a baby quilt for Koyuki

Koyuki is a baby girl, born to a longtime Japanese friend. A few years ago, my friend and her family visited us in the summer, and I gifted her a quilt.  She received it with more joy, wonder and gratitude than I have ever received- it filled my heart.  So of course when she had another baby girl in December, I knew a quilt would be the perfect gift.

I really went to town with the pink.  I love it- so soft and soothing.  I did a bit of an I-spy combined with a scrappy wonky star, using the centers as a showcase for fun novelty fabrics (including munki sushi!).

On the back I used one of my favourite prints ever, by Megumi Sakakibara.  Going through a bit of hoarder's separation anxiety about this but it is just too perfect a compliment to the top to doubt.

As my arms are still not very strong and pulling even a small quilt sandwich around to machine quilt was uncomfortable, I hand quilted it with Perle cotton.  I love how it adds to the softness.  Just one pass around each star and centre square, and one line dividing each block.  I did a triple row around the outer sashing.  Pretty.  The binding is a print by Anna Griffith, hand bound.

This will be winging its way to Japan shortly along with this ruffled (and wrinkled!) onsie that I just adore.  Oh, babies!

Japanese change purses

I have been crushing on coin purses ever since seeing a tutorial on the Purl Bee. While I splurged and bought some Liberty fabric, I could not bring myself to spend the $20-25 per frame to make their coin purse! Instead, I found some frames (with extra large colored bobbles) on etsy for under $3 a piece. Much better, thanks!

I also have been sitting on a set of Japanese charms for some time, waiting for the right project. When I saw the frames, I knew I had my match. A perfect pairing! There is a Cinderella, a Princess and the Frog, and my favorite childhood story, The Wizard of Oz :-)





Cute little linings from my stash:


But why stop there? Of course my daughters were all over this project. They are age 5 and 4, and nothing thrills them like a shiny penny! Could I make one for them? For their friend? Sure, why not?
For The Middle Child, who adores pink, I used some pre-made felt flowers and polka dots from Stampin' Up, and stitched them (with a ribbon stem) to linen. And of course a coordinating one for her BFF.

Polka dots on the back:Pretty pink floral lining:

I also hand embroidered her friend's name at my daughter's request- it will be filled with coins and given as a gift at her upcoming birthday party.

For Last But Not Least, orange is the go-to color, so orange bobbles and some sweet little Heather Ross goldfish where paired with some blue corduroy from my stash.

Some Amy Butler orange and blue Love dots for lining, and she was wearing one heck of a big smile!


I think these will be perfect for the little girls in my life. May need to make some more for the big girls? ;)

Linking up at Sew Modern Monday and Fabric Tuesday.

Gifts revealed: Russian Doll makeup bags

I was perusing Noodlehead for something else altogether when I got distracted. You see, I have a touch of ADD to go along with my OCD. I stumbled across Anna's tutorial for her patchwork makeup bags, and decided on the spot to make a couple for a couple of my favorite people for Christmas.
I love how they turned out! I used some Kokka material I had picked up with these sweet Russian Matryoshka dolls, which are a favorite of my friend Samantha. I paired it with some scraps containing mostly reds, then added one Hunky Dory print in aqua to add a splash of color.
The inside is some Amy Butler Love Spots that matches the outer aqua perfectly! It feels so fresh. I love that red/aqua/linen combo!
One the reverse side, I appliqued a little doll :-)
Ummm, ignore the wrinkles!

My only regret is that most of the red Amy Butler Love spots at the bottom of the patchwork strip became hidden under the bag when I squared off the corners. But otherwise, a pretty nice finish for a job on the fly! Now, what was it I SUPPOSED to be doing??.........

Congratulations, Kelli!

Some of you may know my Australian friend Kelli from Kelli's Pieces. Kelli was one of the very first "blogging friends" I made when I started blogging back in the spring. We hit it off right away...not only do we both love quilting, but also knitting, reading and vampires....can't be too many of us out there, can there? She throws out plenty of "mates" to match my "ehs", and we both have what can only be described as a bit of a twisted sense of humor :-) If we ever get to meet up in person, I am sure we could find some good trouble together in no time!

Anyways, Kelli is getting hitched, ummmm, pretty much right this very minute (!!!), so I got in cahoots with Amy to arrange to send her a wee surprise to celebrate. Here are her goodies:

First, a card of congratulations....I used to dabble in the scrapbooking/ card making thing as well, though not much lately! I was sure to add a little note to the back....
Second, a little embroidery hoop to mark the big day.
I made hearts out of some of my favorite scraps, including a sweet little snippet of Heather Ross from my ice cream Munki Munki of a cute couple in love. I hand stitched them to some linen and added some mismatched buttons. Then I ink-stamped the name and date in wonky, mismatched letters to add to the casual/scrappy feel. Just a cute little memento!

Was sure to give her an extra "eh" on the back.
And a package to a quilting friend would not be complete without some fabric love. It is a testament to how much I love Kelli that I sent along some pieces of my Munki Munki and some squares of some cute Japanese prints! I think she will like them...since she keeps telling me she is going to come over here to steal them and all. This will save her the criminal charge.
Anyways, Kelli, hope you have a wonderful wedding day, and that you and Paul enjoy many happy days to come. Congratulations!

Totes for my Little Ballerinas

Wow! I can't believe this is my 100th post...man, I talk too much! Thanks for listening :-) Don't worry, I brought you all some eye candy to go along with the babble today.

The two little beauties in my life love to dance. Spend a good part of each day on their tip-toes, twirling around...do you have little ballerinas like this, too?

They both take a dance class, and normally I tote their tiny little ballet and tap shoes back and forth to class in a crumby plastic bag. So, I thought they needed an upgrade.
Ta da! Ballerina totes! I think these are probably the most favorite thing I have ever made. And since I am in "Santa's Workshop" mode, I went ahead and made 5 of 'em...for family and friends!
The inspiration for these bags was this adorable Japanese ballerina print....isn't it sweet?
I only had a fat quarter, so I had to stretch my creative muscles to come up with a way to highlight the print but have enough to make all these bags. The body of the bag is rather simple, just a simple tote in a linen-look cotton, lined with a sweet pink polka dot. The straps used the same linen and a soft pink stripe.

I added a big pocket on the front, with a square of the ballerina print, some coordinating Hunky Dory, and some more pink polka dots. I also hand embroidered each girl's name in pink thread, and added some cute girly crochet trim.
I used some more Hunky Dory to make a loop for a big wooden button- an informal closure easy to manage with little fingers. If my name was Oprah, or Julie Andrews, wooden buttons would be one of "my favorite things."
As a little fun detail, I also added a tab with an appliqued ballerina...can never have too many ballerinas on a ballerina bag, after all! Each girl got a different little ballerina "character."


The finished size is about 12" by 13", ample for ballet shoes, tutus and a change of clothes.


One added bonus of this project is that, aside from one fat quarter of the ballerina print, all of the fabrics and notions I used were from my stash. I feel like a "real" quilter now....I used to have to always buy coordinates for everything, but have now amassed a pretty awesome variety of fabrics. It felt good to dip into it and use some up!

These will be under the Christmas tree, so we will still be "plastic bagging-it" for a few weeks...but I am sure they will be thrilled.

Somebody stop me

My appetite for fabric has not lessened. Fabric diet remains broken, binge still on.....burp!

I can't stop buying fabric. I am going to need a 12 step program soon. I wish I could say I regret it, but I don't. It is so so awesome. It is like Christmas in my mailbox! Except for the whole bill part.

Lookie what I got:

Katie Jump Rope. This line was before my time, but I managed to get some fat quarters, sticking to the more masculine prints to build my "boy stash." Love it.

Some sweet Japanese prints:

Pretty solids, odds and ends:

I may have gone a little Crazy Crazy with the Munki Munki. Yes, I broke down and bought it. A LOT of it. Must say...I was not as impressed with it in person.... but still super cute and will definitely be put to good use! I've always coveted those darn goldfish! Also picked up some of these while I was at it....see what comes of it!
Some Amy Butler, Lotus spots and Love spots, too. And some Micheal Miller Ta Dots. Can never have too many dots! And let's not forget the Riley Blake Rainy Days and Mondays (and other) from my Calgary/Banff trip: Also just ordered some awesome organic Monaluna fabric by Jennifer Moore with adorable scooters all over it. Inspired by Italy! Maybe something for my hubby for the holidays?

And I just bit the bullet and ordered a big batch of Bliss.....I hve been eyeing it forever, so why hold back now? So now I just have to find time to sew!