It has been so long!!

Wow! It has been more than two months since I last posted on this blog! I have been busy. Our family moved from Calgary to B.C. We drove out west on Dec 19 and made an offer on a house on Jan 16, with possession date 10 days away and we moved in on Feb 6. It was super speed house hunting in action! We ended up in Port Moody, a little suburban commuter city between Burnaby and Coquitlam. It has been 2 weeks since we moved in and we love it here. It has trees and mountains and creeks, it's quiet, and people are friend. I am so glad to finally have a permanent address again.

Obviously I haven't done much sewing the last two months. In fact, I still haven't put together my sewing table and my craft area. But that will come soon. I have a few projects lined up - a baby quilt for baby Nathan born in January, another quilt for Erick and Elise's for April. BUT, I have decided to be selfish and make something for our new house before anything else. First projects: cushions and curtains for this space:

I picked out these fabrics for cushions:

Looking at the pictures I realize I need another bright color choice, but these will do for now. As for drapery, I am hoping to find a big print cream + gray geometric print. Curtain is a much bigger commitment than cushions, so it will probably take me a while before I find something that I like and can afford!

My new toy and a stroller blanket

I know I know I should be packing, but then I got my new toy - an iPhone 4. And you know what, I can't find a case that I like. They all make the phone too bulky. Plus when I throw my phone into the backpack I don't want my key to scratch the screen. That will be bad. So, I spent the precious 2 hours, when Sarah was in school and Ben was napping, plus a late night, to make this.

It's snug, I have to squeeze the bottom to get the phone out. But I am still happy with it. And I got it out of my system - otherwise I will be thinking about it the whole time I am away from my sewing machine.

And we went to baby Elijah's three-month birthday dinner tonight. Wow what a cute and big boy! Here's what I made for him.

A handmade Christmas

I am done!!!! I am sooo happy! I have been busy busy trying to get them all done before my friend Agnes, one of the recipient, arrived from out of town. I used Lizzy House's Castle Peeps, which I have been saving for the perfect project. I love the way they turned out!

This is my first attempt in free motion quilting. After quilting 5 cushion tops, I think I am finally getting the hang of it. Although it is still far from perfect!

And here's one just for Sarah:

We are less than 2 weeks away from moving to Vancouver. It's time to pack up my sewing machine! It will be hard. Who knows how long it will take us to find a house and be able to take our stuff out from storage. One thing for sure - I am going to whip up a few of these cushion covers for myself.

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!