5 Great ideas for New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year!!

This year I've decided to make some DIFFERENT New Year's resolutions. More of a to-do list than a list of resolutions. Of course I'm going to try to eat better and exercise more but I'm also going to focus on some other types of self improvements. Here is my list of 5 great ideas for New Year's resolutions.

1. Take a class. 

I love using my digital SLR camera but I have to admit that I REALLY don't know how to use it past shooting in auto mode. I got a tripod for Christmas, so I've signed myself up for a Craftsy photography course. I signed up for Product Photography at Home but there are TONS of other courses in a variety of subjects. Find one that you will love to take!

2. Drink more tea. 

Ok - I'll admit it, I love coffee and I have one every morning. But tea has so many health benefits that I want to try to drink it more often. I also have a wonderful selection of Davids Tea - and got a great gift pack for Christmas!!

3. Spend more time hand stitching and less time on my iPad. 

I, like many other people, LOVE my iPad and I spend a lot of time on it playing games, checking email and looking at Facebook. Most of this time is pretty unproductive, so this week I'm going to put together some hand stitching projects to work on. This way when I realize that I've been getting too much screen time I can pull one out and get stitching.

4. Read more.

This one also goes along with reducing screen time. I have a PILE of unread magazines and a shelf full of unread novels just waiting for me to put down the screen and curl up on the couch with a cup of tea and a good read.

5. Create with friends.

This one may be the best one of the year!! In February I'll be heading to Nellie's quilt retreat AND starting this month Nellie and I will be welcoming students to our new Quiltworks Studio where we will be offering workshops in Art Journalling, fabric embellishments, hand stitching, papercrafting and MORE!!! I can't wait!!

Stitching a cute little sunflower pincushion

52 Week UFO Challenge - Project #38

Sometimes the simplest things are the ones that never get done and this UFO project certainly falls into this category!! 

After finishing my "Woolen Sunflowers" table runner YEARS ago, I had one extra sunflower than I spray basted to a circle of black wool, intending to make it into a pincushion.

The little project lived in the bottom of my hand stitching project bag forever, but I have finally finished it! And it only took about 1 hour of hand stitching and some batting.

I think it's pretty cute! 

Cross Canada by Train

Two summers ago Mike and I took the train from our hometown of Brockville to Halifax Nova Scotia. The scenery was amazing and our time down East was lovely.

Ever since then, Mike has wanted to take the train to British Columbia. He had never been more west than Thunder Bay and had never seen the mountains! It was definitely on his "bucket list" to get to the West Coast by train.

He wanted to take the train both ways, but with it being a 4 day trip, I convinced him to conquer his fear of flying and to fly to Vancouver and take the train back to Brockville. It took A LOT of medication to get him on that plane, but once we were on our way, he was just fine!!

While in Vancouver, we took in the sights of Stanley Park, Granville Island (where I even found a quilt shop!), Gastown and the Capilano suspension bridge.

Gastown Clock

The Olympic Cauldon

The flowers at Stanley Park

Totem poles at the Capilano suspension bridge

We boarded the train on Friday night at 8:30pm and woke up the next morning in Kamloops. By that afternoon we were in the mountains!!

Pyramid Falls

Sunday morning brunch (and all the other meals) was amazing!! And during the four days I had ample time to read, play games on my iPad and OF COURSE, do some stitching!!

Eggs Benedict for Sunday brunch 

Hand stitching on the train

 Now that we are back home, it is back to work for me!! But if you have the chance to see this beautiful country by train, we HIGHLY recommend it!!

52 Week UFO Challenge - Project #12 - Hexagon Table runner

LAST March I started sewing 1" hexagons together by hand just so I would have something to work on while I was on vacation in Florida. Last August I posted some Tips for Hand Sewing Hexies and now FINALLY I am finishing my hexagons into a table runner.

One of the reasons that it took so long to finish this project was that I really wasn't sure HOW to finish it. I didn't want to bind around all of those corners and I didn't want to cut off any other edges to make the sides straight. Finally I thought of a solution - I would appliqué the hexagons to a background fabric. After trying a few different ones, I decided on a Stonehenge light grey.

My finished hexagons previewed on a grey background.

The next step was to remove all of the hexagon templates from the back of the pieced runner. First I pressed the piece really well to make sure that the edges were nice a crisp.

The hexagon templates.

Popping out the hexagon templates.

The templates have all been removed.

The next step was to use my 505 Spray to spray the back of the entire piece and then to centre it onto the grey background.

The back of the hexagons sprayed with 505 Spray.

After the hexagons were stuck to the background I stitched around the outside of entire piece to secure it to the background.

Stitching the hexagons to the background.

 My next step was to layer the background with batting and a backing. I then used my walking foot to quilt straight lines down the entire quilt.

Close-up of the quilting lines.

Straight line quilting with my walking foot.

I wanted to add a little bit of the teal to the binding, so I decided to try out the Magic Binding tutorial that I found online. That little extra teal was just what I wanted!!

The magic binding!

Here it is! The finished table runner! I just love how it turned out and now I'm thinking of other ways to appliqué pieced hexagons to backgrounds!!! And wouldn't you know it...I have MORE hexagons left so I guess that means another UFO :)

The finished hand pieced hexagon table runner.

Getting organized for the 52 Week UFO Challenge

I've been looking over my projects and have sorted them into hand sewing projects and machine sewing projects. I love to have something to hand stitch while I'm watching TV so I've gone through the projects that need hand stitching to complete and have assembled the required buttons/threads/backings/tongues etc. Each of the projects is now in a separate baggie in a basket that will sit beside my favourite chair. When I have a few minutes to spare I can get working on them!!

My basket with projects assembled

Tips for sewing hexies by hand

Whenever I go away on vacation, I ALWAYS take along a hand sewing project. There is always down time while we are on vacation, and it is so nice to have something to work on while we are watching TV at night or driving in the car. The added bonus is that when the project is finished it will remind you of your time on vacation!

When I headed to Florida this past March I decided to take along 1 inch hexagons to hand stitch together. I had seen my friend Donna Taylor from Taylor Sewing Centre demonstrate how to use thes Mylar pieces from Brandy's and couldn't wait to try them out!! As luck had it, my Accuquilt hexagon die cut pieces that were PERFECT for using the templates. I used a stack of fat quarters that I bought from Kallisti Quilts  and cut a whack of hexagons to take along.

The hexagons are very easy to use. All you do is pin each Mylar template to the back of each fabric hexagon through the hole in the middle. You then fold over the edges and tack them down at each corner with a couple sticthes. 

                                        

Once all of the corners are tacked down, you can knot off your thread and stitch the next hexagon. To stitch the hexagons together, you just whip stitch the two edges together from the back.

                                                 

You can sew the hexagons together into rows and them stitch the rows together using the same whip stitching method. 

Months later I'm still working on this project. I took it to Blue Mountain with us this week and managed to add a few more rows. I think it will be a tablerunner when I am done, but who knows, I may just keep on sewing until it's a lap quilt!!