • three Alzheimer's touch quilts
  • blogging more at least once a week 
  • teaching sewing, quilting and basic sewing machine maintenance 
  • only using fabric and thread from the stash not buying any more
  • knitting more cotton dish cloths
  • a family vacation to Hawaii in April
Some of these projects have been started.  In January I taught two private sewing lessons.  One reversible cape is finished, the other is half cut out.  The plane tickets and accommodations for the Hawaii trip are booked and paid for.  I sold my Necchi Lelia sewing machine.

Dear Readers, I apologize for the lack of blogging in January.  I do hope you will continue to visit my blog and share your thoughts with me.  I love to read about your sewing machines, quilting and other crafty projects.

Have a super duper Saturday!
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Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Machine Embroidered Snowflakes - lace

In late December, embroidery library was giving away a snowflake design in three sizes to stitch out snowflakes to welcome the children back to Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2013.  We were supposed to mail them before January 10, 2013.  The school was so overwhelmed with snowflakes from all over the world, that they closed the snowflake project for further donations on January 3rd, 2013.

This was my first experience making lace.
I used a Schmetz Gold 75/11 Titanium needle, with Q-Green Tearaway Washaway EB-160 backing and Paradise Dreamz variegated embroidery thread 50 wt.  I also used Marathon white embroidery thread, Sulky rayon and the variegated purple, pink and blue thread is Rainbow serger thread.
The backing worked better when it was double thickness because the stitching is so dense.
Q-Green backing is very easy to remove with tearing away, then a soak in hot water. They were laid flat to dry on a towel and covered with a second towel.  Once dry they are quite stiff and flat.
I was planning to mail them to Sandy Hook on January 4.  Oh well...any suggestions on what to do with 11 snowflakes?
 Christmas tree ornaments?
 Bookmarks?
Coffee table coaster?
It took almost an hour to stitch out this large purple one, the others took over half an hour each.
 This little pink one is sulky rayon thread.  
It was fun project and I learned a lot.
Happy Stitching!
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Thursday, December 27, 2012

2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge - Recap

I am delighted to have completed all 12 monthly challenge pieces in their respective months.  Perhaps, I will tackle the bonus tutorials in 2013. When I signed up for this challenge, I had no idea how quickly my quilting skills would improve.  I feel so privileged to have learned so much from our excellent teachers and the other participants.  Here is the recap:
 August - Jesters' Hats.
In November, I used the Jesters' Hats and Heart-Shaped Leaves on Seth's zoo animal quilt.
The year is almost over, this challege is complete and I had a blast.
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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Christmas 2012


Current Weather 13:45 CST

A few clouds
-24
°C
A few clouds
 Just got back from dog walk Christmas eve.
 Carmel pecan cinnamon buns, photo shot with Iphone 4s through the oven window.
This decadent treat is loaded with brown sugar, butter and pecans, which is why I only make it once a year on Christmas day.
 Lily's winter attire.
 Merry Christmas from sunny, cold Brandon, Manitoba, Canada!
 One of several failed attempts to get the dog to look at the cell phone.
I give up! No photo of Lily looking at cell phone.  Every time I take a photo, I have to remove my gloves and it is freezing out here.
 Hunting for rabbit turds.
 Snow covered evergreens.
 
Thank you mother nature for the balmy Christmas weather.  No worries of the snow melting today.  
Now I'm off to play on my treadmill, then shower and make crafts with my daughter-in-law.  Life is most excellent.  From my home to yours, I wish you Peace, Joy and Much Love at Christmas and always.
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