So what else is new?

Well...

It's been a while. Maybe I can give this a try again? I've been quite busy quilting in the past... What? 2 and half years!

So let's start with the now.

Monsieur lets me know tonight that we will visit his coworker on Sunday who had twin boys 2 months ago. "are we going to bring them a gift?" he asked. Well why not a little Friday night project I thought. Something quick and cute. And easy.

Two little tiny ribbon blankets. :-)
I've seen them called tag blankets too.

I used my left over fabrics from the Dr Seuss quilts I made the kids for Christmas. I didn't buy a thing to make these! (yay for using the stash!) Left over ribbons from pillow case dresses orders. Minky backing bought four years ago for the kids own tag blankets. Even adorned with their initials in appliqué. Each ribbon blanket is only about 12 inche square. Small but easy to grab for a little one. :-) (and not too bulky to bring along either. )

Not bad for a three-hour Friday project.

Don't you love to start and finish something quick, without dragging it?

What have you worked on that was quick?

No I have not vanished...

yes, yes, still here!

And still working on the three cushions. They are coming along nicely actually. I'm just sewing the binding to them. One is completed but need to be handsewn in the back. Pictures will come soon, don't worry about a thing!

Cushions to match, and a sweet tooth.

I've started three big cushions to match my living room Snapshots quilt. They will be 20 inches square. I'm using three left over blocks from my quilt. I intend to quilt them too. The outside fabric isn't my first choice. I would have much prefered to use the Joel Dewberry Aviary Sunburst one but I'm not sure I had enough for all the borders. But this will work.

I am piecing the back of the cushion covers with the scraps also from the Snapshot quilt. It was my first time using scraps and sewing them together without a pattern. So I just went ahead, making sure I would maximize my use of fabric.

Some scrappy scraps waiting to be sewn together.

And here we have two pieces that will be the back of one pillow cover. Not too complicated, but still cute and random. They are all different. I like that.

Do you know by now that I like this Joel Dewberry's Aviary Sunburst? .... no? Weird. I really thought I made that clear.... Well the binding will be made with... right, you guessed it. And it's all rolled up, ready to go. So neat.

I'm now basting the cushions to the batting and backing. But with many guests in my house (whom I'm very happy to see though), it's getting hard to find some time and space to baste.... So this project isn't coming along that fast.

So I spend more time in the kitchen. You know, entertaining my guests!

Would you care for some chocolate covered strawberries and cherries?

Oh my, so YUMMY!!!

I was going to use some of my own chocolate at home but I stumble upon this little box at Sobey's, right next to the strawberries.... How convenient (and so "marketing" I concur).

Anyway, I gave it a shot. At $2.99, I didn't have much to loose, did I? It worked pretty well and the whole box was enough for all the fruits in the plate (plus a little bit more eaten in the proces... who can blame me?) You just microwave the little chocolate waffers, give it a stir and voilà! you're ready to dip! Easy peasy yummy.

And last but not least, the PAVLOVA!

oh Heaven, Oh Goodness, Oh my oh my!

What is a pavlova would you ask? Here is a great recipe and some information too.

It is basically a thick meringue crust (that is crisp on the outside and soft and marshmallow-like on the inside). On top of that, you layer whipped cream and fresh fruits and berries.

Well thanks to my good friend Marlene, I've been introduced to it last summer and since then I've been making this consistently over the summer months. I would say.. once every two weeks?
Well no one here can resist it!

Purses? done!

I finished the purses for Leeann and Amy. Aren't they cute?

Amy's:
Inside pockets, a big one and a cell phone double pocket too.


Here are Leeann's purses.


Two cute purses, sitting on the bench, next to each other.... They just look like a girl and boy version of each other....

Something else got done yesterday! (they finally came to paint the front door! hum, I waited what... two years almost?)

Isn't it just beautiful? It just ties the whole house together, with the front red bricks that we have. I'm super happy with it! (even if the colour isn't a perfect match, it works great by adding so much more life to the house!)

J'adore ma nouvelle porte orange brûlé!

I gotta feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night

(yeah, you know, even my 4 year old sings it these days.)

Anyway, yes indeed it was a good night:

PRV'd The Real World Cancun last night and watched it.

Watched Big Brother 11.

Made some Florida Orange Iced tea. Yep from scratch, with real tea. A Rooibos tea from my friend Jacqui at Sisters Leap Tea. (which one of my friends isn't addicted to Rooibos Chocolate Mint yet? that's right, you know you all are! LOL)


After being at Amy's house on Monday, and tasting her iced tea, I decided to give it a shot.

I boiled about 7 cups of water and added the tea to that. (how much tea? about 6 or 7 tea measures I think). Then some sugar too (how much? well maybe 5 tea measures?) Got it all cold in the fridge too. There, we're ready for you Summer! Because The Weather Network tells us that you're finally coming back tomorrow for a while! hallelujah! It's about time!

Then of to the purses....
The "exteriors" are done.
Cutting the pockets for the interior.

In queue...

This is what I've been working on tonight.... Making three purses, two for Leeann and one for Amy. Using some beautiful material from Amy Butler and Erin McMorris. It's a very cute pattern too from Sweet Pea Totes!

Ready to iron:
My purses, Joel Dewberry's Sunburst and Sparrows and Amy Butler's Optic Blossom and Martini, are patiently waiting for me to get more interfacing from the store....

All pined, ready to assemble.

More patience needed.... I bought this last weekend. From the Sandy Gervais's Mix and Mingle (but not the solid marbled colours). I can't wait, I really can't wait to start this quilt! I will of course inspire myself from the Mix & Mingle quilt. But it will be a bit different. I want to try the whirlygiggles (aka scrappy cartwheels). Let's finish these purses this week, shall we?

I am still working on my two Ragged Square Quilts (a wonderful tutorial by Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts).

Yes, you've guessed right, one for my little twin boy and one for my little twin girl. For their toddler beds, which they are not using right now, but maybe in the fall (still in their cribs). So the quilts are all assembled now, and they are just waiting to be turned into sandwiches. Well, that's okay because there are some purses to be finished...right. The back will be flannel, warm and comfy for this winter.

I'm nervous to see how they will turn out because I didn't buy all good quality fabrics.... *shy* I started them in February 09, just after I discovered Amanda Jean's blog. I know better about fabrics now. Mistakes are part of learning, that's what I always tell my students.

Next project in queue: my first Christmas quilt... I'm not too rushed with this one. Although by the looks of it, yep it seems that summer never came here and we're skipping it altogether to go into Fall...????? in July ???!!!! Ok I know we live "north" but where are the sunny +32 Celsius days???!!!! (that's about 90 Fahrenheit by the way) Anyway, I'm excited to make a Christmas quilt and equally excited to try some pinwheels. (but not too soon.)

Well, gotta get going, 'cause that plate is getting full....

Lila Tueller, "la magnifique" (oh I won the Colourway contest!)

Check out the AMAZING blog from Lila Tueller Designs!!! Don't you just love her work? She is just so talented.

She posted a few weeks back about helping her coming up with colourway ideas for a new Fall collection of fabric. I had just visited the Three Irish Girls website. They just make the best colourway of yarn! I want to order them all. I picked the Aiden colour: beautiful mix of green, teal, brown and ivory.

And guess what? I won!!!!

I won 2nd place in the contest. Here is the proof in this post from Lila Tueller!

YAY!

She mixed up the two names with the suggestions. So my name is supposed to be with the yarn, not the leaves. But she added a little note. All good! :-)

And then, she has already started putting the colours together. How amazing is that? Look at what she did so far, just gorgeous!!!! I love the little bird and the different type of flowers and ferns. Very good....