Home Sweet Home

So happy to be home. Here's a quick recap of my trip away. I stayed at a beautiful Inn in Sydney, NS called the Spanish Bay Inn. It is a beautiful Inn located around the Sydney waterfront. I highly recommend staying there. The Innkeeper, Linda is fantastic! She really makes your stay a great one :) Here's a few pictures of my spacious room :)

This room has a great amount of space. It's L-Shaped and has a fridge and microwave. Perfect for eating in :) There's also a TV and chair that you can't really see from the pictures. I had the TV on for some background noise. I also watched an episode of Downtown Abbey. I can understand what all the fuss is about! There's also some snacks in the dining room at the Inn which is where I picked up a yummy cinnamon roll almost every evening....not good for my weight but delightful :)

Here's some pictures of the projects I was working on while away.

I finished my Block #6 for FQS Mystery Quilt. I’m halfway there for finishing all the blocks.

I also started quilting the Star Quilt that I am donating to Relay for Life in my hometown.

 I quilted one echo around each star which nearly took me over the edge. Then I quilted through the center of the star from each intersecting point.

I really love how the quilting turned out for this one. Made the effort worthwhile :)

My sister made this really great wall hanging. A friend of hers is a St.FX fan so she asked my sister to make her a wall hanging. This came out great :)

I also made a few fabric purchases while I was away…..

Fabricville

A Needle Pulling Thread Quilt Shop

Last but definitely not least was Avonport.

I couldn’t resist the discount fabrics. And then I picked up a Quilt Halo. Has anyone had any experience with this? I figured I’d try it out. I’ll write up a review on it in a later post.

Hope you all had a great weekend despite the rain! At least it's a good excuse to stay in and quilt :)

Pocket Book Bed Runner Complete :)

Ah I just love a finish :) I'm really happy that this one is complete since I want to deliver it to the recipient in the next couple of weeks. I'm hoping the little boy will love it.

Hubby holding it up so I could take a picture. And Monty loves taking my spot on the futon :)

A close-up of the pockets with my Quilt-it....today magazine which I just recently found out that there will be no more of these magazines published. So sad those were some of my fav magazines :(

I love the light/med green and grey/black polka dot backing. It is just so gorgeous!

My first quilting label from Ikaprint. I absolutely love these! It is such a great way to label a quilt. Quick and easy. And it looks so professional :) The minimum quantity is 100 labels so I think I will have enough for a while.

I also received my order from Fabric Spot this week :)

I purchased a meter of Bluebird Park Lamp Post in Stone and 3/4 of a meter in Precious Text in Grey. I've had my eye on Bluebird Park Lamp Post forever but never purchased any. So I finally decided to pick some up :)

I'll be living out of a hotel for the next couple of weeks so I arranged to stay at an Inn who doesn't mind me using my sewing machine. So I'm going to take a few projects and my sewing machine along with me :) Excited to be doing some sewing while I'm away....it may also curb my shopping habit since I tend to shop more when I'm away from home for work. Of course, I do have a $50 Fabricville gift card so I will be making a visit to that store :)

Hope you're having a great quilting weekend!

Julia

My First Quilt Labels :)

I was so excited when I got home from work today! I checked my mail and violà, my quilting labels from France were in! There are 100 labels. I first heard of the Ikaprint company from Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts. They just look so professional! I can't wait to use them on my next finish.

I also started another project this week, A Pocket Book Bed Runner. I'm really going to have to concentrate more on my projects that I have started. There's a lot of WIPs around here lately which isn't typical for me. I'm hoping to have this one finished in the next couple of weeks. It is made with a Bargain Lover's Club package from Sew Sisters that I wasn't necessary fond of.

 
But with this project, they worked well :)

It is very bright and vibrant.

All the blocks laid out. This pattern called for 27 Fat Sixteenths but I really wanted to get it done quickly so I used 8 Fat Quarters instead.

Hopefully I'll have more done on this project in the coming days. So happy tomorrow is Friday!

Almost time for quilting :)

Julia

Nadia's Story

As some of you know, I made a quilt called Whispering Lake aka Whispering Love back in September for someone special. This post is about her and her story.

 Nadia's Story

Nadia was diagnosed June 18, 2014 with stage 3b ovarian peritoneal cancer. She is still in treatment, receiving chemotherapy. She had major surgery Oct. 6th, 2014. She has been through a lot and continues to smile. There is fundraising efforts to help her continue to pay her living expenses as she continues her treatment. 

Here is a link to the online fundraising efforts for Nadia at YouCaring.com. Anything that you can contribute would be greatly appreciated. Every little bit helps to make Nadia's days a bit better.

For people in the Halifax Regional Municipality, there will be a fundraiser auction at Big Leagues in Dartmouth on Saturday, Jan 31 from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. If you would like to donate to the auction, feel free to contact me to make arrangements. If you would like to make a monetary donation, feel free to visit the online fundraiser page or drop into Big Leagues on the 31st :) 

Here's a short message from Nadia:

I ask for your support as I have many bills and a mortgage to pay for on my own while I'm off work on long term disability. Hoping 2015 will be my year and I will go into remission. Thanks for the continued support and prayers. Love and light,

Nadia

Here's a quick weekend project that I started Friday night. This will be donated to Nadia's Auction.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post and Nadia's story.

Julia

Happy New Year and Teal the Elephant

Welcome 2015! 2014 was a blast but it's always exciting to look forward to a New Year. This is where we all make resolutions that we try to achieve for this year. I haven't thought of any real quilting/sewing resolutions but I am doing a resolution for a healthier lifestyle. I'm doing a 40 Day Yoga Detox program! The whole diet plan, 6 days a week practicing yoga and very clean eating. So I'm hoping to still be able to get some sewing time in while following this program. I did have a chance to get a bit of sewing done yesterday and today. I will be making a tutorial for this sweet little baby quilt that I lovingly call Teal the Elephant :)

This baby quilt was a request by a family member for her new grandson due in April. So I didn't have much time but this quilt comes together quickly. Here are the fabrics I picked according to the colours picked by the mom to be.

I really love the bright blue colour for the stars. This is the colour scheme I received.

So I was lucky to find these fabrics. It took a few weeks of searching! So I cut out the pieces and some appliqué pieces. I'm going to put the appliqué pieces this weekend I hope. I may add some more. I'll see after I sew on the original pieces I cut out. Here's a look at the design process.

I just love the little elephants. The quilt top went together quickly and I just need to add appliqué pieces now.

Really loving the look of this one so far :)

How was your New Year's? Have any quilting/sewing resolutions or other resolutions? Feel free to share :)

Julia