Stacked Coins

I'm going to a Baby Shower this afternoon for one of my girlfriends who's baby is due the first week of July.

Above is after washing

Nothing like leaving things to the last minute; I only finished hand sewing the binding and washing it this morning.

Above is before washing

The idea came from Crazy Mom Quilts blog and the pattern can be found here at Moda fabrics. (Don't forget clicking on the pictures make them bigger)

I used one charm pack of Moda's "Flutterby" pattern and random fabrics from my stash to finish out the required coins. The baby's room is in green so I made that the focus colour with orange as the second colour because that's her favourite colour.

It took me three weeks from start to finish. One really solid weekend of sewing and then just here and there before and after work.

I didn't really find any mistakes in the pattern; although, I had to trim the top and bottom coin strips by a bit to make them fit the white lenghts of fabric in between the rows.

I really like how this quilt turned out. I enjoyed the process of making it and would recommend the pattern. My pictures don't really do it justice, it's wicked in real life and crinkled up perfectly after washing. The Big Man gave it his stamp of approval!

NOW THE BEST PART is finally here....since I had such a tight time line on getting this done I REFUSED to let myself start reading "Breaking Dawn" which is the final book in the Twilight Saga written by Stephenie Meyer. I snuck one look and made the Big Man read me a random paragraph to tide me over from the withdrawl I was suffering. See you soon!

Bye Bye Water Bell

One of my favourite things about our town was the Water Bell. I work so far away, it was always a welcome sight in the horizon knowing that I was almost home.

Sadly she is now gone. There is an article about it here from our local paper. You can't really make it out on the lower left hand side; but during the night some kids went up a spray painted "Brooklin Boys-Boo Ya!" Yowza, we really have some toughies in our town -- watch out!

It's so funny, any type of vandalism you might see is quickly cleaned up within a few days. That's what I like about our neighbourhood, everyone knows that shit-heads and messy houses are not allowed. Brooklin membership has it's privileges!

In other news, my Poppy gave me five magnificent blooms this week, with no rain to really damage them.

My husband even took the picture below for me today so I wouldn't miss out on it.

I'm working on another baby quilt this weekend. Saturday is busy, playing tennis in the morning with my husband, a walk to the farmers market in the afternoon with a girlfriend and going to a sneak peek of The Proposal with another girlfriend in the evening.

I plan to spend the evenings with Edward. Enjoy your weekend!

Is this wrong?

It's possible that I might have cheated on my husband with the Edward in my head.

Image borrowed from here

I'm not much of a book reader but the girls at work have been really raving about "The Twilight Saga" written by Stephenie Meyer. I picked up the first book to read in Mexico. I finished it on the weekend and have already started the second and succumbed to buying the DVD to watch the next weekend my husband's at work...in the dark...with a glass of wine...is it wrong to be so obsessed this fast?

Other than that it's just been the same old every other day, hence the lack of blogging.

32point5 plan is going great, my bone spur issue has gotten better with the running and we have taken up tennis as another exercise alternative. Eye-hand co-ordination, umm, I need some practice but super fun! Back soon......

Adios Mexico!

Well, our SECOND vacation in two weeks has been cancelled.

picture borrowed from here

I was so looking forward to our trip to Mexico this coming week but things seem to have gotten a lot worse; not only in Mexico but even in our own countries. Freakishly, both ourselves and our friends that we're supposed to be going away with both have the same week off in October. Fingers crossed nothing else goes wrong and by then we will finally be able to go away together.

Any good at home vacation suggestions? Any nice Ontario resorts?

As I stated in my previous post, Quilting Newbie and I went to the Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival this past weekend. I found that there was not as many fabric booths as there normally is and some of our favourites were missing. I CAME HOME with money left over?? What's up with that?

I just bought some random fat quarters that caught my eye and my usual purchase of quilt basting spray that I just can't live without. Oh, that fat roll, contains 10 fat quarters of this Japanese fabric that I fell in love with at one of my favourite stores "Quilters Cupboard" in Uxbridge.

I really wanted to try out the long arm quilting machines that they have on display. So does anybody have a spare $13,000.00 they want to give me? I soooooo wwwannnttt ooonnneee!!!

This is to prove that summer is just around the corner! My Girl is so funny, she will follow a spot of sun as it moves with time.

Mexico here we come!

Well, well, well….where have I been you ask?

First, I spent a maddening two weeks researching every resort in the Dominican Republic and finally settled on Dreams Palm Beach, Punta Cana. I booked the trip late on a Wednesday night and the VERY NEXT DAY the tour provider Conquest Vacations ceases operation. WTF!

So within 12 hours we (my Husband and our friends M+D) decide on a new location and have now booked the Gran Bahia Principe Akumal in Mexico. Now Mexico has some weird Swine/Bird/Human flu killing people off…again I repeat WTF! Somehow I think we're destined not to go away!!

So “lo seinto” for the long absence, I’ve just been totally frustrated with this whole fiasco. In happier 32point5 news the jogging is really paying off, I stepped on the scale the other morning and was utterly shocked to see the number 7 pounds lighter than what I was expecting!! Whoot, Whoot!! Mexico here I come!

I’m off to the Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival this weekend with Quilting Newbie; nothing like abundant fabric purchases to drown my vacation planning horrors!

Fly Away Home

Here it finally is! This was my labour of love over the winter. It took me from December 2008 to the beginning of March 2009 to complete this quilt. The pattern is titled "Fly Away Home" designed by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts, published in the December 2008 American Patchwork & Quilting magazine.

We wanted a quilt to hang on the wall area above our stairs to the basement. I liked this pattern immediately and knew it would be a great way to use up some of my Moda fabric "Charm Packs". Included was "Swell", "Wee Play", "Full Moon Forest", "Porcelain" and "Za Za".

Above shows the perspective of how it fits in to the wall. I live in a raised bungalow with 10 foot ceilings; at the entrance you can either go up a few flights to the main floor or down to the basement. Hence the previous "Big giant wall of NOTHING".

Remember -- clicking on the pictures makes them bigger to see the details up close.

I so loved how this turned out! The measurements were exact, every corner and point lined up perfectly and was a pleasure to sew and cut. I never pre-wash my fabrics because I like the crinkly look after washing.

Yeah, all done! I am already working on another quilt will fill you in on the details on that one soon.

On the 32point5 subject, things are going good. My running schedule got messed up due to the training week at work. I am definitely a "morning workout" person! How do you people work the horrible 9 to 5? Check out this Healthy Living blog by Meghann called "The Inner Workings of a College Graduate - running, eating & living in the real world".

March Girls Night Out

Just wanted to pop in and say Hi and give a few updates.

I had super fun on Saturday night with the girls. Much food, beverages, giggling and dance floor stalkers!

The running plan is going along nicely. All this month I only missed yesterday, but did my 5 K run tonight instead. I'm on a training course at work this week which means working 8 to 4 and traffic....grrrr!! I have finished and hung my fly away home quilt, pictures to follow shortly. I've already started working on another quilt.

Not much else is new except for the GREAT possibility of going away in May with some friends. We're contemplating Punta Cana (I love it, Punta Cana sounds like a dirty word for lady parts)! Anyhow, does anyone have any recommendations for somewhere warm you have gone to and enjoyed?