For the month of August, we were asked to do a swoon block in for the Joy circle in do. Good Stiches. Helen asked us blocks in light colours, blues, greens, grey and white for the background.

This is such a nice design by Camille Roskelley. You can buy the pattern for a quilt which is made out of 9 swoon blocks. I was happy to have a chance to try out the block. I love how the piecing of the Alexander Henry Heath in Steel Gray turned out. You can hardly see the piecing line. I think it is a great print for such intricate piecing.

I can wait to see what this quilt will look like once the blocks are all put together. It will certainly make someone happy!

Have you seen this event hosted by Pink Chalk Fabrics. It runs all month and it’s about sharing where we sew.

What a great idea! It’s so fun to see where others create to have ideas on how to organize your own sewing space. I decided I would join and share my sewing space with you.

So, I sew in my laundry/sewing room. It’s a small space (7′ x 13′)  that can be quite noisy when both the washer and dryer are running. But, I’m just so happy to have a dedicated room where I don’t need to get everything out to start sewing and put away after to have the space for something else. I usually don’t have more than one continuous hour to dedicate to sewing. So, using the dining table would not have been a great solution for me. The thing I love the most about my sewing room is that large window. I’m so grateful to have great lighting in the room.

Being in such a small space I’m always trying to find better ways to organize it. Recently I added this design wall next to the washer/dryer. I already had a smaller one behind my desk. But, this one is great because I can stand on the other side of the room (13′) and have a more global view of my project. I just used one of those curtain wire from Ikea. You can hang some batting, felt or a laminate table cloth (with fleece on the back) to turn it into a design wall. 

I have some mid-term/long-term plans to improve this little room. I want some more storage space. My idea is to have wall cabinets all the way around. I want them high enough (higher than my head) so I don’t loose too much working space. Maybe 2 rows of something like this with doors that will keep the dust off. I’m not sure yet. But, the first thing I want to tackle is a sewing table where I can have my machine bed at the same height as the table. I would like a table similar to this. I think it will make quilting a bit more easier. I have all the materials to build it. I just need to decide what size I want it. Do I want it big enough to be able to put my large cutting mat (24″ x 36″) next to my machine like I do on my current table? I’m still not sure. My current table takes quite some space.  I still have some thinking to do first.

It was great to share my sewing space with you. Any recommendations are welcomed. Be sure to take a look at the event on the Pink Chalk Fabrics’s blog to see designer sewing spaces! Further more, they are some prizes to win!

This week, I realized that one of the patterns I have published in Stitch (Interweave) is now available for download. It is my Lily Pillow Covers.

You can find the ePattern here. BTW, I still have a pair of each sample for sale in my shop.

Anyway, I realized it was about time I made my patterns and tutorials a bit more accessible on my blog. So, I created a page for each of them. I also I added a page with links to the quilts I have made. There is just a few in each of them but I hope I will add some items in to all these pages in the future.

I particularly hope to have time to make some more quilts. I already have a few stacks of fabrics waiting to become quilts. I have plans for all of them, but they might change by the time I get to it. Here is one that will become a baby quilt:

It some fabrics from the Freebird collection by Momo for Moda combined with various coordinating prints, Kona eggplant for the binding and Essex linen blend for the background.

Another that will become our first lap quilt for the house:

It’s fabrics from Tina Givens’s Treetop Fancy collection combined with Kona Snow and Aqua.

Another that will be turned into a baby quilt:

The main print is Just Hanging in Natural by Alexander Henry. I’ll combined it with Kona Ash, Purple and various color from a Bright Kona charm pack.

And a last stack that I have since we moved in our house (already 2 years ago) to makes some pillows for our living room:

Must go sewing! Hope you find it a bit more clear to navigate on my blog.

Busy summer… I didn’t have time to write much lately. I did have time to do some sewing though. I cannot share everything unfortunately. But, here are a few small projects I did in the last month.

First, I did a eyeglasses case for my stepfather. I did my own pattern. I used a firm interfacing (similar to Timtex) for it. I really like how the case holds its shape. The only thing I regret is the snap closure. It is much too stiff. It’s not a so great idea when you try to close the case with your eyeglasses inside. Next time, I think I would probably use a magnet closure.

For the exterior, I used a fabric from the Parson Gray’s Curious Nature collection which I love and which I find really masculine. I got this from a scrap bag at Emeline & Annabelle at the last sew-in we did with the Montreal Modern Quilt Guild. For the interior, I used some flannel I had in my stash.  My stepfather was quite happy tor receive the case for his birthday.

Then for father’s day, I made a fabric tray for my husband. I had made him a small change basket for Christmas. And lately, he kept asking me to make him a second one for our hallway desk to put his keys when he comes in. This time I tried this tutorial. However, since the heavy interfacing I had wasn’t fusible, I decided try out a little quilt as you go. I quilted the top to the interfacing as I was piecing the log cabin. My husband was happy to get this one. It fills up everyday when he comes home from work. I think next time I’ll make it a bit bigger!

The last project does no longer exist, but I thought I would share it with you anyway. I tried to do something similar to the eyeglass case with heavy interfacing, but this time for a camera case. I also added a layer of batting for the interior as I wanted something that would well protect my new compact camera. I quilted the heavy interfacing, batting and interior fabric together and then I sewed it to the exterior fabric right sides facing each other and leaving an opening to turn right side out. This time I did use a magnet closure. I really liked how it looked. But, It thought it was much too big. So, I tried to make it smaller by cutting the excess and using some bias binding to cover the raw edges. But, I messed it up… A few days later, I found a really stiff and cute case at a store for just 4$ in which my camera fitted perfectly. So, I bought it and I didn’t try to redo mine.

I also did some progress on some older projects. I did the quilting for my sewing machine cover, my serger cover and for my sister’s piano cover that I started in the online Curve Class at Stitched In Color.  The next photo shows all the panels for both covers. They do not look really good in this photo. I had sprayed them to remove the quilting lines the day before taking the picture so they are all wrinkled. I didn’t think to do it afterwards. I remove them right away as I don’t plan to have time to assemble those any time soon. I have some other projects with higher priority first! 

For the piano cover, I didn’t use any batting. I just quilted the top panel to a designer home decor weight fabric  that I got from my aunt. It shows a bit in the window’s reflection. It has some black curvy lines on a white background. I think it suits well the piecing of the top panel. To continue along those lines, I also did some curvy lines for the quilting. I used a Silky variegated thread in shades of red and I really like the effect.

I hope I’ll have more time to share on my blog in the coming weeks!

I completely forgot to write about the blocks I’ve made for do. Good Stitches in May. Rebecca asked us to do string blocks from girly scraps. I had to dig in my stash for these. I don’t have that much girly fabrics. These blocks are simple and were pretty straight forward to sew. But, Rebecca has great plan for them. Take a look at her tutorial to find out what she intends to do. This will look great. It seems like much of the work is left for her.

For June, Fiona asked us to make patchwork wheels in summery colors following a tutorial by Elizabeth at Don’t Call Me Betsy. Ah! I just loved making those rainbow blocks. They are so joyful!

When I saw this pillow by Heather from {House} of A La Mode, I thought: “My sister would love this”. She loves Matryoshka dolls. Isn’t that a cute project to try out paper piecing? Just like Heather, I had never tried it before. But, I went for it and made a pillow for my sister’s birthday which was last weekend. If you want to try it out yourself, the pattern is from this shop.

I’m not too original on this one. I liked Heather’s pillow and the one I’ve done is really similar. Pretty much only the colors and fabric print differ. I loved how she framed her block and quilted it with crossing straight lines. So, I’ve done the same except I’ve used felted wool. I even followed the same tutorial which is great. So, it kinds of feel like I’m rewriting her post.

I did made few errors on  my first attempt at paper piecing. I had to use my seam ripper a couple of times. The worst is shown in this photo. Can you tell what?

I did two right sides to my doll. I’ve sewn with the right side of the template up except for one piece. The one who should have been the doll’s left side. So, I had to redo this piece. Also, I underestimated the fabric I needed for the scarf. This was a fabric from my scraps and there wasn’t enough. So, I had to go pick some tiny pieces in the basket and sew them together to finish up the scarves. The remaining went pretty smoothly and I’m happy with the end result. I’ll definitively retry paper piecing.  I allows you to make designs that would have been very hard to figure out without the paper. And it gives precise result. Maybe next time I’ll make my own design just as explained in this post at Sew Mama Sew!.

For the face, I first draw a sketch on the paper piecing template. Then I transferred it using Glad Press’n Seal to embroidery it on the block. I had used this technique before for transferring quilting designs. But, it’s this post which shows some other cute nesting doll blocks that made me think about using it for embroidery.

For the back of the pillow, I did a lapped zipper. Here is a great tutorial on how to do it.

This is one of my favorite time of the year. When everything is just newly green. Just a few weeks ago there was no leaves in the trees and the fields looked dull. I particularly like it when the sky is cloudy, but still bright. The green looks even more saturated.

One day, I will make a out a quilt out of gray and green fabrics. In the meantime, I got to do a block with those colors and some other vibrant colors. Do you know about QuiltCon? It is a conference organized by the Modern Quilt Guild that will be held next February in Austin, Texas. See their website for all the info. They are organizing a block challenge. This is a way for all participants to express what modern quilting means to them. The block has to be done in the colors of the QuiltCon logo, which are in four distinct color groups: hot orange, lemon-lime, sea & sky and cool neutrals (including white and grays) . See more details on this here. When I saw those colors, it was clear to me that if I was to participate in the challenge I would make the background in shades of grey using as proposed Kona Coal and Medium Grey.

Me and Cinzia from Deux Petites Souris decided to propose this challenge to the members of the Montreal MQG. We organized a Sew-In a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, there was only the two of us. Probably because it was one of those first sunny days in May or it might be because there was some quilt exhibitions organized by two other guilds from the Montreal region during that weekend. Anyway, we had a great time. Both of us worked on our block for the challenge exchanging on our design for this and other quilt projects. And just chatting on other matters while sewing.

I had this idea of placing 3 smaller blocks on a off-centered line and surounding them with grey, Coal on one side of the line and Medium Grey on the other. For the 3 blocks I wasn’t sure about what to do with them. I wanted to have 1 block for each of the remaining color group. Should I go for improvisational, log cabin or some traditional designs, I was wondering. I decided to do a pinwheel. I love when a traditional design is emphasized by only using a simple background. Cinzia suggested I surrounded each of those blocks with some white sashing. I thought it was a great idea. It made the smaller blocks stand out and their colors pop even more. So, here is what I came up with!

I think it really represent what modern quilting means to me. Even though I think modern quilting is about endless possibilities!

 

My giveaway is open internationally. If you would like to participate just leave a comment. I would like to know which blog you are happy to have found lately and how is it inspiring for you. You have until May 25 at 5 p.m. PST to participate. I will draw a winner for each case on the next day. I will update the post with the winner and send him/her an email.

Good luck to everyone! I will check out the blogs of other people participating in the giveaway throughout the week for sure.

Update – Giveaway Winners

Again this was a great event hosted by Sew Mama Sew! Thanks everyone for your great comments. Thanks for the blog suggestions. Some of them I knew, but most of them were new to me. I will sure check them out in the coming weeks. I also found some interesting blogs through the SMS Giveaway that I will certainly return to. I have drawn two winners for my eyeglasses cases using the random number generator. They are comments #15 and #16 , which are respectively Shirley and Bobbie.

I will contact the both of  you by email to get your addresses to mail you one of those cases. Thanks everyone for stopping by at my blog and participating in the giveaway. I hope you will come back!

Almost 5 years ago, I took a class on how to recycle a pair of jeans into a skirt. I took that class here in Montreal at La Gaillarde, a non profit eco-fashion boutique. Unfortunately, they stopped giving sewing classes recently because they no longer had a sufficient demand.

Back to my skirt. I never got to wear it because when I took the class I was in the early months of my first pregnancy. Recently, I decided it was about time I took it out the shelves and start wearing it. It was practically done.

The only thing I wanted to add was a little decoration in the black triangle on the front. Maybe an applique,… I wasn’t sure. I had picked up this silky fabric from the store’s scrap bin to do so. I love the fabric. It made me think about a the cover of a novel by Anna Gavalda I had read about that time.

Last week, I thought maybe a little fabric yo-yo would nice. So, I went ahead and made one. I added a cute little button I had in the center of it.

Here it’s me wearing it for the first time yesterday.

I decided to not permanently fix it to my skirt. I inserted a rigid interfacing in it to give it more body. I used a safety pin to attach it to my skirt.

This will be easier for cleaning. I just need to remove it before putting my skirt in the washing machine. And then I thought I could do a few other yo-yo  in different fabrics to be able to change it!

This is a perfect project for the Summer Reinvention Challenge over at Sew Mama Sew!  I would love to read this book!

When I saw this gardener’s apron tutorial at Sew Mama Sew a few weeks ago, I thought this was the perfect idea for Mother’s Day. I decided to make one for my mom who LOVES gardening!

Here it is.

I just snapped at picture of it after giving it to my mother last Sunday. My sister completed the gift with some new gloves and shears, and a couple of seed packets. Among them, a packet of Morning Glories. The three of us love those flowers!

I decided to follow this tutorial. It is pretty similar to the one at Sew Mama Sew, but I preferred its ties. I just added a little seed pocket. For it, I pieced a small log cabin that I lined and stitched to main fabric before assembling the apron.

No need to say that my mother was really happy about our gift!