Handmade for the Holidays

How stinkin' cute are these reindeer?!

Mad About Patchwork is having a Handmade for the Holidays sale November 28 – December 7. Woo hoo! 

They’ve been busy making samples and kits for simple gift ideas that can still be made in plenty of time for the holidays.  

Along with the kits, all notions (rulers, thread, interfacing), pre-cut charms and rolls, flannel and fleece are on sale!

Everything you need to get sewing for Christmas! All 15% off with the coupon HANDMADE until December 7.

All purchases over $60 will receive a bonus gift, a one-of-a kind handmade pincushion with the Mad About Patchwork label. Sweet!

And in the holiday spirit of giving, Mad About Patchwork is donating a portion of all sales from November 28 – 30 to The Snowsuit Fund. The Snowsuit Fund is an Ottawa-based charity that raises funds for the purchase and distribution of snowsuits to needy children in the community. 

Have fun shopping and help keep a child warm this winter!

So adorable! (no, I will not say 'adorbs' even if they are... ;)

TGIFF! - October Sky

It may be November, but I'm celebrating finishing October Sky (formerly Layers of Leaves).

I'm very,  very happy with this finish. Major happy dance happening around here!

This quilt has had quite a journey. It evolved quite a bit from the original design, then there was a lot of deliberation over the colours, and finally undergoing a lot of hand stitching and machine quilting.

Even the blocking process proved eventful when the backing fabric started to run -- grrr! A good wash with some colour catchers solved that issue thankfully.

The quilting is about 1/8" to 5/8" max. I'm thrilled with the movement that the quilting and hand stitching gives it -- like air currents.

Hope you don't mind a LOT of photos. ;)

Final size: 24" x 44.5"
Fabrics: Kona solids
Threads: DMC embroidery threads and Aurifil (50wt.)

Happy, happy, joy, joy! I'm linking with Lynette @ What A Hoot Quilts, who is hosting TGIFF! this week.

Quilt Hack #4 - Fits Like A Glove

I've used a couple of different brands of free motion quilting gloves and they are great. When I mentioned that I need to pick up a new pair of quilting gloves because I'd worn away the grips, a friend tipped me off to coated gardening gloves.

They are snug and lightweight, and provide great grip so your hands don't get too hot. I love mine and got several pairs for the same price as one pair of quilting gloves. 

TGIFF! - Best Laid Plans

Welcome to TGIFF! Where every finish deserves to be celebrated. This week, I'm celebrating...this block from Tula Pink's City Sampler book!

Oooh, purple! Okay, while I'm glad this block is finished (it has been for some time, but I forgot to share it here), this was not what I was hoping to share this week. I was hoping to show you a finished Layers of Leaves or October Sky, which is what I'm going to call it now. 

Thank you all so much for the encouragement on my last post! You guys are the best! I worked late into the night every day this week trying to finish it, but I knew last night when I was still doing the hand stitching that it wasn't going to be finished in time. Not only was there still the machine quilting to finish, but then the quilt would need to be blocked and then the binding added. No possible way, even if I pulled an all nighter and could just work on this. Sigh.

Oh well, I'm disappointed, but I'm loving the piece so far and can't wait to finish it. It will be worth the extra effort and the wait. Here's another progress shot. 

So...while I don't have much to celebrate, I bet you do! 

An InLinkz Link-up

It Seemed Like Such A Good Idea At The Time

The hand stitching, I mean. At first it was just going to go here and there, but then I liked it a lot. So I decided to do it for all the pieces. And then machine quilt ~ 1/8" apart. Yeah. That's a lot of hand stitching AND a lot of machine quilting...for a project that I'm hoping to have finished for TGIFF!, which I'm hosting this week.

Even though I'm cursing my decision because of the lack of time, I'm loving the mix of the hand stitching combined with the machine quilting. Will I get it done for Thursday night? Any wagers?

Modern Block Monday - Arrows

My habit to spend 20 minutes a day quilting is getting tested, but I finished these two arrow blocks for Sheila in my Canadians Quilt Bee so there's some progress. It uses Carla's great tutorial. 

Note to self (and anyone else who is interested): If you do the strips longer at around 24", then you can get two sets of arrow tails out of the strip. It took me a while to wrap my head around this block, but I really enjoyed making them in the end. 

Will definitely be making more of these...

Layers of Leaves - A Finished Top

I finished the top for Layers of Leaves. Yay! Thank you so much for the feedback on my last progress post. I loved reading your comments and saw that a lot of you had the same thoughts and comments that I had been thinking of when looking at the different options.

I ended up going with option 5 ie. finishing it off with the same grey as the top grey.

I don't think there will be that much grey at the bottom when all is said and done, but I envision a lot of quilting on this piece, which will shrink it so I'm leaving a lot extra in for the time being.

It's also taken a bit of a departure from my inspiration photo and design so the name is 'leaving' a lot to be desired. Ha ha. I'll be trying to think of a new name. Any suggestions?

Started pulling some threads...liking it so far.

I'm also thinking that I'd like to add some hand stitching. Yes, you heard me. Hand stitching. Moi! Should be interesting ;)

Have a great weekend! It's snowing here...

Getting Bloggy With It

Happy Friday! I'm feeling all TGIF for sure. No TGIFF! for me just yet, but I'll be hosting it next week...so get those finishes ready!

Did you hear that Blogathon Canada with Sew Sisters starts up again on Monday?

Here's how it works: 
Each day, host bloggers will introduce themselves and their work on their blogs. They will include links to more blogs from their province so you can visit those blogs as well. The host bloggers will also host a giveaway of some of their favorite goodies from Sew Sisters Quilt Shop so you have a chance to win every day of the week! Not only can you win prizes from Sew Sisters on the host bloggers' blogs, you can also enter giveaways on the Sew Sisters Blog during Blogathon week. These prizes are sponsored by the fabulous co-sponsors:

The Hosts: 

Monday, November 17	BC	Stacey	Stacey in Stitches
Monday, November 17	BC	Jessica	Momiji Studio
Tuesday, November 18	Maritimes	Linda	Scrapmaster
Tuesday, November 18	Maritimes	Linda	Stitch Lines
Wednesday, November 19	AB	Kelsey	Everyday Fray
Wednesday, November 19	AB	Leanne	She Can Quilt
Thursday, November 20	SK	Heather	Peace.Love.Quilt
Thursday, November 20	MB	Lori	Night Owl Quilting
Friday, November 21	QC	Josée	The Charming Needle
Friday, November 21	Territories	Janet	Caribou Crossing Chronicles
Saturday, November 22	ON	Lorna	Sew Fresh Quilts
Saturday, November 22	ON	Sandy	Upstairs Hobby Room

Join the Party:
If you would like for the host blogger from your province or territory to link your blog in her post, please write to Sew Sisters at: connect@sew-sisters.com and they will add your blog to the list. Please note that you need to be a blogger living in Canada and your blog should have posts about quilting or crafting to be eligible.

Grab the Blogathon Canada Button for your blog so you can have a quick link to all the fun!