Everything is on Hold (or Why Now?)

Hello, friends!

It appears that my blogging has virtually stopped. This is in fact the case - my sewing, photographing and blog reading have all stopped at present, actually. Two reasons:

1. Summer. Busy Toddlers. Boys out of School. Soccer. No Uber Fancy Mobile Device. Nuff Said.

2. You know how summer is the season of accidents? Well, my husband was in a motorcycle accidents last week. He will be fine. In 5 weeks or so. Right now he is laid up on a bororwed recliner, nursing a broken collar bone and 5 broken ribs. This means bed time (usually a joint endeavor) goes on F-O-R-E-V-E-R. Especially after soccer games that end at 8, an hour after Emma's bed time. That I have to take her to.

In any case, the husband is on the mend. In a week or so, once we establish that it is NOT okay to lock yourself, the keys and the computer in the bedroom when you get your computer time taken away and sort out other little details like that, things will calm down on the kid front. And then maybe I'll be back here.

In the mean time, have a fun summer, everyone!

Bloglovin' - it had to happen. Sigh.

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Peach Hourglass quilt

In our last episode, I left you with the above shot of this little quilt that I made for my friend Emily, and her new sweet baby Elanor. I was lucky enough to go and say hello to Elanor on Friday, and let Emma play with Elanor's big sister, one of her favorite friends. 

 You might notice that the blue elephants from the earlier photos didn't make it into this quilt. I decided in the end to go with a strictly pink and yellow colour scheme. There was enough print, pattern and value in this quilt to make it interesting, it didn't need extra colour.  I ended up editing about 4 fabrics out of the final quilt - so I had to make more blocks to have a final quilt that worked.

 I like working with low volume prints instead of just solids - I like the extra interest it adds. It is challenging, however, as most of the low volume prints I'm attracted to are very busy. So I added all the solid white to calm the busy down, as my friend is one of those all-white-and-wood Swedish design type people. She has very good taste and a well put together elegant home. I felt the need to honour that and make her a pretty, tasteful, soothing quilt.

 Because there were so many secondary patterns produced by the way I laid out the houglass blocks (more details here) I wanted to quilt in a way that would emphasize the diamonds. I talked my quilting plans over with Valerie and we decided I should just do simple diamond quilting. Of course, my brain went all spastic and I decided to free motion quilt hearts and flowers in it instead.

 This proved to not be enough quilting, and made the diamonds less clear. So I went back after it was 2/3 of the way bound and added diagonal lines. Yes, I broke one of the "laws" of Modern Quilting and QUILTED IN THE DITCH. It really was necessary with this quilt, and I think in the end it was what pulled the design together in the end.

 This is the only photo of the full quilt  I took - I tried to convince Emma to hold it up, but she laid it on the mini trampoline instead.

 So, there you have it.

 Details:
Hourglass block tutorial:  Cluck Cluck Sew
Fabrics: various (if you want to know what one is, just ask)
Size: 30" x 45"
Machine pieced and quilted by me.

And much appreciated by its new owners! I hope it sees lots of spit up and gets so ragged and worn that I see it and think, "Gosh, where did they get that great old . . . oh, I made that". I love it when that happens.

Finished and ready to gift.

Just a sneak peek until it gets to its new home. It was supposed to be gifted yesterday, but we've had colds all week, and I didn't think 2 week old baby Elanor wanted to share our cold.

Why I haven't got to sew this month . . .

I have been working away on my friend's baby quilt, but other than that, I haven't got to much sewing this month. Do you want to see why?

Owen is climbing on top of all kinds of fun things.

Owen is into everything. Finding toothbrushes, pairs of shoes and a full set of anything these days is a challenge. He LOVES to relocate things.

And he loves OUTSIDE.

Can we go out NOW, Mom?

And he's realized there's a BIG world out there that he wants to see.

Not to mention all sorts of exciting things to explore in the house.

And then the call of outside again.

Keeping this little boy safe is a full time job these days. Not to mention the other three kids who need to be kicked off Netflix, sent into the back yard, helped with puppets and playdoh and forced to clean up themselves and their assorted messes . . . sigh. Parenthood is good and glorious and hard. Just as it should be, I suppose.

But sewing has to go on the backburner until we can regularly find two matching shoes again . . .

Giveaway Day Winner!

Thanks so much for everyone who took the time to visit and comment! It was a blast to hear from you all, and I'm glad to say that all three designs were pretty popular.

After a visit over to the Random Number Generator (whose little box thing-y I can't manage to move over here - sorry), I have a winner - number 21.

That would be lucia, who said:

luciaMay 7, 2013 at 3:38 AM

I love the you plus me= home (but tea emergency is a close second!)
Your cozies are so cute! thanks for the chance!

So that is all settled! Thank you to everyone who entered! If you want one of the other two cozies, they will be in my shop by tomorrow (and more will be coming soon).

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!

This giveaway is now closed - thanks so much for all he entries!


 Hi there, and welcome to my little blog! My name is Jill and I am a sewer and quilter living in Montreal. I have just recently opened an etsy store named Cozy Monster, where I presently sell tea cozies (though I plan to expand my line to coasters and place mats, too). These tea cozies are made of high quality quilting cotton, quilted to a flannel center fabric and lined with a warm corduroy to keep your tea super snuggly warm. Just add a 4 cup teapot, the tea of your choice, and hot water!

I thought I would do a giveaway and a little bit of market research at the same time.

I will give one commenter their favorite of these three tea cozies - just leave a comment and tell me which one you like best! I will randomly pick a winner on May 10.

First up, the "emergency tea" cozy -the perfect remedy to all your minor emergencies.

Second, is this sweet little two sided tea cozy - you + me = home.

 Third, the "stake your claim" tea cozy - let your room mate / coworker / partner know whether you want that last cuppa or whether they can share.

Of course, the two cozies that are not selected for the giveaway will be available in my shop next week!

The fine print:

This giveaway is open internationally. It will close May 10 at 5pm PST. Please make sure I have a way to contact you.

You can find more giveaways at http://sewmamasew.com/blog Have fun and enjoy your giveaway tour!