Kitty for my cuties

Do you have Hello Kitty fans in your life ? I do. 3 of them: Bug and her  2 cousins. . I'm guilty for part of it. My sister may not be super happy about this but my nieces will be thrilled with the little bags I whipped up for them (and the Hello Kitty goodies I put in them)

I found the fabric in the remnant bin at JoAnn's

and pulled some red satin from my stash for the bows and lining

They are so cute. Bug certainly would like one too. I almost want one for myself :) 

Satin flowers ear warmers

 In case you were wondering... Yes,  I still make satin flower any occasion I get but you would probably get tired of seeing them all the time. With winter right around the corner, I figured a different way to use the unending supply: Instead of headbands, brooches and barrettes I made some cosy and chic ear warmers! I made quite a few but I still have some many fabric flowers I'm going to need other ideas ... Since I can't stop making them :)

Bug really liked the one with the pink flowers... the color is perfect for her

And Amie picked out the grey and yellow ... What a surprise...

Merry (early) Christmas Amie!

Creepy crawlies wreath

Bug has started talking about Hallowen. A LOT. Everyday, she has been telling me it's tomorrow. And everyday I have to explain again that there is still a while to go. But hey, we can start decorating right ?

I pulled out  last year's felt pumpkin and will be making a couple more 

 I already had that foam pipe insulation Amie and I bought at Home Depot a couple of weeks ago. Another stash dive yielded perfect colors for Halloween out of my pile of Kona Solids and a baggie of plastice spiders that I bought last year on clearance. And that's how this Halloween wreath came together...

So after braiding another wreath, my glue gun got some action gluing all the creepy crawlies.

A lot of them ...

And for once I was not worried at all about the hot glue "strings".. they add to the result in this case.

Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt - Finished and delivered

Terrrible oversight on my part: I neglected to share the finished "Very Hungry Caterpillar" quilt. This has been such a pleasure to work on it, not only because it has been a labor of love and a needed distraction while I was not feeling well but also because Bug and I adore the story, the images and I love colors, bright, bold colors. This was the perfect project for me You can see the earlier stages of the quilt here and here.

I finished it just in time to deliver it myself to my then very pregnant cousin Sophie in Provence

Bright and cheerful, it will keep her sweet child warm and cuddly.

I bound the quilt with a very plain white fabric with aqua polka dots and kept the quilting very simple 

Just in the ditch and some cross lines around the edges

And of course the outline of the butterfly and the caterpillar

Sophie liked it a lot! 

That day she also received the  translation of Eric Carle's adorable book so she could tell the story to her baby.

Barely 2 weeks later,  Sophie, her husband and the whole family welcomed sweet Chloé to the world

Unfortunately after we returned home. I will have to wait until our next trip to hold little Chloé. In the meantime, the quilt I made for her will have to make do.

Kanzashi update

I haven't shown any of my fabric flowers in a long time. I still make Kanzashi  ... and they are still getting smaller.  To give you an idea on how much smaller, I've photographed one of my first Kanzashi blooms with some of the latest. 

I don't think I can get much smaller at this point but I'm still trying different styles and improving on my folding technique. Yes that's a quarter...

Fabric heaven - the loot

I finally got around to taking pictures of some of the fabric I brought back in my suitcase. I was a good girl. Most of it was on sale.

This is the one Bug picked. I will be making a bed set with it

 

Those two came down to $5 for a total of 6 yards 

And these two $5 for 2 yards

Not bad

My mom also took me to this Provence fabric store where I had the hardest time deciding what to get. That is until I saw this raspberry and lime print that I bought for Joan and Trish.

 And for me .. a more conservative grey that I will use for table linens

 

No more fabric purchases for a while now though... I'm stashbusting

Fabric heaven

During our vacation, I could not resist a little shopping expedition. My mom took me to this fabric heaven a few miles from her place. Let's face it, if I lived this close to this store my stash problem would be way worse than it currently is...

Imagine your local JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby store surface, with ONLY fabrics, all in wide bolts 55" or wider. HUGE

Great selections of florals and kid prints

Cheerful stripes and fruity prints

So many lovely damasks

Bolts and bolts of solids

Ribbon and trims galore

And a second floor just for window treatments and upholstery fabrics

Heaven !!

I picked up a few yards of fabric for Bug and found a couple larger remnants that were not tagged, which the store manager sold me for $1.50 Euro (about $2) a piece, some are 3+ yards long. What a great bargain!!!

Trading posts - Grey and yellow ... clutch

As usual when Amie (Kitty Cats and Airplanes) and I meet to craft it was a lot of fun. We had nothing planned ahead this time around, apart from a color scheme: grey and yellow. It's one of Amie's favorite color combinations (if not THE favorite). As usual, we put together our stashes and skills and came out with some really cool crafts. 

First Amie showed me how to make her sweet envelope clutch. I had this great floral brocade that was just perfect for the projects. And to jazz them up, I showed Amie the kanzashi folding technique and we made some matching flowers mounted on pins. 

A little faux-nacre snap for the closure

Lined in a matching yellow satin, with a little pocket

Here is mine

And this one is Amie's

After that we transformed the floor of my studio into a bead explosion

I will show you the outcome in my next post

And yes we cleaned it all up after