handmade with love...

This year our Christmas isn't it's usual bustling busy time...this year it is busy but for another reason.  My mom was diagnosed with end stage lung cancer at the end of November and is very ill.  We are trying chemotherapy to shrink the tumor in order to give us a bit more time but we are still uncertain as to wether it will work or not.  So I have spent the better part of early December on the road and in Armstrong/Vernon.

I am so thankful that crafting for the most part is portable and I have been able to get a few projects done...very therapeutic during this time of grief.  I have only 1 project complete and 4 others awaiting the final binding stitching...so here is the 1st one...made for my mom

humming along...

Things have been humming along in my sewing room this past week.  I have quite a bit on the go...2 wall hangings and a table runner, as well as my mystery project to finish off.

I had a great outing to Katja's Quilt Shop where I bought another Christmas panel and finishing fabric for my other projects.

I have been throwing in some paper crafting and prep crafting for our church's annual Christmas dinner.

Thought I'd throw in a few sneak peaks...

will be a table runner...

not the best lighting but had fun using my new embossing tool

love the clothespin!

I absolutely love this card...my favorite one I've made so far.

So stay tuned for some finished pics...hopefully soon!

new creations...

I joined a quilty group that meets 1st Saturday of each month and I am loving going...it helps that 2 friends from church are there and I am really enjoying getting to know them better...Since joining we have been working on a mystery project and we got the final instructions last Saturday so I whipped mine together today...loving it.  Now I just need to finish it...border...backing...and the quilting part...I need some fabric to finish it off so it might have to wait a bit till I get my hands on some cash...but here is the almost finished project it will look even better when finalized!

And man is it hard to get a good picture in the basement with an iphone camera lol...guess I need to start taking them outside like so many others do!

Oh yes and this is just a little sampling of my next projects....yup I bought a kit...supposed to make 2 wall hangings and a table runner I was pleasantly surprised to find it had a lot extra in there too so there will be more than just those three on my machine in the next few weeks...very excited!

Giving of Thanks...

Well it is a busy weekend...full of Jesus, family, friends, crafting and food.  Can't think of a better way to spend a long weekend.  It started yesterday morning with much needed time with a dear friend and we crafted together...she on cards and I on a few projects for Sunday dinner.  Today it is church then family for dinner.  Tomorrow will be quality time with my hubby who doesn't have to work...yay!

So here are a few of my projects from yesterday and a short list of what I am thankful for this weekend...and really everyday!

I am thankful for:

1.  Jesus Christ
2.  Grace
3.  Love
4.  My hubby
5.  My children
6.  My parents and extended family
7.  Our home
8.  Our income
9.  Freedom
and many more things but this wraps up the top most in my mind...Happy Thanksgiving everyone, may God bless you in whatever you are doing this weekend.

Quite pleased!

Finally with less than a day left before the next gathering I have completed my 2 projects...and even started a 3rd.  I am in full swing sewing mode and hope I can keep it up to get some gifts made for Christmas.  I have learned a lot about my own limitations and while I am learning I have to be careful as to which projects I choose as I get better at this new skill...so without further ado... here it is my finished table runner...drum roll...lol

I am very pleased now the only problem is I like it so much I don't want to gift it away...oh dear...

Sweet love

I really love creating things, yet I am very critical of what I create...darn I do have to work on that.  This past month I decided to join a quilting group at Katja's Quilt Shop here in Kamloops.  They meet the 1st Saturday of each month and you get a pattern for a project plus a demo of how to put it together which is perfect for me!

This past month we have been working on a table runner and 4 little log cabins.  I enjoy the cutting and the sewing (mostly) it is the finishing work that has me bogged down.  The actual quilting and binding...I know the more I do it the better I will get but man it is frustrating in the mean time.  Considering I went through 2 full bobbins of thread on 1 project...yikes that is a lot of picking out stitches I am happy with it so far...now to just get the binding right...I've got to learn to look at the "other" side more often to be sure everything is looking right!

I'm not quite done to show you the table runner yet but here is a picture of my 4 log cabins...these came together through the generous donations of two very lovely ladies who gave me big bags of scraps!  I think I might be hooked on the whole log cabin thing and I think I have a jelly roll just calling out to me to do a log cabin throw...pillow...something...lol

...and a sneak peak at the colors for my table runner too!

Miss "T's" Birthday

We are extremely blessed in this house to be able to have Taylor live with us.  She has been here for a year and a half now and we seem to be coping well with an extra teenager living in our home.  Yesterday she turned sweet 16.  We didn't see much of her what with going to get her "L" with her dad and then spending the afternoon driving around with him then dinner with her sisters.  But in a few quiet moments I was able to give her the gift I made for her.

I have been inspired to try one of these and have seen many examples.  This is what I made:

I outlined the writing in a thicker black so it shows up better.  She was very pleased and I was happy she liked it.  There are so  many options when making these I love them.

new tools

I made a lovely mothers day card the other day...I was very happy with how it turned out and my dear friends were very complementary on it.  I was at my friend Anne's for an afternoon of card making and got to use some of her tools.

So while out shopping the other day I decided I needed to get myself some of these tools as well and off I went to the office supply section at Walmart and picked up these beauties...

I colored the owl in the card and really liked the effect...needs some practice but I'm happy with it so I picked up a package of sharpie colors.  Now to just keep them out of the hands of my daughters!  I am looking forward to making more cards I really love making each individual card.

Adventures with my daughter

My girls are in Calgary this weekend for a Comic Con Expo.  They will get to meet some of their favorite actors and are so excited.  Part of this whole experience is them dressing up as some of their favorite characters from comics or anime stories they follow.  Emily has attended before and had easy costume ideas, but this is Meghans first big conference and she wanted to make a costume...well she wanted me to make her costume.

Now I am no great seamstress, but I can "wing it" pretty good when it comes to making things...so we set off on this adventure together.  1st up was a plush hat, she found a pattern and downloaded it...taped it all together and cut out the pieces...at some point I thought to myself "wow that pattern is huge" but off I went to do something else...it took a bit of work to cut it down to the right size...after we cut it all out but it turned out ok...definitely not perfect but it works...

  She was happy...I tried not to see all the things I did wrong.

Next up was the backpack, she wanted one made...I decided due to cost and time I'd just make a cover for a backpack she already had therefore it didn't have to be heavy duty to hold all her stuff...after a few false starts and lots of stitch ripping... :( even broke my stitch ripper...I finally managed to make a reasonable replica...I am quite proud as this was done with out any type of pattern...yay me!  I then had to cut a pair of pants, expand the waist and hem them...let me say not my favorite part of the project at all....thankfully her shirt is long cause it looked like a dogs breakfast once I was done with it...and no I will likely never hem another pair of pants...thank goodness for long legs!  So here are the pics of the final results...she is happy and I am happy for her ... oh yes and cudos for her as she made the sword with very little help from me.

  She is Finn, from a show called adventure time...Have fun my love...

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Finally something new.

I was given a lovely gift at Christmas from an established quilter...it was a "mug rug" I had seen pics on pinterest and thought how cute.  But now that I had one in front of me my thinking changed to what a great idea...small quilting project that would allow me to work on some of my skills for sure without the huge workload of a full quilt.

That having been said it still took quite awhile for me to get my act together and make one.  I haven't been able to purchase any new fabric as finances are very tight at the moment and I so wanted to get something that had a little picture on it.  Sometimes my wants keep me away from what I can create.

So with my sisters birthday approaching I knew I needed an easy project, as I have been unwell for the past 6 weeks, so I thought I know I can do this "mug rug", and off I went to my space.

The first one took me the better part of the day just figuring out the pattern and cutting the pieces, of course picking the fabric takes the longest :).

Now other than my nit picky eyes that find every flaw I have to say I am very happy with how this turned out and the second one I made was done in quick order as I have it all figured out now.  So here is the finished product.


eeeee... I love it...