Wednesday, June 26, 2013

ONE NEW THING WEEK 26!

Week 26!  Halfway there!!!! I actually think I might be a week ahead - I may just have to give myself a week off! This week I decided to jump on the bandwagon and try a scrappy trip around the world block! I pulled out my box of feedsack fabrics (I find myself lately going back to these fabrics over and over), cut my strips, and put this block together...
 

 
Oh, this was a fun block to make!  I see a baby quilt made with these although I would love to make a larger one for myself!  I guess I will have to add that to the quilts already on my list!
 

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

ONE NEW THING WEEK 25!

A few months ago I took a cake decorating course! It was great and I learned A LOT!  In fact, I can finally frost a cake without it looking like a 4-year-old did it! I learned lots of tips and tricks - especially how to avoid getting crumbs in the buttercream!
 
I decided to expand on my skills and give gum paste a try!  I bought a package of ready-made gum paste at Michael's, rolled it out and cut out tons of little flowers!  It rolled out perfectly and was overall very easy to work with!  Here's my finished cake...
 

 
I'm pretty pleased with the results!  This was made for my SIL for her birthday dinner!  The inside was a 3-layer vanilla cake.  It is covered in buttercream and I piped tiny little dots of yellow buttercream in the centre of each flower!  Despite the gum paste being so easy to work with, I don't think I will use it again. These little flowers were hard as rocks!  I took them off the cake before I cut it and after I took tons of a few pictures! Next time I'm going to give fondant a try.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

ONE NEW THING WEEK 24!

This week, again, is something that's been on my list for ages!  I love tomatoes...but I find they just don't taste the same - a little plastic-y in my opinion.  I miss those giant tomatoes my mom used to buy that tasted so incredible! So...I've decided to grow some of my own...
 
 
This guy started out pretty tiny - about 4 inches tall...I wish I had a picture to show you!  He's doing great so far with a little TLC from my husband! As much as I dread it, he needs a blast of sunny hot weather to make him grow nice and big!  Unfortunately, he has to live in our underground parkade for a few days while our deck is being cleaned! I can't wait to bite into a big, fat, juicy tomato in a few months (fingers crossed)!
 


Friday, June 7, 2013

A FINISH!

Hurray!  A finished quilt...finally. Once again I find myself falling into my old habit of starting lots of new things and never actually finishing anything!  I'm happy to show you this finished quilt...
 

I think this is my third or fourth quilt using Ann Kelle prints!  I just love them and keep adding them to my stash.  I love how they all coordinate and the colours are great!  These blocks are huge - I think they finish at 12 inches so they come together really quickly. I quilted it in a boxy stippling which is my new favourite! 
Linking up with Amanda Jean!


Tuesday, June 4, 2013

ONE NEW THING WEEK 23

Here's yet another project I can cross off my list.  I've been wanting to make a patchwork pillow for my new chair in my sewing room! I have tons quite a bit of feedsack fabrics which I absolutely love.  I went through my stash and picked out all the prints with little animals for my pillow. Here's the finished product...
 

It looks much bigger than it actually is...it's about 15 x 10 inches. Other than the fabric, I started this with no real plan in mind, but I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.  You can't see it, but I actually machine stitched the binding as opposed to finishing it by hand. I thought this might be a little more secure as I made an envelope enclosure with Kona Snow as opposed to installing a zipper. I even made my own custom insert with muslin as I love a really 'stuffed' pillow.  Every time I work with these vintage repro fabrics I realize how much I love them and how I should bring them out more often.  I have been adding to my stash of them for years, probably since I first started quilting! There is such a great variety and I love the sweet prints and colours!  I'm in love with my little pillow and will definitely be making more!