Wednesday 30 April 2014

WIP: Bento Box & Cloth Diapers Round 3

I have all 42 of my large blocks pressed and trimmed for the Bento Box quilt. One of these days I am going to lay them out determine a final arrangement. Then borders, backing and quilting, and eventually binding. But really the long part of the process is done. 

Until I get to that I have been asked by a friend to make a set of cloth diapers, the couple they are for is having a girl in August. Last night I cut out the first one and sewed the elastic on to the gussets. Not a big start, but since I didn't put gussets in any of the diapers I have made so far it was a new step that is going to take a bit of tweaking to make it quick and easy. 
I put snaps in and sewed the first one all together. This afternoon. Only 15 -17 more. And a bunch of prefolds for inside. 
Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for Work in Progress Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by to have a look,
GeoMama

Thursday 24 April 2014

The Ugly Hutchling is Complete

So way back last spring, when our move to Alberta was official I decided that I needed a china cabinet in whatever house we moved into. My Mom had tried to sell her old china cabinet/hutch, but it was too ugly. She tried to give it away but it was too ugly. I called it the Ugly Hutchling and claimed it for myself.

I made the decision that it need a new personality, the bleach white finish had to go. So I spent some time sanding and staining while I was still at my mom's. Then as with most things, I ran out of time to finish before our move.

Mom finished the last coat of stain, and then it waited patiently to get a layer of clear coat sprayed on.

After a long wait, it is done!!

Monkey smiles like a goof, and she thought it was pretty fun to watch me unpack my tea sets and put them in. 

While I now wish that I had spent a bit more time sanding at the start, I am super pleased with how it turned out. I am happy that I was able to keep the wood grain and have it be orange.

I might have to make a throw quilt for the living room with some orange in it so that it doesn't lonely. 

GeoMama

Wednesday 23 April 2014

WIP: Housecoats and Bento Box

I had GeoDaddy home for 4 days over the Easter weekend and I thought I would get tons of sewing done, but alas, we went out all day Friday for dinner and I worked Saturday. I spent a bunch of my kid free time cleaning glass on my new-to-me China Cabinet also known as The Ugly Hutchling. I promise to have photos of it at the end of the week when I get a chance to get it all filled.

Sunday I finished the housecoats I was making for my niece and daughter. The pattern I used was the Comfy Cozy Robe by Peek-a-boo Pattern Shop. It was the first pattern I used from them and it was easy to follow with lots if photos. The pdf pattern was such as easy way to get started.


Finally on Tuesday I got back to working on the Bento Box quilt. I am working on sewing the small blocks into large 4 patch blocks. I chain pieced all the 168 small blocks into pairs last night. They still need to be pressed and then I will get my friends over again to help decide on layout.



Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.
Thanks for stopping by to have a look..

GeoMaMa

Wednesday 16 April 2014

WIP: Hexie update and housecoats

I have been sick all week, so not much sewing. I made up my mind about background fabric for my Hexie Block of the Month quilt. I am going to use a Tonga Batik called Ink, it is a dark blue black and definitely one of my favourite dark batiks. The new snowflake block is a light blue batik with silver snowflakes and fern type leaves. I also sewed together the April block in brown-ish oranges.
New January Block 
February Block
March Block
April Block

I have done about 1 more row on 'Not Your Grandma's Garden', so no picture this month.
As well, housecoats for my daughter and my niece are about 75% done. Just have binding around the front and hems, and 1 sash to make. Totally doable in an hour if I manage to get down and do it without helpers.

Lastly, my friend who I am sewing the Bento Box quilt for came over and we arranged all the small blocks into a very scrappy layout. I will sew them all into big 4 patch blocks then rearrange again to make sure we have color placement right.
Half the blocks,  final layout will be 6x7 large blocks, I just don't have space to lay that many out at once.
Linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday, Hydeeann for the In Hand EPP Linky Party, and Sarah for HELP for Hexie-holics.

Thanks for stopping by to have a look.
GeoMama

Wednesday 9 April 2014

WIP: Project for me and gift for my niece

We have had another busy week. I officially started my new job yesterday. I am training to be a sewing machine technician. I think I will miss the retail portion of working at my LQS but I am excited to put my brain to use trouble shooting and fixing things. The kiddos are doing ok going to the dayhome, but as with any big change with little ones we have had some trouble. Monkey is potty training and we have had way more accidents in the last few days. LB was excited to go out walking yesterday, but when he realized we were at the dayhome he bolted back down the drive way. It was hard to leave him, but my dayhome provider texted me a couple pictures over the next hour of him having fun.

Last week I worked on piecing my project for me together and now I have 4 blocks. I have figured out (sort of) how to turn them into a lunch kit, but I realized that I don't have any suitable interfacing at home. Hopefully I will remember to get some when I am at work next time so I can keep going and get this project off my to do list.


In the mean time I started another project. My niece turns 3 in a couple weeks, and Monkey turns 3 at the end of May. I picked up some flannel yardage during the last big sale at work and it will soon be housecoats for both girls. It took about 45 minutes to iron the yardage and cut all the pieces for both, and I have my grandma's serger at home so it shouldn't take long to sew it together and finish all the seams. The pink with purple flowers will be for Monkey and the blue with yellow flowers is for my niece. Both will have yellow binding and sash. Even though both girls are turning 3, I am making Monkey's a size 4/5 because she is very tall, and my niece is much shorter, so a 2T/3T size should fit her for a while.

I am linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for Work In Progress Wednesday. 
Thanks for stopping by to have a look. 

GeoMama


Tuesday 1 April 2014

WIP: New Shelves and Bento Box

My Dad was around for a couple days at the end of last week. We packed a ton of stuff into his short visit. He hung a bunch of wire shelving that I have had sitting around since moving into the house. It is all up in the roughed in bathroom in the basement. When we (or the landlords) decide to finish the basement it is only a couple dozen screws to remove the brackets. Hopefully by then we will have thinned out some of the excess stuff we have.


Dad also hung a shelf and rod over the washer and dryer. These will be great for hanging our work clothes to dry.


Lastly we pulled the hutch off my desk, and raised it about 10 inches. Now I have a way better work surface for quilting. The desk is still a mess from the moving everything around downstairs, but hopefully later today I will get all the clutter put away.



Dad and I had a father-daughter date and went wedding dress shopping. We definitely had success, I found a beautiful dress, right on budget in just under an hour. Other than picking our wedding date, this was the first official thing I could check off my wedding planning to do list. Just under a year until the big date. 

I also got the last bunch of small blocks done for my friend's Bento Box Quilt:


I have tried a couple different layouts using half the blocks I have made. The first is really scrappy and the second is less scrappy and keeps the contrast colour in each big block consistent. Both arrangements need some work, but it is a start and I would love to hear your opinion on which way I should go.



Monday morning I started cutting fabric for a project just for me. I would tell you more but I do not have a clear plan in place right now. Here is sneak peek at it:

Thanks for stopping by to have look. I am linking up with Freshly Pieced for Work in Progress Wednesday. 
GeoMama