Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Merry Christmas everyone!

I'm sorry that I've been MIA for the last week, but I've been pretty busy getting things ready for Christmas and I've been working, so blogging has taken a backseat. I miss you all and your lovely comments so much! I'm also sick to boot now, and am still not completely finished with Christmas presents...oy, what to do?

I thought you all might like to see a picture of Alex and my's Menorah and Christmas tree though (you really would, now wouldn't you?)!



We had a hard time getting a good picture and weren't able to get a non-fuzzy one without the flash on so this will have to do. Alex took this on the third night of Hanukkah (note the three candles [plus the shammash candle in the centre] in our Menorah). Also note that we do not have a tree topper; we forgot to buy one when we get our tree and then continued to forget each time we were out and now it is two days until Christmas! In this picture you can also see on our wall shelf: two camels (both leather, but they look like wood and are very cool), my Jane Austen action figure that Alex gave me for my birthday, our fish Uther Pendragon, some half-dead tulips (oops!) which are the same ones from the Sew,Mama,Sew giveaway post, and an embroidery/quilt block that I recently finished.

I had better sign off now, but Merry Christmas everyone! The next time I'm back (Boxing Day or a couple of days after) I'll post what has been taking up most of my sewing time for the last little bit!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Dear Santa...

Dear Santa,

You and I both know that a quilting-sewing girl like me could always use some more fabric, and really it's so hard to only come up with one thing that I'd like you to bring me from Fat Quarter Shop so I'll give you a couple of options...





1. Simple Abundance Jelly Roll by Bonnie & Camille for Moda. I only have one charm pack from this line and am seriously in need of more!



 2.  Calm Dolce Fat Quarter Bundle from Tanya Whelan. Gosh...it's really just so pretty, isn't it?




3. Cool Nicey Jane Fat Quarter Bundle from Heather Bailey. I just love Heather's designs so much, and I'm pretty sure she was the first designer I stumbled upon when I started sewing again!

Now Santa, I know you and I haven't had contact for a number of years now, but we're friends right? Remember that time in 1987 when I set up my whole Barbie and the Rockers set for you to see? Or how I used to leave you apple juice instead of milk because you said in your letter that you were lactose intolerant*? I think we enjoyed a pretty good run, but now that I'm a graduate student and can't really get fabric for myself, if you could grant just one of these wishes, I'd be forever grateful!

Love,
Kaye

*When I was growing up my Uncle Dan would stop by the house around midnight on Christmas Eve and eat the cookies, drink the juice, and write me a response to the letters I left for Santa. He was lactose intolerant and really liked apple juice (he also really liked stale licorice which is weird).

If you would like to get in on the "Dear Santa"-action, head on over to the Fat Quarter Shop's Jolly Jabber blog!




Wednesday, December 9, 2009

So much fabric-love, so little time...until next week that is!

This last week of school is going by so fast! Only two days left and I have one paper and one presentation still due. Can't wait until Friday night when we celebrate both the holiday season and getting through the semester with a party at my friend Melissa's. Saturday I work and then Alex and I head to his parents place for Hanukkah. Next week will be all about relaxing, getting some Christmas presents finished, and probably baking.

I have finished three of my disappearing nine patch blocks for the Irish Flood Quilts project.



These are made using Hello Betty by Chloe's Closet for Moda and some white cotton. I only have enough of the Hello Betty left to make another three blocks, but I think its not the quantity so much as the love behind them that counts. They're also 13.5 inches square each, so they're not small. They're not perfect as this was my first time ever trying the disappearing nine patch blocks, but I think they're neat and there will definitely be more in my future. If you would like more information of the Irish Flood Quilts project please visit Irish Quilting Magazine's flood relief page.

Would you like to come to the kitchen with me? There's a surprise in there hanging out with Genevieve.




Do you see what I see? There's a little bundle of gorgeousness making friends with Genevieve. Do you know what it is? Would you like to see more? Yes...okay!



It's a bundle of Flea Market Fancy cuts! The lovely Katy over at I'm a Ginger Monkey took pity on me when I mentioned to her that I hadn't been able to afford FMF when it first came out and now it has gotten way too expensive because it's out of print. Katy said that she remembered what it was like being a student and offered to send me some of her horde. I had no idea it was going to be like this! Katy apparently cut a piece off of every print of Flea Market Fancy she had! And many of the pieces are larger - I thought she was going to send me a handful of scraps, which I would have been over-the-moon about anyway, but this little bundle sent my heart afluttering! I had originally been thinking about making a string quilt for myself with whatever she sent me, but now I'm not sure because I don't want to obscure any of the loveliness of the prints by cutting them into smaller pieces. Thank you Katy - you are the loveliest, most rockin', and most generous lady! You should all go over and visit Katy and say hi because she really is pretty awesome (you should see her new tattoo!! Did you guys know that I have a couple of tattoos?) and I know you won't be disappointed!

By the way, did you see my Christmas apron sitting out in the picture of FMF and Genevieve (on top of two other aprons actually - I like aprons!)? I love that apron, I just pulled it out on Sunday because it was in the box with the tree decorations. I plan on wearing it a lot over the next few weeks! Speaking of decorations, I tried to take some pictures of the tree and our menorah to share but they're not looking right so I'll try again later and report back.

I hope you're all having a lovely week!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day Winner!

Well, in the end I ended up with 433 comments (oh my)! I used the random number generator and the winner is Barbie of Quilting Barbie. Congratulations to Barbie, yay! I will shoot you an email in a little bit for your address and then I will send out your little package of goodies, I really hope you like them!

Thanks ever so much to everyone who entered my little giveaway - all of your kind and generous comments mean so much to me! I am especially grateful for those people who liked what they saw and decided to stick around and become followers - I hope I don't lose any of you now that the giveaway is over! I promise I'm really interesting sometimes! For those of you who may be a little sad about not winning, how about a fabric picture to cheer you up?



These fabrics are from Ikea, and all three are from the Cecilia collection (100% cotton and only 2.99 a metre CDN), woot! Alex and I went to Ikea today to get our Christmas tree (which I will show pictures of very soon) and a couple other baubles. We also headed to Canadian Tire for our tree stand, and then to Winners (of all places) to buy our menorah. That's right, we celebrate Chrismukkah around these parts!

Okay, I'm off to bed! If I'm not around much this week it's because it's the last week of the semester and I have four things due and I still have to work! Oh, the life of a graduate student!

Oh and P.S. if you left me a comment on the giveaway post asking me a question or anything like that and I didn't respond back to you I'm really sorry! I tried to respond to most comments, but it was a little overwhelming. If you have something you want to ask or anything else, either leave me another comment here or email me! Thanks everyone!
O

Friday, December 4, 2009

Hey all!

Hey everybody! Just a couple of things: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that has entered the giveaway so far! As of right now I'm at 327 comments! Also, thank you to everyone who has decided to start following my blog because they like what they see, I hope I don't lose any of you when the contest is over.




Second: My Viliya Quilt is being featured on the JWD Publishing blog today. Go on over and check it out! It hasn't gotten any comments so far (*sad face*), so if you'd like to leave a comment I'd appreciate it!

If you're looking for the Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway post it's here!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!



Yay, Sew Mama Sew's annual giveaway day is finally here! I'm so excited to be taking part for the first time, and I may even be more excited to check out everyone else's wonderful giveaways. Head on over to the Sew, Mama, Sew blog to find the master lists with links to all the goodies!

So up for grabs today we have a tote bag handmade by me using fabric from Joel Dewberry's Chestnut Hill collection with a cotton canvas bottom to add stability.




Also included will be some stash builders - a bag of buttons, and a stash of fabric scraps. The fabric is a mix of designer (including Amy Butler, Tina Givens, and Moda) and random cotton, and some flannel.



Okay so here's what you have to do to enter: leave me a comment (preferably something other than "pick me!") for one entry, if you are a follower (or become one) leave me a second comment saying so and you'll get a second entry. That's it! Please make sure I have a way to contact you so that if you win I can let you know!

This giveaway is open internationally and comments will close on December 6th (as per the giveaway guidelines). I will announce the winner here on the blog that day and send an email to the winner.

*The giveaway is now closed*

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Irish Flood Quilts



Have you heard about the recent flooding in Ireland? It is devastating; in County Cork alone 18,000 families have been displaced. According to Environment Minister John Gormley, this is the worst flooding the island has seen in 800 years and many people are in need of aid.

We can help in our own sewing/quilty way (and for those of you who don't sew or quilt, don't worry you can help too)! Irish Quilting Magazine is looking for donations of 13 1/2" disappearing nine blocks, quilts, and group charity quilts. The blocks will be made into quilts by Irish Quilting Magazine and their friends, and all finished quilts will be donated to families in need. Now isn't that a nice thing? If you do not sew or quilt, or do not think that you have the time during this busy season to do so, the magazine is also accepting donations of batting and backing for use in the quilts they will be putting together.

Rachel of P.S. I Quilt has also graciously offered to ship over to Ireland so that those in the States don't have to pay the international shipping (don't worry I'm sure she'll accept blocks and quilts from other countries as well to ship). Head on over to Rachel's blog - she posted the links to the disappearing nine patch tutorial, and other quilt tutorials.

Also, please check out Irish Quilting Magazine's Flood Quilts and Blocks page for more info on what they're looking for and their address if you want to send anything to them directly. They also have links for tutorials that fit what they need.

I am going to donate a few blocks to the cause. It really makes me happy to know that I can help bring a little warmth back into the lives of others. I think that it's important at all times of the year to help out in any small way I can, but it really gets me to know that some of these families will not be able to celebrate the holiday season in their own homes. I hope my small effort will put a smile on someone's face.