What I've Been Up To (Hint: Not Much)

Unless you count coughing, blowing my nose and not sleeping, I haven't done much this weekend. I detest being sick and this is the second cold I've had in as many months. Child in preschool (aka germ petri dish) + two daily trips on public transportation (aka another germ petri dish) have conspired against me.

I did get a wee bit of sewing done last night before I coughed my head off all night long:

The Fresh Air HSTs are assembled into 4 placemats! And they're quilted! Yay! Just need to bind these babies and we'll be all set. That is indeed black batting that you see - Hobbs makes a black batting which I love for darker-coloured fabrics.

And I got the confetti/sewing machine cover pieced too:

I had to unpick a couple puckery seams, and they're not sewn up again but it's done. Putting it together was like a fun puzzle, putting bits here and there so that it all fit in something of a regular shape. It's about 20"x18".

So I have a dilemma - I was planning just to drape this over the machine and add a couple ties to each side to make it into a sewing machine cover. But it's too small as-is to cover my machine. Should I add some borders in the white fabric and continue with the plan, or keep this as-is as a stand-alone wall hanging and make a different cover that actually fits?

Decisions, decisions.

You'll have lots of time to ponder that question, because I'm taking a break while I a) recover from this cold and b) participate in a week-long intensive training course for work (there's even homework!!). See you soon!

WIP Wednesday

I'm trying to think back on what I did last week, and wondering why I only have one mug rug to show for my time. Pah.

Well here is that mug rug, anyway. It's for my lovely friend Emily who recently started a new job (after a fairly long search and I'm so happy for her). She asked me to make her one, and told me what kind of fabric and colours she likes and I went from there.

Back:


I had a dilemma with the colour of thread to use for the quilting and I am SO HAPPY that I chose some yellow 30 wt rayon thread I won in some doorprize draw many moons ago. It mimics the gold accents in the fabric absolutely perfectly if I do say so. And if I had a better camera with an actual macro setting, you would be better able to see that I quilted (what I hope looks like) bamboo shoots and leaves in the plain area. I'm super pleased with it, and I hope Emily is too.

And that's it!

Oh wait, I made the nametag, too. Whew - TWO things! I feel soooo much better now (sarcasm).

Not much of a WiP report from me, but there are lots over at Lee's!

My First Time...

...as a guest blogger! Come over and visit me at Stash Manicure, where I'm guest blogging today.

See you there....

Nametag

I suggested Nametags be the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild challenge for January, and this is my contribution:


I embroidered my name on some American Jane rulers fabric, then cut out the rectangle to fit an old magnetic nametag I had from work. OF COURSE I trimmed the fabric a wee bit too small, so the stitch I used to close it all up is...not beautiful. And I cut one side before measuring how long the insert actually was, so to make it long enough, the nametag ended up with my name off-centre. Enter rickrack! Glued on with Elmer's School glue because I'd already sewn up the "envelope" to slide the nametag in. Ugh. This is what happens when you leave things to the last minute.

Still, though, I think it turned out well. I definitely need a new camera - I could NOT for the life of me get a close-up that wasn't blurry, even using my little tripod and what I think passes for a Macro setting.

WIP Wednesday

Here we are at WiP Wednesday again!

This project is an oldie but a goodie - the Sewing Machine Cover! I last worked on this last Fall. Yikes! Time flies!

Here's how it's coming along. I'm really happy with it so far - my first attempt at free/improv piecing and I like it!

Other stuff I have on the go:

Nametag challenge for VMQG. Here's what I've done so far. Gotta get moving - tomorrow is the meeting!

That Girl quilt along: no progress.
New Wave quilt: ditto.
Placemats: whole lotta nuthin'.

I didn't get much done at all except bee blocks this week, actually. Here's the other one:


Go see what everyone else is up to at Lee's!

Stylish Blogger Award

I'm smiling as I type this because the awesome Kati said some really nice things about me when she paid her Liebster Award forward. Thank you Kati!

And her comments reminded me about something else that made me smile but that I'd totally forgotten about (I blame sleep deprivation): Kristie from OCD-Obsessive Crafting Disorder nominated me for a different blogger award - the Stylish Blogger Award! I feel so loved!

The rules for accepting the Stylish Blogger Award are:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pay it forward to 15 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their Blog Award!

I'm going to bend the rules a bit, and just give you the 7 random things about me. Because that's how I'm rolling tonight. 

1. I'm a rule-follower extraordinaire, so bending the rules on the award actually makes me a bit uncomfortable.
2. I am the oldest of 5 children and my sibs all live on or near the Eastern seabord of the US, and I miss them terribly.
3. I had my first pedicure at the age of 33, for my wedding.
4. I was robbed at gunpoint when I worked as a bank teller.
5. If I had to do it all over again, I'd become a librarian.
6. I made it through my Masters degree without being a regular coffee drinker - tea kept me awake for studying. Now I drink at least 4 cups of coffee a day.
7. The longest I've lived in the same house/condo/apartment is 4 years, 4 months (and counting).

Thank you! Good night!!

More Pants

The ric rac was NOT my idea. But I think it adds a certain je ne sais quoi.

A little explanation: the flannel for these pants was leftover from the ones I made for my husband, the Steelers fan. Pics to follow...

Not much for the Fabric Tuesday link-up this week but I'll take the finish, particularly since the recipient LOVES them, and really that's all that matters.

DQS10 Mosaic

In case you're not active in the Flickr quilting community, DQS10 stands for Doll Quilt Swap 10. The 10th iteration of this wonderful swap has begun!

It's a secret swap, so your partner doesn't know that you're making a quilt for him/her, and you don't know who's making one for you! So, how do you know what to make for your partner?

You stalk them! Well, not exactly, but along with your partner's name, you're given their blog (if they have one) and their Flickr photostream where you can have a look and see what kind of things they like to make and receive.

A great way to help your partner to know more about your likes and dislikes - or to help guide them toward making something that's really going to hit the spot - is to make a mosaic of your Flickr favourites. Here's mine:


Ecelctic or scattered? I guess it will be up to my partner to decide that! I can't believe how much my tastes have changed in the past year. I've fallen in love with quilts made from solids (have yet to make one for myself, though), and more "arty" type pieces. What hasn't changed, however, is my love of certain motifs: birds, circles, trees, leaves...those are all still going strong. I really do want my partner to make me something that reflects them as opposed to just something that I would like or make myself.

And in case my partner follows this blog (doubtful): please, please make me a mosaic. Or favourite a few more than the 5 photos you've got in your favourites stream. Help a swapper out, wouldja? Update: we have mosaic. And I have inspiration. Yay!

Bee Block

I don't know why I let these snowball blocks intimidate me, but I did. I think I got freaked out by the measurements of the white corner squares - they all ended in 7/8" and now that I write it I'm all, "Yeah? And?" Oh who knows what my problem was. Tell me I'm not the only one who psychs herself out unnecessarily! In fact I did it this past week at work when I had to give a little presentation (Fund Accounting - scintillating!) and I got all Impostor Syndrome on myself. Of COURSE it went well.

Anyway, it's done and Christina's quilt is going to be awesome - Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow is really lovely in person.


Speaking of lovely - here's my little one doing her best Blue Steel in today's Fairy get-up. She was REALLY happy with the various pieces of this ensemble which began with pyjamas as a base, and included a playsilk for her hair (dyed at home with food colouring - couldn't have been easier!), the $4 tutu I found her at a thrift shop and her hallowe'en bumble bee wings. Fun!!

Some Recent Felicities

Did you know (before I included a definition in my blog header) that felicity means "happiness"? When I chose to name my blog Felicity Quilts, I was going for the intentional double meaning: it's a blog about my quilting AND about the fact that this hobby truly makes me happy.

Anyhoodles, here are some quilty things that have made me happy in the last little while.

1. I GOT IN! Yippeee! I am excited and terrified and happy and worried that I've bitten off more than I can chew. All natural reactions to getting into one of the (in my opinion) best swaps on Flickr, I'd say.

2. I got tagged. Twice! The lovely AJ and the lovely QuiltyGirl (Nikki) both tagged this here blog with a blog award.

 
Intended to recognize the "smaller" blogs without lots of followers (i.e. fewer than 300), the Liebster Blog award is a way to get the word out about blogs you may not have heard of, but are worth checking out.
 
By accepting the award/tag, you commit to tagging 3 to 5 other blogs. Without further ado, I am happy to introduce you to:

BlueberryGabs Jody is a fellow Canadian which makes her awesome already, obv., and her blog is pretty cool, too. Check out the beginnings of a gorgeous FMF quilt.
Sleepytime Sewing Leigh does her sewing like me: during naps and after bedtimes, and I completely relate!
Katie's Korner This is a new to me blog that I discovered via Naptime Quilter's Workshop in Progress. Great photos, fun writing and fresh projects.
Pitter Putter Stitch Brooke's projects are lovely, and I really enjoy all of her wonderful process posts.

These nominations were like getting a big hug, and I am truly honoured - thank you AJ and Nikki!! Now all of you go check out those blogs! Go!

Pink Dilemma

In my other post about the New Wave quilt, I asked for some advice about adding some pink to the quilt. Thank you for your great feedback!

I've got two more photos where I've added some pink in both of the manners I suggested - a full row of pink, and some pink sashing.




I think I am actually preferring the pink row as opposed to the pink sashing. To clarify, I was thinking of just a couple of rows of the pink sashing, with the rest of the sashing rows in the original white.

What say you?

Linking up to Workshop in Progress AND Lee's WIP Wednesday.

Blogiversary Giveaway Winner!

Winner winner chicken dinner!

Magic Random.org chose the number 7 from the 52 entries to win the giveaway. And that means (drumroll, please)....

MARILYN, who said: "Sweet one year mark! And you've obviously made it successfully to this point.
May you have MANY more anniversaries...I've enjoyed reading your blog. Thanks."

Sweet indeed - thanks, everyone, for entering, and Marilyn, I'll be emailing you pronto to get your coordinates.

Onward!

Change of Plans

So I was "happily" trimming all those 80 razzinfrazzinfrickfrackin HSTs for a quilt intended for my niece, but as I was working, I had two thoughts:
1. These fabrics aren't all that "girly" and my niece definitely likes her some pink (and sparkles).
2. These fabrics would work really well in the placemats I was planning to make ("someday") for our table - the colours go in our living/dining area, AND they're dark enough so that stains won't show very much. The latter quality being the most important in placemats, IMO.

So now these HSTs will be repurposed into placemats and I get to spend time shopping my stash for new fabrics for Claire's quilt. Not a bad thing.

It's My Blogiversary!

On January 4th, this blog turned one year old. I can't believe how quickly the year went.

When I started blogging, it was just a means to journal my 2010 resolution to quilt at least 20 minutes a day. Little did I know how it would change my life, and not just from a quilting perspective.

I've already gushed about meeting new friends, discovering new fabrics and an entirely new (to me) global community of quilters, so I won't do it again (even though I said I would).

What I will do, however, is invite you to celebrate with me by hosting a giveaway. One lucky person will win a Fat* Quarter of each of these lovely fabrics. Our home is pet- and smoke-free.



*the purple fabric has those stripes printed on the bias and it would make a terrific binding. I could make it a regular quarter-metre cut for you.

How would a person go about entering to win the giveaway? A comment on this post is all that's needed - one per person. You can just say hi! Or if you're feeling chatty, you can make a suggestion for what block to choose for the bed quilt I'm planning to ask my Bee members to help me make. The fabric is Spa by Rosemarie Lavin, with a little bit of Hope Valley Foursquare in Pine thrown in for good measure.


The giveaway is open until Sunday, January 9th at 9pm Pacific Time. I'll choose a winning comment randomly, and please make sure I can contact you if your name is chosen. Comments closed!

Good luck and thank you for making my first year of blogging such a wonderful experience. Here's to many more!

The New Wave Quilt is Officially a WIP!

Yay! I *love* starting fresh projects! This one, in particular, has been awaiting my attention for quite some time. I am delighted to be able to move it from the WIMM list to the WIP list.

So far so good. I like the fabrics, but the layout/order needs some tweaking, I think.



I need some advice, actually. See the butterfly fabric, the dark one in the fourth row from the top? The butterflies have pink accents in them. And the floral in the top row has pink accents in one of the flowers. Would a pink row look too crazily out of place? Or just the right amount of 'zing'?

Or what about substituting a couple of rows of pink for the white sashing between rows (not pictured because I wanted to save room on the design wall)?

I may have to do a bit of experimenting with that.

Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday!

While Bernie's Away...

...the rotary cutter will play. Or something. My sewing machine, Bernie (because she's a Bernina - I'm so creative with the names), is away getting her yearly checkup so I'm without her until early next week (!!!!).

While I've got plans to use my awesome serger, the fabric in question for that particular project is still being laundered. So I decided to get rolling on the New Wave Quilt I've been planning for a grouping of Flights of Fancy fabric (Paula Prass for Michael Miller) that's been aging ("curing"?) in my stash for a while now. I added in some Amy Butler and Kaffe Fassett, and I think it's going to be delightful.

Off to play with my layout, now.

2011 - What Now?

I said in my recap that I achieved my 2010 goal of quilting for at least 20 minutes a day. It was so fun to get actively reconnected to this hobby that I love so much. 2010 was definitely a year of transformation for me, as well: I got exposed to the Modern Quilt movement and all that entails - online communities like Flickr, a new guild, and it gave me an entirely new outlook on quiltmaking. I am loving every second of it.

I've already posted a list of my 2011 Quilty Goals, but that list was very project-focussed.

This is my more general list of goals for the coming year.

• Use more solids in my projects. I've definitely started to, but there's so much more I want to do here. My Poseidon Kona FQ bundle should help with that. My head is swimming with ideas for that stack of lovelies (see what I did there? I'm so punny);
• Flex my creative muscles and design at least one new pattern of my own for publication (even if it's just a tutorial on the blog);
• Donate a minimum of 2 quilts to Quilt Hope In. I already know what I'll be donating first: I had collected a bunch of the Traffic Jam line of fabrics by Windham, intending to use it to make a second quilt for my nephew Benjamin this year. It breaks my heart to say that Ben passed away unexpectedly in November 2010 at age 3½, and so I will make the quilt as planned, and donate it in his name to QHI;
• Delve even further into the online quilting community - hopefully by winning a spot in the Doll Quilt Swap 10 lottery - and expand my quilting horizons at the same time. Like, seriously - have you SEEN some of the stuff that's come out of that swap?! But hey, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, right? (Leave it to a Canadian to connect Wayne Gretzky, whose quote that is, and quilting, eh?);
• Have fun.

Stay tuned for my Blogiversary giveaway, which might be a bit delayed - I'm waiting for my giveaway goodies to arrive!! Oh, and I'm working on my blog design, so be sure to check in here and there if you're reading this via a reader.

Happy New Year!!