A dashing new dust cover is finished!

Look, I finished my sewing machine cover!
It features linen, free motion quilting, a Tilda embroidery, ric rac AND gingham bias tape. Those aren't polka dots on that fabric -- they are vintage buttons -- it is from a line by Lakehouse Dry Goods. Those are pink polka dots are on the top.
I made up the design, so I decided to put all my favourite things in one pretty cover. It is much nicer than the hideous vinyl thing that came as a "bonus" with my other machine.
Now Bernie has a lovely coat to wear when we can't be creating together. As we all know, it is important to look pretty, even when you aren't doing anything...
More importantly the new cover it will help protect her from the vast amount of dust she must live with day after day. :-)

Where has she been????

Dottie and her beach bag

I finally finished this Tilda angel, featured in a magazine in the UK called Tilda's Homemade Ideas. It is the price of a craft book, and for me to order it would be really cost prohibitive. However, I have really nice European friends who shared the instructions with me.
Dottie, as she is known, has not only a floppy hat and 50s inspired bathing suit, she also has a beach tote filled with all her stitching supplies.
All of the Tilda dolls are a challenge to do, but this one was really tricky. The difficulty lies in getting the stuffing done properly, and without lumps. Doing this doll's stuffing took me three tries, and it isn't totally perfect, but eventually, I had to move on.
This doll will be going with me to the fall Creative Festival in Toronto. I will be part of A Needle Pulling Thread's booth, promoting not only the magazine, but also the work of independent needle workers.
I must confess, I have been a bit stuck. Creatively, and otherwise, I have been challenged to keep focused and getting things finished. This happens to me a lot, and I always find it frustrating. However, I have learned to be patient with myself and the finishing will come. I just don't have to like it!
This week, I am also working on finishing my sewing machine cover.
I started it ages ago, but I was busy getting ready for vacation and didn't get it finished. I also have to finish my houses wall hanging.
Oh, and I want to finish my re-purposed project for Wendy's challenge by Tuesday.
Kind of a boring post, sorry. But, I do thank you for reading my to-do list!

... and we're back to our regularly scheduled life

Houses awaiting their doors

The vacation was not long enough. It wasn't nearly long enough. However, it was a welcome respite from the regularly scheduled stuff that seems to happen around here.
I made good progress on my Homes wall hanging. I have to put the little doors on all the houses.
I didn't do it at the cottage because the iron there doesn't heat up enough. I wanted to use fusible web to attach the doors. That is best done at home, where the iron is marginally better.
I saved the bits lefts over from the cutting charm squares to make the doors.
Then, just as I was about to decide which little house would go on which large square, I realized I forgot the post-it flags I normally use to label rows. This meant I would probably get it all messed up when it was time to put all the blocks together. I refused to go into town to get the silly post-it flags. Instead, I called in the technological marvel that is my camera.
I took a load of photos while I was auditioning the houses onto the blocks to make sure I had a clue where my thoughts were on my layout. It takes me forever to arrange blocks, and now I won't have start all over again. I am so glad I remembered to take that photo -- even if I did forget my helpful little flags.
While we were away, I tried a new  "company" dessert using summer berries. This version of tiramisu is amazing. It has little Maria cookies dipped in Tia Maria as the crust. Here's what you do:
Dip the cookies quickly, and then gently press them against the sides of a glass bowl or deep dish pie plate. Beat a 475 gram tub of Marscapone cheese with 1/2 cup of whipping cream. This takes about three minutes. It should be like whipped butter.  Refrigerate for at least two hours. Prepare the fruit mixture: 1/2 cup of hulled and halved strawberries and a half cup of blueberries, stirred together with 3 tbsp sugar. Cover and refrigerate.

This is berry good

At serving time, top the dish with the berries and juices. Serve. Take a few bows -- and try to blush attractively at the compliements.
I made this twice for company while we were away. It was elegant without too much work, and it was a perfect end of a summer meal.
While I was working on my wall hanging, one of my guests, a quilter who travels to a quilting meeting each week, admired my pin cushion for its petite and portable size. It is from last autumn's issue of Mollie Makes.
When I returned home, I made her a pear with some of my many pretty scraps. I found the lady bug at the dollar store. It is really a push pin, but I glued it into the pear as a decoration. I hope my friend likes her new pincushion, and that it travels well.

A single traveling pear

Now that I am home, and all my deadlines are met, I am hoping to work on some just-for-fun projects before I plow head long into the Christmas making.
One of them is a new Tilda doll. More on that very soon!

Gone fishin'

Heyho, it's off to lake we go!

Wall hanging ... WIP by the lake

We are heading off to our annual reading fest by the lake. The DH and I look like lumps on logs, parked by the lake from morning until evening, reading from our ebook libraries.
After dinner, we take a little boat cruise on the lake to watch the sun go down.
I know, it sounds like sloth disguised as a vacation. But honestly, it is my dream break.
I also bring a large hand sewing project with me. This is year, it it a wall hanging from Quilts and More Winter 2011.
I collected up numerous Sweet Water Homegrown fabrics, as well as some neutral backgrounds. This stuff is rarer than hens' teeth around here, so it took a while to find what I wanted. I found three packages of charm squares on sale at Quilt A Bag, and that was a tremendous help in getting the house appliques looking the way I wanted them to look. The background blocks are 10 inches square, so I had to improvise a bit.

Christmas in nearly July...

I did all the little house applique pieces yesterday. I do a cheater version of needle turn applique. Right sides together, I sew muslin to the piece, clip the curves and corners, make a slit in the muslin, and turn the shape right side out. Then, I just sit by the lake and stitch the applique to the blocks.
Hopefully, I will make such stunning progress, the wall hanging will be ready for its close up when I get back.

In the meantime, here is a photo of one of the projects I created for the Festive 2012 issue of A Needle Pulling Thread. The deadline for this issue was the end of June. I must admit, it was a challenge writing about festive gift giving as the temps here soared. I love the way these projects turned out, so I hope the readers do as well!
Catch ya later!

Sew, pack and go!

Our friend Amanda is on holiday right now.
She took a really nice set of bags with her (if I do say myself, and I do).
Sandra and I did a zipper/tote bag set for Amanda's adventures.
We also entered it in the Purse Palozza challenge. Find out more about that here.
Sandra found the fabric for the set on a $2 a yard clearance table in the United States a while back. Amanda really liked the set, and is looking forward to looking stylish on her travels.
This pattern is from Sew Pretty Homestyle by Tone Finnanger.
The kanzashi flower is the "pointy" style, which is a bit of a departure for me. I usually do the rounded petal ones. I am getting better at folding them though. I have found that less pressing with the iron is the key for me.
Sandra's zippered pouches are, as ever, both useful and cute.
Well done to us, I say!

Miss B went to Europe and brought me Tilda

Miss B celebrated earning her undergrad degree with a dream trip to the UK and a bit of Paris.
It was a wonderful opportunity, and she enjoyed every minute. She also went shopping a time or two, and she brought me several Tilda things and some Cath Kidson note cards. Miss B knows her mama well, bless her!
It felt like Christmas, honestly. (I may have squealed a couple of times.)
She has made me promise to actually use my treasures. I will try, but you know, it's Tilda. I won't be squandering it...
In other news, I harvested the first bit of my lavender. So lovely.
We had such a mild winter, I was a bit worried the plants had not fared well. There was a bit of winter kill, but lavender, like many shrubs, sprouts from the previous year's growth. Thankfully, I resisted the urge to prune too early. Most of the plants renewed themselves quite well, and even the winter killed bits have developed some lovely new growth at the base. I pruned the winter kill as I harvested the new buds. Now the plants look pretty as well as being productive. (That's MY long-term goal :-).....)
I am no gardener, but I have developed a genuine love of lavender. It is such fun to be able to use the lavender I have grown in my crafting.
I have three new plants in containers on the deck. In early fall, I will transplant them into the garden. This is the best way I have found to have well established shrubs that will survive year after year. The added bonus of growing lavender is that your hands smell so nice after working in the garden.

New beginnings and joyful bunting

Celebratory bunting in Queen's U colours

Paper Pieced gift pouch

Yesterday, we celebrated with my darling girl and her friends as they graduated from Queen's University. Miss B earned her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology, and will continue her education in the University of Ontario Institute of Information Technology's Bachelor of Education program starting in the fall. She wants to be an elementary school teacher.
There is no truth to the rumour that she will be doing research into the causes and long term effects of textile hoarding -- that is just her environment -- not her life's work.
No, her life's work will give me endless opportunities to sew and craft things for her classroom. So, really, a dream come true for me! I see a new Pintrest board coming on...
I did a few little things to celebrate her big day. I made some bunting in the Queen's U colours, and I did paper pieced blocks -- hearts in the same colours -- for her and her best friends.

Once the blocks were finished, I turned them into a little gift pouches, filled with fancy bath products and a bookstore gift card -- with instructions to get a trashy novel or two for the summer. (They have read enough serious works for now, I think.)
I made little quilt sleeves for the back of the blocks and ran a thin dowel through them, attached some hemp string, and they can hang them up if they wish.
It was so much fun to make some little keepsakes for clever young women who have been good friends and supporters to one another, and who deserve some down-time after all the hard work.
As we waited for the time appointed to retrieve her hood and gown, and pick up the convocation tickets, we had a nice breakfast and I was actually allowed to visit a lovely Kingston quilt store called Quilt and Stitch. I think my dear ones thought this might stop the tide of sentimental tears that kept flowing all day long. They were quite wrong, of course, but I didn't turn the trip down. I may be sappy, but I'm not silly ...
At the store, I found some Reunion by Sweet Water and some 40 per cent off Fig Tree and Co.'s Breakfast at Tiffany's. I also scored some little bits and pieces. More on that on another day.
After all our hot weather, my first crop of lavender is ready for harvesting. I am off to do that.
Have a handmade sort of day!