November is my month for the Maple Leaf Bee!

Hi everyone,

I joined the Maple Leaf Bee in August, when one of the other members had to drop out.

 I volunteered to take her place.

So, my month came fast and I had to decide what to ask the girls to make.

I wanted it to be a stash busting project, and a modern project.

So, I took out a bunch of my modern fabric and started cutting.

I decided to use my GO! Dresden Die since I love it so much.

I cut out all the petals for the girls.

I used 20 different fabrics, in aqua's, pinks,  and greens.

This is the test block that I made.

I thought I would do a little tutorial for the girls, in case they had never made a dresden block before.

Here it is.

First you want to fold the petal right side together at the wide end and stitch it across.

As you can see above, just chain stitch all the petals. It goes pretty quick this way.

Once you have all the tops stitched, then cut them apart and trim the point to about an eighth of an inch from the seam you just made. This just helps in turning the tip of the petal.

Turn all the petal tips right side out. You may have to use a tool to get the tip out all the way. I used the tip of my scissor just to push it out a bit. Then, iron the tips of the petals. I have the petals all layed out the way I want to sew them. See below:

Now, I will start to sew the petals together in pairs. You can chain stitch them to make it quicker.

I use my 1/4 inch foot to sew the petals together. I started sewing from the edge of the petals. I find that this makes for a nicer finish. You just match up the top corners of both petals and start stitching. Once all your pairs are sewn together, you want to iron the seam open.

Once all your pair seams are ironed, keep sewing the pairs together, and ironing your seams open, until you have your dresden sewn together as below.

This is what the back should look like.

Now, you can see that mine isn't perfect. Just do your best when sewing them together.

It's time to get the circle ready for the middle. I cut a five inch circle of fabric using the GO! Circle die and included a 4 inch cardstock circle cut using the GO! Dresden die circle, to help you turn the edges for the circle.

I like to stitch this with the sewing machine. So, set your stitch length to the longest setting and with your 1/4 inch foot, start stitching all around the circle as shown below.

You are going to leave the starting and ending threads long enough so that you can sinch the fabric around the cardstock circle.

See how I sinched the fabric around the cardstock. Now you want to iron it well on both sides. I used a bit of spray starch on it before I removed the cardstock circle.

See how nice the edges are turned, and it's a perfect circle.

You now want to sew this circle onto your dresden using a blanket stitch or zigzag.

Once you have it sewn on you can pin your dresden to your background fabric and stitch it on using a blanket stitch or a zigzag stitch.

And you are done.

Isn't is nice?

Well, I hope this little tutorial is helpful.

Wishing all of you a Happy Hallowe'en.

Hugs

Ariane

Blogger Quilt Festival - Fall 2010

Hi everyone,

I thought I would share one of the quilts I made at the beginning of my quilting journey.

This quilt was completed in February of 2009.

It's my Jacob's Ladder quilt.

I made it for my second oldest son.

I used scraps of fabric from my other two beds quilts that I had made for my oldest son and my daughter. You can find them here.

Even though, this was not that difficult a block pattern, 

it took me a long time to finish it. 

It was very time consuming trying to make sure that I didn't have the same colors close to each other.

I had just started quilting that year.

So, even though this is a scrappy quilt, I only had so many scraps.

I didn't have much of a stash. All my stash fit into an under bed storage bin.

One bin. LOL!!!

This was the fourth quilt that I made, and the third bed quilt.

This quilt is a twin size quilt.

The border on it was very difficult for me.

I cut all the pieces for the border with a scissor.

And well, my cuts weren't exact.

My seams weren't exact.

I was just a beginner, doing a difficult border.

It was really tough to get it to fit.

I ended up making an adjusted piece to make the border fit.

I quilted it myself.

It is very simply quilted.

But you know what?

I still love it.

It is an everyday quilt.

So, my son has it on his bed as we speak.

It's been washed many times.

It is still beautiful.

Thanks to Amy for giving us the opportunity to share our quilts with others.

Go, check out the rest of the quilts in the blogger quilt festival.

Hugs

Ariane

Some stitchery's that others have made with my pattern.

Hi everyone,

I'm still not feeling that great.

But, I'm going to keep this post positive. Since I've been sick, I have been going over a bunch a blogs and just roaming around blog land for inspiration. I really love seeing what everyone is up to. It's just so inspiring.

Then, I came across of few people who posted pictures of projects they made using my free stitchery pattern: A touch of Autumn.

So, I thought I would share those with you today.

The first one is made by Sara. Her blog is called "Joy in Everything"

Didn't she do an amazing job with it? I love it!!!

The next one is by Di. Her blog is called "Quilting is Blissful".

She also made it into a little wall hanging. Isn't it cute? Love it!!!!

The next one is by Phyllis. Her blog is called "Crumbs of Happiness"

She made a wonderful little cushion with hers. It's just gorgeous!! I love it!!

If you have made a project using any of my tutorials or patterns. Please let me know. I would love to see them.

It really makes my day.

Hugs

Ariane

Just one of those days.......

Hi everyone!

I hope you are all having a good day.

I had to work yesterday and today.

Still not feeling that great.

One more day to go, then I get to relax again.

I had an okay day today at work.

 I did good until about 5pm, then I got the worst coughing attack.

You know the kind that makes you want to pee your pants.

Yeah! That kind.

Remember, I'm at work now. I'm coughing.

Oh no!

I run to the washroom, still coughing.

Oh no!!!!

Make it to the washroom.

My partner is running behind me, he asks: "Are you okay? Are you chocking?"

I'm like.....Oh no!!!!

I lock myself in the washroom.

He yells"...If your chocking...I can't save you if the door is locked."

I yell back".....I'm going to pee my pants."

"Oh!!!!" he said...."You're going to be okay?"

"Yep!".... still coughing.

So, I made it. But barely.

I'm in there coughing for about 5 minutes straight.

I hold my breath.....no coughing.

Okay....I can't hold my breath all night.

I take a drink.

More coughing.

Man....what am I going to do?

Finally, I manage to relax and stop coughing.

About half an hour later....again....another coughing attack.

Ughhhhhh!!!!!

Run to the washroom again.

By now, my partner knows better to follow me.

He doesn't want to follow me into the washroom.

I'm in there another 5 minutes.

Relax.

I decide..... I can't talk, laugh, barely breath, until my shift ends at 7pm.

By about ten after 6, I'm better.

But...Man! Oh! Man!

What a rough time I had.

I hope to feel better tomorrow.

Well, since I hate having a post without pictures.

Here are pictures of my dogs that my daughter took.

I hope you like them.

Hugs

Ariane

After washing pictures of Fun with bubbles and I'm sick....again!!!!

Well, here are a few pictures of my "Fun with bubbles" quilt, after being washed.

It is even softer now then before.

I used flannel on the back of this quilt, too.

I forgot to mention that yesterday.

So, with the soft frayed edges on the front, the quilting and the flannel, there are so many different textures to feel. I can just imagine a little girl rubbing her hands on this quilt and just loving the sensations.

I really love this little quilt.

On another note, I have the flu.

That's why I didn't post these pictures yesterday.

You know the symptoms, bad congestion, aches and pains, headache, fever, coughing.....

I had a really bad fever and ended up in bed from about 2 pm yesterday to about noon today.

I'm still pretty sick, but not as bad as yesterday.

Don't you just hate being sick.

It's a good thing my kids are older now.

They dodged people at the door that wanted to speak to me, never passed the phone to me unless it was really important and fed themselves dinner. They all got there homework done, and went to bed at their regular time for a school night. My husband was at working, so they were pretty much on their own.

They are such good kids. Love them so much.

My husband got up this morning and made sure the kids had everything they needed for school. Everything was taken care of. I was able to rest. Which I really needed, because I coughed so much during the night and was so congested. It was a really long night.

But I'm truly blessed to have such a great little family who takes care of me.

I probably won't be doing to much sewing, until I feel better. But I think I've done quite a bit this month already. So, I'm good.

Hugs

Ariane



Fun with bubbles!!! quilt completed

So, I decided to name my little raw-edge circle quilt.

"FUN WITH BUBBLES"

Isn't that a cute name?

Anyways, I finished it today.

I took a few pictures before I washed it.

I wanted to see how it would look before and after washing.

So, here are the before washing photo's.

I hope you like it. When it's done washing and drying. I'll show you those pictures.

Hugs

Ariane

My mini raw edge circle quilt top done!!!

Okay!!

This will be a short post, because I have to get to bed.

So, I finished this little quilt top tonight.

I hope to quilt it tomorrow night,

and hand it in on Wednesday.

Do you think I can make it?

We will see.

I hope they like this.

There are not a lot of quilters that use modern fabrics in my guild.

 I think that some would if it was more available in our area.

I think this would make a cute little quilt for a little girl to play with.

She could use it for her dolls, or just as a security blanket.

On another note, I was featured on Stash Manicure today.

http://stashmanicure.blogspot.com/

Yeah!!!!

I was a plan B guest blogger.

I had volunteered to write a post,

in case something happened and one of the other guest bloggers couldn't post.

And today was the day.

So go check it out.

Well, that's all for today.

Hugs

Ariane



A mini raw edge circle quilt in the making!!!

Okay! I know I don't need more projects.

But, I received an email today from my local quilt guild wanting some mini quilts.

You see,

 the Kingston Limestone Quilters' Guild

is having

A LITTLE QUILTS AUCTION

on Wed. November 3, 2010

Time: 7:00 - 9:30 pm

Location: The Seniors Centre

56 Francis Street

Kingston, Ontario

This auction is to support our community quilts projects, all the organizations that we help

and to help pay for renting a space every month.

I have already donated one little quilt.

But since they still need more, I thought....ahhh...

what the heck.....I'll make another one.

So, I decided to make a mini version of

 this quilt by Cluck Cluck Sew.

I made the circles and squares smaller.

I wanted to use my GO! Cutter and circle die to cut the circles.

So, I cut some 5 1/2 inch squares and used the 5 inch circle on the circle die to cut the circles out.

For the background square, I cut them 6 1/4 inch.

I made one block. I decided not to scatter all the colors but actually make blocks.

My little quilt will be made up of these 4 blocks.

Here is my first block.

I just love it!!!

So, now I have cut out all the pieces for the next 3 blocks. I plan to put them together this evening after I get off work. Hopefully, I won't be too tired.

Here is a pic of my block with the cut up pieces.

If you live in the area, you should come to the auction

 and see what is up for auction.

It's a silent auction,

and there will also be other items for sale,

 and some draws too!!!

Anyways, Gotta go!!

Hugs

Ariane

My red dresden quilt top is DONE!!!!

I just want to say thanks to everyone who has been leaving comments about the progress of this quilt top.

I'm just so thankful for all the support you guys all give me in my quilting journey.

It really makes my day!!!

So, I've been working on the borders this afternoon.

I put of solid cream border that finished at 1 inches wide.

Then, I decided to pull out all my little strips of red and cream fabrics. I cut them 2 1/2 inch long. I used all different width of strips from 1 1/2 inches, to 2 1/2 inches wide.

Then, I chain pieced a cream piece to a red piece until all my pairs were sewn together. Then, I divided all my pairs into four piles. Then started sewing all my pieces together to make four strips.

When my strips were long enough, I sewed them on to my quilt.

So, these borders were pretty randomly pieced.

But, I really like the way they turned out.

And I busted more of my stash of reds and creams.

Yeah!!!!

So, now I have to figure out what I'm going to use for a backing.

I hope you like the way it's looking!!

Hugs

Ariane

My little red dresden quilt!

Hi everyone!

I hope you are all having a nice weekend.

I worked on my little red dresden quilt last night.

I finished the hst border that I had started.

Then I decided I wanted to put the block on point.

I didn't have enough of one fabric to make the triangles.

I'm a scrappy quilter. I usually only purchase fat quarters.

I don't buy a lot of yardage, unless it's on sale or I need a backing.

So, I'm thinking....ughhhh.....I'm going to have to buy more fabric.

Then, I had a lightbulb moment.

I'll make myself a bigger piece of fabric.

This is a stash busting project after all.

So, I cut some squares of light fabric from my leftovers from the Jack-in-the-pulpit quilt.

I made 2, 4 patch blocks and cut them on the diagonal to make four triangles.

Then, I stiched them to my block.

Then, I decided I wanted to use my GO! Circle die.

 So, I backed scraps of red fabric with fusible web,

and cut the circles out using my circle die. Easy peasy!!!!

I decided how I wanted them to be placed on my corner pieces,

ironed them on, and

VOILA!!!

This is where I'm at.

I'm thinking, I'm going to put a thin solid cream border around this.

Then, I'm going to use my scraps to make a sort of, piano key border.

I only have so many scraps left. I may have to be a bit creative with the outer border.

We will see what I come up with.

I was asked, about the GO! Dresden die and how many petals I used.

I have 20 petals on my dresden. This is my first time ever making a dresden block.

So, you may ask, how did I get it to work out.

Some people have been having a hard time using only 20 petals, and have used 21 up to 23 petals.

I think it's due to seam allowance. I used my 1/4 inch foot to make sure that my seams were all even.

So, What do you think of my stash busting little red dresden quilt top.

I think this may end up as a Christmas present.

I hope you like it.

Hugs

Ariane

I love the GO! Dresden die!!!!!!

Hi everyone!!!

I'm feeling better today.

I decided to get some scraps out and try out my GO! Dresden die. I love red, and had a lot of scraps left from making the Jack-in-the-pulpit quilt last summer. So, I took them out and started cutting.

It was so fast and easy to cut.

Then, I started sewing the tops into points.

 I just chain sewed them. Very quick.

Then, I ironed the tips and started sewing them together in pairs.

 I sewed the pairs together until I had a full circle.

I machine stitched the dresden plate to a cream background.

I was so excited. I just love the way it looked.

So, I have the block done, now what do I do with it.

I had some leftover hst's from the Jack-in-the-pulpit quilt.

I decided to use those to make a border. 

I have two borders done. What do you think?

I'm going to turn this into a little table top quilt. I think it's going to be so nice.

And it is all made from my stash. Isn't that fun???

I just love the GO! Dresden die. I'm going to be making a lot more projects with it.

I also got some amazing mail today.

I received my pincushion from Krista for the Pincushion Pass.

She had made me one and it got lost in the mail.

So this is the second one she made me. She also sent some wonderful fabric and a  sourdough starter from Alaska. Such a great package!!

I love it. Thank you so much Krista!!!!

Well, that's all for today.

I have to get up early in the morning.

So, to bed I go.

Hugs

Ariane

Almost a week has past....

I know!!

It's been busy around here.

I had the weekend off, but had so much stuff to do.

 Non-sewing quilting related stuff.

Then, I went back to work....night shifts on Tuesday night.

I'm really hating night shifts right now!!!

Last night, I went in to work, stayed until midnight and came back home.

I was so sick.

I spent the night in the bathroom, hugging the toilet bowl.

Yuck!!!!!

I'm exhausted this morning, but couldn't sleep.

My stomach is still queasy.......ughhhhhh!!!!

Okay, enough about that.

I did get some great mail yesterday.

My GO! Dresden plate die came. Yeah!!!!!!

I haven't tried it yet. Need to get my strenght up.

But I'm very excited none the less.

It should be fun to play with.

Also, my daughter B-Sew Cute got some great mail too.

Barb sent her two amazing fat quarters, to encourage her with her sewing.

She just loves them.

You are so sweet Barb!!! Thanks so much!!!!

I was reading Jodie's blog @ Pleasant Home.

She is having a Sew Scrap-A-Long on her blog over the next 4-5 weeks.

She will be sharing ideas on how to use up your scraps.

I'm totally on this bandwagon already.

I'm trying to just use what I have and not shop too much.

I've been doing relatively good.

So, I can't wait to see her ideas.

Another thing going on in blogland soon is the Blogger's quilt festival.

I love this festival. It's for anyone to enter, from a beginner to a seasoned quilter.

I love seeing all the quilts and getting inspired. Amy from Amy's creative side always does an amazing job getting it organized. She always has great prizes too. So, spread the word, and pick a quilt to share with all of us.

Well, I need a nap!

If I get any sewing done later, I'll let you know.

Hugs

Ariane

My Mom's Italian Wedding Soup recipe and a little dress!

Alright!! Since so many of you asked for my Mom's Italian Wedding Soup recipe, here it is:

Note: It terrifies me to share recipes on here. I don't have exact ingredients. You just kind of make it, and put it all together. Taste it! add more spices, taste again. Then, it's done!

General ingredients

Meatballs

1 lb fresh lean ground beef

chopped garlic ( I use the chopped garlic that you buy in little jars. I use a teaspoon.)

Bread crumbs

salt

pepper

Mix all the above ingredients and make little tiny meatballs. Once your meatballs are made, you want to cook them in a pan. You may want to add a bit of olive oil so that they don't stick. Cook all the meatballs until they are fully cooked.

Soup Base

1/2 cup Concentrated liquid beef broth

water

bag of baby spinach

oregano

basil

salt

pepper

dry onion flakes

noodles (orzo, ditali, other)

Use your big soup pot and fill it 3/4 full of water. Add you liquid beef broth. Bring to a slow boil. You want to finally chop your spinach into tiny pieces and add it to your broth. Also add the oregano, basil, salt, pepper, & dry onion flakes. Once your meatballs are fully cooked, add them to your soup base. Then you want to add about 3 or 4 hand fulls of your noodles of choice. I like to use orzo, but for my sons soup I used a bigger noodle like Ditali. Any small noodle will do. You let this cook on medium heat until your noodles are fully cooked. Check that it tastes the way you like it. And if it's just right, then serve.

This is a great soup for those cool days or when you are not feeling that well. It's not very heavy to eat and it also doesn't have much fat. If you don't like to put too much salt in your food, you can just omit it. There is already salt in the concentrated beef broth.

Well, let me know how it turns out, if you try it.

On another note, I made my daughter a little up cycled dress today. I used an old t-shirt and added some knit fabric that I had bought at a yard sale for 25 cents. I used this tutorial from Make it and love it.  She really likes it and didn't want to take it off when I was done. So, it's a winner. This is a very comfortable dress. The tutorial is for an adult size dress, but can be made any size I think. It only took me about 1 hour to make this. I hope you like it.

Hugs

Ariane



Homemade soup & My sister is celebrating her 100th post!!!!

Hi everyone!!

I hope you are all having a good day.

I worked day shifts the last two days.

I've just got one more to do tomorrow, then I'm off for four days.

Since it's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, it will be nice to be off work.

I'll be able to spend some time with my little family.

Can't wait!!!

My second oldest is having a potluck lunch at school tomorrow to celebrate this holiday.

He asked me to make his favorite soup.

I know, you may be surprised that a 13 yrs old would want soup to bring.

But he really loves it.

It is "Italian Wedding Soup" made my Mom's way.

My Mom is the queen of homemade soups.

She could have a soup restaurant and make a ton of money.

I have never met someone who didn't love my Mom's home made soups.

So, since I have to work tomorrow morning, I made the soup this evening after I got home from work.

Aren't I a good Mom?

I got home from work, after working a 12 hour shift, went to the grocery store, bought fresh supplies and made him his favorite soup.

 I had to have a little bowl, just to test to make sure it was up to standards.

Mmmmmm......delicious!!!!

I also wanted to let you all know that my big sister Michele is celebrating her 100th post.

She is having a wonderful giveaway to celebrate.

She is also sharing some information about our family which I haven't shared before on my blog. So, if you want to find out a little bit more about me, you should go check out this post.

Now, I'm so proud of my sister. She has such a wonderful blog and she shares tutorials for almost all her projects. She is so creative and artistic. She works really hard on all her projects. It has been very exciting for me to see her blog flourish. I had been wanting her to start a blog for a long time and I'm so glad she did. So, go check out her blog and giveaway!!!

Well, It's bed time. I have to get up at 5:00 am. So, off to bed I go.

Hugs

Ariane



Some bee blocks that are overdue!!!

Hi everyone!!!

Tonight I finally got all my Bee blocks done.

They are late.

But they are done.

Now I will be back on track again.

So, here they are.

These star blocks are for Tong in the Sew Modern Bee. I just love these. They are so whimsical. I love the soft colors. Just so pretty!

These blocks are for Sharon for the Maple Leaf Bee. I hope she likes them. They are simple, but I really like them.

 The fabric is just gorgeous!!

These are huge 15 inch blocks for Katrina for the Maple Leaf Bee. These were way out of my comfort zone. But I enjoyed making them. I hope that she likes them. They came together really quick.

So, three sets of blocks that are completely different. It was fun to work on them.

Tomorrow, I hope to work on a few more projects.

Until then.....

Hugs

Ariane