Blogger's Quilt Festival

 It's been about 8 1/2 months since I last blogged.  On August 25th, 2011, we welcomed the newest addition to our family, Julianna Gabriella Zito, weighing 5lbs 4 oz.  Life has been so busy but so wonderful with little Julianna!  I haven't been paper crafting very much but have been sewing up a storm! I may have to start another blog for that......

Today I'm sharing a quilt I made for the Missouri Star Quilt Co. Iron Quilter Contest.  We had to use a special ingredient in our creations - at least one charm pack of Moda's Summer Breeze fabric.  I used 3 charm packs, Moda Snow White and Summer Breeze yardage.  The the pattern is "Sparkle" by Margot Languedoc of the Pattern Basket.  The finished quilt measures  71 x 79 inches. I had a such a fun time putting together this quilt before Christmas and thank goodness baby Julianna was super co-operative during it all! The quilt was longarmed locally by Nancy Renaud of the Quilt Fairy.

I definitely learned how to quilt under pressure and strengthened my chain piecing skills while working on this quilt! The quilt turned out beautifully and is one of my favourites!  I even came in 2nd place for the contest!  I'm submitting my quilt into Amy's Bloggers' Quilt Festival - Spring 2012!

Things With Wings Whimsical Art Dolls

I recently took an online art course at Willowing called Things With Wings! The class was super fun, the instructors Brianne and Anita are FANTASTIC and the dolls are adorable and come together easy with all of the awesome video tutorials, pdf's and instructions.

I made all 3 dolls, the Bee, Butterfly and Dragonfly.  My 2 girls Alexandra and Isabella have already claimed these dolls and have their orders in for another set so they each have one of each doll.

Willowing is such a fun and inspiring place!  Tam even featured me and my dolls this month on the site (Front page whoohoo) and Anita, one of the Things With Wings instructors has posted an article on her blog featuring my dolls!  Thank you ladies! These are the first dolls I have ever made and am so thrilled and honoured to receive such wonderful feedback from everyone!

You still have time to sign up and take the course!  You can get all the details here!  Also, Things With Wings #2 is currently in the making and if you take the 1st course you will be eligible for a discount on the 2nd course!

Art Freckles Holiday Hostess Gifts Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Art Freckles Holiday Hostess Gifts Blog Hop! You should have arrived at my blog from Linda's blog, if not, please begin the hop at the Art Freckles blog!

I have two gift ideas to share with you for today's hop!

First up is a fun paper gift cone (the tutorial of which I found here on Splitcoast). Inside is filled with a yummy hot chocolate mix (enough for 4 mugs) with tons of marshmallows and chocolate chips!!! YUM!

Products used: AC dp, SU cs, punches and stamp, u/k brads and eyelet, SU ribbon, EK Success punch and CTMH organdy ribbon.

Next up is a sewing project (for those sewing enthusiasts) that I absolutely adore!!! The owner of one of our local craft stores had made some of these and of course I had to buy some fabric and try them out when she was nice enough to give me the tutorial link. You can find the tutorial here! I just love how cute these little Christmas tree napkins turned out and they are so quick and easy to make! I also made my circle template a bit smaller than the tutorial (14 1/2 inches) so that I could get 3 napkins from a metre instead of just 2). Another perfect hostess gift!

Here's a peek at what they look like unfolded (both front and back)

Your next stop on today's hop is Shannon! I hope you're enjoying today's hop and getting inspired to make some fun hostess gifts to bring to your next holiday gatherings!

Kid's Slippers

I've been lacking in the blogging department lately, mainly because the girls and our new pup Butterball have been draining me LOL!

My friend Deb and I signed up for an open sewing class that starts in September so I thought I'd brush up on my stitching skills so I'm not too embarrassed! I'm hoping to make some cute clothes and get into quilting this winter.

Here are some slippers I made for the girls. I had to enlarge the pattern a bit on my copier so they would fit their growing feet but I absolutely love how cute they turned out! You can find the pattern for the slippers here! The slipper style is identical to a "Robeez" slipper and I also used leather for the soles so they wouldn't be slippery! The inside is lined with flannel and the cute fabric is "Rock N' Roses" by Beverlyann Stillwell.