Mug Rug Maddness...

This is the mug rug I finally finished for my scrappy mug rug swap partner over on Flickr. I had such a hard time with this cute little deer print because I had pulled so many dark reds to match it that I got lost in design for the last month. Seriously I was stuck!

Here is what I started with:

and this...


Since my partner likes Red and Aqua, this is what I had to go with... However, I don't usually quilt in reds and aquas so I had to seek out fabric that would compliment each other... Combining the two was just too much for me. I took a poll and people really liked the reds so I went with that and this is what I ended up with:


Which was totally cute but SO MUCH RED! And I was stuck for a week and a half. I just couldn't do it. So I started on this new design which literally came to me one evening and finished it that night! I'm so happy with the end result and so happy I was able to combine the aqua and red into one.

Halloween fun!

My little Antonio turned two this Halloween and here he is in his costume. Making this was a little hard since he didn't want to take it off once I made the fittings.



This was my first time making boxing shorts like this, as there are no patterns or instructions I could find on the internet. But I winged it and used a simple shorts pattern and slightly modified it and it worked out well!



The robe was also just a simple toddler robe pattern that I embellished and lined. This was my first time sewing metalic type fabrics and it wasn't hard at at using a serger and a regular machine.



I found a picture of Gatti's boxing robe and shorts for a match online and tried to make an exact replica. He loves wearing it when he plays with his gloves.

In other sewing related news... these little babies arrived in the mail yesterday!





The last is a quilt I bought on etsy from Ryan, of I'm Just a Guy Who Quilts Blog. It is a baby quilt made from Tula Pink's Hushabye charm squares. It is soooo cute!



And my bag came from my swap partner!!! This is a swap that was put on by SewMamaSew.com.



My partner Amie did a beautiful job!

A tip and some other swap updates

Tonight I got fed up with my rotary blade and decided to try and sharpen it with my knife sharpener. Very carefully I took the blade off the holder and passed it through the sharpener turning several times so each surface made it through at least once. The damage I did to it by running it into my ruler a couple times was gone and the blade was sharper than ever.... So if you want to try to revive an old dull blade, this just might work for you!



I finished my bag for Sew Mama Sew's Super Style Bag Swap. My partner received her bag last week so I'm now able to post pictures I took before I shipped it off to her.







Little Marisol easily fits inside the roomy centre. We could have fit my 2 year old son in there too but he wasn't keen on getting in there with her.


It is a seriously roomy bag.



Button closure


Finished bag!

The cosmo bag pattern was easy to make and I will definitely make it again. I think the most expensive part of this project was the cost of the woven interfacing. But it is definitely worth the price and the bag stands on its own because of the stability it provides. I think you need something like 6 meters for this bag alone.

The only thing I did not like about the pattern itself was that it was lacking a cutting layout guide. Everything is well written but the whole process gets wordy. A simple diagram would make the cutting process go much faster. I also made freezer paper pattern pieces for the ones only given as dimensions so when I make this bag again, it will go much faster. I also made duplicates of the handles since there is so many to cut from the print fabric and you won't waste as much fabric if you cut them all at the same time using two pattern pieces.



I also finished my ornament for GenX's HOHOHO Swap. I did the embroidery on my machine then I added ruffles to the sides. It doubles as a holiday pincushion. I hope my partner enjoys it!



And I received two of the fat quarters from the swap as well. Aren't they super SUPER cute prints?

Busy Month!

These little Plume lovelies came last week... For now they will remain in my hoard and pet stash. I was also thinking that I should start saving some packs for my daughter Marisol in case she wants to sew one day... What a great addition to a hope chest!

I'm so in love with TULA PINK fabrics. I bought some Neptune before I even knew her designs and now that her fabric is hard to find once its out of print, I am collecting what I can now. I have not found one store in Canada that carries her fabric. Hopefully now that she's with FreeSpirit, that changes. I'm so sick of all the blah we get here. I love Hancock's of Paducah and Pink Chalk Fabrics because shipping from the US to Canada is so easy!

Flutterby and Nest finds...



Mid month my sister Ari came to visit. Here she is with my little Marisol just before we took her and Antonio to get their once a year photos taken.



I was determined not to pay the 230.00 I paid last time for too many photos I did not need like last year. They sent me a coupon for a 9.99 photo package and a free 10x13 photo. If you've ever been to SEARS Photo, you know how difficult it can be to use a coupon AND sit though their sales pitch for 45 minutes. Literally she was quoting me packages for 514.00, 415.00, 425.00, and 445.00. UMMM No! And then I gave her my coupon and she said wow that's a good deal. In the beginning of "negotiations" she offered me the smile club membership for 50.00 then at the end when I only spent 9.99, she offered it to me for 10.00. Seriously, nothing has a price. So I feel I chalked one up for my team when I only spent 30.00.

This is what my sister delivered from my mom... Pillowcase tops. She cut and ironed all of them so they are ready to embroider. It literally weighs about 50lbs. My husband took one look and said, "You guys are hoarders." He just doesn't understand!



I sent off two of the fat quarter parcels for the GenX HO HO HO Swap, the link is to the right... I still have to finish my ornament for my other swap partner asap!

The whole other part of this month has been spent making a bag from Amy Butler's new bag book...Sew Mama Sew Blog organized a bag swap. My partner and I decided to make each other the cosmo shoulder bag... I hope she likes hers! I can't post any pictures because I'm just about to send it to her and I want it to be a surprise....

Halloween costume and other projects...

This is my little baby Antonio trying on his halloween costume. This year he is going to be the late professional boxer Arturo Gatti, who sadly passed away earlier this year. I needed to have him try on the robe for placement of the front patch and also for the arm and hem lengths. But everytime I needed him to take it off, the waterworks started. I'm so happy that he loves it, but I really need to work on it!



Here is a photo of the back, all the embroidery is done, and I'm about 90% done with the matching trunks. I'm really happy with the results so far! An almost exact replica of Gatti's fight wear.

And a peek at the bottoms...



For a change of pace, I decided to sew some scraps together... now to press and sew...





And they turned into these round wheels. Pretty scraps!



Then I got to work on one of the elements of my Flickr group, Modern Swap's Swap. My secret partner loves Tula Pink, sadly my Tula supplies are low but I found some Neptune to add to the pillowcase edging. LOVE NEPTUNE!

I pulled some fabric from my closet...



And ended up with this...



Then I decided to take a stab at Amy Butler's Weekender Tote Bag... Cut all my fabric and stabilizer. I'm going to use the fuse route on the piping so I don't have to resew any seams due to stitches poking through between seams. Wish me luck!



Bias strips for the bag piping...



And I couldn't finish the week without a little time with my cricut. This is a picture of Marisol and Antonio from May. They have grown so much since then!

UFO's finished

This past weekend was very productive. I sewed black twill tape to the tops of my Happy Birthday Banner and finished it off. It only took a year to finish! But just in time for my son's halloween birthday next month.


Another UFO that I finished was these two baby blankets. Really so easy to do! I don't really know why it took me so long to finish.



Next, I finished the hems on two skirts: one for my sister and one for me. Again, these skirts were 95% finished and sat in my pile for a year!



These were quilt squares left over from a quilt I finished probably 6 years ago. I finally put them together and bordered them. I think it still needs a smaller outer border...





These embroidered cotton squares lived in the pile for many years until now. I bordered them and then put them together to make a table runner. Now only to quilt and bind!

I wish I could say I made a serious dent in the UFO pile but that wouldn't be true. But I'm really happy that I managed to finish what I did!

Fat Quarterly Quilt Along

I finished the quilt top for the Fat Quarterly Quilt Along. Instead of having the blocks line up with the small blocks side by side, I rotated them so piecing for me was easier. I'm toting my 8 month old and 23 month old to the sewing show this friday here in Calgary, so hopefully we will find some backing fabric or add a border to it. Still not sure. I think I'd like to make it a tad bigger so I might add some borders.



P.S. This quilt top used only ONE Jelly Roll to make. My sister bought me this one from Walmart one easter and I still had lots more fabric left over, I could easily make a couple matching pillow tops. I'm not sure if they still have this particular batik roll, I think it was about 19.99, there are varying weights in the fabrics but it didn't make a difference when I was doing the patchwork. All in all, fun to work with!

Last night I decided Marisol needed a new cover for the baby bjorn. I bookmarked Jenny Garland's Carrier Cover Tutorial, which is reversible. She has other cute tutorials on her blog and pictures of the finished items on her Flickr group. I used a super cute japanese reindeer print I ordered and had shipped from Japan. The online store was closing so I'm not sure if it still exsists so I won't post the link. I bought this knowing I wanted to use it for her so this project was perfect! I did the same print on both sides since I don't have any coordinating prints of the same weight right now. Also, we need this quickly since she's going to be hanging out in it at the sewing show Friday! yay!