working on......

A few projects on the go!  Here are a few WIPS I am working on lately.

Most of my crafty energy has been spent knitting lately.  And I have a few things in progress:

Some Snowfling mitts for a swap with the talented Krista of Spotted Stones.  I had so much fun meeting her at the Loon Lake retreat in November, she is the sweetest.  I drooled over every stitch she made, and jumped at the chance to knit her some mittens in exchange for a sewn surprise when given an "in".  I know these will be well loved and used in Alaska!

A wee Sproutlet dress for a babe on the way:

Just need to put some buttons on this baby cardigan I knit while in Jamaica.  Am thinking some covered in Liberty would be nice.

And this, my new favoritest sweater ever, all done and waiting to be photographed! Here is a sneak peak!

I have some beautiful blue Plucky Primo yarn all wound up ready to start this sweater, for me.  Next up!

I have been pretty quiet on the sewing front lately, but have recently relocated my sewing mojo and am inspired to start some new projects and finish some others that have been lying in wait.  To be honest, my sewing area was such a complete mess that I couldn't even beat a path to my machine!  A recent clean and IG fabric destash helped me uncover some long lost favourite fabrics and inspiration is back!  I have a bag pattern and a clutch tutorial planned (it's been awhile since I did a tutorial!) and a new quilt top in the works with this stack of Liberty of London and low volume fabrics, all sliced and ready to stitch!

My favourite sewing project currently is this one: whenever I have a spare minute, I like to put together a couple quilt-as-you-go blocks for The Soy Amado project over at Little Island Quilting, to provide quilts to street children in Mexico.  It is a great way to use up scraps and give back.  I would encourage you all to make a few, and ship them off to Alison to share a little love!  Go check it out! Here are the ones I have made so far.

Finished blocks are 12.5", with backing and batting of the same size attached.  You can make new blocks, or use "orphan" blocks you have sitting around.  I found a few old blocks from various quilts in the bottom of my scrap bin, added borders and quilted, and also made some log cabin and mini square ones from scraps.  They are quick and fun, and come together to make cheerful quilts for kids who need them.

Hope you have a fantastic week!

this week

Like any other week, I am busy and multitasking and trying to balance all that comes with family, work and fun. Thought I would share some tidbits.

This week I am:

1. basting.... my FFA2/3 quilt and another secret one that is in the works (sneak peak only!)



2. quilting.... an old WIP for the perfect recipient :)



3. dreaming, designing what comes next....



4. writing..... a long-overdo pattern (for the hockey quilt!)

5. blocking...the cutest ever baby sweater I just finished. After a bit of a baby drought, I am so excited that a few of my friends are popping out babies this summer so I can knit up some cute wee things. So cute, but, shhh! A secret ;)



6. casting on...another sweater, a new one for me!



7. disappointed.... that my new Juki sewing machine, which was supposed to arrive in 3-7 days, is STILL on back order, a month later!!! Boo!

8. hopeful....that you might take a minute to make a donation of any amount for my upcoming SCAD fundraiser walk? You can read more here, and click here to donate.

9. grateful...for those of you who have already donated to help me meet my goal of raising $1000 for SCAD research. Thank you so much!!

10. celebrating....Last But Not Least's upcoming birthday with a sweet cowgirl party this weekend. When did my baby get to be FIVE?? I am such a lucky mom.


Which means I better be on my way to ice cupcakes and stuff loot bags. Have a great weekend!

Quilting WIPs

Phew! That was a week I am happy to leave behind. Sometimes life bites you in the arse, eh? Anyways. Enough about that. Let's talk quilting!

Since I gave you a knitting project update the other day, I thought I would also give you a peek at some of my quilting WIPs (happy, Alison?). I appear to be suffering from a bit of quilting attention deficit disorder these days, with several projects on the go and lots of hacking and slashing going on.

First up- I cut up this pile that I had shown you earlier....

And put it back together like this:

I used this pattern from Four Wise Monkeys on Sew Mama Sew, which of course seemed a perfect use for my Children at Play fabric. I've decided not to stop here, though- I plan to do some calculations to add some borders to convert this from a lap quilt to a double bed size. Back to that later!

Also- am feeling a little Christmas-y....

And have also used my Go! Baby to make use of my Bonnie and Camille Ruby layer cake. I may have utilized a bit of slave labour for that one ;)


Off I go to stitch these back together again!

WIPs on this lovely Wednesday

Here are a few things I have cooking over at my place. I normally hate to have too much on the go, I prefer to see something through until it is finished, but lately I have been lacking some focus and have been actually enjoying having a bunch of things to work on at once! First on the list, a finished HST baby quilt top (and back), set to be basted, etc: (Pssst! Can you see the GRASS in the background of this photo?? It's yellow, but at least it isn't covered in snow any more!)

Fabric cut and ready to roll for my Rainy Days and Mondays Quilt for my youngest daughter's upcoming birthday. Also did a couple test blocks....am trying not to doubt myself and just go for it: I am working on an extra completely unnecessary simple quilt top with vintage sheets, just because it feels spring-y and makes me smile! Part way through knitting this sweet little elephant for my favorite boy: And I still haven't forgotten that I promised you a tute for this album cover. It's coming! So, that's what's up in my neck of the woods! Sharing with Lee over at Freshly Pieced.