Upcycle Thursday!!

Once again I have found something pretty cool on the Upcycle That blog!  This time it is a dress made from old telephone books.
I don't know how well it will stand up to the rain or snow but it probably would be warm.  I hear that they used to use paper as "batting" for quilts in the Victorian times.

If you have time have a look at the Upcycle That blog there is some pretty ingenious stuff on there.

I also found this Christmas tree that is made from Sprite bottles.

Happy Holidays!!

Dear Jane update

With the holidays and work winding up I have not been too productive with the dear jane blocks
I have finished the week 4 blocks but I am not completely happy with them.
I may have to redo some of them in the new year.  Right now I am just trying to keep up.

week 4 blocks

 

Not a great picture either  :)

 

 

Happy Holidays!!

Week 3 - Dear Jane

My week 3 blocks for our Dear Jane quilt are done!!

I am working on week 4 but with the holidays it is getting harder to find the time.

Without further ado!

Week 3 blocks

 

Have a great day!!

 

 



Upcycle Thursday!!

When looking for upcycling ideas for textiles/clothing etc.   I came across this and was blown away.
A trip to see this is definitely going on my bucket list (Rio de Janiero, Brazil).
Hope you are as impressed with this as I am.

This fish, one of three, is made from plastic bottles.  It is a social commentary as well as beautiful sculpture.

 

The fish are lit up at night!

This is the link to the "upcycle that" website where you can read the whole article and also find lots of other upcycling ideas.  upcyclethat.


Have a great day!!

Elaine

Dear Jane Update!!

Our little Dear Jane group is on Week 3 of our year long challenge.
We are doing block s A4, B1, A11 and flag 4 (top row).  I have 3 done so far and will post the 4th one tomorrow.  So far most of the blocks have been done in a paper piecing method and applique.  I am going to try to do the week 4 blocks by hand - lets hope it works out ok.  

flag 4

 



A4

 

A11

 

My only problem this week was the choice of fabric for the A4 block.  I thinkg the design of the block gets lost in the print.  Oh well !!

 

Have a great day!!

 

Elaine



Design Wall Monday!!

A group of friend from our quilt guild have decided to make the Dear Jane quilt.  We have decided to do it over a one year period(hopefully).  This will require us to make 4 blocks per week to get it done.
We are now starting week 3 - so far so good!!

week 1 blocks

 

week 2 blocks

 

 

Check out design wall monday over on patchwork times.

 

 

Have a great day!

 

Elaine

Upcycle day!

I am a day late but I have a cute upcycling idea for this week.  It is going with a theme of owls.  I have made some owl ornaments for my etsy shop and then while surfing around I found these cute owls.

cardboard owls

 

Click on the link and get the instructions to make these cute halloween owls.  I am going to try and find time to make some myself this weekend.

 

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Elaine



Design Wall Monday

Today I have a "flock" of little penguins almost ready for listing in my etsy shop.  They will be listed in the next couple of days (hopefully).
It has been a busy weekend getting a custom stocking order out into the mail and getting yard work done before it snows again.  Fortunately we got the patio furniture put away and the leaves raked.
I am still working on the memory quilts and will post some work in progress pictures soon.

Have a look at Patchwork Times  for all the other design wall monday posts.

Have a great day!!!

Elaine

Canadian Small Business Saturday

Hi all,

I have just signed up for the Canadian Small Business Saturday promotion.  October 20th will be Small Business Saturday and any purchases made in my etsy shops will have a 10% discount (you don't have to live in Canada to get the deals).

Support small businesses and buy small!!

 



  While on the business buzz,  I have the shipping deadlines from Canada Post.
Shipping to: Canada and USA - regular parcel (surface) December 10
                     Europe - regular parcel (surface) October 25
                     Austrailia - regular parcel (surface) October 1
After these dates the shipping gets ridiculously expensive but can be done.

Now back to the fun stuff!!  I will have some new ornaments in my new etsy shop Due North Creations.  They will be cute and cuddly!

Hope you have a great weekend!!

Elaine

Snow Day!!

Good morning,

Hope everyone had a great Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.  We did, it was quiet but nice. 

It is October isn't it.  Today we woke up to this!!

 

this photo was at 9:00am

this photo was at 10:30

 



and it has been snowing all morning so far.  Oh well it is a good day to stay in and sew and dream.
I was wandering around the internet today and found this post the happy housewife that had a tutorial about making a rug from recycled t-shirts and an old towel.  It is a really easy tutorial to follow and I think I am going to give it a try.  I have upcycled t-shirts to wear and made t-shirt quilts but I haven't made a rug yet.

So I was thinking that Thursday is going to be upcycle day.  Either projects that I have made or projects that I find in the wonderland we call the internet.

Hope you enjoy the day and find something that you can recycle today.

Now I have to go and shovel the driveway!!!

Have a great day!

Elaine

Design Wall Monday!!

Hi all,

Went away this weekend to a market in Southern Ontario.  It was a 6-7hr drive for us but well worth it.  We had a good time and made a few good purchases.  Unfortunately the quilt shops in the area were closed by the time we got time to go.  Oh well!!  Like I need more fabric.
 We did get some excitment - the power went off while we were in Micheals craft store and we had to leave our purchases behind and pick them up on Sunday and then when we got back to the hotel the fire alarms were going off and the fire trucks were there.  Nothing serious just set off by the power outage.
I did get quite a bit of sewing done in the car.  I put together the "Sunburst" english paper piecing pattern that I designed last week.  If I say so myself I think it turned out ok.  I think I will put another ring of white hexagons around it and then make it into a table topper.  What do you think??

 

I will post the pdf of the templates tomorrow for anyone who is interested.

 

I tried to snap a photo of the fall leaves as we were zooming  by but the picture does not do the colours justice.  I will try to get some more fall leaf photos later this week.  By this weekend they will be all gome in our neck of the woods.

 

Have a great day!!

 

Elaine

 

Work in Progress Wednesday

Hi all,

I haven't had much luck posting this week because I couldn't get blogger to upload my photos and what is a post without photos.
I am working on a block of the month for our local quilt guild.  I decided to design a quilt based on quilts from 1812 since it is the 200th anniversary of the war of 1812 and part of it happened right here in my area of Canada.  It is a row quilt and I am making it in shades of blues and greys.
If anyone is interested in following along I will post the pdf of the instructions each month so that you can follow along with us.  Let me know if you would find that interesting??

 

Thanks for all the comments and the information about the "Rose Star" english paper piecing block.
I was so inspired that I designed my own block  for english paper piecing.  I am calling it "Sunburst" and I will put up a photo as soon as I get it pieced together.

Have a great day everyone!!
yah!!! the photo loaded.

Elaine

Sunny Tuesday

Hello all,

I joined the hexi linky party  yesterday.  You should go and check it out.  The hexi addicted crowd is getting larger.  I really loved the Rose Star block and would love to know where I can get the pattern.

I am getting into Holiday mode and am getting stockings ready for my etsy shop.  Here is a sneek peek at a couple of crazy quilted stockings that will hopefully be in my shop by the weekend.



 

 

For some reason I cannot upload the other stocking picture.  Must be a glitch in the system.



Anyway it looks much the same but more red fabrics.  I must go now and get some work done.

 

Have a great day!!

 

Elaine

 

 

 

Design wall Monday

Hello all,

I have been away from blogging for a while.  August was a very bad month for us.  We lost both of our dogs within 2 weeks and it has been devastating for us.  We loved them dearly and they had a good long life both of them (14 and 16.5 years).  We have lots of photos and good memories.

Now school is back and life seems to be getting back in order I felt it was time to get back to blogging on a regular basis.

My design wall project is an english paper pieced hexagon table topper or part of a quilt, I can't decide.   What do you think??  As you can see the hexagons were made into flowers and then turned into an 8 pointed star.

 

 

Hope everyone has a great day!!
Elaine

Happy Friday!!

It's Friday already.  The weeks are flying by.  Tonight is our splinter quilting group meeting.  We are a small group from our guild that live in the same neighbourhood and we have decided to meet during the summer to work on projects.  So far all we have done is drink wine and talk about quilting.  Oh well.
I have been working on my hexies but I decided to make them into diamonds instead of flowers and then assemble them into 6 pointed stars.  What do you think??

Have a great day!!!

Thursday already!!

Boy time has been flying by this summer.  Next week will be August already. 
I will be having a booth at another quilt show next weekend.  It is local show on an island about 30 minutes from my house.  It should be nice.  They do this show every year. I will be posting some photos after the show.
I have another embroidered piece done to put in my etsy shop.

I will be separating my shop  into two different shops.  One for handmade items and one for patterns.  I will be keeping Due North Designs for the pattern shop and opening a new shop Due North Creations for the handmade, personalized and holiday items.  I hope it goes well.

How about this to put a smile on your face.  Two sleeping beauties.

Have a great day!!

Design Wall Monday!

It has been a while since I posted.  We were away in Ottawa, Ontario for a wedding.  It was a 9-10 hour drive from our home (we added extra time for our Tim Horton's stops) and we hit a couple of thunder storms which slowed us down a little more.  When we were there the weather was great and we had time to do a bit of sight seeing before the wedding day. We managed to get in to see the Van Gogh exhibit at the National Gallery. Since we got back I have been sooo busy this is the first time I have had to get to the blog.

a view down the Rideau Canal that runs through the city

a view of part of the Parliament buildings

spider outside the National Gallery - unfortunately they were working on it so I didn't get a clear photo

I made a monogrammed pillow for the couple and since then I have been a little addicted to embroidering words hence my design wall photo.  Both pieces are hand embroidered on linen fabric and they will be made into pillows.  I did not back the linen with muslin before I embroidered them and I wish I had.  The monogram pillow I did back with muslin and it was much easier to keep square.  Oh well we live and learn.

Should I outline this one with black also???

Hopefully by the end of the week I will have these finished. 

I had to leave my baby behind so I took some pictures to take with me.

Have a great day!!

Elaine

Design Wall Tuesday!

I know I am a day late but I wanted to show you the monogrammed pillow.  It is not quite a pillow yet but it will be by the end of the week.  The hand embroidered monogram is done.  I am thinking of offering this in my etsy shop as a custom order.  What do you think??

I had to put this picture in - my baby just love lying on the laptop!!

Have a great day!!

elaine

No time for stitching

Lately I have been helping my husband building our new shed. We have been working every night after work and that gives me little time for stitching.

I am working on a monogrammed pillow for a wedding we are going to out of town.  But when I get inside and cleaned up it is after 9pm and I am tired.  I sure hope this thing is done this week.  Also June is a crazy month for birthdays, weddings, and graduations.  When will it stop. 
After ranting about that I still have managed to get my sewing room cleaned out after the quilt show and am ready to get to work making some new stuff for the deck with the outdoor fabric I bought last year.  Oops!!!  New pillows, table cloths etc.  I am just hoping for some warm weather to enjoy the deck.
What do you think of the fabric.  Hopefully I will have something to show you by next week.

I also have a million ideas running around in my head for new patterns.  There is something about manual labour that makes me creative.  I just have to get them out of my head and onto paper and then samples made. 

Hope you are all have a great day.

elaine

April Bead Journal Project

My Bead Journal Project piece for April is finally done.  Now I only have to do May and June.   I am not sure that I like it or not?
Let me know what you think??

Have a great day!!

Elaine

Design Wall Monday!!

I has been such a busy month.  I am finally having time to breath and get back to my posting.
Today I will be sharing with you some pictures from our local guild's quilt show as well as my design wall project.
Our guild is celebrating it's 20th anniversary this year as well as our city is celebrating it's 100th anniversary and of course the 200th anniversary of the war of 1812.  There are a lot of things going on in our community for these celebrations.
We had our quilt show and it was a great success.  I will shamefully tell you that I won a ribbon for my "Garden of Trash" quilt.  A small wall hanging made of recycled materials(pop cans, candy wrappers, dryer sheets, magazine papers etc).

Garden of Trash

my booth at the show

(my first show selling my patterns)



panoramic view of  part of the displays

                                          

My design wall monday project is hand embroidered  monogramed pillow for a wedding that we are attending in Ottawa later this month.  I hope they like it.

                                    

                                   

Have a great day!!

Elaine



Design Star

I just entered the McCalls design star competition.  I think I am out of my league but if you feel like voting for me I would greatly appreciate it.
I have been so busy lately getting ready for our local quilt show that I have neglected this blog and everything else.  You should see the mess in my house.  I am in charge of the registration and  it take a lot of time and patience.  I am also a vendor at the show trying to get my pattern launched locally.
I hope that people like them or I may be looking for a career change.
I will take some pictures at the show and post them over the weekend.  We have some very talented quilters in our group.
Back to work.  I have a few things I still have to do before the show set-up begins tomorrow.



Have a great day!!

Design wall Monday!!

It happens every year.  I get my puppy his spring hair cut and then the weather turns cold.  We have a forcast of freezing rain, ice pellets and snow the rest of this week.  That's ok it's a good excuse to stay in and sew/quilt/embroider!!
Our local guild is having a Quilt show in May and I am helping organize it and having a vendors table to try and get some local exposure for my quilt patterns.  So I am very busy trying to get things ready.
I will be posting my patterns in my etsy shop when they are finished. 

Here is my baby before and after his make-over.  When he is clipped he looks and acts like a puppy again even though he will be 16 in May.

before                                                                    

 

 

                                                                                                                                after

 My design wall Monday project is a baby quilt.  The pattern will be in my etsy shop by Friday.

Have a great day!!

Elaine



Spring is Here!!

The weather here has been beautiful the last few days.  I have been out bike riding already which is usually unheard of in March.  We are ususally 6feet under snow.  Oh well I am not complaining.  Even though I have spent so much time outside I did manage to get my March BJP done.

I am not so sure about the colours but I do like the watch face.  It is from an old watch.  I am trying to incorporate something found into each piece. 
I am also working on some new quilt patterns for the quilt show in May.  When they are ready I will be posting them for all to see wether you like it or not. ha!ha!

I am on my way to get my "baby" groomed so tomorrow I will post the before and after pictures of his make-over.

Have a great day!

Design wall Monday on Tuesday?

I missed the mark on the design wall Monday feature.  So I will post it today instead.  I am currently working on a new pattern that I hope will be in my etsy shop by next week.  So here is a sneak peak of one of the blocks.

bow tie block











This block is pieced by machine not by hand which made it go a lot faster.  Although I like hand piecing, I do like this method.  If anyone would like me to post a tutorial on making this block I would be happy to, just let me know.

Have a great day!!

Elaine

Take a Stitch Tuesday!!

I have finally caught up with my stitching on the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge. 

After a dump of the white stuff we are finally having a sunny day!!  So w are off to take a walk in the sunshine and get some of the vitamin 'D' we have been missing all winter.

Have a great day!

Elaine

Yes I am still here!!

February has been a crazy month for everyone I am sure.  I have not been so efficient at anything this month but I did get the Bead Journal Project February piece done.

I think I will start mounting my pieces as I go so that I am not stuck at the end mounting them all.  It may also motivate me to keep going and finish all 12 of them.

Bye for now.

I hope to be able to keep in touch more often and have more finished projects to show.

Have a great day!!

Elaine





Design wall Monday!!

Good morning,

I have something for the design wall this week!!!
I will be at our local quilt show in May trying to sell my patterns - I must say that I am a little nervous.
I have been designing some new patterns for the show and they will also be put in my etsy shop when they are done.  I only have about 11 weeks to the show and with all the new ideas I have I will have to be working 24hrs a day to get them all complete.
So I have decided that on Design Wall Monday I will show the pattern that I am working on that week.  I hope it will keep me focused and on track for the show.
This week is an applique and embroidery design I am calling "Spring Garden" (how original).  Anybody have any better ideas for a name, I am all ears. 

Also this weekend I finished the january piece for the Bead Journal Project 2012.  My intention for this years project is to mount the squares on a painted canvas to hang in my bathroom.(Is that weird??)
Hope you like it??

BJP2012- january

Hope everyone has a great day!!

Elaine