Knit All the Things!

Hey y'all! Last month I participated in a little Instagram swap with friends called Knit All the Things - it was super-super-fun! Not only did we swap yarn, patterns, and other knitting-type lovelies, many of us made a little something for our partners as well.

I decided to use Shannon's free pattern and made a Reversible Box Tote for my partner, Meg. Instead of adding the pocket, I decided to paper piece this little "knit" insert. I realized after mailing my package that I could have actually turned this bit of paper piecing into a pocket, which not only would have been easier but also more practical. Oh well, c'est la vie!

Here is the finished tote. I used an Art Gallery print for the outside and paper piecing, and a print from Zen Chic's Comma for the interior. I quite like how it turned out and Shannon's pattern is fab! Of course, I forgot to take a picture of everything else I included in the package (Hazel Knits and Madelinetosh yarns), but I did get a picture of what I received from the lovely Jennifer!

Eeep! Isn't this the best package ever?! I love everything and I am super-excited to have some beautiful sock blockers of my very own. Gosh, I am one lucky girl!

A Little Arrow Mini

Hey y'all! How's everybody doing? I've been crazy busy, but thought I'd pop in to share this little mini I made.

I made this little guy for Kayla for the Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap on Instagram. Ever since I released the Orion pattern, I've wanted to make a mini just using the paper-pieced arrow portion. After reading over Kayla's list of likes I dislikes, I figured this was the perfect opportunity to do just that!

One of the big "likes" on Kayla's list was Denyse Schmidt, so other than the low-volume neutrals and the arrow shaft (because wood), all of the prints featured come from one of Denyse's collections - I think there are three different lines represented in all.

I made one teeny mistake when paper-piecing this one that I didn't notice until I was quilting (and don't worry, the pattern itself is fine, this was all me), but I don't think it's terribly noticeable right away and you know, it makes it unique and stuff *wink*.

 Orion's Arrow Mini

For: Kayla

Finished Size: 7x24"

Completed: 15 January 2015

Full Orion pattern can be found here.

Photo courtesy of Rita, taken at QuiltCon

P.S. If you happened to me at QuiltCon a few weeks back, you might have just spotted the original Orion quilt hanging in the Massdrop booth. It just arrived back home last night and I'm so happy to see it again. Loaning out quilts/sending them anywhere without me makes me incredibly nervous!

A Very Harry Christmas

Hey y'all! With Christmas only a couple of days away, I thought I'd share a little project I made for my friend Ale. Ale and I originally met on Instagram and quickly bonded over our mutual love of both sewing and Harry Potter; we finally met in real life when I taught at Sewing Summit last year. Last Christmas we decided to exchange HP themed Christmas pillows and so (as Ale dubs it) "A Very Harry Christmas" was born! I never had the chance to share the pillow I made for Ale, but since Christmas is here again, I figured now is a great time!

This picture was totally stolen from Ale since apparently I no longer have the pictures I took (they were on my phone that died). I used the same sketchy applique method that I outline in this tutorial; most of the pieces were traced onto fusible web using templates (like the letters), but some of the smaller bits (the socks, the snitch, etc) were drawn freehand. Like the Lumos/Nox mini I made, this pillow was also quilted with the Deathly Hallows.

This is one of the only photos I have from when I was working on the pillow, but you can see the applique method a bit better. Most of the fabrics used come from Bonnie and Camille's Vintage Modern collection and the pillow is finished with an envelope-style back.

In the spirit of the holidays, here is the Christmukkah card that Alex and I made and sent out.

Since I forgot to take pictures before mailing all of the cards, I totally stole this one from my friend Tracey. Hmmm, I starting to detect a theme here... reminder to self: take your own pictures.

I hope that you all have a lovely holiday season and get the chance to relax a bit. I'm uber-excited to have some time off work so that I can get down to the business of sewing - woot!

Man is so made that when anything fires his soul, impossibilities vanish. -Jean de la Fontaine

Hey y'all! So I haven't blogged in a little bit but I have a pretty good excuse - I started my new job last week! If you've been with me for awhile you know that I have been looking for work for quite some time now; it has been a stressful few months and the last couple especially have been really hard. I am still settling in and getting used to my new routine, but so far everyone is really nice and I'm able to give recommendations and have a say in the library services.

Anyway, because I'm still getting used to having far fewer hours in the day to devote to my own work, I have only sewn one thing since I started my new job (although there is other crafty stuff going on that I can't talk about right now) and that had to be done by last Sunday.

At this month's TMQG meeting we held a little blind pincushion swap! I've really been enjoying making one colour, scrappy pincushions so I did it again. Almost all of these purple scraps came from a little scrap pack I bought from The Workroom.

I fussy cut the centre motif from Tula Pink's Birds and the Bees and decided to go with a rectangular log cabin so that I could use as many scraps as possible. I don't know the identity of many of the scraps but I do know that there is some Lizzy House, Anna Maria Horner, and more Tula Pink in there.

My pincushion went to Sally (who also brought each of us a bag of crushed walnut shells to use in future pincushions) and I received a pincushion back from Sandy which I have, unfortunately, not had a chance to get decent pictures of.

I'm really hoping to get some sewing in this weekend, especially since I need to finish the quilt I started for Alex - wish me luck!

TMQG Holiday Scrap Swap + the Giveaway Winner!

As many of you know I am President of the Toronto Modern Quilt Guild and this year I thought we should have a little bit of fun to celebrate our last meeting leading up to the holiday season (we don't hold a meeting in December because that would be crazy). Back in August and September guild members brought in sandwich sized ziploc bags full of scraps and we swapped them out. We each then made some small giftie type items using the scraps and held a secret Santa/mystery gift swap at this month's meeting.

I received Doris's scraps and made these three small items. I originally was making a tote with patchwork pockets but somehow managed to totally jank it up, so I cut the pockets down to make the mug rug and the pincushion. The tree ornament is loosely based on Anna's tutorial, however I didn't use her template and just free handed everything (I'm sure yours will turn out much nicer if you actually follow the tutorial). Doris's scraps aren't really my style but I wanted to try really hard to use the scraps that I was given and not much else (which wasn't part of the rules for the swap but I wanted to challenge myself). The only things that didn't come from Doris's scraps were the felt and baker's twine for the tree.

Funnily enough, the mystery gift I received was actually made from my scraps! Sheila made me this lovely (and giant) zipper pouch and used a few of my scraps to create a rainbow effect across the front.

Sheila boxed the edges of the pouch so that it can stand up on it's own. In the picture it's got reusable shopping bags stuffed inside, but I'm planning on using it to hold either sewing supplies when I need to travel (I think my Clover mini iron will fit well in here with a slew of other things) or to hold knitting projects that require longer straight needles. Now didn't Sheila do a fabulous job? I love it!

And then...

I totally got photobombed! Yep, that's Alex. Oy.

So I bet you want to know who won the Down Under chevron and Kona bundle sponsored by Sew Sisters? The Winner is (drum roll please)...

Congratulations Lesly! Please get in touch with me with your mailing address and I will have Sew Sisters send your fabric out to you!