Scrappy Mini Quilt

When Rachel at Stitched in Color announced her Festival of Scrappiness, I knew that I wanted to make a little mini scrap quilt for Arlyn's stuffed animals that she fancies.  I had some extra Loulouthi fabric sitting around from Arlyn's curtains in her room, and thought that I would put it to good use! 

I discovered some beautiful linen while out thrifting the other day (yes, someone had gotten rid of their linen scraps...thank you!), and thought that it would pair nicely with the loulouthi.  Add a few more scraps, and here is the finished product!

It measures about 15x15...perfect for covering up a little stuffie! 

The quilting was an attempt at the orange peel design...I thought I might as well try it out on a mini quilt before giving it a whirl on a larger quilt (which is the same story for the binding...it was my first time entirely machine binding a quilt and I think I'm going to re-bind it so that it's a little nicer).  I attempted the quilting with the darning foot first, but I couldn't quite get the stitch length to be uniform with this pattern.  I've used free-motion quilting before here and here, but this design was a little trickier.  Because my squares were pretty large (finished 2.5") I decided to try out my walking foot for the quilting...and it worked!  Since my squares are a little 'off' in a few areas the pattern isn't perfect, but I'm happy with it (for my first try, at least)!

I think Arlyn is going to love it...she has three little animals that she's been carrying around lately (yes, sometimes all at once) so it may be a little hard to decide who will get the quilt each night!

The three animals of choice!

Update.  Okay, Arlyn does love it.  Here's a few photos!

The three choice animals testing the mini out for size!

Testing out the quilt

Pushing the stuffies around



Picnic time!

Why wouldn't I get in here!

A Fishing Vest for Jack

We went home for a few days over the weekend and into March Break, and were able to celebrate my nephew's 5th birthday.  I'd been thinking for a few weeks about what to get him and, of course, decided to make him something!  I picked out some Fish in The Sea a few months back, and have been waiting for some inspiration. Then I had a brilliant idea.  Summer is on it's way...cottage season...boats...and fishing!

I used the explorer vest pattern from the Oliver + S book that my sister gave me for Christmas, and came up with this:

The fish material worked perfectly for this project!

I added some grommets and little fishing lures (removed the sharp hook before fastening them on)...

and attached them using Velcro so that Jack's mom can throw the vest in the wash!

I really liked the idea of the back pocket from the pattern...though it might be a little hard to access without taking the vest off (I guess that's what moms and dads are for).  :)

I'm pretty sure that Jack liked it...even though it was on the small side (kids keep growing so darn fast)!

So, now that I've made one I MUST make some more...well, at least one for Elliott.  He's been asking me when he's getting his fishing vest, so I better add it to the list!

~Karina

Pancake Wednesday

Elliott LOVES pancakes.  I think he asks to have them for breakfast every day.  So, in order to appease the little guy, we've created 'Pancake Wednesdays' that occur weekly.  It goes down something like this: every Tuesday night before bed I make the pancake batter, keeping the wet and dry ingredients separate, and every Wednesday morning Elliott mixes the two together.  While they're cooking Elliott asks 'are they done yet?' about 15 times and then when they are done he cuts out shapes with his heart cookie cutters (or his Santa cookie cutter...depending on the day) and dips them into maple syrup!  The idea is simple, the process is simple, but 'Pancake Wednesdays' mean the world to him!  And that means a lot to me...

I love having Elliott home - he attends JK what works out to be 2.5 days per week and as much as he needs the socialization, I'm so very glad that I still get to have him around!  I didn't become a SAHM until after Arlyn was born (Elliott was 3.5 years old), and I feel a little like I've been catching up with him.  Does that make sense?  What a joy it is to be able to experience my kids - I'm so blessed!

Are you sick of the sappiness yet?  :) 

Okay, so, back to Wednesdays!  Usually we go to the library on Wednesday afternoons to pick out a few books and DVDs for the week (we don't have cable and only receive 'snow storms' on our tv, so the kids pick out a few tv shows to watch), and play with the toys that the library has out in the kids section. But guess what?  Today.  Outside.  It is 11 degrees celsius.  This means that we are going to the creek to explore with some friends!  And on a side note...this is officially MY FIRST PLAYDATE IN BOWMANVILLE!  :)  (Okay Jeanine, if you're reading this, yes, it is that big of a deal)!  :) 

Wednesday also means my sewing class at the college, and I'm always pumped about that!  Here's my little assignment for this week:



Lapped Zipper!

Unfortuantely when I go out in the evening it means that I can't work on my own projects like this little number I'm making with the help of my husband's old pants...more to come on this when I get it finished!

Wishing you a beautiful Wednesday.

~Karina

Skirts!

Want to see what I've been working on?  Of course, they're new projects...because, why would I finish any of my big projects when I can whip up these little numbers?!  :)

I've finally been able to put to use some of the that gorgeous Storyboek fabric that my little sis got me for Christmas - isn't it adorable?  This print is called Field Friends in Coral and it's too cute.

 Basically, the skirt is a tube of fabric with elastic running through a casing at the top.  It's truly that simple.  The binding was made from some scraps in my stash and goes along with the print wonderfully! 

So, this will be Arlyn's Easter skirt (just perfect for Easter with the bunnies all over it) unless I can whip up a little dress in time.  Though, I think my next few free nights might be taken up tackling something for Elliott.  I'm envisioning some sort of suit jacket for him to wear at Easter, but it's a pretty lofty goal so say a few prayers for me! 

Oh, I also worked on this little pleated skirt the other night.  I really wanted to try making a skirt with a dropped waistband, and to practice some of my skills I added a lapped zipper at the side.

The lap wasn't quite wide enough (I should have sewn the zipper with a 6/8' allowance instead of 5/8"), but I put a little tab at the top to cover the imperfections! 

And here's a few photos of Arlyn wearing her skirt to her little friend Abigail's 1st birthday party!

Waiting for her lunch after having a blast in the pool!

Waiting to play 'Pin the Tail on the Donkey'

Reaching for the button to open the door...she played with this for twenty minutes!

I think it would be easier in terms of sizing to make the skirt with an elastic running through the back band, but I know now for next time. And there WILL be a next time. Did I use a tutorial for this skirt? No. (*huge grin*). I'm starting to figure things out on my own!  It's definitely a trial and error process, but I think it's working for me!

~Karina