It's a Girl!

On Wednesday, my sister gave birth to a little girl! Eek! I can't begin to tell you how excited I am for Carolyn and Jeremy.  I'm looking a bit silly these days with this giddy look on my face.

They've named their new baby Isabella, a lovely, elegant name. I have yet to meet her--my family is in Manitoba--but I've seen pictures and Isabella is tiny and perfect and beautiful. It's been the slowest two days of my life, waiting to hold my niece for the first time, see her tiny little toes, hear her wee cry. I'll be home soon.

In the meantime, I'm dreaming of all the pretty little things I'll get to make for Isabella. Perhaps I'll start with this cute pattern from Oliver + S, maybe in this fabric? Or this dress in this fabric?  Oliver + S has the most adorable patterns in the cutest packaging; the problem really is deciding which one to make first.

Hmm ... I'm starting to realise that the best way to outfit one's brand new niece is just to make all of the sweet dresses I want.  I mean, I'm supposed to spoil her, right?

My Heart Goes Pitter Patter

This is Gordon and I after a hard day's work.  Well, I worked.

I'm not entirely sure why, but Gordon has always liked to nap like this on the couch.  His face makes my heart melt.

Gordon's had a rough month.  I wrote about his impending surgery here.  It turns out Gordon's knee was perfectly fine, but he is suffering from hip dysplasia on his right side.  He might eventually need surgery for that, but it's looking more and more like he'll be able to lead a perfectly normal doggy life without any sort of hip replacement.  Yay!


He's been on strict rest for a couple of weeks, though, and he's got another week or two to go before he can even walk anywhere.  All of this has meant lots of extra cuddles for me, so I'm not terribly broken up about the love and affection part of this ordeal.

I'm in love

Sewing with my grandmother was always a happy thing, so when I was looking to start a new hobby a little over a year ago, it made sense to return to making things with fabric and thread.  I took a class and bought myself a basic Janome.  We've bonded, my reliable little machine and I.  She's been wonderful, if a bit overworked. Here she is working away on my buzzsaw quilt.

(Please forgive the messy workspace.  I'm not the tidiest quilter you'll ever meet.)

But lately my mind has been wandering:

I adore this machine. I've had the opportunity to use one on a few occasions, and she sews like a dream.  There are more fancy things on this sewing machine than I probably know what to do with, but I don't care. I freely admit to being won over by bells and whistles in this case, even if it is slightly shallow.

So what's a girl to do?  I've been setting aside some extra funds for a while; it might even be time for a fabric diet (it's unlikely that I could stick to it).  I do love my sewing time, after all ...

I'm sure Janome understands, and I would make sure she went to a good home.  Really.  

Dress 'S'

It's been so sunshine-y lately that I decided to take a break from quilting and make a new summer dress; it's been a while since I made any clothing, and sometimes the instant gratification of something new to wear is just the thing a girl needs.

I've had this lovely Nani Iro double gauze on my shelf for months.  It's so pretty and lovely to touch I was afraid to make anything from it.

For those of you who don't live in Toronto, it gets very, very, very hot here in the summer.  And oh so humid.  This double-gauze struck me as totally perfect to turn into a summer dress: breath-y and airy and fresh. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to work with, too, since it unravels quite easily.

It took me a while to figure out what pattern to use, but I finally settled on Dress 'S' from Stylish Dress Book 2.  I've seen it done up a few times on blogs and in person (see Karyn's lovely versions here and here) and it seemed perfect for my Nani Iro.

I can't quite figure out why the ladies in Japanese dress books always look so stylish: often when I'm done my dress and try it on, I look a bit like I'm wearing pyjamas.  I followed Karyn's lead and added a row of shirring to the waist.  I like the definition it adds to the dress, plus I'll still be able to wear it with a skinny belt.

(By the way, I swear that hem is even.  I tried and tried to adjust it for my photo shoot, but it wouldn't cooperate.)

My new dress took only a few hours to finish up. The patterns in Japanese dress books sometimes require some small adjustments, but once you get the hang of them they're actually quite easy to pull together.  Now I just need the weather to cooperate so I can wear my new dress.  Yipee!

Another day, another quilt

I have a small problem.  No, not a fabric problem--although I have one of those, too.  You see, I'm unable to work on only one project at a time.  I admire those people who can work from start to finish on a single project, but I've just never been able to do that. 

Today, after basting my buzzsaw quilt, I realised that I was working on five quilts.  Just five.  Gasp!  Clearly it's time to start another quilt.

So I picked up a stack of lovely fabric from the workroom with the intent of starting up a zigzag quilt.  I've been seeing them quite a bit lately, and I think they make the perfect outdoor blanket.  As it warms up and everything turns green, my mind wanders to weekend afternoons in High Park, relaxing with some hand stitching.  And, obviously, Peter and I will need somewhere to sit while Gordon paddles around the pond.

Hmm.  I better get started on cutting my sqaures ...

So Close ...

So here it is, my finished buzz saw quilt top.  I have to admit, I think it's pretty great.  This quilt has challenged me in the best kind of way: it might not be the flatest/most perfect quilt top (there was some fudging of rules along the way) I've ever made, but it makes me happy and that's what this is all about.

I'm equally excited about the quilt back, which will incorporate some of this oh-so-pretty French General Rural Jardin jelly roll.

We'll baste our quilts this Saturday and get started on the actual quilting.  Can't wait!

Best. Shoes. Ever.

Heather Ross + Keds = Awesomeness. Need I say more? 

Quilting + Gordon + Sunshine = A Perfect Weekend

I could probably write a song about my love of all things Gordon and sewing (à la Mary Poppins, of course), so getting to spend lots of time with both this past weekend was glorious, especially with the sun so sunshine-y and warm.  I'm lucky enough to have a wonderfully bright sewing space, so even while I was indoors I was able to enjoy the lovely weather although Gordon and I did venture outside to do some cutting for my latest project.

On Saturday I started another quilting class with Johanna at the workroom, this time for a buzz saw quilt.  I'm having such fun crafting these blocks; who knew that using rotary cutters could be this enjoyable? And I'm so pleased with the way my colour palette of pink and beige is coming together.

Being an editor by profession, I appreciate the preciseness of patchwork.  Each cut exact; each seam 1/4-inch.  I'm not afraid to admit that I'm a total nerd, one that likes rules and knowing what's next.  Those things exist in quilting, too, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise to anyone that I fell in love so quickly when I started about a year ago.  


But as much fun as I'm having making these buzz saw blocks, they've reminded me that there are a few things that I'm less than fond of when it comes to sewing  For instance, I hate ripping out seams, and I've already had to unpick quite a few for this quilt.  See?  Being precise is key, and when you aren't you just create more problems for yourself.  Those pretty blocks above?  All of the seams are off just enough that they're significantly smaller than my others.  (I think. I've measured and measured: I'm reasonably sure that the other blocks are correct and these are the offending blocks.  Plus, there are more of the others.)  

Also, despite my father's sage advice that one should always measure twice and cut once, on one block I did quite the opposite and now have one 'blade' somewhat slimmer than the others.  Oops.

Despite the seam ripping and the cutting mishap, I'm still loving my buzz saw quilt.  It's always exciting to see the way the colours and prints come together, and this quilt is no exception.  


Now, I should be getting back to those seams ...