at least my credit card is working out

I wish I knew how to quilt you, mini chocolate bars.

I am feeling entirely too "fluffy" and blame it (partly) on those darn tasty little Halloween chocolate bars.  After my retreat, there will have to be some SERIOUS sugar restriction going on over here!  But my credit card is feeling pretty lean after the fabric shopping workout it has been having lately.  Avert your eyes now if you wish to resist temptation!!

Like everyone in the bloggy universe, I have been loving the text prints out there, and built myself a great stack here:

 

I did a good job resisting Chicopee (not ringing my bell), but as IF I could turn my back on anything Anna Maria Horner....

 

And then these bits of miscellany seemed to find their way to me as well.

I guess it is not only chocolate that I need to start limiting!  Better get sewing up these lovelies!

retreat prep :)

On a very happy note, I will soon be escaping for a weekend for my FIRST EVER quilting retreat!  And I am going big...flying out to Vancouver to hook up with my fabulous and talented friends Krista of Poppyprint and Felicity of Felicity Quilts to spend 3 blissful days holed up in a lodge on a lake in the mountains, eating food I don't have to cook and sewing 24/7 if I darn well feel like it.  That ought to satisfy the sewing itch a bit!  And apparently there is even a fireplace where I can curl up and do some knitting.  I may just miss my flight home.... ;)

I have an absolutely ridiculous and unrealistic list of projects that I have packed and am planning to complete.  I have been spending much of the last week or so pre-cutting fabrics so that I can just get down to business!  I did a "test" make of one of the projects I will be working on, and it is pretty darn cute:

And this sweet little purse opens up to this:

This is from the Storybrook Lane pattern booklet and panel by Ever Kelly (bought here).  It also comes with a bunch of cute finger puppets of stuffed dolls that can be used to play in the house.  I had so much fun making this and picking the coordinating fabrics to go with the panel pieces. I love the library book prints from Victoria and Albert with this! I plan to produce 7 more of these puppies sweat-shop style on the weekend for basically all the little girls on my Christmas list.  That along with 4 quilt tops.  And don't forget the 3 knitting projects.  Hmmm.....can you tell I have a bit of pent up crafty energy?  Wish me luck!

a costume and a winner

Happy Halloween!  So this year, I did something I swore I would never do.  I sewed a Halloween costume.   I always thought that the time and effort to make a costume for one day of the year was not worth it, and would send my kids to the dress up box on Halloween to find something that fit over their snowsuits and call it a day.  And they never seemed to mind.   But this year, my 8 year old son had it in his head that he wanted to be a puffle, and only a puffle would do.

A what?!?!?  For those of you unfamiliar with puffles, they are the wee colorful and fuzzy pets in the Disney online game Club Penguin, and look something like this:

Big G wanted to be a red puffle, so I got some fun fur and some red hairspray and we have this:

Mission accomplished!  Happy kid, happy mom.  The Middle Child chose her Minnie Mouse cosutme from her last dance recital, and Last But Not Least....a princess.  Again.

Now, onto the winner for the Ghastiles fabric bundle from Alice at alidiza.  I took out a couple entries that were duplicated to bring the total to 46 the winner is:

And that is Tawny! Tawny happens to be a fellow Winnipegger (who I have yet to meet in person!) and has a great blog here.

I will get your mailing info and pass it on to Alice.

Have a great Halloween!

Bloggers Quilt Festival

Welcome, Festival Goers!

This time around, I have decided to share my favorite quilt-du-jour and most recent finish, my Ghastlies quilt.   I found the perfect "haunted house" at which to photograph my quilt...very spooky!

 

I made this one with no pattern or plan in mind, just started with a few wonky blocks around fussy cuts from Alexander Henry's The Ghastlies line, and the project grew.  I added oranges, purples and pinks from my stash to compliment the greys and blacks, and had a blast bringing it all together.  One of my favorite parts is the wonky border, and the huge spiderweb quilting.  I did a tutorial for the quilting here (and there is also a Ghastly giveaway that you can enter if you'd like!).

The back is a simple spiderweb print from the local Fabricland, which, we discovered by fluke recently, glows in the dark!  My kids were VERY excited by this, really ramped up the "cool" factor for them (is "cool" the word to use these days??).

Wishing you all a spooktacular Halloween, and thanks for stopping by!  You can peek at some of my other finished quilts here if you'd like.  Enjoy the Festival!

Update:  It is nomination time, so if you are kind enough to nominate my quilt, I am #352!  Best categories would be:
- quilt photography
- home machine quilted (spiderweb!)
- throw quilt

Thank you!

spiderweb quilting tutorial and giveaway

*This giveaway is now closed*

Have you heard about the Ghastly Gathering hosted by Alice at aldiza?


She is running a fun little link up of all things Ghastly over at her blog, along with tutorials and such.  You should stop by!  And to top it off, she is giving away bundles of Ghastly fabric to participants (and I was lucky enough to win one- thanks, Alice!)!  She asked me if I would do a tutorial for the spiderweb quilting I used on my own Ghastly quilt.  

And as an added bonus, she will be awarding this bundle of the Ghastlies to someone who comments on this post!

So, here goes!


First of all, RELAX.  It is very freestyle, i.e. impossible to mess up.  The less mapped out and linear, the better.  But it helps to do a bit of preplanning.

I took a piece of paper and roughly sketched my quilt size, and decided how I wanted the web to extend.  Instead of centered, I found it was more dramatic offset to one side.  I placed the epicenter at the top right of the quilt.  Then I mapped out the radiating lines from that point.  I liked it best when lines did not cross through the center and keep going...made it a bit more wonky, which suited my quilt.

I basted my quilt and then chose my thread.  I opted to use a thicker thread, Aurafil 12 wt ("normal" is 50 wt), in a coordinating orange/yellow shade so that my quilting was very pronounced.  This thread reminds me a bit of the Perle cotton thread that I like to use for hand quilting, though not quite as thick.

Next I took some time to mark the radiating lines with dressmakers chalk and a ruler.  This will wash out completely so it is great for this purpose.

I started my quilting, following along those lines.

Once my radiating lines were placed, I started the webbing.  Beginning at the epicentre, I made c-shaped connections between the lines, turning the quilt as I went, the curve dipping towards the centre.

Continue until the entire quilt is covered in a spooky spiderweb!

Remember to leave a comment here to enter Alice's giveaway. Winner will be drawn on Sunday October 31!

*This giveaway is now closed*

WIP Wednesday: the one where I knit sh**

With the cooler weather whistling away outside, I have the annual feeling to nest.  Curling up in a cosy sweater with the knitting needles is just the thing!  So I have been knitting up a storm of late.

So far: 4 finished knit objects.  But all for gifts, so you will have to wait for the reveals.  I love this rainbow stack of yarn colours!

Currently on the needles (and aren't they cool needles??):  a Herringbone Cowl for me.  Love this pattern by Purl Soho. And the Madelinetosh chunky in Cove is divine!

On deck: a sweater in this pattern for The Middle Child in this luscious purple yarn by Malabrigo.

As for sewing, I have an optimistic (and likely unrealistic) list of handmade Christmas gifts I plan to make.  Quilting wise, I am in the midst of assembling my Linky Love quilt top....love it!  Grateful I have Tracey's pattern as a road map....lots of little pieces in this one, so it is good to just turn off my brain and rely on her excellent instructions.

Sharing over at WIP Wednesday.

the latest.

Working on some odds and ends.   Plus trying to get a jump start on some "Christmas Crafting" so it may be a wee bit quiet around here!

I made these seedling blocks for Tracey, who is putting a quilt together for a friend diagnosed with cancer.  I am sure a quilt full of these cheerful blocks will soothe her.

And been knitting away!  A sneak peak of a gift...used a cool new "cross stitch" for this one, and some lovely Malabrigo yarn.  So colourful an soft!

I am doing a little swap with my friend Svetlana.  My couch has been wanting some pillows for ages, but I never get around to it, and she makes such lovely ones, so I hit her up to make me one in exchange for a knit cowl.  Almost done...here is a sneak peak of that as well!

Aren't I mysterious?  Hope to have more to show you, sooner or later!

Have a great day!
Kristie