Rambling Roses Design

Actually typing up a blog post as opposed to formulating a post in my head is always a good thing! And, there’s no time like the present to hit publish, right?

I’ve got a few small finishes that I haven’t yet shared on the blog so here’s my #LaterPost about these.

Handmade Christmas 5

Two of these FOs were made as Christmas presents so they have long since been gifted to the recipients and were received with delight!

First up is this table runner made using mini squares from the Wintergreen line by 3 Sisters for Moda Fabrics. Granny squares against a creamy background was my plan for this runner. My go to quilting design – the “wiggle” and a green binding finished this gift.

Handmade Christmas 2

I love the texture of the wiggle 🙂

Handmade Christmas 4

I also had a bunch of leftover 4 patches from a previous project in this fun Christmas print called In From The Cold by Kate Spain. Half the work was already done, I just sewed the 4 patches all together with a bright red border all around. You can’t tell from the pictures but the red fabric has stick figure snowmen <3

Handmade Christmas 1.1

I quilted this one with concentric curves – so fun!

Handmade Christmas 3

Then, I added a simple envelope backing and bound it with the same bright red. Stuffed a pillow inside and another Christmas present was ready to be wrapped and gifted.

I also finished my second Binding Kit, this time in Bonnie & Camille prints (those sail boats, though!!)

Daysail Binding Kit 1

It turned out just as cute as my first binding kit.

Daysail Binding Kit 2

I’m thinking that this will become a great little notions pouch for my knitting supplies :: stitch markers, measuring tape etc.

Daysail Binding Kit 3

Three little finishes and one large WIP… my Arithmetic Quilt 🙂

Process 4

I see signs of spring everywhere with green shoots pushing up out of the ground. Snowdrops bowing their sweet little heads and crocuses and daffodils and all sorts of other prettiness too! I hope you’re having a lovely February 🙂

** Linking up at Finish It Friday and Whoop Whoop Fridays **

Posted by Preeti & filed under Bags, Finish It Friday, Gifts, Quilting, Sewn Finishes. This post has 9 comments.

Cotton + Steel. I have all the heart eyes for their stuff!

The colors are vibrant and the prints are interesting and modern. There is always bound to be an special twist in their lines and I love discovering these little surprises.

I bought a stack of C+S prints from Spool of Thread in Vancouver and I wanted to make a quilt that was interesting but didn’t involve a lot of cutting and piecing, especially on the bias. Jeni Baker’s, Arithmetic pattern was just what I was looking for.

I measured, cut and had myself a nice-sized pile of squares. I have to admit that I had to add a few complementary prints from some non C+S lines. This is what happens when I make a purchase with no pattern in mind.

I laid out the squares into the plus pattern with our resident ‘quality inspector’ close at hand 🙂 After a bit of arranging and re-arranging, I got things to where I was happy and stacked them into rows.

This week, I was ready to get back to this project and so I began chain piecing the rows. I really enjoy this part of the process because bit by bit the various pieces are coming together.

The simple yet brilliant design is so satisfying. There are so many gorgeous versions of modern plus quilts and variations out there and I haven’t come across a single one that I don’t like.

I know that I am going to love this quilt once it is done. In the meantime, I will enjoy every minute of the process.

** Linking up with WIP Wednesday and Let’s Bee Social **

Posted by Preeti & filed under Fabric, Quilting, WIP Wednesday. This post has 9 comments.

A pair of Rainbow socks were one of the handmade gifts I made this Christmas. A while ago, I bought a few skeins of Knit Picks Felici in all their cheery gorgeousness and instantly knew that my daughter would love a pair in the Rainbow colorway.

She’s one of those souls who keeps up a constant stream of chatter, always flitting about on her toes doing twirls and giggling incessantly about everything. She even giggles in her sleep and I definitely think she dreams about rainbows and unicorns! My sweet little, happy girl♥

These rainbow socks were such a fun project!

As we all know, it seems like kids outgrow their clothes before the end of the school day! Socks are no exception. Knitwear designer, Jane Richmond, has a daughter who is about the same age as mine and she wrote a pattern called, Tube Socks for Kids. With this pattern, you can rest assured that the little person won’t outgrow their socks in 33 seconds flat!

Early December found me curled up in bed with the worst case of the flu I’ve had in years! I needed a pick-me-up and cast on for Rainbow Stripes while sipping hot tea. By the time I had kicked the bug, I had cast off the first sock and begun the second!

These were ready and tucked into my daughter’s stocking for Christmas Eve.

When she found them, the squeals of delight and twirling on rainbow toes and tight hugs that followed just made knitting these socks so worthwhile!

They have held up really well with being worn and washed many times already and she hasn’t outgrown them, yet 😉

Rainbow Stripes (Ravelry notes)
Pattern: Tube Socks for Kids by Jane Richmond
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in “Rainbow”
Needles: Size US 2 / 2.75 mm

** Linking up at Finish It Fridays **

Posted by Preeti & filed under Accessories, Finish It Friday, Finished Knits, Gifts, Kids, Socks. This post has 4 comments.

Savoring the still and quiet after the humdrum of the holidays. The magical winter scene outdoors is really conducive to my reflective mood.

I looked back at my first post of 2015 curious to see if I had made any resolutions. (Shows how much I paid attention to my list after putting it out there, eye roll!) I didn’t make a typical list but I said that I wanted to be “focussed, intentional and organized”. I think I did alright with those goals for the most part. I feel though, like 2015 passed by in a blur and many of my friends and family feel the same way too.

Change is needed, especially during this present time of instant everything. I’ve realized that, there is no need to do all of the things, all of the time! Time to press pause and be content in the moment.

Today, I’m not making a list. Instead, I am taking some time to look toward all that is ahead. I’m being purposeful with this exercise so that all the little mundane details that actually make the whole don’t get forgotten and waylaid in the cracks.

A cup of tea and the beginnings of a stripey sock are my companions for this day of quiet contentment.

How was your year? Do you have any goals for the year we have just begun? Do you want to pick up the pace and spread your wings or do you want to embrace slow living? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I hope you have the chance to savor a still moment or two!

Posted by Preeti & filed under Rambling. This post has 2 comments.

While I’ve been MIA on this blog, I’ve been buzzing about like a bee on steroids in real life! I’m sure things have been the same for you and you are nodding your head in agreement!

As I pause and take a breath before closing out this tremendous year that we’re wrapping up, I’m amazed and so grateful for all the friendships and camaraderie the blogging community has brought me. For this, I am truly blessed.

In 2015, I went with guns blazing with new crafty pursuits and I had so much fun creating and making things that are meaningful and bring delight to my family, friends and wider community (with a bit of selfish craftiness thrown in, of course!)

One of the highlights of this year was being a part of the #iheartbandcsamplerbee on Instagram. I promise to do an actual blog post on that wonderful experience in the near future. Another first for me this year was a full-sized quilt (pictured above). I loved every bit of putting it together and seeing it being enjoyed and loved by my daughter everyday, makes it extra special.

I think my knitting mojo got lost somewhere along the way but the flame is nowhere near extinguished… I’ve got lots of pretty yarn in my stash just waiting to be made into something new.

I’m looking forward to all that the new year brings with much anticipation and excitement in my crafty journey and in life too. Turning the page to the fresh-and-new can’t be beat!

2015bestnine

Happy New Year, friends! Talk soon xoxo

Posted by Preeti & filed under Rambling. This post has 3 comments.

Revisiting a craft project over and over means that the aspects of design and creation of that project really appealed to the crafter.

Of course, fellow creative types will know how strong the draw is to start something new. Fondly called Startitis 😉 With the power of social media, new patterns and craft materials are being showcased every day. The magnetic force towards “ooh shiny” is sometimes irresistible (who am I kidding, this happens far too often!)

But what about those projects that you had so much fun making, the ones that you want to keep making over and over again? I’ve got a couple of those potato chipy patterns! (Hexies anyone!!)

The Goody Goody Binding Kit is one of those. My first one was very close to what the pattern suggested. Now, I’m making a second one and I’ve tweaked a few things with the overall construction. I’m still rocking the Elmer’s Glue tip, though, lol!!

No, I don’t need another binding kit. But oh yes, I had so much fun making the first one that another one just had to be made!! This project checks a lot of boxes on my crafty-fun-list 😀

All the bits and pieces are now sewn together.

Next, a quick bit of hand stitching before this project is done.

I’ve been getting some knitting done too, in honor of Socktober. As Kid President says, “Do something awesome!”

Small projects like these are a great source of instant gratification because up next… see this stack here

Yup, another quilt cut out and ready to be pieced! Unlike the last one, this time I’m following a pattern 😉

** Linking up with WIP Wednesday and Let’s Bee Social **

Posted by Preeti & filed under Bags, Quilting, Scrappy, Sewing, Socks, Socktoberfest, Stashbusting, WIP Wednesday. This post has 4 comments.

When I was little I remember my grandma spending hours sewing at her sewing machine. Always humming as she sewed. She had the sweetest singing voice. Every once in a while she would ask me to “help” sort through her scraps by size and that was the thrilling task I was waiting for. She would cut those scraps into squares or rectangles, sometimes pausing and chuckling. She would tell me how this piece was from a dress she had sewn for one of us grandkids, or how some other piece was part of a vintage pillowcase she had saved because it was too pretty to throw away. I was fascinated.

Before I knew it, she would have an adorable quilt top ready to be finished and gifted to a new baby. When my son was born, she wrapped him in a bright, soft quilt she had specially made for him. I knew that there was so much love and so many memories wrapped in that little blanket. By the time my daughter was born, we had relocated and my grandma was too frail to sit for long periods at the sewing machine. She busied herself instead with handwork. She sent me the cutest little linen dress that she had hand sewn for my newborn with little rosettes embroidered at the neck. She was an incredible woman, my grandma! I wanted to be just a little like her 🙂

I bought a couple of charm packs when Bonnie and Camille released their Scrumptious fabric line for Moda. I knew I wanted to make a quilt with it. Since this was going to be my first actual quilt (you know, something larger than 24 inches square!!) I wanted something super simple and easy! So, what did I do? I sliced into those charm packs fearlessly with no pattern in mind 😀 Yeah, living on the wild side at all that!!

First Quilt 3

Fortunately, it all worked out

FIrst Quilt 4

I pieced each block trying to keep within the same color family. I used Kona White for the background and boom, I had a quilt top done!

I used a vintage sheet for the backing and it is Oh. So. Soft.

The quilting is as “free motion” as I dared to do, a.k.a squiggly lines using my walking foot. I really want to learn free motion quilting soon but it looks so complicated. Any tips for where a newbie could begin?

I wanted a stripey binding and when I found this bias candy stripe, my heart just sang!!

Way before it was done, my daughter called dibs on this quilt. It’s the perfect size for her bed even though I didn’t measure or plan anything. Accidental win, yay! I basically just sewed blocks until I ran out of charm squares!

This quilt has been finished ages ago, the picture taking was what slowed me down.

#husbandsholdingquilts… yup, that’s really a thing!!

I’m going to wash this quilt this weekend since the white is beginning to take on a dullish grey with all the love!! Crinkle city… so excited!

Throughout the making of this quilt, I thought of my grandma so much. I thoroughly enjoyed the process, although, nothing compares to the joy I felt when my daughter wrapped herself in it and said, “Thank you Mama, thank you!!”

As a fellow maker, I now know why my grandma loved doing what she did ♡

** Linking up :: Finish It Friday, Whoop Whoop Friday **

Posted by Preeti & filed under Family, Finish It Friday, Quilting, Sewn Finishes. This post has 20 comments.

When I saw the Goody Goody Binding Kit by Vanessa Goertzen making the rounds on Instagram, I knew I wanted to make one. I also knew that this kit would have many uses other than solely for binding quilty projects.

I finished all the sewing before we went away on summer vacation and then attached the binding by hand while enjoying the lull of beachside waves. There is no other sound more calming than that!!

I’m delighted with this finish! It’s definitely a make-another-and-another type pattern!

There are so many details that are well explained by Vanessa in the making of this bag. She has a video over here that shows how she uses Elmer’s glue to attach the zipper before sewing it down! Um, yes please!

The original pattern calls for making a strawberry shape as a scissor keep. I changed that and made a square using scraps.

I loved being able to use so many different happy prints in one project 🙂

I’ve got this kit “loaded” with my binding essentials and I’m waiting to put it to use with my next project.

I can see my daughter using this bag to cart around her markers and pencils for art on the go.

It’s also perfect for notions and extra circular needles for knitting projects. No more fishing for those at the bottom of my knitting bag. Now that the weather has finally cooled down, I’m thinking about getting my knitting out 😉

And how amazing would this be to house my English Paper Piecing supplies!

Goody Goody 9

I’ve got a second bag cut and ready to put together. That’s how delightful and fun this project was!

** Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday **

Posted by Preeti & filed under Bags, Finish It Friday, Scrappy, Sewing, Sewn Finishes. This post has 11 comments.

After what has been an epic summer, today is the first day back to school for my kids! Yes, HUGE grin 😀

A few weeks ago, Amanda from The Cozy Pumpkin asked me to share a Tuesday Tip on her blog. To say that I was thrilled to bits is an understatement!!

So today, to celebrate Back To School, I have a tutorial for you 🙂 Head on over to Amanda’s blog to read more about it.

English Paper Pieceing (EPP) is so much fun and a great way to use up all your scraps. Make cute little hexagons to embellish your other projects or sew them together to make hexie flowers and other shapes. To make EPP speedy, I’ll show you step-by-step how I glue baste hexagons.

While you’re visiting Amanda’s blog, check out all her other amazing tips and tricks to make quilting, fun and easy. There’s also tons of eye candy with wonderful finished projects and works in progress!

Thanks Amanda, for letting me share this Tuesday Tip with your readers 🙂 Happy Tuesday all!

Posted by Preeti & filed under Scrappy, Sewing, Stashbusting, Tutorials. This post has 5 comments.

I was looking for dinner inspiration on the interwebs the other day and you know how AdSense shows you pictures on the sidebar of things that you may be interested in. They have to rework their algorithm because I get a lot of promotions for power tools!! I don’t think I’ve ever actively “googled” power tools for this to happen, but nonetheless.

This time however, there was this cool looking project tutorial by Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilt Co. I paused dinner plans and went on to watch the tutorial called Easy Cathedral Window – fascinating! I didn’t really want to make a big project using this new-to-me technique. Pinterest showed me a pincushion version of the Cathedral Window and I bookmarked it. Perfect!

Cathedral Window 2 Post dinner, using this tutorial from Riley Blake, I set to work and voila!

Cathedral Window 5

Such a cute little thing waiting to be jabbed with pins! Oh, that didn’t come out right, did it!!

When I thought about writing this post, I was curious about why this is called a “Cathedral Window”. So, I dug around and found some interesting stuff. The first quilt using this block was seen at the Chicago World Fair in 1933. So, it’s been around for a while! This block has many other names, Daisy Block, Orange Blossoms, Attic Window, Pain In The Neck (the person who came up with that name that should have stuck with making a pincushion!)

Cathedral Window 3

When the pattern became popular during that era, the colorful fabric that was used for the “windows” was usually lightweight muslin or gauze producing a stained glass effect just like those found in the windows of cathedrals. The frames were made using a heavier weight fabric and usually solid in contrast.

For my project, I wasn’t really going for a stained glass effect. I used regular quilting cotton for the whole thing.

Button on the top. Done!

** Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish It Up Friday **

Posted by Preeti & filed under Scrappy, Sewing, Sewn Finishes. This post has 8 comments.

Finishes #LaterPost

Process

Rainbow Stripes

Contentment

Goodbye! Hello!!

The First One

Goody Goody Binding Kit

Glue Basting Hexies – A Tutorial

Put A Pin In It

Welcome!

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