stitchaholick

Deck the Halls...

2011-12-23T21:56:00.000-08:00

My latest obsession has been spending w a y too much time on Pinterest. I get so inspired looking at projects made by very clever people! Now that I am on holiday, I have been following through with my own versions of some of the quilting and decorating ideas that I have seen on Pinterest...

Chevron Stocking

2011-11-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

Spending way too much time on Pinterest these days, I have noticed a lot of zig-zag or chevron patterns in quilting and wanted to play around with this idea. Here is what it looked like:

Now I want to do more!

I'm back...

2011-10-10T18:43:00.000-07:00

Even though my quilting supplies are still in boxes,
a friend had a baby, and what else could I do...

but start a quilt!

We moved!

2011-08-15T19:38:00.000-07:00

After talking about it for over a year, we moved to Bowen Island just a little over two weeks ago. We are pretty settled in most areas of the house and get to enjoy this view from the deck...

We now have wall space to display more quilts...

I have run out of steam with the unpacking and this is how my quilting/craft 'stuff' looks...

I have to come up with some

organization systems before I can

resume quilting

In the meantime, this is much more appealing...

The Big Day!

2011-07-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

Our eldest daughter got married on July 8 and she and I worked together, using our sewing skills ....

We decided to make luggage tags as 'take-away' name cards for the tables.

Robyn chose two colours of vinyl, as well as some clear plastic to form the 'window':

It was a very small wedding with less than 50 people but many of the guests arrived from destinations such as Colombia, Switzerland, Australia, China, as well as from several spots within Canada (Halifax, Toronto, Nanaimo and Parksville).

The Hungry Caterpillar

2011-06-04T17:29:00.000-07:00

This time of the school year we have caterpillars in our Kindergarten classroom. We have the opportunity to watch teeny tiny caterpillars turn into BIG FAT caterpillars and then go through metamorphosis, right before our very eyes!

Because of this connection with caterpillars and reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar daily, I love the Eric Carle collection of fabrics! I couldn't wait to get my hands on the fabric and had a lot of fun making this quilt for a very dear friend's baby

After completing this quilt I had some left-overs to play with

so I made this table topper

and then I had my kindergarten class use fabric crayons to colour in these butterflies and then I transferred them to fabric to make this quilt for our "Roots of Empathy" baby.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T21:14:00.000-07:00

This guy is sitting at our front door, but only for a couple more days!

As we are not having our Easter dinner until tomorrow, I was able to turn our
kitchen into a quilting studio (again) and enjoy working on this...

What fun to work on such a quick and easy project!
Now I can make a sandwich and get busy with the hand quilting.

free time to blog again!

2011-04-10T20:26:00.000-07:00

Since my last posting, we listed and sold our home of 24 years! We had been preparing for this event for quite some time but it was still both incredibly exciting and nerve-racking.

Not having to worry about "Open Houses" anymore, I can now have all of my sewing 'stuff' back out in plain sight and get on with the fun:

                                      I sent this quilt to my daughter in Halifax and she then sent the
                                       following photo, showing that the quilt meets Cali's approval!

I also had a chance to get back to this project and almost complete it.

(I still plan to embroider a 'wire' under the birds' legs)

Memory Lane

2011-03-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

After 24 years of living in the same house we have decided to move! And boy do we have a lot of stuff!!! Twenty-four years of just 'putting it away' in the attic (hoarding)... It is not pretty!

Most of the stuff we pull out of the attic I question why it ever went in there!!#!#@!! But tonight we came across some gems and I just have to share. . .

This is where I got my start!

I remember getting this miniature sewing machine for Christmas when I was either in grade 1 or 2 (the mid- sixties) from my Aunt Mollie. I even have the accessories in a bag that I must have made out of the leg from a pair of my Dad's pyjama pants!

How cute it that?

Does it look familiar to anyone else?

In like a lion...

2011-03-01T18:54:00.000-08:00

How true today!

but I am looking forward to the lamb part!

birds

2011-02-20T21:18:00.000-08:00

I love checking out clever quilting blogs and then I get so inspired that I have to leave the computer and immediately go to my sewing machine and make something, like this:

The idea and the pattern for this cute little bird is from Kajsa, a very generous and talented artist in Finland.

As I was trying to get a photo of all of my birds, wouldn't you know that a breeze would come up and they tried their best to fly!

Blue sky

2011-02-19T09:48:00.000-08:00

It was such a beautiful day for a walk ...

all of that blue sky got me thinking...

and look at those bare branches! Something is missing...

I was inspired and set to work

to be continued!

commuting

2011-02-16T18:46:00.000-08:00

Luckily I had my camera with me on my commute home..........

because the sky was so odd...

clouds, sun, and new snow, all in one!

sure beats grid-lock!

More hearts...

2011-02-13T11:33:00.000-08:00

I got kind of carried away with making the felt hearts, and then used some nontraditional

colour combinations to send to our daughters living in Quebec and Nova Scotia...

... and then there is the table runner that is Valentine "ish"

Another gorgeous day

2011-02-09T16:41:00.000-08:00

Another beautiful day in Vancouver and signs of spring are popping up everywhere. I love the fact that it is still daylight after 5 p.m.!

Here is a Valentine quilt I made using a Nancy Halvorsen pattern.

Rooves on!

2011-02-06T10:31:00.000-08:00

Before Christmas, I saw some cute little houses on the cover of a magazine and then went to town (pardon the pun) with my own version. After completing the first one though, I wasn't excited about the roof and so they sat......

Until this morning!

The roofers came and ta-da!

Valentines...

2011-02-05T16:13:00.000-08:00

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching I thought I better put all of those snowmen decorations away and get on with this next theme. So, I got out some supplies and got busy:

any excuse to get out my button collection......

and then some applique . . .

Look at what is just around the corner!

2011-01-27T20:35:00.000-08:00

Another mild day in Vancouver and low and behold, look what's popping up....

Yet inside, I still have this on our kitchen table

This is Wear Your Mittens, a pattern by Button Stitch Designs

Cute little fellow

2011-01-25T20:11:00.000-08:00

I really like Meg Hawkey's style (Crabapple Hill) and have enjoyed doing many of her patterns. This one adds to the snowman theme in our house right now. It's kind of funny how many things that I have made that say "Let it Snow" when I really would prefer that it didn't (only up the mountain for those of you wanting to frolic in it).

Luckily, the snow is on the mountains

2011-01-23T16:03:00.000-08:00

Even though we are in the middle of winter, it doesn't feel like it today. I am happy that all of Vancouver's snow is up on the mountains. Inside, however, we do have a few reminders of the season...
This is A Chilly Trio
I made with a pattern by
Country Stitches Pattern Collection
http://www.countrystitchesonline.com/

             This is Snowman Patches

             I made with a pattern from
             Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting
             Nov./Dec. 2005
             http://www.fonsandporter.com/

This is A Snowman's Hat

I made with a pattern by A Stitch In Time

Here goes....

2011-01-22T21:05:00.000-08:00

Much to everyone's surprise (mostly my family), I am starting my very own blog! This is a HUGE step for someone who doesn't take easily to technology. However, in the name of 'stitching', I am motivated to take the leap.

It has just been over the last couple of weeks that I have discovered the world of quilting blogs. Since this discovery I have been spending countless hours pouring over this new, amazing source of inspiration.