Easter Apron

We are going to my Parents' for the annual Armstrong Easter Egg Hunt at the park. The best-dressed wins an Easter basket full of goodies and we are hoping this sweet Easter Apron wins for my daughter this year.

I designed the apron and chose colours to match her strawberry summer dress & Easter hat. Of course the nest needed to be a pocket so she can stash extra goodies when her basket is full! She promised that if she wins she will share the candy with her cousins. Thank goodness!

I used this lovely apron tutorial by Prairie Moon Quilts as a guide for my apron. I cut a 15 x 21" rectangle for the white background, 6-1/2 x 13" piece for the waist, and 6 x 40" strips for the ties. I love the long ties tied in a bow at the front.

Spring has sprung! The tulips are blooming in my garden! And I was pleasantly surprised when I opened my vegan chocolate bar to find this waiting for me! I'm certain all you crafty people would totally appreciate little details like this!

HAPPY EASTER!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Holiday Sewing

I sewed and quilted a few things for Christmas including this MugRug or mini quilt for the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild Christmas scrap swap. The challenge was to use a bag of scraps from a fellow guild member and create something they love.

Upon finding the name of my partner inside the scraps, I headed to the world wide web in search of anything that could help me design something she would love. I based my design on a photo she had pinned of some scrapbook trees and then added a few of my own fabrics that would work well with the ones I received.

I really liked how it turned out :o) Surprisingly my hubby liked it too and was sad to see it go! It was the first free-motion quilting done on my new Janome Horizon... Merry Christmas to me! I lucked out and found a gently used machine in box for a really good deal so it was a spur of the moment decision and I couldn't be happier. It's twice the size of my old machine and quilts like a dream.

Although the item for the swap was supposed to be smallish, there were many larger items including this fabulous quilt top that I received from Paul. Thank you so much! I love it more than you could know!! You can see more fun items in our group photo.

Next I made a set of Leaf Potholders for my brother's fiancee. Her kitchen is black & white with a hint of red. I don't have much black & white fabric but luckily upgraded my text stash recently with lots of black & white! She was very happy with them and said they were perfect :o)

I also made my daughter three skirts. She loves heavily patterned clothes and definitely has her own style. Finding the perfect fabrics was just as much fun as sewing them!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season. Happy Sewing in the New Year!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Texting While Sewing Surprise!

We were away all weekend enjoying our last trip to visit my family and have fun at the Interior Provincial Exhibition & Fair so I missed the news that my block for the Texting While Sewing contest was chosen as one of the Top 10!

A bigger surprise awaited me when I opened my e-mail the next morning to discove that I won first place! I would have blogged sooner but I was sidetracked when I hopped on over to the Fat Quarter Shop to pick $50 of free fabric!

No really... it was the first week of school and we are all trying to get used to the new schedule. A reversible bug jar dress that was a special request for summer was finally sewn for the second day of grade 3. At least she said it was worth the wait and the boys at school gave me the thumbs up too!

I am also often lured into playing with our new kitty Opal. She is very sweet but can wreak havoc on the organized piles in my craftroom!

Oops! Sidetracked again! Now back to the contest...
Second place went to Cindy for this ingenious iphone block. I giggled when I first read the selvedge conversation!

And third place went to Kristy for her Quilter's Bible. I just love that selvedge bookmark!

Thank you to Amy of During Quiet Time for hosting such a fun contest. I joined before I even knew that there would be such fabulous prizes. Thank you also to the talented Kerry & Ayumi for their difficult work as judges. There were so many amazing blocks created with text fabrics and you can see them all in the Texting While Sewing flickr group.

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Linen Skirts

The combination of hot weather and girls' birthdays gave me the perfect excuse to whip up these cute linen skirts!

These two skirts are for my friend's twin daughters who just turned three. They are really into Hello Kitty and Thomas & Friends so I came up with these non-commercial designs that I hope they'll love. The kitty is a little pocket and the train is fusible web applique with felt button wheels!

I also made this reversible skirt for my niece who just turned one! One side is a blue linen-cotton with fun birds & flowers. The other side is a cute cherry print.

I'm planning to make a few more skirts for birthday presents because they are so cute & easy to make and the girls love them. There's only one problem... my daughter has fallen in love with every single one I've made! I guess I will be making a few new skirts for her too!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Patchwork Scarf & a spot of Tea

I finished my scarf and I am VERY happy with it! I love the colour and the fabrics and the super soft microfleece backing. I was worried that it might turn out too pink because really I am not a pink person however the colour has been growing on me in the last couple years. The green backing, and the greens and tans in the patchwork do a great job of toning down the pink.

I also used some fabulous Tea Party fabric by Susan Branch and a bit of sweet Tea Time tape made by my very talented friend Anna of LillaLotta in France!

After all, it just wouldn't be a scarf for me without a spot of tea!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

Scarves & Tarts

This evening I finally started working on the scarf that I have wanted to make for myself since Autumn! I will finally have a scarf to match the hat that I made for myself last winter... no more blue scarf with my pink hat! I have been looking for the perfect project for which to use this wonderful Susan Branch tea party fabric that was given to me. I coffee-stained it darker, and I found some very soft green microfibre fleece for the backing. I like how it is coming together so far! I plan on using some of Anna's wonderful handmade tea tape as a label for the back :o)

I made this wonderful Pear & Cranberry Tart last week. It was amazing and amazingly easy! It was my first time using frozen puff pastry from the supermarket...

I made a bunch of stuff at Christmas that I would like to share with you over the next few posts. The first were these fabric rose brooches and this patchwork scarf for my Mom. It was my first time making both items. The scarf was fun, fast & easy to make...

I have a funny feeling that my friends will all get new scarves next year!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)

International Treasures

For those of you who do not follow my Flickr pages, all of this will be new to you! For those who do, you will have seen most of this already but hopefully my words will add some extra interest as I try to catch up on my blogging :o)

My two newest purchases were handmade in France by Sonia of Cozy Memories. One very sweet felt gingerbread garland, and this amazing hand-embroidered house pillow that I fell in love with while watching it being created step by step on Flickr!

When friends visit, I enjoy showing off my growing collection of crafty treasures from friends all over the world including the works of Syko from Finland, Cyn Contemporary from Italy, Hip to Piece Squares from the USA, and my many friends from Brazil.

I also won a Willowberry Designs Giveaway and received all this goodness in the mail last week all the way from Australia- 2 patterns, fabric, felt, beads, gift tags and buttons. What a great giveaway! Thank you Cheryl!

My latest projects include this skirt I made for a friend's daughter who just turned 2! This is my daughter Claire modelling the skirt. She almost didn't want to take it off!

And finally, I found a mini shopping basket at the dollar store. I thought it would be fun to make some felt fruit and veggies for one of Claire's Christmas gifts. I started with a carrot...

I ordered this wonderful felt from One of the Flock to make more felt food and to use as icing on my CupCake Pincushions. The texture is just yummy!

Enjoy your afternoon tea & quilted crafts :o)