felted dog bed

I have two dogs that have made their appearance in my blog (& instagram) from time to time. Well last year we had to break them of the sleep on furniture habit as we purchased new couches for both our living & family rooms. I couldn't let my pampered pooches make them become glorified dog beds this time around. Yeah sure, once in a while in the family room is okay, but not on a daily basis and never if we aren't around. It was a hard learned lesson for my pups but I think we have succeeded in getting the message across.

Enter the new dog bed. My dogs are pretty simple creatures. Most days they want an old pillow or a crumpled up blanket to sleep on. That's when I remembered seeing this post on apartment therapy.

Back in my hard core thrifting days I managed to amass a nice selection of sweaters for felting, no doubt for some great craft idea that has come and gone. It was back in the days when I made a couple of felted bunnies for my wee girlies. I hung onto the sweaters in hopes that I would be re-inspired to use them and I can say that this is probably one of the first times that has actually worked. I set to work cutting up the felted sweaters into various sized squares. Sewed them back up in a patchwork style. The final product needed to be large enough to cover an old pillow front to back. Next I sewed the one long edge (the other long edge is folded) and short end. I left an opening on the opposite short end for the pillow to be inserted, and I sewed a strip of velcro on the short end for ease of opening and closing in case I need to add a new pillow or things need to be washed. (Best part about the washing thing is you can easily use hot water with no fear of shrinkage as it is already felted). Check out the apartment therapy post as it has step-by-step instructions.

Really super easy project start to finish. And I think it might be a wee bit more attractive than seeing an old white, naked pillow laying on the floor. It is Lily approved too! Now to get busy on the second one.

somewhere far, far, away...

Have I ever told you how much I love Heather Ross' fabric? I mean love. I have quite a few of her fabric lines sitting in my fabric stash. They are just waiting for the perfect project - crazy right? I know it. I totally realize how ocd that is and I'm trying to curb that tendency to hoard save fabric. I mean for gosh darn sake, it's only fabric right? (I really want to think that way. I mean what is the point of buying fabric if you aren't going to use it?)

I have long realized that collecting fabric, for me, is just as much fun as sewing the fabric. But after a while collecting without using can also become a burden... and burdens tend to be life sucking. So in the interest of fun, I finally cut into my precious Heather Ross Far Far Away II fabric. 

A bit about the fabric: it was originally printed by Kokka fabrics and I'm hoping it will be re-printed - like the princess and the pea was - in quilters cotton. I'm sure I'll be all over that line if it comes again, but I digress. The fabric is a hefty 80% linen/20% cotton blend which tells me off the hop that is is going to be sturdy. Nice for some crafty functional projects.

First thing I needed was that perfect project *cough, cough. Since my girls have been in need of pouches for their pencils, erasers and such, I thought this would be a good jump off point. This usually starts with a quick drawing in my sketch book and then onto prototype stage made from my endless vintage sheet supply.

Once I tweaked the project I was all set. Armed with my rotary cutter and a new "use it up" attitude, I took a deep breath and cut into my stash. And you know it wasn't too painful. The fabric, both the fabulous art and weight were a great choice for my girls' pouches.

Miss A's pouch: front

back


Miss J's pouch: front


back

mini quilt swap = mini swoon

Last year I participated in round 2 of the schnitzel & boo mini quilt swap. It was a good distraction before the dreaded house remodeling started and it got me dusting off my sewing machine. Anything to get me sewing is always good in my books.

I was given a bit information about who I would be sewing for, their fabric likes/dislikes, designers they admire, pattern likes, etc. Armed with that information I choose Camille Ross Kelley's mini swoon quilt pattern. I've been crushing on her big swoon pattern for quite a while now and thought my foray into the swoon world via a mini would be a good place to start.  
My partner favoured cool, neutral colours. The fabric was an easy selection for me as I too am partial to the cool neutrals. I used Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley fabrics paired with Robert Kaufman's Essesx in flax. It was my first time sewing with the Essex. It was definitely easier than sewing with straight linen but pairing it up with Hope Valley - quilting cotton - in a mini quilt made getting points perfect a bit challenging. I think the weight of Essex might lend itself to larger projects but I'll have to confirm that when I attempt that next.

quilt stats:

fabric: Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt, Essex (flax) Robert Kaufman
backing: (not visible) Hope Valley
pattern: Mini Swoon by Thimble Blossoms
quilting: straight crisscross lines by me.
dimensions: approx. 22" x 22"
gifted to: Sarah of duck egg threads

detours

I started sewing a project last week, that I cut in December. It's been sitting on my desk in a pile waiting to be constructed.  It was supposed to be a hexagon quilt following this tutorial, but I ran into a snag and now it is an accidental adaptation of jaybird's hexagon quilt.



I say accidental because after cutting out a 1/4 of my triangles, I realized that I was cutting them wrong. Duh! I'd like to blame it on the very high fever I had before Christmas while we were all down with the flu. yuck! Sadly though, my only defense is that my brain was on some other wave length. Unexplainable but good for me.



You see normally my perfectionist side would have righted that wrong by starting again. However these days my time is precious and sometimes to complete a project you have to forge through and embrace the detour.

I won't end up with the result that I was hoping for when I started the hexagon quilt, instead I am now on my way to completing a jewel quilt. No matter which way, they are both sweet.

mudroom finished

If you have been reading this blog for any period of time, you know that mr. duckyhouse and I have been renovating our home for quite a while now. These days the renovations have changed from utter chaos - we aren't moving walls around any more like we did when we first moved into the duckyhouse. Rather our projects are more about finishing our space and making it more useful. Since we homeschool and are in our space 24/7, one can not underestimate the value of organization.



Frankly I function better when "there is a place for everything and everything is in it's place". This has been the most challenging aspect of renovating while living in our home, but as I've said already most of the big projects are behind us (for now) and we are free to add the finishing touches to existing spaces.



With four kids, this mudroom project was much needed. Living in a climate with four distinctive seasons, we have tons of (seasonal) paraphernalia. Our closet at the front door doesn't come close to housing all the jackets and boots 7 people can generate, and since my kidlets are content on growing bigger each year, (as you can imagine) so does their clothing.



When we originally built the wall in the hallway, I created a design for a small mudroom by the backyard doors. I do the drawings, mr. duckyhouse provides the measurements, markings and brute labour. It's the way we roll.



More hooks and jackets spill down the hallway off the mudroom out of necessity, and also to provide instant pick up zones for hoodies, bags, etc.



The sewing part came at the end with custom bench cushions, which have since become glorified dog beds. Spencer, our 10 year old shih tzu/lhasa apso, has proven that there is no cushion he will not sleep on. (:



We also added an Ikea Hemnes dresser opposite wall from the mudroom bench. With one drawer for each kid it holds at least 8 pairs of shoes. Artwork is complements of my girlies.



I must say, kind of nice to close the door on this post one year later.

taking care of business

In January of last year (2013) I left you hanging with a post that promised a reveal about some sewing I was working on. Indeed I did complete that project but just never got around to discuss it here. You can return to this post for clarification on my absence, for those of you who have not read it yet. 



My mudroom has cushions! Now you might be thinking "no big deal", however sewing something, like a set of bench cushions, means that the mudroom area is finished. fineto. all done.



I realize it isn't all that fair to post cushion pictures without revealing the whole mudroom so stay tuned for a follow-up mudroom post.  

weekend wip

I sewed something and it didn't have anything to do with pant hemming, jacket mending, buttons sewing, and mending, oops did I mention that already? there seems to be a lot of that going on this house.



We started a mudroom project last year that has been a lifesaver for all the jackets and shoe paraphernalia lying about. It isn't a big space but it does provide me that organization that I dream about - have you seen my pinterest account on mudrooms?



The sewing portion of "project mudroom" is one of those little tasks that signifies completion of another area in our home. Yay! I need moments like these when I can cross another thing off my list. Some days those feel far and few between.



I was thinking of writing up a tutorial for this little project but discovered a couple of well done tutorials already in existence so no point in re-inventing the wheel on this one. This is only a sneak peek so I'm leaving you hanging for the finished photo. I'm sure you will kill yourself with excitement waiting for the big reveal. Note: small font indicates that the big reveal is in fact no big deal but I'm dragging out the drama. Try to contain yourselves until I get back here okay?

rain, rain go away

is how I am feeling today. I'm chanting up a slew up positive vibes hoping the weather will soon change from the week-long rain we've been experiencing. Thankfully I've just checked the weather for the um-teenth time and it assures me sunny days are on their way. C'mon Mr. Sun my veggie garden needs planting and I'm raring to get my hands dirty.



...while the rain is a bit of downer, it's been good for tackling a lingering project.



...and inspiration: good ol' Jenga would make a great future quilt.



...all this indoor time calls for some clowning around: cool and scary!

twirl & dance

Last week I had a chance to spend time with my sewing machine, just the two of us. Being out of the sewing loop for so long, I found it difficult to pick a task to work on. My need-to-sew-pile is pretty big and there are of course quilts in various stages, but working on quilts requires a certain degree of inspiration. Instead I opted for the sew pile with a quick start & stop project, perhaps the best place to begin on days of uncertainty.





It's been awhile since I cut this fabric out, it is a repurposed print that I found in the thrift shop in excellent condition, a standard of mine for thrift purchasing; plus sewing with repurposed fabric gives me opportunity to work out the bugs in a design without wasting costly designer fabric. My initial intention was to make hostess aprons but that idea has since entered the nothing box of my brain (a catchy phrase my MIL used over the holidays) and is now unretrievable. I am keeping with the apron theme though and have cut a bit more fabric, a top portion to be exact, as well as muslin to make this bad girl fully lined. Finished product is a full body apron with enough fabric for the two little bakers in my life. The girls have been shadowing me in the kitchen over the fall and are really taking an interest in baking. But with only two aprons in the kitchen & three of us baking, a solution was needed.





Enter the apron, it's basic with rounded lower edges, I added a couple pleats on the bib portion to provide shape and deal with fabric excess which help to make the bib proportional to little girls. The fussiest part was pattern matching, as this is a busy fabric (good for spilage when baking), the three pieces had to be lined up for this. Surprisingly it wasn't too difficult and I think it went pretty successfully. All in all this was an excellent project to work on having been MIA with sewing; I spent one evening making the design/sewing the first apron, the next evening I whipped off a second. The only thing left was girlie approval which is based solely on the aprons twirl and dance factor.

FCSP

sneak peek of my FCSP (first completed sewing project) for 2012. I am happy to be back in the studio and actually SEWING!! yes I am shouting it out loud :)



I have quite a few photos to upload from my camera so bare with me as I get organized, it's our first day back at homeschooling and I am distracted. I'll be back tomorrow with the rest of the sneak peek.

ps, the shop is open once again!

quiet

Things are a bit quiet here at the moment as I have a girlie who is feeling under the weather with spring time sniffles and such. It's not leaving me a lot of time for making, but I've been through this before and I know the drill: slow down, nourish, read more and all those comforting things that keep wee ones content.



Instead of starting a new project I decided to take out a project that I started 2 years ago, ahem, no one is really keeping track right? If memory serves me, I originally put it away because I didn't want the pieces getting lost and all scrambled in the renovation chaos. I'm thankful that I was at least thinking about the {scary} possibilities.



 It took a bit to figure out where I left off and what I was doing. It seems (no pun intended) that I am in the middle of opening and ironing seams. It also seems that a few of the seams are not exactly 1/4 inch so I've been getting real acquainted with my stitch ripper, par the course.

wip: block number 5

I'm pretty much caught up on my free piecing blocks, this is the second block for the month of March. This last block was a girl and you know I couldn't resist making her into a witch given that this is going to be a Halloween quilt and all.



This block involved more thinking for me as I added a few extra details such as the broom and hat.  My original sketch had her wearing some shoes and her hat tipping but my witch ended up too tall to add the extras. That's the thing with free piecing, the work sort of evolves along the way and you have to take detours when things aren't completely working out as planned.



I am happier with my witchy block than yesterday's ice cream meets clown, the verdict is still out on that one. I fussy cut Miss witchy poo's dress to reveal her spidery ways and did the same to show the wee itty bitty spider on her broom. Lots of fun!



For those of you who want to play along, there is still time to catch up, visit the flickr group. Molly just uploaded April's new block and already the wheels are turning for me. I'm signing off for the weekend, hope it's a good one for you. xxx

wip: block number 4

March's block for the free piecing quilt along was a wonky star. I was looking forward to this block as I have always wanted to give the wonky star a go (it looks so cool and rad in a quilt). I assembled my fabrics, sewed, pressed sewed and then bam... my block fell short. I am not totally sure how I feel about this block right now, disappointment is a good adjective, as it is not looking as wonky as I'd like. Instead it looks a bit like upside down ice cream cones that merged with a clown costume.



Since I don't know quite what to do with it I am going to leave it for now in hopes that it will grow on me. If it continues to bother me then I will have to do something about it. Maybe if I interchange the middle square for fabric with more contrast, or redo the fatter star points making them skinnier, or just make it less equally wonky, or ... *sigh* I guess this too is part of the process.

wip: block number 3

Phew, made it through the last week. It was spring break here for kids in the school system and we partake by shutting things down on the school front so we can overdose on friends and family. Our week consisted of a 6 day sleepover for my nephew, oodles of late nights, an adult niece sleep over and more visiting with friends. Busy, busy, busy. Yesterday afternoon our house was strangely quiet and the boys went into cousin withdrawal - poor fellows - they all have such a good time together.



While the kids were occupied last week I worked on the next block - a free pieced heart. I went for the high contrast of orange/red with black for my square, I wanted it to be a little creepy. I started reading Dracula by Bram Stoker a couple of weeks ago and I think it might be infecting my work as the point on the bottom of the heart looks sharp like a vampire tooth. I can almost see it dripping blood...Oooo scary {{{shiver}}}.



I'm having lots of fun with this quilt so far and am really enjoying the whole learning process. Today as we be settle back into our daily rhythm I'm hoping to squeeze a bit of studio time in. Next up is the wonky star. What are you up to on this happy Monday?

wip: block number 2

The second block in the free piece study was the good ol' log cabin.



Wonky and fun, I couldn't resist doing a little fussy cut to make sure that sweet little ghost is looking out the window. In hindsight it would have been cooler if he was just peeking out the window but that just dawned on me now while I type this and I don't think I will be picking stitches at this stage. Besides, learning to make it and appreciate the way it turns out seems to be a part of the process, you know letting the art-form take it's course.



I should get back at it, more blocks to be done. Happy Monday all, xxx.

free piecing study

I've been settling in my new studio space for the past couple of weeks and couldn't wait to start on a quilting project. It's not that I don't already have a few neglected projects from the past couple of years, I just needed wanted something fresh.



Sarah from House of Krom, blogger, flickr friend & fellow homeschooler had just the new project to tantalize my senses and get me started on the right foot. She is doing a free piecing study for the first 10 months of 2011 with another blogger Molly. Free piecing is a part of the liberated quiltmaking process of which I am a huge fan. You can check out Sarah's blog post here for some information links.



I am joining late but I don't think it matters too much as you work at your own pace. I'm also taking on a theme for this study: halloween. I've always wanted to make a halloween quilt but seem to run out of time nearing fall. By starting early I just may just finish in time ;)  In the first month (January) they started with the mondo bird. In my block I was thinking of a black bird and I really like how the black, white & yellow play up the mondo bird. Gives it that wee bit'o creepy/cuteness - terrifying isn't it?

It isn't too late to join, there are no sign ups, just come play along and as always upload your photos to the flickr group here.  Yay!

hello and ...

go on over and say hi to Jen from Vintage Sheets who is featuring my "don't get out of bed pants" tutorial. Make one for you and one for all - Christmas is just around the corner you know.



Be back Monday with a proper update. Happy Friday, xxx.