Dr Who rag quilt

A long time ago (3 years +...) I cut out many purple, mauve and white squares to make a quilt for my Goddaughter, whose favorite color was purple. Since then her favorite color has changed to blue and she is quite taken with the new Dr. Who show. Dr. Who's tardis (time-travelling phone booth) is blue, so...

Here's my plan for one side of the quilt.

Since I already had many purple and mauve squares, I used them on the other side.

During March break I started sandwiching Side A + batting + coresponding Side B square and piling them up in rows. 15 rows in all. Then I started quilting an X into each square and again piling them up to be sewn together into rows. I knew I had to really get ahead as once I was at the lake for the summer I would not have the sewing machine and Amelia's birthday is mid-summer. Well, I got about 4 rows done before the mad end-of-the-school-year rush.

Then we went to the lake for the June long weekend and just stayed. Charla happened to mention that Amelia's party had been moved up one week. Say what? OMG! so I spent a few long days and nights out at the house with Darcy as my helper, sewing rows and then sewing rows together. Once it was all put together, I brought it to the lake to do the ragging. Did I mention I did this the night before the party? I was praying I wouldn't snip a stitch by accident! I had one little snip to hand sew the next morning, as at 3:00 a.m. when I finished, I didn't trust myself to sew properly.

Here it is:

The purple side has a big A and F for her initials. And the other quarters are like mini patchwork quilts. I specially designed the middle square to mimic the gray cross on the quilt. That one square has 9 pieces. 

The tardis!!

It is big enough for a bed spread for a double bed. I didn't plan on making such a big quilt, but I had to have enough rows and columns to make the tardis. The tardis had to have rectangular windows and had to have two columns of 4. I tried designing it with square windows and it really didn't look right. 

Spring 2016

A project I am working on for Amelia's birthday. 

Final quilt:

http://dizzyfordragonflies.blogspot.com/2016/09/dr-who-rag-quilt.html

My view on my walk to work.

 Family of squirrels in our tree:

https://youtu.be/V0me4ANfXRI

The last bit of snow at the cottage, May 9.

A loon flapping its wings on Black Lake.

May 27

May 28: First weekend at the lake. 

Not having our boat in the lake didn't stop us from getting a boat this weekend! Our neighbor took us out for a wee ride :-)

OMG!!!OMG!!!OMG!!! 

First of all, say what!?!? Gord Downey of my all-time favorite band has BRAIN CANCER!!!!????

Second of all, I got tickets to the Ottawa show on their final tour. Final tour. Final...still can't believe this...I know he's not family, or even someone I actually know, but I feel like he is a friend. I have learned so much about him, his band and his music over the past 20+ years of listening to The Tragically hip. His voice has been in the background of so many experiences in my life. I actually took an interest in some of Canada's history because of their lyrics.

I have been to see The Hip at The Montreal Forum, at Bourbon North, at a small venue somewhere in Montreal (I think it was on St. Denis St), at the Bell Centre and soon at the Canadian Tire Centre. Each show was different and amazing...such a tight band, lots of energy and it's really about the music, not about stunts, or lights, or costume changes...about music. I can't believe this it; this is going to be the last time I see them live. 

June 11 typical...gggrrrrr!!!

June 8: We're both 40 now!!!

Charla's 40th birthday party...photo props courtesy of her friend Flo, what a great idea! 

http://tiggeric.blogspot.com/2016/09/charla-big-4-oh.html

Cameron was in the Drama Club and this was their final presentation of the year.

My beautiful Tigger enjoying a rare moment outside. 

http://dizzyfordragonflies.blogspot.com/2016/09/cancer-sucks-even-for-pets-june-21-2016.html

Cameron graduated from grade 6. High school in the fall!!

Value of your craft

I found this online via one of the sewing/quilting pages I follow. Very informative, especially if you've never tried to sew something. I usually make rag quilts or at least have the outer edge rag-style (fringe) and thus there is no binding, so that saves me a lot of time.

I found this video by Make Something with a simple technique to price your work:

https://www.facebook.com/MakeSomethingTV/videos/822803947845383/

I still find it hard to price things! 

Jean pocket wall organizer

Y

I made this jean pocket wall organizer for my Goddaughter. I hope it will help her organize her craft and sewing supplies in a way that is easy to use and keeps her supplies within reach.

I made myself a square template and if the pockets weren't big enough I sewed some denim on the short sides. There were two that were too small on all sides, so I appliqued them onto a square the right size. 

The next step was to sew the squares together. I made three rows of three squares, then sewed the rows together. 

I used a soft, pale blue fleece for the back. I wanted something soft so it wouldn't scratch the wall and something without a lot of color so there wouldn't be any color transfer to the wall. I sewed on the two rod pockets before attaching the backing to the denim. The back was sewed on with front and back pieces right-side to right-side, leaving a small opening to turn it right side out. I used a ladder stitch to close the gap.

When I put the rod in and held it up, the denim sagged in the front...OH NO!!!!

Solution? I sewed (think quilting, but without the batting) along all the seems of the denim squares and all around the outside, about 1 inch in from the edge. This prevented any slipping and sagging of the pockets. 

The total finished aize is about 24"x 24".

February 2015

We went to visit Charla and her feeder was full of cardinals!!

I made this doll as a birthday gift for one of Darcy's friends. 

Proof Ollie is in the house,

More proof...hierarchy also present. Not sure who thinks they are king, Ollie since he's higher up or Eric since he's closer to the food bowl! 

A rare pic of me! 

Whoa man, holy early 90's!!!

Tigger in a box with Cookie, Darcy's (toy) dog.

DIY Olaf costume

After wanting to be a lightning bolt for Halloween since July,  the Frozen bug bit Darcy and she wanted to be Anna or Elsa. Since tbis chnage happened a bit late, there was NOTHING Frozen left anywhere in our town, except a size 3 Olaf (the snowman) costume.

So, I made her an Olaf costume!

I used this pattern

https://blog.fabric.com/2014/08/do_you_wanna_build_a_snowman.html?cm_mmc=Email-_-08.27.2014-SillySnowman-_-SALES-_-SillySnowmanBanner&cm_em=&spMailingID=10824526&spUserID=MzU1MTg5NDU4MDgS1&spJobID=324298965&spReportId=MzI0Mjk4OTY1S0

It was supposed to take about 2 hours, but the little brown sticks on top of the hat took FOREVER to turn right-side-out. It cost under $10 for white fleece and a zipper. I already had scraps to use for the other colors, thread and an elastic. 

Zipper pouches

The idea came from the May 2014 Country Living.

http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/projects/diy-fashion-3#slide-2

 

Felted sweater bags

I made felted sweater bags as gifts this year. Pure wool works the best, but I also used some wool blends, they are stretchier.

Some sweaters were my moms cast-offs, some I got at a swap, some I bought second-hand. 

I followed these instructions for the most part:

http://totallygreencrafts.com/2012/12/felted-handmade-bag-from-recycled-sweater/

Making the sweater itself was fairly easy and quick. Unlike the above link, I turned in the edges of the handles and sewed them down. It makes a nicer, sturdier finish.

Competed:

Charla

Here are some flowers and leaves.

To make the flowers I used many sources. The flowers took FOREVER. I suppose I could have hot glued the flowers to secure them before sewing them onto the bags, but I didn't. I hand sewed each one.

http://megandandymade.blogspot.ca/2011/06/happy-hair-clips-part-3.html

http://ohsocrafty.blogspot.ca/2009/09/felted-wool-flowers.html

http://blog.dlshdesign.com/2009/03/felt-flowers-brooches-bouteniers.html

http://blogi.szafa.pl/tickledpinky/post/16047-przerobki-ubran-diy-inspiracje-czesc-1

More elaborate flower. Rough circle shape cut into a spiral and then wound up.

Strip rolled up, much slimpler, different look. Nice as buds.

Same idea, only the strip is folded in half lengthwise first and sometimes twisted as it is wound up. 

Another more elaborate flower.

more finished products:

Chrissy

Marina

Darcy

Carol

Marjorie, with matching hats for her and Darcy. 

Available, small purse. 15$

Available, medium purse. 20$

Darcy's Dresses

1st dress I ever made!

I used these instructions:

http://www.happytogetherbyjess.com/?s=Tiered+dress

 

Second dress with flower embellishment:

I used a child sized, old t-shirt for the first tier. I used a large women's t-shirt for the second tier and made a matching hat from one of the sleeves. I used an old pair of pants od Darcy's for the bottom tier. I used a small, closely spaced zig-zag stitch all around the bottom to give it a lettuce-leaf edge. 

I hemmed the first dress normally.

I the first dress each tier was about 1.3 x the previous. In the second one I used 1.5 x to get a fuller dress.  

 

DIY sock teddy bears

With scarves!

I used wool socks for the dark blue bears and a "normal" sock for the lighter blue bear.

I used this site:

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/600x/63/20/56/632056dcc07230e7e84b773268a1a9d8.jpg

And this site:

http://themetapicture.com/this-is-how-you-create-a-teddy-bear-from-a-sock/

A new bear:

For Emma. 

A sock bear with matching scarf and hat, Nov 2015

This one will soon have a back pack/sleeping bag.

Brooke's Bear, Nov. 2015.