Bayside Quilt + Quilts of 2017

Happy New Year!

The biggest thing I started in 2017 was my hobby of quilting.  It has brought me a lot of joy through learning a new skill and working on different projects throughout the year.  I made my first "cheater" quilt in May 2017, and have worked on building my hobby from there!

I finished up the Bayside Quilt on New Year's Eve, making for 20 finished sewing/knitting/quilting projects in 2017 and the 9th quilt finish in the last six months!

The Bayside Quilt pattern is from Suzy Quilts and I totally copied her Christmas version using Cotton + Steel Noel fabrics.  I love the bright, modern feel to it...especially the sweaters on the back!

The pattern for this quilt can be found here.  It was a super quick quilt top to put together and can look really different depending on what fabrics are used.

Here's a little round up of the last nine quilts I finished in 2017... (two throw sized and seven wall hangings)...

1. Schoolhouse quilt
2. Vintage Tulips
3. Like Riding a Bike
4. Spools
5. Cornerstone quilt
6. Merrily Jolly wall quilt
7. Merry Wreath
8. Cozy Cabins
9. Bayside quilt

I am excited to see what projects 2018 will bring, especially now that I treated myself to a new Husqvarna Viking sewing machine for Christmas!  

Our Christmas

Christmas 2017 has come and gone in a flash.  We had a perfect family Christmas together.  The kids are at such fun ages, and I know the years to come will be just as fun.  Here are a few pictures of our Christmas Eve unwrapping night at home.  I love their matching Hanna Andersson pj's!

Maris didn't need ANY help unwrapping gifts this year.  She was all over it.  I tried to follow the "4 gift rule" (something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read), but they ended up each getting 5 presents.  Still, knowing that there were gifts to come from each set of grandparents, it cuts down on the amount of new things!

Ari's BIG, number 1 exciting gift was his excavator!  He had wanted one so bad.  We even wrote Santa to ask for it!  His reaction opening this one was priceless.

Maris' big gift was her shopping cart with play food.  They also got a cash register from grandparents, so they are all set to play store.

Still happy Christmas morning, when we opened up stockings.  I love these two little people so much!  They make Christmas so much more fun!

Merry Christmas

From our family to yours, wishing you joy, hope and peace as you celebrate Christmas this season.

With love,

The Loewen | 2017

The Most Wonderful Time of Year

Yesterday marked the first day of December, the most wonderful time of year (other than the end of June, of course ;). Christmas is always a special season.  Here are a few ways we want to make the most of it...

• Decorate the tree
• Build a gingerbread train
• Write a letter to Santa (try to get the kids to visit him, too)
• Attend the school Christmas concert
• Read Christmas stories
• Drink egg nog, tea and other spiced drinks
• Have many gatherings with friends and family
• Watch our favourite Christmas movies
• Volunteer for Christmas Cheer
• Go out and see the Christmas lights around town
• Enjoy displays in local shops
• Craft ornaments with Ari
• Enjoy two weeks holidays at home with the family
• Celebrate the reason for the season; Jesus' birth!

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Image 1 / Image 2

Christmas Quilting Projects

With the snowfall that has accumulated over the last couple of days I have been in full on Christmas spirit!  I had already made two Christmas wall hanging quilts, but I have finished up a couple other small projects this week too!  Here's a look at my Christmas projects...

Merry Wreath mini quilt using a Christmas charm pack.

Gingiber Jolly wall quilt using the Christmas animal panels.  I sewed the remaining three animals into pillows:

They turned out so cute!

I finally hung the Jolly quilt up in our back entrance -- I LOVE how it looks!  The wreath will go up in my classroom to spread some cheer over there.

I also started playing around with my accumulation of fabric scraps and made myself a bright and cheery mug rug.  I was pretty inspired by @tinkerellen's #mugrugparade in making this.  It was so fun that I've started turning some Christmas scraps into gifts.....hint hint.

The Best of Fall -- October

I can't believe fall, and October, have flown by.  October began so beautifully, and ended with an early start to winter!  While we were all taken by surprise with the early snow, I feel like now that halloween has passed I can get into the full swing of the Christmas spirit!  Here are a few highlights from our last month...

 Ari was in his first bike race!  He raced on his runner bike and did AWESOME!

 Maris is getting so grown up.  She started walking at the end of September, so October was full of exploring the world on her own two feet.

 We had some beautiful weather at the beginning of the month -- gorgeous fall days.

 I visited the Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg on a day off.  Gorgeous building!

 My sister took me to the Back Alley Arctic art walk in her neighbourhood.  Really cool!

I had a birthday this month and got to go out for a few amazing meals!  This was at Segovia Tapas Bar in Winnipeg.

 Snow!!  Time to find parkas and boots and all that fun stuff.

We ended the month with a fun night of trick or treating around our neighbourhood.  Ari had planned his costume since August (vampire) and had also wanted mom and dad to dress as a vampire and witch, so we happily obliged!

Cornerstone Quilt

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of the things I am most thankful for this year (other than my family, of course) is that I have a new hobby that brings me JOY.  I love working on quilt projects!  With the extra time off this weekend I was able to finish the Cornerstone Quilt project that has been keeping me busy for about one month.  This was a quilt kit from Craftsy and is available here.

The finished quilt size is 51" x 59" -- the largest quilt I have completed so far.  I was definitely feeling like I needed a bigger, better sewing machine while I was quilting this one!

I have not yet learned any free motion quilting, so I am sticking to straight lines for the time being.  They go with my modern taste anyway!  I used pink Aurifil thread for the quilt top and white for the bobbin to match the backing.

I love how it turned out.  I actually changed the pattern a bit to make it more scrappy looking than what was originally intended.

My new quilt is keeping me warm while I write this blog post, and will all winter long.  The Cornerstone quilt pattern and Dreamfield fabric kit is from Craftsy and can be found here.