Potholders and Lanyards

Sew!!!

That's what I did today.

I made two potholders from scraps.

Then, I went on to make 6 patchwork Lanyards.

I used leftover black and red fabric.

I love these.

My daughter has already grabbed one of these for herself.

The rest are being donated.

I hope you like them.

Hugs

Wow! We are in December already!!

The time is just flying by!

Don't you think?

I have been so busy.

On the weekend, my parents came for a visit.

My second oldest was having his confirmation.

It was a beautiful celebration and I'm so glad my parents came to celebrate with us.

We also celebrated our Christmas together, since I won't be able to go home this Christmas. My husband and I have to work through the holidays. Our time off doesn't coinside.

I gave my parents my red dresden quilt.

I made it to put on their table.

I also gave them the matching potholders.

They both loved their gift.

We had a wonderful dinner with them and my sister Michele and her little family too.

My parents took us out to Swish Chalet.

My kids love eating there.

It really was a great dinner.

We all had a great time.

And I didn't have to cook.

Yeah!!!

I had bought all this food to prepare for a nice dinner.

But they wouldn't have it.

My parents didn't want me to spend all my time in the kitchen getting dinner ready.

They wanted all of us to relax and enjoy our little time together.

That was a great gift.

Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

After the weekend, I had to work.

So, Monday and Tuesday I didn't do any sewing.

I was just too tired after my shift.

Today, I have to catch up on the laundry.

My husband helped me tidy up the house already.

So, if I can get all the laundry done today, then tomorrow I can relax.

Yeah!!!

My Mom just loved the mug rugs I made for teacher gifts.

She put in an order from me..

So, I'm going to try to make those and send them to her before the holidays.

I taught her how to do some free motion quitling too, while she was here.

She had so much fun trying it out.

Well, I have so much stuff to do to get ready for the holidays.

I haven't even started baking, decorating......hopefully the tree can go up tonight.

The kids always love to do this together.

We will see how things go.

Only 24 more days until Christmas!!!!

I hope you all have a great day!

Hugs

Ariane

What to do with left over hst's? Part 2

In my last post about hst's, I made two potholders.

This time I decided to pull out a little bag of left over hst's to make a mug rug.

In the picture below are the hst's left over from making blocks for the first modern siggy swap.

I had just put them in a ziplock bag together. They were not ironed open.

So, I set out to iron them with the seams open. I prefer to have the seams open because it keep the seams straight.

Then I cut all the dog ears off.

I didn't trim them more than that, because they were so small already.

I tried a few different layouts.

I decided to use the second layout.

I started sewing all my pieces together.

I sewed them into four rows.

When I joined the rows together, I used pins to align them together.

Once it was all sewn, I picked my backing and batting out.

Then I quilted it very simply.

There are a lot of seams in this one.

So, the simpler quilting made it easier.

This mug rug finished at 5½ " x 10½"

The hst's finished at 1¼ inch square.

I still have some of these hst's left.

This is the second project I make with them too. 

Remember when I made these two potholders for a potholder pass swap!

So, don't get rid of those hst's. They can come in handy for a little project.

Hugs

Ariane

What to do with left over hst's?

I had all these left over hst's, and decided I wanted to make something with them.

These were also left over from my "Jack in the pulpit" quilt.

I wanted to make a little project.

Something that could be done in an hour or so.

So, I decided to make potholders.

So, I laid out my hst's until I had a pattern that I liked.

Then I sewed it all together until I had my block.

Then, I got another piece of fabric for the backing that was about an inch bigger all around. I made my quilt sandwich: backing, 2 layers of insulating batting (can't remember the name) and then my block.

Then, I quilted it, and put the binding on.

And Voilà!!

Now, I have a cute little potholder.

I made another one too.

But I used some other scraps as well.

Here it is.

And together, they make a cute pair.

I hope you like them!!

What do you do with your left over hst's?

Hugs

Ariane

 



Another finished potholder and some zippy pouches

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a nice weekend. It was a holiday weekend here in Canada. Unfortunately I had to work all weekend. I had Monday off though and did a bit of sewing. I finished my second potholder for Potholder Pass 3. I used more of the left over hst's from the modern siggy swap 1. I really love this one. I set the hst's in a star pattern. If you don't know yet....I LOVE STARS.  So this one is my favorite. I love the way the quilting looks too. If you are looking for inspiration to make potholders you need to go check out this flickr group. The potholders are just amazing.

I also decided to play with some of my scraps and made 2 little zippy pouches and two scrunchies. I really like them. I bought some essex linen/cotton blend material today and I'm going to make more of these little zippy pouches. I think they would make nice gifts. I really like these ones found here. So that's what I'm going to try to make the next time.

Well, I have to work midnight shift again tonight and tomorrow night, then I'm off for 5 days. Yeah!!!! I'm almost done quilting my Madeline quilt. Should be able to show you the finished quilt in the next day or so. It is turning out really great. I love it.

Hugs

Ariane

A potholder....

Hi everyone! I've been a bad blogger lately. I've just been so busy. I do have a tiny little project to show. I made one of the potholders for Potholder Pass 3. I used the left over hst's from the Modern siggy swap. I really love the way it turned out. The little shoo-fly blocks finish at 3 inches. I think I'm going to make a mini quilt using blocks made from left over hst's. Now I just have to make the second potholder for this swap. I hope you like it.

Hugs

Ariane

A bit of catching up....

I hope you are all well. I have survived my first two 12.75 hour night shifts. I got up this afternoon around 3:00 pm, and it was absolutely gorgeous out. I took one of my hand quilting projects and sat out on the front porch to work on it. I'm still tired, but in good spirits.

I did to some sewing on the weekend, but didn't seem to find the time to blog about it. I made 3 more blocks for my Red and Cream quilt. I love these blocks. I have 5 done, 15 more to go.

I also made a block for a friend who is putting a quilt together. I used the block 7 of Rachel's of P.S. i quilt tutorial of pinwheel blocks. I really love this block too.

I participated in Potholder Pass 2 Swap. One of the girls, Krista from Poppyprints didn't receive any potholders so I offered to be an Angel and make some for her. She received them today and loved them. I am so glad. I actually cut in to my beloved Amy Butler fabric for this project. But I was sure she would like it, so I didn't mind.

Also, my sister Michele has been crafting up a storm. She makes the most unique crafts. I tell yah! She is so creative. Go check out her new blog. She already has like 5 posts up.

So, that is a bit of what I have been working on. I have more, but I thought I would keep it for tomorrow. Have a good night.

Hugs

Ariane

Some mail, gifts, stitching......

Hi everyone! I hope you are all well. I got some great mail today from my partner of the Potholder Pass 2 swap. miesmama sent me two wonderful potholders and a matching tea towel. Aren't they all adorable? I love them. Thank you so much!! This was another great swap.

I went to my sisters for an Easter dinner on Saturday. Our families don't get together often enough. It was so nice to spend the evening together. She surprised me with a birthday gift. She gave me some fabric, a roll of Steam & Seam and a nice long ruler. I was very excited. I love all of it. Thanks Sis!!!

I was bored the other night and decided I wanted to do some applique. I just had to use the Steam & Seam! LOL! A little spring block that I just put together. I'm not done yet. Not sure what I will do with it. It just kind of popped in my head and I had to make it.

I have also been trying to finish the Woodland Bloom Quilt. I have it all quilted. The binding is sewn on to the front. I have two full sides stitched to the back. So only half the binding left to stitch and I'm done. I can't wait. My daughter wanted to put it on her bed tonight. But I was still working on it. Hopefully it will be done tomorrow.

That's all for today.

Hugs

Ariane

OPAM finished for March

Hi everyone! I hope you are all well. I had four finishes for the month of March. They are my Double hourglass quilt and 2 potholders and a pincushion. I did a lot more sewing then that. But I just added a bunch of projects to my UFO list. Oh well. I just love to sew new things. I am happy to say that I did finish a row of 17 hexagon stars to add to my Hexagon star quilt. That's 7 rows done, 8 rows left to go. I'm getting there. These are all hand pieced so it will take a while. Well, I have to work tonight. Only one more night to work then I'm off for the long weekend. Yeah!!! Five days off in a row. I can't wait....

Hugs

Ariane

Potholders and Pincushions

I hope everyone is having a nice day. I did some sewing this afternoon and got one of my swap projects completed. They are the potholders for Potholder Pass 2. My secret partner will be recieving these two potholders and get a little extra gift of a pincushion. I made the pincushion from some of the scraps left from making the potholders. I used the Tuffets pattern. This was my first tuffets pincushion. I love it. I can finally add that to my finished Schnibbles Projects. These are really modern. I tried to use the colors my partner requested. I checked out my partners blog and she seemed to like this style of fabric. So I really hope she likes them.

Ariane

OPAM finishes for February, a gift in the mail and more......

I am finally posting my February OPAM finishes. I only have two little potholders. Not a very productive month for me. Oh well!!! I hope to do better next month.

I also received a wonderful gift in the mail.

 I actually won a giveaway on Jeannette`s blog, Serendipity Designs.

It is one of the Red Delicious blocks she made. I love it. I will make it into a lovely wall hanging.

Thank you so much Jeannette!!!

My mother-in-law asked me if I could make a baby quilt for her to give as a gift. She wanted it to be lime green and blue, since her friends baby room was to be decorated in those colors. Good thing I had bought some of those colors online earlier, because they are not popular in the local stores. I have made four blocks using the Cluck, Cluck, Sew! tutorial for double hour-glass blocks.

On another note, I just want to congratulate all the Canadian Athletes who participated in the Olympic Games. The games were amazing. The performances by all the athletes from all over the world was just wonderful. The winter games were so well presented, and really made me proud to be Canadian.

A Winner, My Sunday Best quilt top, and more.....

I hope everyone has had a good day. Sorry for taking so long to announce the winner of my giveaway! I wrote all the names on paper and my daughter B-Sew Cute picked the winner. The winner is.................

a good yarn said...

Congratulations Ariane - how marvellous! You're a celebrity now. Ann :-)

I am so glad that Ann won. She comments on my blog all the time. Thank you so much to everyone who commented. I am amazed at all the support you give me. I love to quilt and hope to make many more in the future. I also love that my daughter has wanted to quilt with me. It is so much fun to have that time together.

I also finished my Sunday Best quilt top. I decided to make it into a twin size quilt. I used my stash and I love the way it turned out. So, now I need to figure out what to do for the backing. I don`t usually buy big pieces of fabric, so I am not sure if I am going to piece a back or go out and buy some fabric. So, here it is....

I also received my potholders from the Potholder Pass Swap. This was a really fun swap. My partner Trisha sent the most wonderful potholders and a gift for my daughter too.  She sent my daughter two fat quarters and a pattern. She was so thoughtful. Thank you so much Trisha.

Well, that is all for today.......

Hugs

Ariane :o)

Potholder #2

I finished my second potholder.

I wanted it to match the first one I made, but have a different pattern.

I used left over half square triangles, like I did for the first one.

 I really like how this one turned out too.

This was a great way to use those tiny squares.

What do you think?

Ariane :o)

My first finish of the month!!

I finished my little potholder.

 I love it!!

I need to make a big quilt using this pattern and colors.

My placemat quilt for PQS2

I joined the Placemat Quilt Swap 2 on flickr. It was my first flickr swap. I really had fun doing this swap and loved all the comments the others shared. We had a really great group. It was organized by krommama. Thank you so much for organizing a wonderful swap. I know it's a lot of work. But I really appreciate it.

My partner is piecefulchaos. I made her a maple leaf placemat with a matching potholder, 2 coasters and a little bag. She received it today. So now I am able to share it with all of you. I love the way it turned out. I purchased the Maple leaf paper pieced block pattern on etsy from Piece by Number. I love this maple leaf pattern. Then I designed the little placemat using the four blocks that I had made.

Then I decided to make her a potholder and some coasters with the leftover material. I thought a little bag to put them in would be handy, so I made one of those. It ended up a bit smaller than I wanted, but was still cute.

I hope you like what I made. I had a lot of fun doing it. I have to make myself some placemats with the maple leaf on it. Fall is my favorite season and I love to see the changing leaves. Well, that's all for now.

Happy Stitching!!

Ariane