The designs in my book are small - no bigger than 2" x 2".  But I'm making this quilt with 6" squares so I just enlarged the ballerina by 200%. 

How fantastic is it that I have a ballerina embroidery design to go with the ballet script fabric I'd already bought for this quilt? :)

I'm going to omit the letters and words from the original design.  And maybe add some sort of decorative border to the block.  Not entirely sure yet.  I'm just making this up as I go.

And now I've got some stitching to do this weekend ... couldn't be happier.

Have a good one!

One year ago today ...

My best friend from high school recently became a grandmother of a darling sweet little girl. 

Oy yoy YOY!

I remember - like it was yesterday - the moment we met, way back in the summer of '82.  I remember zipping around town in the passenger seat of her "vintage" blue Pinto - standard shift with a hand brake.  I remember us cutting class to go shopping ... for dress patterns & fabric, of course.  I remember us cutting class to see An Officer & a Gentleman. (Please don't tell my kids.)  I remember us laughing so hard while trying to put up a tent ... in the dark ... in the rain ... after a 2 hour drive to the lake.  I remember walking down the aisle as her bridesmaid.  I remember writing letters when she moved away.  I remember her girls' baby showers. 

If only I could remember where I put my embroidery scissors the other day ...

(sigh)

Anyhow, this means I get to make a baby quilt!  So.much.fun.  I haven't made one in ages, it seems.  Of all my baby quilt gifts, however, this one is going to have an extra special place in my heart.  There have been so many babies for my in-laws, friends, aquaintances & neighbors.  But this little girl is the first of the next generation for me.

The nursery is decorated with a Wedgwood blue & chocolate brown colour scheme.  After making these pillowcases, I took another look at Tanya Whelan's Petal collection and decided the blues & taupes are perfect for this quilt.

While I was wandering around the quilt shop waiting for my fabric to be cut this print also caught my eye - from Verna Mosquera's Pirouette collection  ...

Then it suddenly occured to me that my friend's daughter was an accomplished dancer ... and this apropo script of ballet terminology would make the perfect personal touch for the quilt.

So now you know what I'll be doing this coming weekend.  What are you working on?  Have you made a baby quilt for a special little someone lately?

One year ago today ...

My quilting life began in 1986 with an English paper pieced Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. 

Twenty seven years later and I still love this classic design.

The hexagon will forever be my sentimental favorite quilt shape.

I don't know that I will ever manage a large English paper pieced quilt again.  But a little project with only about 100 of these?  Totally doable.

Although couldn't you just picture a huge quilt made with thousands of these little half-inchers?

PS:  I'm glue-basting.

A year ago today ...

If you're not a gardener, Zones refer to the coldest extreme of a climate and the corresponding hardiness required by plants to survive that cold.  In reference to North America, Zone 1 starts at the North Pole.  Here in Zone 3, plants have to tolerate -40C (same as -40F). 

I tried for many years to be a Zone 3 gardener. 

I was defeated.

This sweet little harbinger of Spring is one of only a few surviving remnants of my early attempts to conquer this climate in pursuit of a lush and bountiful English Cottage garden.  Among countless other ill-fated species - everything from foxglove to lavender - I planted 100 of these muscari bulbs.  (See?  I even remember the Latin term for "grape hyacinth".)  If you drove by my house today you'd be hard pressed to believe a gardener had ever lived here, except for this one week in May when these tiny clusters of periwinkle blue pop up to say, "Congratulations, you survived another Canadian winter!"

My muscari forgive me every year for my horticultural failings.  I feel like they're reassuring me that not everyone is born to garden, but they appreciate how hard I tried and continue to reward me for my efforts, however misguided they may have been.

If you garden - in any zone - you have my deepest admiration and respect.

If you have an English Cottage garden, please consider inviting me over for a cup of tea some time. ;)

I started out with pink & green in mind.  But my quilting muse had other plans for me and I ended up with this dreamy assortment of powdery pinks, muted creams & silver grays. 

I have big plans for these fabrics. 

Or rather little plans.

Half inch hexagon plans, to be exact.  :)

This doesn't always happen to me - where the finished product looks even better than it did in my imagination.  But I'm really happy with this one.

I've been wanting to try my hand at a pinch purse ever since I picked up a few of these metal frames at Quilt Market last year. 

This embroidered scrolly motif was just enough to satisfy my craving to do some pretty little hand stitching. 

A polka dot lining - my homage to Kate Spade.

The lace trim hides the seam nicely.  And the bow?  Almost too much. 

Almost ... but not quite. ;)

"Ok, sister.  Please do not expect this little purse to find its way into your mailbox.  Okay?  I'd hate for you to be disappointed."

(Being a blogger with a sister who likes surprises is not without it's challenges.)

But do you ever have those moments when you can see something finished in your head and it looks fantastic ... and then worry that it won't meet your expectations when it's done?  That's where I'm at right now. 

I really hope it turns out ok ... not like it's a gift or anything.

*     *     *     *     *

Not my usual offering here, I know ... all this red.  And it's not even Christmas or Valentines. 

Or strawberries. ;)

But I happen to know someone who adores red toile.

"Sister, if you're still reading this, no you are NOT the someone I just mentioned and no this is NOT for you.  This is NOT your late birthday present that I promised you a few months ago ... even though this red toile fabric looks EXACTLY like the one I asked if you liked when you were here visiting ... just sayin'."

You will recognize many of the designers in this book, like Anne Sutton, Yoko Saito, my home girl Amy Sinibaldi, Natalie Lymer ... and somehow I ended up in the Table of Contents too.

I'll have more to share with you in the coming weeks, but for now I'll just exhale. 

And smile. 

(It's available for pre-order in all the usual places ... you can have a look inside here on Amazon.)

Speaking of Spring, that is exactly what my latest sewing project reminds me of ... fresh & new & pretty and oh so welcomed!  I think my old/new pillowcases made with reclaimed vintage lace and some brand new fabric turned out pretty well. 

It's rare I use such beautiful fabric within days of purchasing it.  I usually buy fabric because I love it, not because I know what I'm going to do with it.  But this was different.  I knew the moment I laid eyes on this dreamy ticking stripe that it would become pillowcases.  And it feels really good to have finally found a way to give this vintage lace a new purpose ... after sitting in my cupboard for nearly a decade.

My idea to hide the damage on the lace worked like a charm.

I lost a bit of detail on the lace, but none of the prettiness.

Happily, the fabric was about 4" wider than I needed.  So when I cut that excess off the entire length of my yardage, I had this lovely stripe left over. 

I was careful not to cut the lace anywhere - it's still intact under that trim, just in case I (or someone else in the distant future) need to salvage it again.

The first pillowcase went together easily.  The second, however, offered me a few challenges.

A) One piece of lace was too short.  I had another small bit that I thought would make up the difference ...

B)  but even together the joined pieces were still not quite long enough (short by less than an inch!)  So I used the fabric's stripe again to span the gap (and cover the raw edges) while appearing to be an intentional "decorative detail".   I quite like how it looks.

and C) I was about 2" shy from the border I cut off the entire length of yardage ... but I was able to piece it too.

This right here explains exactly why so many of us quilters buy "too much" fabric ... because we've been caught too many times with just a few inches short of enough.  Sometimes ... oftentimes ... we can make do, improvise, change direction, etc.  But sometimes it's a real heartbreaker.