More catch-up

What a nice day... a nice weekend for that matter. Beautiful weather. Good company. Good food. Lots of sewing. A nice run and cycling class. We took the dog, Blanco, on his first trip to the dog park, which was so much fun. It was a very large park and at one point, he had us both chasing him through a small wooded area (chasing is relative, since he is a retired racing greyhound). That was before he played in the water. Jim and I also took at a look at some open houses both Saturday and Sunday... added a few new favorites to the list. It is looking hopeful for us to buy in the next few months, so this is all very exciting. With all the excitement of saving for a house, work trips, etc., there will probably be no racing for me this summer. My head's not in race mode anyway. I am happy to run and cycle for fun. Maybe even swim a few laps.

Here are my two blocks for May's Cottage Quilting Bee.



This was a definite departure from anything I've ever sewn before. Carolyn of Laughing Duck sent out directions for little houses and trees for a neighbourhood. I was happy to see that the directions were easy to follow and had nice little diagrams.




This one is for Ashley Ann at Hot Butter. Her theme was a rainbow quilt. I'm very happy with how this turned out. And I love the fabric combination that Ashley Ann sent out- it seems to be the right balance of warm oranges, yellows, and reds along with cooler blues, greens, and purples.

I have been noticing all the blog buzz about the Buttercup Bag, a pattern offered by Made By Rae. I grabbed two fat quarters during a quick run through at Joann Fabrics to give it a shot...



It is so fun! This is a great pattern for a fresh summer bag. I saw that the pattern has been expanded to make a larger bag as well.



My favorite part was putting in the button hole, which was a modification of the original pattern that calls for a magnetised closure. It was the first time I put in a button hole :).

Now that I've made two posts in one day, I am going to enjoy the cool Memorial Day breeze.

Catch-Up

I need to play catch up... which will likely consist of several posts about recent sewing projects. I'll start by posting about my blocks from last month's Cottage Qulting Bee. There were two different designers last month.



Katy from I'm a Ginger Monkey selected these pretty fabrics. That solid light blue colored fabric is silk. I wanted to appliqué hence the two pieces that form sort of an "L" shape. Beyond the applique, I had trouble deciding how to design this block. One reason is that when there is a larger pattern, like the colorful bird pattern in the center of the block, I don't want to cut it up into smaller pieces. My fellow bee-mates had some very nice ideas.



Katie from Metrosupial Designs commissioned these blocks. We received different color themes and my batch of fabrics were pretty blues. Katie has such pretty fabrics and I enjoyed working with them. It was kind of therapeutic to cut each small square, make each row, and bring it all together. I cannot wait to see this quilt finished.

Back with more later!