Finished gift and WIPs

A finished gift is a wondrous thing ... especially this one which was so fun and easy. I hope to make one for myself, too because I could use a little something with personality in my office at work. As you can see below my sister took the pictures of this project. Why is it when you put the very same camera in another person's hands do you get such different results? Oh, yeah, I guess that's called "talent."

Hmm ... now on to those pesky Works In Progress. Considering my relatively new status as a regular sewist I find it amazing to note how many projects I am currently in the middle of. Sometimes I get so eager to move on and so I just do, much to the chagrin of my husband who has been patiently waiting for roman blinds in our bedroom since I began them back in November (all they need is one more row of brass rings, what is my problem?)

A tout petit gift

Just thought I'd post a picture of a little gift for The Keeper of the Stash. It's not done yet, obviously, but it might be as close as I get to a Valentine's craft.

I'll post again when the silly thing is finished but right now I'm too lazy to switch from my quilting foot to my normal foot on my machine. Gosh, that's lazy. Oh well. Does a small obstacle like that get in anyone else's way? Le sigh.

My first quilt

I can't believe it but I may have just completed my first quilt.

It's a baby quilt for a friend of mine who is currently living in Paris. I've known her for 20 years. We met in Grade 5 when we both ended up auditioning for the same children's choir. I remember clearly that she was wearing a t-shirt with strawberries all over it when we were first introduced.

Up until recently we both lived in Montreal, where we haphazardly met in the hallway at McGill not knowing that we were both attending graduate school there. Days before we both moved away, me to Edmonton and she to Paris, she told me she was pregnant. It was nice to be able to share that moment in person.

I've been thinking about her a lot ... wondering what it would be like to be pregnant, living overseas, and so far away from my own mother.

And so here it is, the first quilt! It's based on an extremely simple pattern called stacked coins that I bought at a sewing and crafting fair. I ended up combining these soft colours hoping that it would be suitable whether this baby ends up being a boy or a girl.

The back is pieced, which is what you can see in the picture above and the quilting is extremely simple, just stitching in the ditch.  But I'm happy with it. Even with its many imperfections and a little wonkiness in places.

I don't think the baby is due for a couple of weeks which means this project may actually arrive in time to welcome the baby home!

Works in Progress

If there is one weakness that crafting brings out in me it's that I have trouble with the finishing stages of projects. Well, actually the finishing stage of pretty much everything. I love conceiving the project, picking the colors, and planning the work but I'm not a fan of tying the ends in, handstitching things closed, trimming the seams ... you know, the stuff that makes the final product look so much better.

I'm wondering if this blog might keep me a little more honest. As I was sewing a seam today, flirting with the idea of not pinning a seam that might need it, I thought to myself "you know, I have to take a picture of this!" And so, I pinned the seam - a major victory for me. Ridiculous. Here's the evidence:

This is my version of the quilted pillow. I'm pretty happy with it so far and it helped me to remember how much I like the look of muslin. Yup, plain ol' muslim shows off these prints beautifully.

Waking up early

Sometimes I wake up in the morning with my heart rate elevated and ideas racing through my mind. I'm not thinking about bills (though I probably should be), I'm not worrying about friends and family (though this might be appropriate), no, I'm thinking about crafting. All kinds of crafting. Sewing clothes, sewing for my home, making gifts for upcoming birthdays, painting or pasteling ... yes, this is what "keeps me up."

It probably sounds a little nuts, but I think this is a sign of my sanity, my happiness, and the relatively charmed life I lead. Oh, you know, everything is far from perfect, but when you can devote this much time and energy to your hobby you know that your life is pretty good.

This morning I'm thinking about the version of the quilted pillow project that I started yesterday. I really love the original design but can't seem to help myself from "customizing" it, or "ruining" it as the case may be.

I started piecing together some scraps from a quilt (that I still haven't finished) to make this pillow for my couch. I hope it brightens the place up a little because winter in Western Canada can be a long haul!