Hello, hello! Today is the last school day before spring break begins… two weeks of fun, goofiness, day trips and snacks, always with the snacks!!  I thought I had better begin something new to celebrate the early onset of spring and sunshine that has bathed our lovely neck of the woods. Did you spot that cute little bee 🙂 Last summer during our trip to the Oregon Coast, I went to this adorable fabric store called Jane’s Fabric Patch. Actually, it’s… Read more »

“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”… “It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…” ― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden Time to open the windows and let the spring air in.  Well, it’s still a tad bit nippy to do this for extended periods of time.  But it’s here :: spring! Bright green shoots are everywhere. Buds are reaching towards the sun and I’m thinking of casting on for a… Read more »

Moda Fabrics makes these mini charm packs, aptly called Moda Candy.  I can’t resist candy!  I bought two packs of Moda Candy and went on a Half Square Triangle making spree.  I didn’t really have a plan in mind for these and so once I got those HSTs made, they were forgotten. Two weeks ago, I was sorting through my WIPs.  I found some projects that need the ruthless treatment i.e., rip-rip-rip.  I’ve totally lost steam with these projects, better… Read more »

When the festive season surrounding the holidays is done and it’s not quite spring yet, there is this period of Bleh. It doesn’t help that Vancouver has been enveloped in a dense fog for days. The eerie scene pierced by fog horns is actually pretty cool and keeps all sorts of nautical disasters from happening. I’ve heard that it’s bright and sunny on our local mountains, thanks to temperature inversion. Spring will be here before we know it.  In the meantime, I’m going to… Read more »

There is something so sweet about little baby things.  I’ve got a keepsake box for each of my children filled with stuff from when they were little.  A lock of hair, a tiny onesie, a baby blanket, a favorite outfit, a squeaky toy…  As a mother, these are treasured possessions that I will always hold close to my heart. My friend recently became a mom for the first time.  The arrival of her wee baby boy was celebrated with much anticipation and excitement. There… Read more »

Remember this quilt top I showed you a while ago? The massive thing is now quilted.  Actually, I finished the quilting soon after I wrote that post and then I folded it up and put it away in the linen closet. Well, the little girl who has laid claim to this quilt said to me on New Year’s Day complete with hand on hip, “Mama, do you think you can finish my quilt in 2015?”.  Miss Sass, I tell ya!! I’ve had the binding prepped… Read more »

Ever since I began sewing, I realized that pins are my best friends.  They are so important if you want accuracy while you are piecing something.  Eyeballing things just won’t cut it.  As a result, my pin collection has grown exponentially. The pincushion that I made last year is full, no… overflowing and I’ve got another makeshift “pin cushion” :: a piece of batting rolled up into a wad held together with a strip of selvedge, sheesh! Last week when I was sewing a project that… Read more »

Fall has been different this year with the leaves taking their sweet time to show us their autumnal gloriousness. We haven’t had to do any raking in the backyard yet and it’s the end of October! Being able to slowly savor the changing colors has been wonderful. I have a finished fall project too!  I saw these Modern Maples popping up all over on Instagram and Flickr.  Not wanting to tackle yet another huge project at this time, I settled for a scaled-down version…. Read more »

I began this project totally clueless about the size of the end result.  I’m attributing that to my quilting newbie-ish-ness. I had a couple (3 maybe?) charm packs of Scrumptious by Bonnie and Camille for Moda. I decided that these would be great to make the perfect snuggle quilt, you know the kind you want to snuggle with while reading a book or watching TV. I began slicing and sewing them to make blocks and had a nice stack going. I sashed each block using… Read more »

I have been following Chase’s blog, quater inch mark, for quite a while.  She does the most intricate piecing and hand quilting.  Her posts about everyday life :: crafting or otherwise, are always so sweet.  Chase hosted a QAL (quilt along) via the Pack Patch Flickr Group and I signed up to be a part of it.  This QAL was so much fun and very interesting! The blocks were a simple twelve patch, but there was a twist.  Every Friday, she would give us… Read more »