I made a banner!

Both of my daughters have had birthdays this week, I still haven't unpacked fully from our Spring Break trip, and I'm generally feeling a little scattered. When I don't know what to do first, I usually pick something low on the priority list. That's why I ended up making a very simple blog banner today. My poor blog hasn't ever had a banner and it's nearly three and a half years old! I used the free font ChunkFive from Font Squirrel, a fun source of free fonts.

What do you do when you feel scattered? Is there one area you tackle so things feel more orderly? Or are you a procrastinator like me?

Canadian cross stitch

I'm a Canadian. As a typical Canadian, I'm not often overtly patriotic, but when I saw this Bob and Doug McKenzie cross stitch pattern, I knew I had to drop everything and stitch it up. Nothing says Canadian like these two hosers:

Bob & Doug McKenzie, pattern by weelittlestitches

If you're not familiar with these Canadian icons (I didn't know about them until my high-school-boyfriend-now-husband made me watch Strange Brew in the early 90s), they're SCTV characters created by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas in 1980. Bob and Doug are beer-drinking, donut-eating, hockey-playing, toque-wearing hosers. They went on to star in their very own version of Hamlet, a movie called Strange Brew. Here's the movie poster:

My husband and co-worker went as Doug and Bob for Halloween last year complete with donuts, accents and even stubby beer bottles with Elsinore brewery labels. They won third prize. Beauty, eh? The resemblance is uncanny!

Anyway, when I saw the cross stitch pattern I knew it would be perfect for Dean's desk at work. I found all the floss at Homecraft Importers, refreshed my memory on how to do cross stitch (it had been about fifteen years, but it's just like riding a bike), and stitched all weekend.

How's it goin' eh?

Bob and Doug fit perfectly into a regular 4x6 frame. The text reads: "Take off, you hoser!"

So go ahead, show your Canadian pride and stitch up Bob & Doug for yourself! If you prefer other pop culture icons, weelittlestitches has patterns for characters from Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pretty in Pink, the Golden Girls, Lord of the Rings, and so much more! Beauty, eh?

Potholder swap (take one)

Explanatory note: I've had this blog post in draft form since early December. I wanted to wait until my partner had received the potholders to publish this post. Sadly, that never happened because the potholders were lost in the mail. I've finally given up hope that they'll resurface, so I've decided to make a second set (I got started at the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild's inaugural Friday night sew-in last night!). Goodbye lovely potholders, maybe someone found you and you're living a life of luxury in a kitchen somewhere in the Fraser Valley!

I was excited to participate in the VMQG-FVMQG potholder swap this fall as a way to connect with members of our sister guild in the valley. I'm pleased to report that I sent my potholders off to my partner in the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild before the November 30th deadline (less than an hour before the mail was collected, but still before the deadline!). I started this project on November 26th and was hoping to finish them last weekend, but life got in the way, so I spent Tuesday and Wednesday sewing while hanging out with my inlaws who were visiting for my daughter's first ever dance recital. Here are the completed potholders, shown by Sophie who is proud of her gap toothed smile:

I had been wanting to try equilateral triangles for ages, so I thought this would be a perfect time to give them a go. I had the best luck when I pressed my seams open. I was happy with the results and think I'll try them again in a quilt. The triangles were a bit fussy to cut and piece, so I went with a simpler patchwork design for my second potholder (time was getting short and I had to use every minute wisely).

 I tied the two potholders together by using Kona charcoal and an Erin McMorris leaf dot print in both. I love this fabric and used it to back both potholders.

Creating round potholders was very simple. I made an 8.5" diameter circle template out of freezer paper and ironed it onto the quilted square potholders. Then I cut along the edge of the freezer paper, pulled it off, and added some bias binding.

Details:

8.5" diameter circles

Kona charcoal, cactus, grass green, teal, aqua corduroy (scraps from Ellie's baby quilt), Erin McMorris leaf dot in green and teal

Batting: one layer InsulBrite and one layer cotton/bamboo blend

Sunday Stash

I had a fun afternoon visiting Lili and Henry at Spool of Thread Sewing Lounge. They had just received a shipment of Melody Miller's Ruby Star Shining line, so I stopped by to pick up some of the amazing typewriter print. Coincidentally, my friend and typewriter-fan Amy was there at the same time so I got to see  a few of her newest mini quilts! I was just planning to get the red typewriters, but then the aqua typewriters jumped onto the cutting mat and came home with me!

Since Spool of Thread carries all of the 200+ Kona cottons, they're my go-to source for solids. I added to my stash with some brights (melon, tangerine, azure, papaya & canary) and some neutrals (stone, tan, sand, natural, and a linen called Santa Fe Natural). I brought my new fabric home and mixed it with my stash to create this:

 Can you guess what this collection of solids was based on?

It's the QuiltCon logo! Was anyone else trying to match the logo colours to their Kona colour card as soon as they saw it? My choices were (left to right): aqua, tangerine, cactus, grass green, caribbean, azure (I think dusty blue is a better match, but I forgot to pick it up in the shopping excitement), papaya and canary. I'm still finalizing my plans with these fabrics and I hope that come April they'll be sent out to the members of the Fab Bee, a brand new virtual quilting bee that I joined this week. I'll keep you posted!

Bon voyage, Kristi!

My sister sets off on an adventure today (she's on a plane right now!). She'll be living in Germany for a year, absorbing the language and culture and travelling around Europe. She's lived in Vancouver for six years and we see her often, so it'll be strange not to have Kristi dropping by all the time. Thank goodness for Skype! 

Aunt Kristi with her nieces

As a goodbye gift, I made Kristi this passport sleeve. I started with this tutorial from bunnybum and added some improv piecing to make it my own. I was completely inspired by Amy's mini quilts at the February VMQG meeting and I decided to challenge myself and try some improv quilting. It was actually really fun to slice into my work and add extra strips!

I had no clear plan when I started piecing, so it was fun to see the results!

I was relieved to find out that the passport sleeve fits perfectly. I was a bit anxious while finishing the topstitching because all the seams in the pieced section had added a bit of bulk.

I tested the sleeve with my old 1992 passport from when our family took a summer trip to Europe. I thought  it would be a treat for my readers to see my vintage passport!

Now that I've tested the tutorial, I guess I'll have to make myself a passport sleeve for my trip to QuiltCon!

The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild meets this Thursday!

Sophia showing off the door prize

Each third Thursday of the month since June 2010, when I started the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild, I have been laughing with, learning from, and being inspired by my friends at our guild meeting. The meetings are a highlight of my month and I love them! Our February meeting is coming up on Thursday the 16th and I've made a little Valentine's-themed door prize to give away. It's a log cabin needle book made using Christina - The Sometimes Crafter's pattern. I don't get a lot of time at the sewing machine these days, so it was fun to have a small project that came together quickly and easily!

What is a needle book, you ask? It's a handy organizer to keep your needles tucked away while you're working on a hand sewing project. I've never had one before and I've already picked out some fabrics to make one for myself!

The needles are pinned into the "pages" of the book, which are made from 100% wool felt that I found at local art shop Collage Collage. I've never used wool felt before and it's quite luxurious - the pins slide into it like butter!

So, if you want a chance to win this needle book and other lovely prizes, come on by the VMQG's February meeting at Langara College. I hope to see you there!

Sew-In Success!

One of the many things I love about being a member of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild is going to our sew-in days. I had a great time at the January sew-in and although I spent much of the time socializing and keeping Amy from her sewing machine, I was actually quite productive! I managed to piece the blocks I'd received in the Red and Aqua Bee into a quilt top. Since I had sewn up my sample block at the very first VMQG sew-in back in January 2011, I thought it was appropriate to sew up the quilt top one year later!

Seven-months-pregnant Holly with sample block, January 2011

Voila! A pieced top! (photo by Amy)

It was great to have a design wall at the sew-in so I could play with the blocks and get advice from my quilting friends. I'm happy with how the quilt is coming together and plan to give it to Eleanor when she turns one in March. Here's hoping I can keep up the motivation and finish this quilt by Ellie's first birthday!

Even though I haven't worked on this since January 22nd, I'm going to link up to Lee's WIP Wednesday on Freshly Pieced.