Echino love with cloud leopards

Last fall I bought myself a yard of this fabulous Echino print from Pink Panda. I love the look on the sitting leopard's face; it is so perfectly "cat". Of course I didn't have a plan for the yard, just a hankering. Now, about 10 months later, it is my turn for the Quilter Bee ladies to sew my blocks, and the dreamy leopard print can feature in a quilt for our bed. I found the perfect natural linen, some pretty grey floral and just daring enough purple dot to complement the cats. What could be more satisfying?

This is my preliminary sketch: 15 blocks and no sashing except for the border.



I'm going to ask for the bee ladies to texturize the linen by making pin-tucks, a little bit like the pleating in this sample from another online bee.



I can't wait to see what everyone does when they get my fabric!

Long Weekend Catch-up

Two new blocks for the Quilter Bees' April member.





Detail of the quilting on Finn's quilt.


Apparently Finn and his parents have been using the baby sling I made quite a lot (see earlier post). It is great to know they find it useful. He looks like a pea in a pod when ensconced!

Finnegan Eli

I can officially assume my godmother title now. Finn was born yesterday, Mothers Day. I've been waiting two weeks for the little guy and the opportunity to post about his quilt.


quilt front


Lambs and Lamb Trellis in citrus.

The fantastic lamb fabric is from Scarlet Fig, by Laurie Wisbrun. I was inspired by Film in the Fridge. It's perfect for baby Finn and his parents, because they live on a Gulf Island and have two sheep.


quilt back - the birds are from a tea towel

Productive Procrastination

It's that kind of productivity that gets the bathroom clean when one has a paper to write. Useful, but something to wonder at. Luckily, my current "must do" project is delightful (a big drawing) and the procrastination distraction has become anything sewing related.



Some careful shopping in the Ikea "As-Is" section as well as a thrift store 50 cent bin have yielded several baby items that can be adorned with colour. Fun! My godbaby-to-be has a great many older cousins whose mum has bequeathed all their outgrown clothing to the expected one. This makes some of my creative actions seem slightly less than necessary, but it doesn't stop me. So far, the adorned-with-colour collection includes 4 bibs and the above onesie.



Much progress has been achiebved on the quilt for the baby too. The back is complete. I used a half of a cute birdie tea towel as one panel, for my Galiano Island farm theme.



The front has some amazing Scarlet Fig lamb fabric by Laurie Wisbrun as well as the trees and brown lattice. All I have to do is sew on the sashing (fudge brown) and get to quilting!

Excited Godmother

Two of my dearest friends are expecting at the end of April, and I get to be their baby's godmother! My excitement has been building slowly, but last night reached bubbling proportions because E and A came into the restaurant where I work and had dessert. A quick online search and perusal of the stash provided me with pattern and fabric for a baby sling. Hopefully it will be a useful item for the new mum and dad.

Modeling a baby sling without the baby seems quite pointless, but the cat wouldn't cooperate. At least one can see the general effect. I found numerous patterns which were all pretty much the same, but the measurements here and also here seemed the most accurate.



I think it's Amy Butler "Nigella" fabric in home dec. weight - the "Imperial Fan" pattern.

Birthday Beauty in Olympic Times

Bright lights on the ground.


I turned 31 the other day, and M and I went for a gorgeous walk before work. Documenting all the signs of spring was one of my goals, since the sun and the warmth have made flowers and leaves burst forth.


Pink and frothy: the cherries and plums.






Laundry on the line. White + White.


Three happy ducks, all in a row.


Forsythia: the yellow hallmark of winter's end.

Sewing Space

Our house changed configuration recently, when a friend moved into our spare room to start is PhD at UBC. My sewing space had to be re-jigged into the living room, which surprisingly has worked out quite well. I recovered the ironing board, so it wasn't such a drab eyesore, and now all the splashes of colour look cheerful and inviting.

The fabric for the ironing board came from the discount section of the Textile Clearance House, which means it was only $2/yd!

Finally, a Photographed Finish

Completed cat and bird quilt, at long last! Soon to go to its forever home where a new baby is expected.


It's been so long since I posted anything here, it would seem that I'd abandoned ship. However, that is not quite true. Things have just got a little off course, in terms of blogging and sewing and taking pictures:) What follows is a brief catch-up on a few projects. More to follow!



Detail of the quilting.


I really love how the simplicity of the back contrasts the busyness of the front.


A star block for my quilting bee, which turned out to be quite challenging for my not-so-precision quilting skills.


And a churn dash block, which was fun and easy!

I've got a new quilt underway, for home use, and an appliqued duvet cover under works for my parents. It's the iteration of the forest branches blocks, made mum and dad friendly. They're not really quilt people, so the duvet cover seemed like a good solution.