WIP Wednesday - Busy, busy, busy...

It's pretty much always busy around here, but this week, I managed to be busy in the studio! Yay!
First up, a fun little fabric book. Last week, when DT were at the doctor for the dreaded one year vaccinations, GT was entertained for a good 15 minutes by a little fabric book that she hadn't seen before. Clearly, we need more of these! So when one of my Do Bee mates was cleaning out her magazine stash and I spied a pattern for a colour book, I jumped right in.

 I do love digging through my 2½ inch square collection... even if they are a little dated.

I even found these little lovelies.... ugh. Squares from my first quilt, started in the summer of 1998 under the tutelage of Adrienne @ Chezzetcook Modern Quilts.

I got so carried away with making the pages that I didn't take any pictures. They're nine patches of 2½ inch squares. Some are fussy cut for a bit of I Spy fun down the road.

I only stopped to take pics when I had to rip apart a finished page set. I have trouble thinking in 3D and when I sewed it all together, the pages weren't in rainbow order. Unacceptable. And yes, I seam rip with a rotary cutter #quiltylittlesecrets

Then on to the cover... I opted for something totally different than the magazine version. I thought I'd use this handy little ruler.

Turned out that the triangles were too big for my book cover, but the off cuts were pretty much perfect. I love a little quilty serendipity!

They got a good dose of Heat n' Bond and then I appliquéd them in place.

Et voilà... fabric book! It's hard to resist giving it to the kiddos to play with right now. But I'm saving it for Christmas!

I modified the pattern from the magazine a fair bit. Their version was a 16 patch page. I used batting in the pages and fusible interfacing in the cover. Next time, I'd do the opposite!

 

Now that I've got a handle on how to make them, I'm thinking of making a few more. We've got a road trip coming up! 

And since everyone worries that DT is left out of the sewing treats, I whipped up some Big Butt Baby Pants (insert Anja @ Anja Quilts laughing.. she loves the name). Actually, he was low on pants.... that kid just keeps growing! My trusty Wonder Clips came in handy when it was time to hem them.

And here they are in action! The pants that is. DT are always in action. Unless they're asleep.

Though they aren't as cute without the model, these Ocean themed (in cotton) and astronaut (in flannel) pants are pretty damned cute too. The astronauts and stars glow in the dark!

I even managed some time to work on QPP Project #1. Sorry, no pics. Top secret! ☺

I am, of course, linking up with the lovely Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social, as well as with WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced. Hope you got some sewing in this week... I know I feel sew much better when I do!

J

P.S. In case you weren't around yesterday, click on over to read about the new Le Club gift subscriptions from Fridays Off Fabric and enter the giveaway!

WIP Wednesday - Springter Sewing

As I write this week's WIP post, here's the view from my studio window...

Yup. That's alleged spring in Nova Scotia. I didn't mind when 'ole Shubenacadie Sam predicted 6 more weeks of winter back on February 2nd, but we're approaching week 9 of the bonus round and most everyone I know is well and truly ready for spring. Springter... yup, that's what we're dealing with around here.

What sort of activities are suitable for a lovely Springter day? Not gardening. Not a walk in the park. Sewing? Yes, please! Q-Squared was at it again... this time over at Q-A's place. I brought a number of projects with me, but Extra Love Sewn In was my top priority. I kept the quilting simple on this one, but spiced it up by using a variety of pink threads. I know... so wild!

There was huge fall out when I whipped up a Geranium Dress for GT last month, but didn't make anything for BT. Not to worry... I just didn't think he'd dig on a dress. Instead, I made him a pair of Big Butt Baby Pants in a pretty-darned-cute-if-I-do-say-so-myself flannel pirate print! All they need now is a waist band and some elastic!

Then I got to work on some Union Jack blocks destined to travel all the way to Granny Maud's Girl in Australia. Don't worry... I didn't get mixed up and start thinking this was the Aussie flag. We're doing a little swap and she requested these!

I managed two of four pieces of the Union Jack, but I got a little confused. Guess I need to read the tutorial again!

All in all, a very productive sew day!
Linking up today with Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts as well as WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced. Pop on over and see what others are working away on this week!

J