X's and Z's

The "X's" for an upcoming event.

and now for the 

"Z's".....

Shhhhh,

10 minutes after I put the final stitch in  her new bed little Miss zonked right out!

(note that Foxy has her own quilt too).

If you're wondering what's with the shaved belly peeking out there,

it's due to her spaying. 

Danny + Carli =  Cuddle Time!

HAPPY STITCHING  :)

I am Determined to

I'm seeing that some bloggers are choosing a word

to live by through 2014 or at the very least to keep them focussed.

After toying with and trying on different words, I have finalized my choice to be

"DETERMINED"

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Determined to start and finish at least one quilt for our bed that fits properly and 

3 Minecraft quilts for my boys.

Determined to get on with the task of home renos and push past the stagnation that has befallen me.

Determined to find time to meditate and breathe.

Determined to blog more and share more.

Yep! This year, 2014, I AM DETERMINED!

Ho Hum Tweedle Dum

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This was yesterday, Bullet patiently waiting for spring.

 No, that's not an icicle hanging from her lip, she's

getting a little older and this end leaks every once in a while!

(Better than the other end!!)

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HOWEVER, 

today is a different story and scene!

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This is the same doorway that was void of snow less than 12 hours ago!

How's that for accumulation? Note,

no pup sitting, watching the world today!

She's snoring away at the moment.

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HOWEVER,

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I am pleased to report that progress is being made!

WOOHOO!!!

This quilt is not leaving my machine until it is fin.

Maybe this afternoon?

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HOWEVER,

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This needs to be dealt with (ugh)...

I found it under a pile of fabric along with my near complete PIFs!

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It Eludes Me...

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For the last few weeks now, I've found that my motivation has gone on vacation.

It is taking all that I can pull out of me to finish the simplest of projects.

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I just can't seem to locate "IT"! no matter where I look.

Perhaps it is the season.  Perhaps it's just me.

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This is the first time in days that I've even looked at blogger.

Instead of being pumped about starting new projects that I'm committed to for the month,

I have a cloud of grey daunting over me and now I'm stressing about the sewing I need 

to complete for up coming hop, PIF, swap, giveaway and BOM  ( x 3).

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I think I need to throw the anchor overboard, regroup and reshuffle priorities.

For the moment though I guess I'd best get nose to the grindstone.

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Thanks for the ear.

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Do You French?

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Ooo lala!!! Va Va Voom!

Oui?

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Get you minds out of the gutter...honestly!

I'm talking about FRENCH SEAMS people!!

Aren't these so neat and tidy? I love to french...my seams! Sheesh!!

Every seam inside this sucker is frenched, no fraying going on here!

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I've been antsy today to start and finish s-o-m-e-t-h-i-n-g,

I just wasn't sure what though. Then it hit me,

PILLOWCASES.

I have never sewn one before and I know they're not hard to make,

sew I did! 

I found a 1 meter cut of this sports fabric in my stash that I'd long forgotten about 

and 

voila!

CJ, my soccer player, has a new place to rest his head on tonight.

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Try as I might I could not get the proper shade of orange on Photoscape today

my apologies to Marcia's Crafty Sewing & Quilting.

I won this fabric in the fall from her and the colour is a gorgeous, saturated shade that I simply can't capture on my monitor :(

Trust me though it totally rocks with the flames on this pillowcase!

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HAPPY STITCHING ;)

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11 more sleeps

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2012 CHRISTMAS QUILT SHOW

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2012 CHRISTMAS QUILT SHOW

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This year I decided to do something a little different for my entry.

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This pillow pattern was presented to a group of quilters/crafters as part of hop

by Jill Finley of Jillily Studio.

(see my previous post...there's a giveaway there!)

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I had so much free reign with it and added my own flare through FMQ in the sky with lots of swirling movement and on many of the houses with texture and details.

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My ghostly snowman could be from winter's past.

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Houses have been appliqued with Santas and wreaths for added festive flavour.

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See the icicles hanging from the window panes? Brrrrr

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I added sparkling lights to 2 of the houses with more FMQ.

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It's a wonderful pattern, very easy to do and can be changed up to be personalized in so many ways.

Why not link up your seasonal/holiday project and join the fun at the 

2012 Christmas Quilt Show.

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click the link at the top of this post and be transported to the entire list of participants,

Oh yes, just in case you're interested...there's Prizes!!!

Just sayin'  ;O)

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I'm Doing The HUSTLE...R U? UPDATED!!

I'm heading back to the 70's/80's to do the hustle!

Kelsey's Kinda Hustle!!

She's going to be our fearless leader in this 100 day sewing

*EXTRAVAGANZA*

Why not join our batch of unfinished quilters and crafters, with their wips and pigs in hand,

and make a pledge that you will make as much of a dent in your bundles as humanly possible

by DECEMBER 31, 2012?

All you need to do is make a list,

check it twice,

link to Kelsey's post tomorrow

and you're in!

Midway through we'll post our progress ( or lack thereof )

and then on December 31 another post of what we've accomplished.

Easy Peasy, right? Right!

Oh, by the way...

I heard on the QT (not really, Kelsey told us)

she's going to have

PRIZES!!!

How's that for a little extra motivation?

Prizes and completed projects, a cleared sewing table ready for the New Year, Hmmmm?

Here's my list of P.I.G.'s (projects in grocerybags)

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First up,

I've had this on the go for at least 4 years now.

Next,

the binding and label.

Not sure what's been taking so long with this.

Archiekins!

My little guy needs a hand getting this quilt sewn up for Dad's birthday, Dec. 1.

CJ has picked all the fabrics and started sewing it together but got a little bogged down when he went back to school.

Now these have been in this state for the past 3 (or 4) Christmases.

They need to be finished!

I made such a great start and actually had the top finished in a short time but then I stalled out.

I need to get er done, winter's a comin'!

WHEW!!

Keep going!

This is another P.I.G. that's been in the bag waaay too long.

I can't even remember when I started this Whirlygiggle.

This 9 Patch is even older than the Whirlygiggle,

I'm sew embarrassed.

Last but not least, I'm sure, (ya right!!) 

is this bag.

I've had the pattern for more than a year

and the bag I am using is pathetic.

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Just to make things a little more interesting I'll add a few gifties for the Holidays,

let's see there's the teachers for all 4 of my kiddos,

one or two are expecting from what I'm told,

a couple of friends that go above and beyond...

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UPDATE SEPTEMBER 22nd

I WON!!!

Yep, I won Cindy's Dots On Dots Giveaway!

I'm now the proud owner of this pattern

"LAUNDRY DAY"

I'm going to add it to my list because it's sew darn cute,

I can't resist!

Thank you Cindy & Wilson!

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So that's my line up for the

100 DAY HUSTLE!

How's your list looking?

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Bordered Star...Accomplished

I'm beginning to "get" paper piecing.

I did have a bit of a time with this but once I slowed down and took my time,

it all came together!

This will be the start of a Christmas project so it's a good thing I started now!

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Have a great day stitching away.

They gather nuts, we gather free patterns!

Did you know that you can download all kinds of

FREE QUILT PATTERNS ?

I DID NOT KNOW THIS!!!

No, I don't live under a rock ,all the time, but when I read this from

fellow Canuck, Paulette  I was floored! Flabbergasted?!

I chose this beauty for my Hubby

It's from Mr. Henry Glass and I love it. I can't wait to start gathering the flannels

for this quilt, all in harvest like colours, like wearing a pumpkin pie  =D

I also picked this for myself

Garden Grove by Kim Diehl @ Henry Glass's House.

It's very pretty and has some elements I haven't tried yet.

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Don't Miss Out

on the HOP click the button in my sidebar up there

There's 145 giveaways going on!

You don't want to look like this guy,

do you? He missed out on all those incredible blogs!

So if you haven't, way you go, spread the word, tell your friends, neighbors,

relatives, the postman, the cashier at Walmart!

GO! GO! GO!



NewFos and a lesson learned

The beginnings of a project for next month  =D

This is the first of a few "NewFO's" for this month!

What's a "NewFO"  you maybe asking?

Well NewFOs are projects we start in a month and at the end of the month it

doesn't {repeat doesn't}  have to be finished! 

That's right no pressure here except to start a new something or other.

It can be anything from embroidery

to a quilt

to a wallhanging

to a hot pad

to a you get the idea!

My second NewFo is going to be a wallhanging for my sewing space.

It's got a little wonky to it so this month I'll quilt it up and stitch on the binding.

A nice splash of colour.

                                                This is my very first attempt at paper piecing

I copied the pattern from Carol Doak's site, there is a number of free

downloads there. This pattern is a Beginners level and for the most part went fairly well.

It may help anyone wanting to try Paper Piecing to have a look at this

TUTORIAL

It was a huge help since I would have been placing my fabric on the wrong side

of the seam line. I also had to learn, the hard :O( way, to make good and sure to use fabric pieces

large enough to cover the area on your pattern! After I had sewn and ripped and sewn again,

when all the pressing was done, there it was, I had a little spot where the fabric didn't

come all the way over to the outside edge when it was flipped. I couldn't bear to tear the whole block apart so I'm going to embellish this block and proudly hang it on my wall as a

reminder to watch that fabric when pp.

That's this month's line up of NewFos!

If you want to join in and have some fun then give this button a click in my side bar

and go see Barbara, she's got all the deets.

Until next month...

Happy New Project Starts & Don't Sweat the Finish!

from my stash to mo' stache

Sew I dug through my stash to whip up these

moustaches for the

Can't Grow a Mo' Sew A Mo' Raffle Quilt!

They should be in Danielle's hands in a couple of weeks.

You can read Danielle's story if you scroll to my previous post.

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Today finds me working on UFOs, I'm starting to feel alot better than the past couple of days

but today I can actually string together coherent thoughts, Yay!

So with the 'staches in their envelope all addressed and waiting to go, it's on to the next item,

the flannel quilt for the BofLF, I need to get this puppy quilted, I've been looking at and moving it back and forth too many times! See you later>>>>>>>>!!