finish a long q2 list of promises

 

Will I be more successful this quarter? Maybe.

I will rollover all but one previous projects, the Zen Chic coaster.

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1 Rainbow Coin Quilt
2 Flannel QAYG Throw
3 Candy Flower Pillow
4 Marmalade Squares II Quilt
5 Scrappy Name Tag

I will add this mini for a certain stinky little bunny.

6 Beeksie’s Blanket

Also, this VMQG Challenge project due in June.

7 VMQG Challenge Placemat

I’m having trouble coming up with enough I Spy like hexies from the fabric given, so there will have to be some from the stash.

 

Looking forward to your finishes. Good luck to everyone!

finish-a-long q1

Well, here it is. My Q1 Finish-a-long contribution.

Yes, it’s a coaster. Math makes me shut down, so I wanted to experiment with how to make a nice sized coaster without doing any real measuring. This is from a mini charm pack of Zen Chic Figures and I made a disappearing nine patch. I learned this block from Cluck Cluck Sew’s tutorial. It finishes at 5×5 by some miracle. I put the shiny batting in between, so it is somewhat thermal.

I took a good bash at my Rainbow Coin Quilt, I really did, but between a sore back and two small children, I did not have the strength after 8PM to be crawling around the floor basting a quilt. I was also a bit frustrated by the raggedyness of the bottom. I did hack a ton of it off, and with it many of the coins. Not sure how it all went so wrong.
rainbow coin quilt

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This first one was just a Hello Darling Nine Patch and it’s a bit big.

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I am sorry to report that the beautiful mug you see in the picture, the one I have my morning coffee in, has chipped. Unfortunate dishwasher accident this week.

It was a gift with (macadamia nut) purchase from Hilo Hattie. We were on our honeymoon and had just visited Kapaia Stitchery. It was across the street, so we just had to stop in.

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Congrats to everyone on the fabulous finishes! Perhaps my list next quarter will be less ambitious….

#2016fal

garden tote

The Little Sprouts Garden Program that my Bean enjoys so much is having a fundraiser this weekend and I made yet another of Happy Zombie’s Poochie Bags.

I used Maureen Cracknell’s Wild and Free for the outside and stash for the straps and pocket.

I’m addicted to these bags. This one was for my Mom’s birthday.

The colours are just so Springly. There might be enough of this fabric left to make me a little pouch.

My Bean is almost finished her first year of preschool so I thought I’d whip some more of these up for her teachers. Stay tuned…

casing the joint

Well I’m done with chickpeas. Sorry, I lost interest. There’s a few more chickpea things I might show you, so don’t worry, but I’d much rather sew.

I cancelled my fat quarter club subscription from Earthly Goods. The shop is lovely, but the fabrics I was getting weren’t really my bag. So I joined the Color Your Stash club with Fabric Shoppe instead. 12 fat quarters a month plus a spool of Aurifil. However, my stash is pretty, ahem, “colourful” already so I don’t need any more fabric. I had to commit to making one thing a month from the package. Although I did get the Christmas package, I didn’t really feel like making Christmas stuff mid December. There is a plan for that fabric next Christmas, so I think that counts.

January’s pink package arrived yesterday and thanks to hubbo making my children disappear all morning, I made something already. Behold the I’m Obsessed with Bunnies Pillowcase!

Now, I’m going to link to this pattern because it is a cute design and FQ friendly. However, the instructions are duff! I have no clue what kind of witchcraft they employed to get the trim on to this pillowcase, but it cannot be done. Dunno, maybe I’m just addled. If you can work it out, do let me know. I could have made this in less than a morning had I not had to work out a new way of attaching the trim. If you decide to use this pattern, here’s what I did.

Make the 40 inch tube but don’t press in half or fold over. Put the right side of the trim inside the pillowcase on the wrong side and sew a scant 1/4 inch seam.

Press this seam towards the trim side of the pillowcase.

Now fold the other raw edge over a 1/2 inch and press.

Flip the raw edge around to the outside of the pillowcase and topstitch all around.

I see many more pillowcases in my future.

I don’t know what the kids do with these hashtags, but here’s one anyway. #coloryourstashclub

totally tote

Remember that fat quarter club I joined? Well here’s what this Amy Butler fabric inspired me to do.That’s right. I made this tote bag, courtesy of Happy Zombie. I received and used three fat quarters within two weeks. This is unprecedented.

I can also say that I am not the worst top-stitcher in the world.

A few changes:

I made only one pocket.

I sewed the straps on a little closer because I wasn’t sure if I would catch the sides of the pocket otherwise.

I reinforced the strap by backstitiching before going down the other side.

It turned out the perfect size for magazines. Luckily, the recipient is a great fan of travelling with magazines.

saving through indignance

After we moved in here and I used the dryer a few times, I decided that it didn’t dry great and maybe needed a duct cleaning. So I called the man whose sticker on the was on the front. Easy. I was at work when he came, but the message relayed to me by Hubbo was that the dryer was fine and dandy. I was just putting in too much stuff. Too much stuff. Because I had only just taken a class in how to do laundry and was working on my practicum.

I started hanging all the laundry on a rack out of spite. That’s right, spite, of a man I’d never met.

It wasn’t really much of a change. I already had a rack going because many of my shirts don’t go in the dryer. The only things I didn’t hang were diapers, towels, and bedding. Until summer came along. The Loftorium is like an oven come 5PM so that most things will dry within 24 hours. Not so much in the rainy winter.

Anyway, I got $75 out of the deal.

The power company will give you $75 if you save 10% over a year. I signed up last July and a few weeks ago they cut me a cheque because I saved 21%! It was mistakenly addressed to Man.

Guess what I spent it on?This lot came from Raspberry Creek.

And this one came from Fabric Shoppe.

And these two lots came from Bee Yourself Fabrics.

I can’t resist the mystery scrap package. Now all I need is a plan…..