99 Days til Christmas

So currently I am working on a Christmas gift. I know the weather is still warm out there but Christmas does sneak up on you when gifts are required to be made. I started paper piecing this snowflake last weekend...

I'm hoping to turn this gem into a table topper. I still have one more side to paper piece then I need to assemble it all. I downloaded this snowflake paper piecing pattern on Craftsy from Quilting Mod. So far I'm liking how this is coming together.

I also finished the baby quilt that I was working on for my niece or nephew. I'm hoping to reveal that baby quilt next weekend! Stay tuned for a post on that little gem :)

A couple of weekends ago, I also had a pretty big issue with my Oliso iron. The self destruction sequence must have been initiated. I just wanted to share on here, the very important lesson that I learned. Never leave your iron plugged in when you leave the room! Here's a few pictures to show what happened in under a minute with my iron.

My iron was in the "Off" position and up on it's little legs. I had just ironed some fabric and was getting ready to move over to my cutting area when I heard crackling....then you could smell the burning. I managed to get the iron unplugged very quickly so that no further damage occurred. The plug was extremely hot from all the current going to the iron. I'm pretty sure if this would have happened while I had been out of the room, there would have been a blackened, smoky mess! Not to mention a possible fire.

This picture is difficult to see but the little foot has some brown, melted spots on the inside. I contacted Oliso the next day (since this happened on the holiday) and the representative was quite helpful. The only downfall is that she couldn't tell me if the product was under warranty. She sent me the repair form but I wanted to know if the product was under warranty because I did not want to pay for shipping to have someone tell me there is nothing that can be done. She was quite helpful in sending me a shipping label so the shipment of the iron has not cost me anything. It has been shipped off to California so I am just waiting to hear back from the company. I will post an update when I hear anything. 

To say that I wasn't upset about this is an understatement. When you purchase these irons they are costly. I've only had this iron for just over a year. I was expecting to get quite a few years out of this iron. So I'm hoping they will repair/replace this one. If not, I will definitely not be purchasing one in the future as much as I liked this one.

I hope the outcome of this situation is a good one. For now, I am using my Panasonic cordless iron. I can't let a faulty iron get me down :)

Hope you are all having a great quilty weekend!

Julia

Ah Summer....

Well the summer seems to have gone by quickly for me. I have been busy in my sewing room and I did have a chance to go on a few vacations. Blogging and reading blogs has definitely taken a lower spot on the priority list. Sometimes a break is needed. I'm hoping September will be a return to a regular schedule of blogging and catching up.

Here's what I've been up to in the last month (the projects that I can share anyhow):

This pile of fabrics, all from my stash, are for the Meadow Mystery Quilt-A-Long hosted by Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs. I joined the Midnight Mystery Quilt hosted by Cheryl last year and had so much fun that I decided to join again this summer. I'm a bit behind since the cutting and first piecing instructions are out. I'm hoping to catch up this month.

I took a trip to Newfoundland a couple of weeks ago. It was a spur of the moment trip since I had less than a week to prepare to go. I was visiting family out there and made these make up bags for my two younger cousins.

They look much better when they are actually filled. They came out a bit slouchy I find. Some of my favourite fabric collections went into these and they were in my stash ;)

You can find the video tutorial at So Sew Easy.

I also quickly whipped up a bag for me to take to Newfoundland. I wanted to make a slouchy bag but couldn't find any patterns that I really liked. So I found one in my Sew Serendipity Bags book by Kay Whitt and modified the pattern a bit to what I was looking for. The end result is this gem.

I had bought this fabric a couple of years ago on a bus tour trip down to Maine. At the time, I didn't know what I would use this fabric for since the print is so large but I think it fits nicely for this purse.

I tried to cut out the pieces are best as I could to show the design. This side came out better than I pictured it.

And the simple inside that has binding on the edges. This bag was difficult to put together. I used the seam ripper A LOT! and it's a bit bulky to sew but the end result was worth it in the end!

I am currently working on a baby quilt for my new nephew or niece who will be arriving next month. I'll be able to share pictures when the baby quilt is delivered to my sister and her husband. I just finished the quilting this morning and only need to trim and add the binding.

I hope you all have had a good summer and have taken time to unwind. I needed a bit of breathing room and I'm feeling better now that I've had it. I realize there will always be a struggle of what I want to do and need to do. There are only so many hours in the day to strike that balance. I'm trying to find mine ;)

Wishing you all many happy sewing days in September!

Julia