A real treat

No cooking today.
Shopping, without kids...

Made big plan of sewing goodies for friends and family before packing my sewing machine for the big move in December.

Nice dinner with hubby tonight, no kids again. Life is good.

A needle book

I have been wanting to make one, but it was postponed so I can work on Escher's quilt. Now that it's done, I get to this little project for myself pronto.  I love the bright colors of the front...

There's a little pouch on the left for my thread clipper, and the right side is a flap for the needles...

It is so handy, especially now I am getting my hands on paper piecing. The best thing is it's made entirely of scraps!

A quilt for Escher

The quilt is done and in the wash. This quilt started out as Mixtape II from Oh Fransson. After the initial blocks are pieced, I wanted the blocks to jiggle a bit, as shown here. This last minute change caused the quilt to be bigger than a normal baby quilt, which means it's probably not as easy to carry around and be used with the stroller. I also used the extra blocks to make the piece back, and I still have a few blocks left over. I really want to make a smaller stroller quilt, or a pillow with the leftover blocks. Let's see if I get around to doing it before we move.

I wasn't sure about the quilt front when it was first done. I think the binding really make it pops. I quilted the whole thing with random crossing lines  using painter's masking tape as guide, which allows me keep the line straight and also helps me visualizing the lines before quilting.
 

I am super happy with the way the label turned out...

I can't wait to meet little Escher and give him this quilt. I hope he likes it. 

Last but not least, here's a quick one I made for Ben last month. He loves cars so this road quilt is fun for him to drive all his little cars with. The back is a cute flannel.

New quilting book

Yesterday I got this from Amazon delivered  by UPS

I have been a big fan of Elizabeth Hartman. Her website literally got me into making quilt, which I knew nothing about 6 months ago. From her website Oh Fransson!, I learned everything from choosing fabric to making a quilt sandwich to making binding. Imagine my excitment when I found out that she coming out with a book!

The quilts are modern and beautiful, and I love she also offers two alternatives for each quilt. Love it!

This one is for baby Sophia

Here it is... my first baby quilt! This quilt is based on the Charm Squares pattern from Oh, Fransson. It started more boyish than for girl, and sure enough, Alice had a girl. So I tried my best to add girly elements to it. I am liking the hot pink binding. It's in the wash right now, I am so happy! I hope Alice and baby Sophia will like it.

Work in progress...

Between selling our house and dreaming about moving to Vancouver, I still try to keep up with my sewing projects. I am done the quilt for Alice's baby girl - will post pictures of it as soon as I put a little personalized label on.

Here's a picture of another baby quilt that I am working on... can't wait to see what it looks like when it's done.