Monday, April 27, 2009

A pillowcase dress!

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well. The other day I made this little pillow case dress for my daughter. She uses it as a nighty. It's made out of two pillow cases that my mom had bought at a yard sale. They were like new and had a cute orange lace on the edge. I decided to use both pillowcases in order to keep it from being see through. I used some orange and purple fabric to make the ties. I got the fabric from the SewMamaSew fat quarter swap. I think it is really cute. She loves it. She likes to lounge around with it on. It's a decent length and really comfy and soft. I may make her a couple more nighty's like this. She really seems to like it.

Happy Stitching!

Ariane :o)

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Completed blocks for the Girls block swap!!!

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well. I wanted to show you the blocks that I made for the block swap I'm doing with my Mom and sisters. We are having a get together next weekend to swap our blocks. We made 30 blocks each. We get to keep 6 of our own blocks and we will get 6 blocks from the other 3 girls and my Mom. So, we will all end up with 30 blocks to make our own quilt and it will have been pieced by all of us. We will all have a nice keepsake. I'm really excited for the weekend. I'm bringing my daughter with me. It's my first time travelling so far without my husband. It's going to be a nine hour drive. But I'm looking forward to it. Here are my blocks. Well, I have to go. I hope you all have a great day!! Ariane :o)

Thursday, April 23, 2009

My sister's house blocks!!




Hi everyone, I hope you are all well. I visited my sister the other day and she was working on a wall hanging quilt. She is making it with house blocks that she has made. These are being made with her scraps. They are really great. I love them. I happen to have my camera with me so I took a few pictures and she gave me permission to share them with you. I hope you like them. Have a great day!!
Ariane :o)

Monday, April 20, 2009

A cupcake handbag for my daughter




Hi everyone, I finally decided what I was going to use the cupcake fat quarter I received from Jennifer. She was one of my swap partners for the SewMamaSew fat quarter swap. I just loved it and wanted to make something for my daughter with it. I finally decided to make her a bag that she care wear over her shoulder. I really like the way it turned out. It's so cute and perfect for a nine year old girl. She will be able to put her Nintendo DS and the books she likes to read. She always has a book with her wherever we go. I hope you like it.
Happy Stitching!
Ariane :o)

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Quilt Festival - Spring 2009

Hi everyone, Park City Girl is hosting the first ever online Quilt Festival. Click here to see all the wonderful quilts in blogland. My contributions to the quilt festival is my "Tumbling Block" quilt. I made this quilt for my daughter. It is all hand pieced and hand quilted. It is the first quilt that I did inset seams. It was a very big accomplishment when I got it all done. It took me 5 months to do. I really love the way it looks. I hope you like it too. Happy Stitching!
Ariane :o)

Friday, April 17, 2009

I learned to sew on a zipper!!!

Hi everyone, I finally took the plunge and decided to try and sew a zipper in a project. I used a tutorial from twelve 22 on how to make a coin purse. It's a great tutorial. I followed the instructions and got it right on my first try. I was very happy. I also made a matching pin cushion. Don't they look cute. I really like the way they turned out.So, then I got adventurous. I decided to try to make a bag for one of the boys. I find it hard to make things for them, without them looking too girly. So, I made a small bag with a zipper that he can put over his shoulder and be hands free. I wanted it to have a zipper on it, because they all seem to misplace things that were in their pockets. So I though this would work. The outer material is canvas weight. I think it turned out pretty good considering I just did it without a pattern or anything. It's a large coin purse that I just modified a bit. I added a few front pockets. The boys couldn't believe that I made it. So that's a good sign. My older boy said: "It looks like a purse. But I don't care what others think. You made it for me." He is so sweet. You gotta love them. My oldest is 13 and is taller them me by about 4.5 inches. He's going to be a big guy. Well, I have to go.
Happy Stitching!
Ariane :o)

Thursday, April 16, 2009

A bit of fabric and a few new blocks

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well. Yesterday, my husband was going to pick up some items out of town and going through the town of Brockville, Ontario. So I googled the quilt shops in that town and decided to go look at what they had. So, after my husband was done his business, we stopped in to two shops, Taylor Sewing Centre and Picket Fence Fabrics. They were both very nice stores. I bought a few fabrics from each. It was a lot of fun. I bought fabrics that I could use to make a baby quilt with. I had already purchased some Beatric Potter fabric at Wilton Creek Fabrics in Harrowsmith. I had planned to use this fabric in my quilt. I worked on the blocks for the quilt this morning and this is what I ended up with. I will make four of these. Then do a really nice border. I haven't decided exactly how the border will turn out. But I want it to be really nice. Maybe with some appliques. This picture isn't the best. I think it looks great. I love the colors. I can't wait to see it all done.
Happy Stitching!
Ariane :o)

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

A few more blocks complete!!!


Hi everyone, I hadn't sewn anything in a couple days because my back hurt so much. But tonight I decided to spend a short time finishing some of the blocks I had already started for my Rocky Road to Kansas Quilt. So I have 6 blocks done. I'm only going to make twelve blocks and make a lap size quilt. I love using up my scraps with these blocks. But they are time consuming. I really love the way they look. I hope you like them.


Happy Stitching!


Ariane :o)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Buttons!!!


My Mom sent a little package in the mail a couple of weeks ago for my daughter. My daughter had told her on the phone one night, that she had found this beautiful button outside and that she just loved old buttons. So my Mom decided to go through her jars of old buttons that she has had for years and years. She made a wall hanging filled with old buttons. It's so nice. I have it hanging on the wall in my daughters bedroom. She just loves it. She often goes and looks at it and tells me which buttons she loves the best. I think this is a wonderful way to display buttons. Often they end up in a jar where no one can see them. They are so beautiful and have such unique features. If you ever wondered what to do with your old buttons, this may be something you would like to make. I hope you like it. I haven't done too much sewing lately. I pinched the sciatic nerve in my lower back and have been in quite a bit of pain because of it. I hope it gets better soon.


Happy Stitching!


Ariane :o)

Saturday, April 11, 2009

A sneak peak!!!

Hi everyone, I would like to wish you all a Happy Easter !! I'm participating in a bag swap organized by Snickerdoodle dreams. This is the first time I have to make something for a swap. I've been a bit nervous. I have to make a bag. Any bag I want for a secret partner than I receive a bag from another secret partner. Well, I did make a bag....then decided I didn't want to send that one. I wasn't confident it would make the grade. It's nice, but not great. I also wanted to push myself a bit beyond my comfort zone so that I could grow and learn more skills. So this is a sneak peak of the bag I'm making for my partner. I made a spring appliqued scene for the front of the bag. I'm not following any pattern. I'm just making it up as I go. So it will be totally unique. I've changed my mind on a few things. But, it's going well. I hope my partner will like it. Happy Stitching! Ariane :o)

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Shiloh - the puppy's quilt

Hi everyone! It's been a very busy week. I gave my sister's and I quilt to my parents on Monday. They just loved it. I was very pleased that they liked it. Then my mother-in-law asked me to make a little quilt for her new daschund puppy Shiloh. She gets cold easily and likes to be wrapped up. So I thought I would have a bit of fun and make my own little pattern for this quilt. I used fabric that I already had for the top. My mother-in-law wanted a pink quilt because the puppy is female. I got this quilt done in two days. I machine pieced it, hand embroidered around the appliques which I designed myself and machine quilted it. I found the cutest printed flannel with little dogs in handbags for the backing at Fabricland. It was the perfect color and it went with the theme of the quilt perfectly. I had a lot of fun making this quilt. It was my first time trying to paper piece log cabin blocks. I really liked it. I'm going to make a log cabin quilt now. This is my first finish for the month of April. I will add it to my list. Well, I hope you are all well.
Happy Stitching!
Ariane :o)