A Quilting adventure

 

 

This post is very delayed…mostly because the gift-giving was delayed so I couldn’t share it until the special little-ones received their gifts.

 

 

Last summer I made pillowcase-dresses for two of my friends’ daughters. Here’s one of the finished dresses (lets call this Fabric no.1) –>

 

I had some fabric left over from each dress and designed to make each little girl a blanket for their First Birthdays.

Let me first say I have never quilted before.

I learned how to sew the seams so that the fabric lays flat, and how to make borders…thank goodness for You Tube!  There are so many great resources on the interwebs; I’m a very visual learner so while reading a book with instructions is great, watching videos is much better for my learning style.

Here’s the quilt top to the blanket using Fabric no. 2)

 

The quilt tops take the most time, all the cutting, piecing, arranging and then sewing. For the backing I decided to use one large piece of flannel.   I sandwiched some cotton batting (I used Warm and Natural) between the flannel and the quilt top and started to quilt the blanket.

I decided to keep the lines on a vertical/horizontal plane, and quilted in straight lines, at equidistance to each other.  My sewing machine came with a quilting guide, I was very happy to have it as I can’t cut/sew a straight line on my own to save my life.

Let’s go back to Fabric no 1 (I didn’t take any finished pictures of Fabric no. 2 blanket).

I like the ‘crinkly’ look of quilts, so I didn’t wash the fabric before hand to preshrink it, I wanted that to happen after it was sewn.

Both blankets are lap-size, perfect for the car or stroller or little naps on the couch.

Overall, I`m pleased with how they turned out…I’m less intimidated by my sewing machine now, am very friendly with my seam-ripper and well…I vow to conquer the elusiveness b*tch that is binding. (I used this amazing tutorial…sewing the binding isn`t difficult, but you do have to go slow and learn to sew a straight line…hence my frustration)

These little blankets are basically warm up for my next quilting adventure…a quilt for my Queen size bed.  I bought the fabric last summer on a birthday shopping trip to Michigan and bought the Alice Quilt Pattern by Red Pepper Quilts. 

I don`t know when I’ll be starting, but I’ll be sure to post the process…maybe you can give me tips on sewing straight lines?

 

Happy Wednesday!

 

Technorati Tags: sewing,quilting,baby blankets,handmade quilts

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Clean lines, bright colours

Happy Family Day!  Here in Ontario it’s our first long weekend of the year, Family Day. I’m grateful for an extra day to get things done…sometimes the weekends are just not enough time to get everything done.

Last year I made some cards and invitations for a bakery in a small town outside of London.  I kept the design simple, but I loved the impact the white space and the bright colours had.

I love this turqoise and pink card, the little scalloped edge, the patterns on the presents…love it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made another card to coordinate with the pink and turquoise and this time, I used the balloon stamp from the set.

 

I don’t often use bright colours, I tend to stick to the earthy colours, but I love how these looks and need to remember to branch out from my routine.

 

Both cards are available in the A Paper Buffet shop and I’ve got more to list and share with you.

 

 

 

Happy Monday!

 

Technorati Tags: A Paper Buffet on Etsy,birthday cards,Stampin Up

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I’m here, I promise

Things have been quiet here in blog land…I’ve been busy with work, custom orders and Knitley Road and life outside of work, custom orders and Knitley Road. 

I’ve a number of projects to share with you, so many I don’t really know where to start!

The first one I’ll share is a knit project I actually made for myself.  Knit items for me are few and far between…I started this sweater last June, put it down for months and months and picked it back up over the Christmas holidays and finished it up a few weeks back.

I saw this pattern in Vampire Knits by Genevieve Miller, it’s the Lore Hoodie by Cirilia Rose- the hoodie on the cover. 

I picked a Peruvian wool close to the yarn used in the original one and I love how it turned out.

 

The lighting in the living room is much better than in front of the mirror, so I’m having Twiggy model it for me.

For my first (adult) sweater, and first item I knit for me that’s not a scarf, I’m so happy and have completely caught the “knit-myself-a-sweater” bug.  I have a few patterns earmarked for the next one, but I haven’t picked one just yet.

I’ve a few more projects to share with you, some paper, and some fibre, and a few others…

Happy Saturday!

 

Technorati Tags: Knitting,Vampire Knits,Lore Hoodie

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Knitley Road: knit headbands

I brought back some beautiful wool from B.C., some big and bulky Cowichan yarn.  I brought back ivory and dark grey; the yarn is virgin yarn, meaning it’s undyed. Depending on the sheep, there’s just a few colour variations: ivory, brown and 3 shades of grey.

 

The wool is very warm and it was perfect for these headbands I made for Knitley Road.  Knit up on size US 15 needles, they are bulky but oh so warm!

I made one for myself and wore it during our recent cold snap; -25C with the windchill and my ears were nice and toasty.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m thinking about trying my hand at handpainting the ivory yarn and knitting up some hats with the coloured yarn…that’s pretty far down the “to-do” list, but I’m hoping I do find some time to try it.

I really love this yarn and can’t wait to work with it again; it’ll make great warm hats and cowls.  I’d love to make some mittens, but I’ll have to do some test patterns because it’s so bulky I don’t know if the mittens will actually move.

 

Stay warm!

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Knitley Road on Etsy,hand knit headbands,Cowichan yarn,knit headbands

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Twiggy

I had been very envious of other shops who had a model or dress form for their product photography.  I loved the idea of my scarves on a hanger on a bleached wood wall, but it was hard to show the details of the items and how they would lay on a person.  After much searching, price comparing and lamenting over the ridiculously high number of American companies who would not ship to Canada (seriously? it’s 2013!)…I found her.

Meet Twiggy:

She looks good in any colour and doesn’t talk back- the perfect business partner! 

I think it’s made a big difference in the photos in the shop and it’s much easier to show how a scarf can be tied, or how high a cowl really is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m really looking forward to making some more cowls and being able to have them photograph more realistically for my customers. 

Have a peek at Knitley Road and let me know what you think!

 

Happy Tuesday!

 

Technorati Tags: Knitley Road on Etsy,handmade scarf,handmade cowl,dress form photography

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Happy New Year!

Can I still say “Happy New Year"?! I’m not sure what the statute of limitations are on that phrase…but since it’s still January, I’m saying it anyways.  I’ve been quite busy since I returned from my Christmas holidays…not counting the 5 days I battled a bad cold and did nothing but watch Netflix, nap and fit in some knitting on my sweater.

I’ve been working on custom orders at A Paper Buffet and trying to stock up  Knitley Road using some lovely yarn I brought back from B.C.

I’ll be sharing some projects with you this week, and show you how  Knitley Road got a bit of a make-over thanks to a new photo set-up.

 

Happy Sunday!

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DIY Peppermint Hot Chocolate pails

Here’s a perfect little gift you can give to those on your list, just be sure to make one for yourself! 

 

I’d seen recipes for homemade hot chocolate a few times, but hadn’t ever tried them out.  When I  came across this recipe for homemade peppermint hot chocolate, I was sold!

I found the little paint cans at my bulk food store and thought they were the perfect way to see the layers and a fun little present.

The recipe calls for 1 cup of each powdered milk, cocoa and sugar; my little pail wouldn’t fit that so I cut it down to 3/4 cup of each. If you need to adjust the measurements, just be sure to keep the 1:1:1 ratio. I also adjusted the amount of chocolate chips and candy canes from the original recipe to fit in the pail.

 

My peppermint hot chocolate pails contain:

• 3/4 cup non-instant skim powdered milk (the original recipe doesn’t specify; I had never used powdered milk before and took a gamble on choosing this one. Also available at my bulk store was non-instant whole powdered milk and instant skim)
• 3/4 cup 100% pure cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup sugar (I’m guessing you could use a sugar substitute, but haven’t tried it; this is meant to be a little treat)
• 1/3 cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup crushed candy canes (I pulsed them in my little food chopper)

 

Layer them all in your container; the mouth of the little pail isn’t very wide, so I didn’t have anything to tap the layers down. 

 

Include these directions:

Mix all ingredients (if you can choose a container that has a bit of room at the top, your recipient can just mix it with a spoon to combine- if not, they may have to dump it into a bowl to mix)

Add 1/3 cup cocoa mix to 1 cup boiling water or hot milk.

 

I usually make my hot chocolate with half water, half milk.  If it’s an extra special occasion, I’ll use chocolate milk (highly recommended).

I made some mix for me, but had run out of candy canes so I added a drop or two of peppermint extract, and it was delish!

I love a good hot chocolate, and this is by far better than the instant kind you buy at the grocery store.  It’s rich and chocolatey, and I didn’t find it too sweet.  A gourmet hot chocolate made by you!

 

 

Happy gifting!

 

Technorati Tags: diy Christmas gifts,homemade hot chocolate

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