Another Quilt Finished!!!

My sister and I have been working on a quilt for 11 months now. It's the project that got me started into quilting. My sister had made several quilts, and we decided one day that we should make one together. We bought a book called "Simple Strategies for Scrap Quilts" by Lynn Roddy Brown at a quilt store. We split the cost of all the fabric and worked on the blocks together. We chose a simple pattern. We both loved the look of scrap quilts. We went and bought a bunch of fat quarters on sale. We bought fabric that we liked. We both have different tastes. So, there are many different fabrics in this quilt. We didn't worry about that. We wanted that look. Once we had the top done, we decided to hand quilt the quilt. Now, I must say that my sister did most of the hand quilting. She had the quilt at her house and worked at it most nights. She did an amazing job. I did help a bit quilting the center of the quilt, but I hand quilted the border and put the binding on it. This quilt is a gift. I'm not going to say for who, because I have not given it to them yet. But, I think they will really like it. It was nice to be able to do a project like this with my sister. We are very close. We have a big family and most of my siblings live far away. My sister and I live in the same town. Sometimes we feel disconnected from the rest of my siblings because we don't see them much. This was a good way to stay connected to each other, even with our busy lives. I don't know if we will ever be able to do a big project like this together again, but I hope we can challenge each other in smaller projects to be creative. I really enjoyed spending all that time with her. She is so creative and does such nice things. Sometimes she makes the most amazing items with materials that totally shock you. She is definitely a creative soul. I love her very much. Thanks for doing this project with me Sis.

Happy Stitching!

Ariane :o)

A sweat birdy appliqued t-shirt!

Hi everyone, I had bought an aqua colored t-shirt for my daughter. I decided to do an applique on it this afternoon. I had printed off a free coloring page from the Tricia-Rennea Art Blog for my daughter on valentines day. I just happen to find it today amongst some papers I was cleaning up. I looked at it and thought the picture would make a nice applique on a t-shirt for my daughter. So I traced the picture on fusible web and then got my pieces of fabric cut out and ironed onto the t-shirt. Then, I did a blanket stitch by hand around all the pieces and VOILA!!! I have a great looking t-shirt for my girl. I also spent some time outside today. It's beautiful outside here today. It was nice and sunny. I decided to do some raking of leaves in my back yard. It was nice to get some spring fresh air. The snow is all gone here now. We usually still have snow on the ground at this time of year. I'm not complaining. It's nice to have some nice weather where you can wear a sweater and be comfortable outside. No more bulky winter coats. It's so nice. I hope everyone has a great day.

Happy Stitching!!

Ariane :o)

Another Cute little outfit done!!

Hi everyone, I just finished the applique on another t-shirt....and the outfit is done. I made another little skirt for my daughter. I used pink this time. I bought two Lila Tueller Woodland Bloom fat quarters and another pink stripe. I used the left over fabric from the skirt to do the appliques on the t-shirt I bought at Walmart. I decided to just do some simple hearts for the appliques. It didn't take as long to hand blanket stitch them on. I think this outfit will be a nice addition to my daughter's summer clothes. It's casual and cute at the same time. She just loves it. I hope everyone is well.

Happy Stitching!

Ariane

A birthday gift from my sister!!!

My birthday is on tuesday. My sister decided to bring me an early birthday present. She made me a wonderful little quilt, a nice little bag, gave me some beautiful vintage buttons, and gave me some half yard cuts of nice light fabrics. She knows that I love pinwheels, and she made a beautiful little pinwheel quilt. She even hand quilted it with a circle design. I just love it. I didn't notice the quilting from the front, but when I turned it over you could see the wonderful circle design. I have some pics below to show this. It's a bit hard to see. She also gave me 6 half yard cuts of light fabrics. They are great. I always go to quilting shops to buy light fabrics and always leave with a bunch of darks. She knows this cause I go to quilt shops with her. So, I really needed some lights. I love the ones she selected for me. I love buttons, and she gave me these wonderful vintage buttons. I'll be able to use them on bags and all my little projects I do. Thank you so much Sis for the wonderful gifts. I just love them.

Aqua outfit complete with appliqued top!!

Hi everyone!! I finished doing the appliqued top to match the skirt I made for my daughter the other day. I bought the plain white t-shirt at Walmart, then used light fusible web to adhere the appliques to the t-shirt. I then did a blanket stitch by hand around each applique and added a bit of embroidery to finish it off. I didn't feel comfortable using my sewing machine to do the blanket stitch. I really like the way it turned out. I love this little outfit. She is so happy with it. I just had tiny pieces left of the material from the skirt. I had bought three fat quarters and that's what I used to make the skirt. My daughter is a size 10. So I had just enough material to do this project. I bought everything on sale so this whole outfit cost me only $15.00 to make including the tax. Now that's a bargain. That doesn't include all the time I put in. But it was well worth it. Now she has a one of a kind cute outfit.

Today was a long day for me. My husband was really sick. I had to take him to the emergency room this morning. I spent all morning and afternoon there. It was long. But he is home now, and got medication and should be getting better in the next few days. He works too hard. He needs to take a break. I hope he really rests the next few days.

I brought my hand stitching with me to the hospital. I was able to make 6 stars for my hexagon quilt. I've made 95 stars for my hexagon star quilt. 40 of those stars have the white border around them. So, I'm doing really well with this top. I only have 160 stars left to make and 215 white border to put on the stars. The numbers are getting smaller. I'm getting there. Well, it's late and I have had a long day. So, goodbye for now.

Ariane

Okay! I went shopping again.

So, I just couldn't help myself. I went to the store with my daughter, she asked me if we could go to my favorite quilting shop. I said "YES". I had not intended to buy anything. But when I got to the sale basket where they sell fat quarter 5 for $10, they had added a bunch of really nice fabric to it. So, I started looking through it. Taking all the ones I liked.....5....10.....15........20. My daughter stops me...."Mom!!!! That's fourty dollars....Dad's going to be mad if you buy too much!! If you keep going you'll buy the whole basket." So, I stopped there. Okay....so it's great fabric. I tried to co-ordinate some of them, so that I would be able to use them in projects together. I don't know what projects they are...but I'll figure it out eventually. My daughter was wearing the little skirt I made yesterday when we went to the fabric shop. I had bought the fabric I used to make it from there. The ladies all came and admired her skirt. Everytime a new lady came in the shop,they stopped them to show the skirt. My daughter just smiled and said "My mom really likes fabric...she could just keep buying it." All the women laughed. I just love shopping with my daughter. She only 9 years old, but she always has something to say about the fabrics she likes and the ones she doesn't. I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up loving fabric just like me. It was really fun to spend that time with her. I hope everyone has a great day.

Happy Stitching!

Ariane :o)

A cute skirt!!

Now I have made a skirt for my daughter. I also made the pattern myself for this skirt. It turned out really nice. This is my favorite, so far. It fits her perfect. I still have to get her a nice top to go with it. But I think I will make a few more using this pattern.

Ariane :o)

A little peasant dress

Okay! I'm not that great at making clothing. But, I do my best. I made a peasant dress for my daughter today. It's cute. She really likes it. It's something that she will be able to play in and be comfortable. It's decent. I really like the fabric. I made my own pattern for this. I did okay considering. So here it is. I'm just learning as I go. I never took any sewing classes. I will get better as time goes on. It does takes practice.

I bought new fabric!!!

Hi everyone! Yesterday, I mentionned that I had bought some new fabric. I'm very excited about this. I'm going to try new things with this fabric and push my skills to new horizons. With these gorgeous aqua's I'm going to make a nice patchwork skirt for my daughter. I plan to have at least four of these fabrics in the skirt. Then I think I'm going to buy a plane matching T-shirt and do an applique on it, so that she has an outfit. With the pink fabrics, I'm going to make a dress out of it. I have 2 yards of pink that I had bought for another project and decided not to use it. So, I'm going to add these new fabrics to that and make a cute peasant style dress for her. Now, I don't have a pattern. But I have an idea of how I want it to look. So I'm going to start with the peasant blouse pattern and add to that. I will make my own pattern. Now that's a bit of a stretch for me since I've only ever made one other piece of clothing. But you know, I think I can do it. So, what the heck...I'm going for it. The rest of the fabric is going to be used for quilts. What ever I have left over from the two other sewing projects are also going to be used in bags or quilts. So, I'm very excited about all my new fabric. I'm going to have lots of fun using it. I hope everyone is well. I'm going to get going on some of these projects. So have a great day!!
Happy Stitching!!
Ariane :o)

Hexagon Stars Quilt Progress

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well. I have been working on my hexagon star quilt. I'm stitching this top by hand so it's a slow process. I have two rows out of 15 sewn together. There are 17 star blocks in each row. This is going to be a queen size quilt. I really like the way it looks up to now. It is going to be a very colorful quilt. I'm only making 2 stars of each fabric I'm using. So that is 122 different fabrics. It's going to be fun to see them all together when I'm done. Well, I have to work this evening. So that's all for today.

Happy Stitching!!

Ariane :o)

Finished Brushfire Quilt Project Blocks

Hi everyone, I hope you are well. I finally finished the last four blocks for the Victoria Brushfire Quilt Project. I made eight blocks in total. I can now mail them out. I really enjoyed making these blocks. I hope that who ever gets the quilt or quilts made with these blocks really enjoys them. I'm sure they will.

My husband took me to a Brian Adams concert last night. We had so much fun. Brian Adams is an amazing performer. We had really good seats. This was my early birthday present from my husband. He knew that Brian Adams is one of my favorite artist. Thanks for taking me out Honey!!

Happy Stitching!!

Ariane :o)

I made my first piece of clothing!!!

Hi everyone, I decided to try my hand at making a piece of clothing. I decided to make something for my daughter. I purchased an easy pattern to make a peasant style blouse. It's Burda pattern 9573. It turned out pretty good considering it was my first one. I made it a bit big. So I had to add tie backs to sinch it at the waist a bit. But it looks cute. I bought some fabric that was on sale for $4.00/metre at Fabricland. I didn't want to spend too much in case it didn't turn out. But she likes it. I like it too. It's cute with jeans.
I'm going to try to make a skirt too. I bought a different fabric for that. It's a more difficult pattern, so I don't know how it will turn out. But I'll try my best. I hope everyone is well. Have a great day.

Ariane

Fabric Received from SewMamaSew FQ Swap!!

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well. I have received all four of my fat quarters from my SewMamaSew Swap partners. This was a lot of fun. I received four very different fabrics. I really love all of them. They will all be used for their very own special project. I will have to find really nice co-ordinating fabrics for each. That is even more fun. More shopping for fabric....who doesn't love that :o). Well, I have to work this afternoon. Have a very good night.

Happy Stitching!!

Ariane

I finished the baby quilt!!!

Hi everyone, I finally finished putting the binding on the baby quilt I've been making. This has taken me longer than it should have, cause I wasn't really motivated to work on it. I don't know why. But I finally got it done. Now I just have to wash it and send it out to the intended recipient. I hope she likes it. It was my first attempt at stippling a quilt. It's not the best, but it takes practice. I'll get better as time goes on. I had to start somewhere. I have to work evening shift tonight. I'm really tired, but it shouldn't be too busy at work since it's Sunday night. I hope everyone is well.

Happy Stitching!!

Ariane

Brushfire Quilt Project

Hi everyone, I took this morning to work on some blocks for the Brushfire Quilt Project. I really enjoyed making them and I think it felt even better knowing I'm making them for a good cause. I hope you like them. I have four made. I hope to make at least eight. But I have to work today, so four is all I could do today. I hope you are all well.

Happy Stitching!

Ariane :o)

Hand made gifts for my sister and my nephew

Hi everyone, I gave my sister and my nephew their birthday presents. They were very happy with them. I think a bit surprised too. I made my sister a nice big tote bag. It is really my favorite bag that I've made. It has nice long handles and it's big enough to carry a lot of stuff. The front pocket is large enough to put a big magazine or book. I'm just really pleased with the way it turned out.

I also gave her a Kaffe Fassett book and roll of fabric. She had told me that she loved his quilts. I know she really loved the fabric and book. I also gave my nephew a crayon roll that I made. This was my first attempt at making one of these, and I think it turned out really nice. I know he liked it. I also gave him some Kids KNEX. I know he will love these too. Now, I can add both of these items to my finishes for the month of March. I'm really happy with the way these turned out. The kids and I had a really good time with my sister's family tonight. All in all, this was a really good day. I hope you have a great rest of the day.
Happy Stitching!

Ariane :o)

More Stars!!

Hi everyone, I haven't posted anything in a while. It's not because I haven't been sewing. I have a few projects completed that I can't show you until later because they are gifts. But I will share with you the stars I've been making for my Hexagon Star quilt. I made 62 stars up to date. I need 255. That's pretty good. I have to cut more pieces. I've sew everything I had pre-cut. As you can see, this will be a very colorful quilt. I love that. I like to mix all the colors. I love all the fabrics and it allows me to have a piece of all the fabrics I love in one quilt. This is just the beginning. I still have 193 stars to make. WOW!!! That seems like an insurmountable amount. Considering I still have to put the white borders around each. Well, I'm having fun doing it. I know that I will finish it, because I just love the process. I have to do some housework today. So, I have to go. I hope everyone has a great day.

Happy Stitching!!

Ariane :o)