Blogathon Canada

A quick update at sewlittle time

Hi every one
I hope this finds everyone well, been busy with doing the work thing and dealing with some family issues, I have been sewing , working mostly on tops for me ,and a quilt for my bed! yes I am being selfish sewing just for me , and yes I do miss the extra the paid sewing brings in, but right now I think it is best just to take a break and sew what I will want to at the time
still can not get pictures to post here but when I do get it fixed will load a whole lot to show what I have been up to
Happy sewing to all

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers day to all moms
just a quick not to say That I am still sewing , mostly tops for me for work, and when blogger and my pc decide to get a long I will post some pics, it is a nice spring day here and I plan to take some time and enjoy the weather, but first I have to get a few chores done first, been a busy few weeks and not much house work has been done,
happy sewing to all and to all the moms out there have a great day

A great weekend of sewing for me!

hi everyone, as the name for this post says it all, I have had a very productive weekend, I am happy to say that 3d hexi cubed is now a quilt sandwich , as of Friday night I had two blocks still to complete and did them on Saturday, then started to put them all  together ,, It was the first time that I have sewn Y seams and I was a little worried that I would not be able to do them, but I did read a few blogs on how to do them and watched a you tube also, and by dinner time tonight I now have the top done and is basted and ready to quilt,! it is not perfect but I am happy with how it has gone so far , you can see that as I worked on each block , my piecing got much better, and the use of spray starch helped a lot too here is a link with some pictures of how it has progressed hexi cubed photos. It is in a slideshow on google plus , I have been having problems uploading pics, and this is the only way I can get some photos  posted here, hope this works,, there are also pics of my hand sewn hexis project it is also ready to be quilted, so I have both to do, 3d cubed is first to do,,
well it is time to get ready for another work week, happy sewing to all

On my Design wall,, wip

Happy national quilting day!
yes I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything, but life has been a bit busy lately and there have not been enough hours in the day,( work eat sleep, repeat)
But I have managed to get some work done.
The baby quilt for a person at work is done, all that I need to do is get the babies name for the label and I have not been able to get it, the person has been off of work (sick ) so until he returns to work is has to wait; http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c258/bluenines/BLUENINES-PC/Pictures/mar%2015%2014/mar1514020_zps5b39be11.jpg








The hexagon quilt project is in the quilt sandwich stage including being basted , but I have not had the time to quilt it yet
Three D hexi is coming along I have 9 blocks done , just 6 more to go and then the fun begins, putting them together! I have not had much practice with Y seams so this should be interesting.
The rest of my sewing has been paid work.. lots of coat zippers , been a long winter and it is taking its toll on not just people but the clothing as well, I cant wait till the warmer weather comes,, seems like it will never happen, but hopefully soon it will
happy sewing to all.... sorry no pics, blogger wont load images , but I will try again later to post them

Windy and very cold!!,good time to sew

Hi everyone,
It is very windy and cold here . with a bit of snow added for good measure, temp have been in the -20 to -30 with the wind chill, and yes I know I live in Canada but this is a bit much,
Now as for a update as to what I have been sewing
mostly working on paid sewing, lots of pants hemed and zippers replace in winter coats, would I rather be working on fun stuff yess, but I need the extra money form paid work so it has to come first,
I have managed to work a bit on my long term project hexis , and have started a hexi cubed project,
here are some pics  of the works in progess.

As for my large paid sewing job, getting the coating fabric the client wants has been a bit of a challenge. looks like I will have to order samples online then order the fabric, which is going to take a bit of time, not what the client or me wanted but it is what it is, well that is all for now going to get back to sewing for a bit this morning, I have company coming this afternoon so don't have much time today, happy sewing to all

The end of 2013 and the start of 2014

Dannie

Ally ,Nat, me

Well as I sit here thinking of 2013 I have to say that I am glad that it is almost over, I has not been the best of years for me or for my family and friends, now don't get me wrong there has been a number of good things  too that have happened this year, but that bad seems to have won this year, between my work( has been a bad year there for me,) and my health it not been good , but it is getting better, and the loss of friends who passed I hope that 2014 will be better
 Now here are the good things..... My family and I were able to get to gather together for a Christmas meal, my mom. brother and my Two girls along with all three grand daughters, it was all I wanted for Christmas and my wish came true. everyone loved there home prezzys, I made my girls and grandkids pj pants and my brother I made an  e reader cover , For my mom I made her a quilt which she loved, and already has on her bed,! I have put pics up of the finished items below. I can not find the pics of  Dave's e read or more of the girls but will post them when I find them, I have them on the pc but they don't want ot load properly

quilt lable

moms quilt

My grand daughter Ally got given her first sewing machine form her other gran for Christmas and I get to teach her how to use it, she is so happy with it, she is really liking sewing( I started her on sewing this summer) and will be starting her lessons on new years day I have all three grandkids to babysit this year it will be lots of fun, I hope for them and me,
As for the hexies project that is still a work in progress and I don't know when I will get back to it, have a few paid sewing jobs coming and they will take all of my sewing time( one is quite a large job and will be a challenge for me that is for sure will post more later on)
I wish you and yours all the best in 2014 , Happy New Year and happy sewing to all

Merry Christmas to all

Just a quick note to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year

9 days till Christmas!

Hi everyone, I know it has been a bit since my last post, but life has been a bit nuts lately, I hope that all is well with you, as to what I have been up to well, work has not been good, I have had some health issues and have missed way to much time at work which has gotten me into a bit of trouble at work, which has not helped my feel any better about things that is for sure,but it has to get better, I am hoping for a better year in 2014,
On the sewing front I am happy to say that I have all my Christmas sewing done !!!!yea me, now all I have to do is wrap it up,, This Christmas is going to be a small one that is for sure , all my gifts are handmade and there is not as many as I had hoped to give , but it is what it is, I will be going to my mom and brothers on Christmas day and we will share a meal, which is the most important thing, spending time with those you love and care about, I don't know if I will get to see my girls and grankids on Christmas but I hope to see them before the new year. I will post pics after the 25th on dec so you can see what I have been up to.
As to the hexie project not much has been done , I have finalized the layout and have started to sew them together here are some pics

all the hexies on wall

close up of hexies that are starting to be sewn together

We had are first big snow fall of the season and it is starting to look like Christmas, Happy sewing to all

Busy week but progress is being made

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well and staying warm, it is defiantly getting much colder out and the weatherman says that we are in for some of the white stuff( so not liking this) but it is that time of year.
 I have been busy with the work thing( but it is something I have to do, the Bills just don't stop and a roof over my head is important) , so I am a bit behind on the sewing front, and Christmas is fast coming, I have managed to get all the projects organized , fabric, notions  . patterns in one place, All I need now is the sizes for the grand kids pjs and  the time to get it done!
The good news is moms quilt is just about done, just have to put the binding on and it is finished, hers prezzy is the 1st on the to do list.
because I am working on gifts and family and friends have been known to peek ,,sorry  no pics this week . but I will hopefully get some more work done on hexies and will be able to post pics of that
happy sewing to all

lest we not forget

Just a quick note to say hi and that I still here, and please don't forget those who have give all for us

What I have and have not been up to

Well  here it is the summer is just about done ,and fall is fast coming,, I have not gotten much done , been way to busy with my day job that by the time I get home it is all I can do to eat and then go to sleep,, sometimes  I manage to get some  paid sewing done , but I am even behind on that,,,,;( 
I did have a bit of luck last week, I entered a blog giveaway  at http://truebluecanadian.blogspot.ca/and I won! Thank you true blue for hosting a great giveaway you will never guess the fabric bundle is,,, it is the same fabric that I am using for my  hexies project,, Robert k  fusions! , so I now will have more hexies , 10 Flat quarters, from sew sisters ! it was part of there birthday partyhttp://www.sew-sisters.com/ .Thank you sew sisters, for a great prize, they are a great Canadian online and store, I have brought form them before and had wonderful service, if you get a chance check them out, I have not been to there store but have head good things about it,, I have just shopped online
 I thought it would be a bit coming , Canada post is not always very fast, but to my surprise it was in my mail box on Friday, what a wonderful thing to come home to after a long hard work week, here is a picture of my wonderful prize

 

I am not sure how I will use the blue and greens in this project but I will , And just a small update on the hexie project on my design wall

 

Hexies on right hand side are sewn , the rest are still a work in progress, well I have to get back to paid sewing, one jacket that needs to be hemmed and 8 pairs of pants to be hemmed, hopefully done by Monday and out the door! then maybe  I can get some me sewing done
happy sewing to all

Laborday weekend update

Hello everyone, sorry that I have not posted in a while but life as been a bit busy lately, The first week in august I went on a much needed camping trip for a week and feel better for it , it helped me put things in a better view, still not sure what is going to happen on my work , but am going to stay at were I am for right now, been there 13 years and full time work is hard to get and at my age , well lets just say it doesn't happen .

close up of fmo stiches, sorry about color fade , had to lighten pic to show stiches better

490 hexis baised for main project 

As for sewing well not too much got done, all the hexies for my project are based ,started them while on the camping trip, lots of time sitting at the campfire, basting hexies, good times,,  since I have been back most of the sewing I have done is paid work,, hemming pants, skirts etc,, paid sewing has to come first, as it is money, and well needs must be met,,  I have managed to work on my hexi  sampler , trying different fmo patters, I know  I need much more practice that is for sure,  but I am enjoying the process  here are some pics


sampler progress
 

As for the next month my goals area to finish all the paid sewing I have to do and finish my practice hexie piece and work on the layout for the main hexi project,
Happy sewing to all and hope everyone has a great weekend

Hexies and a work update

It is a bit of a rain day here, but that is ok, I go on my annual camping trip next week so let it rain now. Hope all is well with everyone,
I have been working on my sample hexi project and it is going good, it is all pieced and appliqued to the top, I sewed in on using one of my sewing machines , not mama janome but baby janome, I have not used this machine in a bit and it needed to be used, it is not good have them just sit, and for the quilting I am going to use my backup machine janome qc (little sis to mama) , just to keep all the heard in working order
I have not heard from Ally this week as to how she is doing on her project but I will update you all when I can,

 the top of runner

 

Smidge being Smidge

close up of applique stiches

Now for some not so good things,, As I had feared things are not good at work. I was told that I would not be keeping my new position,, and was being demoted down two work positions, so I am back down to starting rate, I guess it is better than no job, but I am feeling really low right now, it is really hard to keep going in and doing what I do, when I feel this way, but I have to ,,,,,, who knows what will happen in the next little while , have to wait and see..
happy sewing to all

the passing of skills

Hi everyone!,, Hope all it well , I have made some progress on my hexies , but before I get to that I have some wonderful news!  My GD asked me to teach her to sew!, I was babysitting this weekend ( All 3 grand kids)  and was working on my project, Ally was watching me and ask me if I would teach her how, she wants to learn it all, how to quilt and sew clothes on the sewing machines,, but with her and her sisters her it was not possible to start with much, (Ally is 11 Natnat is 6 and Danni is 3) so I told her that she can come over later in the week to start, but she really wanted to start so I said well how about hand sewing with me, so I showed her how to sew hexies together and she was off to the races!! she is a better hand sewer than me, even with a cast on, here are some pic of her working away!

Ally sewing hexis templates

Ally with her first project!

I gave her some fabric to take home and some hexies papers to work on ,, she is working on sewing the leaves on her first project and making more hexies, I am so proud of her!
well that is all for now happy sewing to all

Hexies!

Hi Everyone,  I hope you all are having a good summer so far,, It has been hot muggy and raining here,, people around here have been known to say, if you don't like the weather , wait five minutes and it will change,,LOL..
As for sewing more clothes for me that is on hold due to matenance  being done on my apt, so my sewing room is not very functional right now,, hopefully it will be done soon.. But I have been thinking of something that I can do in the meantime,, Hexagons,, never done them but I think I should at least try them once,, I am not a hand sewer and not very good but I am willing to give it a go.. went on line and did some reading, watched a few youtube video's.. and here I am

I use the pink cutter for paper only and it has help with cutting out the hexagons, you can also see the fabrics on the top right that I have chosen for the test learning process

I did go to a quilting shop that sells accuquilt dies but the did not have a hexagon one in stock, so I bought a hexagon ruler, for cutting out the fabric,, If I find that I like doing these I will go and order the die,,

While I was there I spotted some really nice fabric,, and I could not help myself,,

It is called fusion by Robert kaufman.. I thought that it would be way too much money for my budget, (50-80 dollars) but it was not,, it was only 17 dollars ,, love the this,, well on to cutting out more paper templates and then may some of the test fabric into hexies (theRK is too nice to ruin if I'm no good at this) 

Happy sewing to all

 

 

a bit of sewing and too much work

Hi everyone, sorry that I have not been posting more, the work thing has keep me away form the fun things in life, My new job has been taking a lot out of me,, and right now I am not feeling that I am not doing well at it, had my monthly review and it did not go well,, not going to give up but feel that I am failing badly,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
enough about that,, back to the good things, granny squares is done!!!!!!

quilt lable

I like how it turned out. I learned a lot doing this quilt,, I tried 2 new things, a scalloped boarder and I put a quilt label on it. As for my FMQ it is getting better each time I do it, and I am finding it easier too.. here are some pics

Granny Squares

close up of quilting

 

close up of lable

Now all I have to do is give it to the lady that is for,, she has not been in at work, when I have been there, different shifts,, but I hope to see her this week and will let you know if she liked it..

I am done with quilting for a bit, back to sewing clothes for me,, to get back into the swing of it I decided to make a simple top,, or so I thought it would be,, http://www.simplicity.com/images/PRODUCT/icon/1886.jpg used stash fabric.. loved the color and print,, polka dots .I had only 1 meter so  I had to change how I cut it out, and did not have enough fabric to do the facings for it , so I  used some self made bias tape( leftovers from granny quilt)instead,,, first issue solved,, the fabric is light weight and has a crinkle finish but it frays like mad, so to solve second issue, French seams.. also due to lack of yardage I did rolled hems on selves and bottom hem,, so much for a easy project,, sewed it up and decided to try it on,, way to big ,, the neckline was huge so no button loop need sewed up the edge and finished with bias tape , added a couple of buttons to hide the neck line issue and called  it done. try on again and still hate  it,, oh well it will be used as a at home doing chores no one will see me top here are some pics of top

Simplicity 1886

French seam

rolled hem

My next project is Simplicity 1699 It has a ton of reviews on PR and I hope it turns out better than Simplicity 1886
Happy sewing to all

The first weendend in june,

Hi everyone
Happy June!!  It has been hot and muggy here for the last few days, summer is finely here yay.. I not complaining, just wish that the humidity would go away , went from cool to hot  in just a day, but it is cooling down again with some rain added in too..
As for things on the sewing front,, not too much has been done, it was just to hot in my Apt to do anything, let alone work on sewing a quilt,, the heat does me in.. I have a ac but I wont be putting it in till July, ( we have to pay extra for using an Ac and it is not in my budget till then).But today with it being cooler I have managed to sew a bit on the quilt, not enough to make it worth taking a picture of so no pic this week, I hope to have more done this week and if I do I will post more pics
well I am going back to the sewing room now, while it is cooler,, Happy sewing to all

Granny Square Update

Hi everyone, sorry I have not been blogging,, life had been a bit to much, too much to do and not enough time to get it done!  But I have been sewing, not as much as I had hoped to,, working full time and with my new job title come more work and at the end of the day I have just been too tried to even think of going in the sewing room ,but it is getting better as I get used to the job, it is more brain work than physical work and that had been a bit of a adjustment for me ,, all good though........enough about me and more about granny quilt
Granny is not even done yet but it has a new home all ready , It is going to a lady at work who had a house fire and is starting over, so I really need to get a move on
The top is done and batting and backing are basted  and I have start to free motion quilt the squares , using a random stipple ,, on the sashes I am going to just stitch 1/4 in on either side  and stipple the borders here are some pics of what I have done so far

close up of stippling

smidge checking out my work



top batting and backing all ready to   go

Happy sewing  to all !

Happy Mothers Day to All

Happy moms day, to all moms , I would like to say thank you to my mom, she means the world to me, we did not always see eye to eye , but she always loved me no matter what I did or did not do.. she has been with me though the good times and the bad, love her so much, as I have gotten older we had become best friends as well as mom and daughter, I hope to have the same type of relationship with my girls too . I talk to her daily, she has called me every night since my husband has passed and that has been 8 years, just to make sure that I have had something to eat, she knows me well, as I will often not eat , I forget too ( I rarely feel hunger, so I forget to eat, I was born with it, Not a eating disorder). And yes she still worries on me, and I worry on her!
we share what we have done that day and what we are working on sewing ,, she sews too, she got back into sewing a few years ago, and she and I have a great time together working on our projects.
My mom , brother and I walk 3 times a week at the local wellness center, she has copd and can walk 3 to 4 km each time , some days she out walks us! not bad for a 70+ year old!
I am so grateful to have this time with my mom, everybody seems to lead such busy lives and time goes by so fast, so today and each day if you can, hug the ones that you love , think of them. and give thanks that you have them'
Now on to sewing
I have finely finished the two Asian quilts !! yah  and have started a new quilt. It is form the moda bakeshop free pattern called granny squares,, here is some pics of completed quilts and granny squares in progress 


1st top completed

back and binding

back and binding

 granny Square , piecing still needs work

design  wall

work in progress



                      Happy sewing to all

2nd top completed