He didn't melt!

I think he is adorable! Actually looking forward to finishing the other five - might be hard to give them all away. I also think that I will continue doing the blanketstitch after everything is ironed down - it became obvious that if I had of blanketstitched each piece separately that the stitching would have shown through and been lumpy looking through the next layer.

If he was just a little taller and there was a tree and some other stuff beside him . . . Oh, well that will have to wait for another day. Because the quilt group has chosen the size to be only 6x6 finished it kinda limits what can be added to block. Doesn't mean I can't image what if . . .

And, by the way, my little Princess Mysty is just fine! Turns out after all that worrying that she only has a bladder infection and will be on some medication for 10 days. You have to wonder why the vet needed to do so many tests that cost so much to just find this out. The only good thing about all those tests is that the vet says Mysty is in really good shape for a cat her age, so there are no concerns with her health . . . thank goodness!

This little illness has thrown a slight curve into our holiday plans though. We were supposed to be heading for the city lights (Winnipeg) on Sunday to help my daughter with a bathroom renovation. Now someone, or both of us, need to stay home and administer the medication. I'll send Randy to Winnipeg and Mysty and I will catch up on a bunch of designing and sewing projects . . . what a great idea! It is supposed to be really hot next week, so what better place to be than in the basement - that would be my dream holiday! A week off from work and doing what "I" want to do . . . heaven!

I'll keep you posted . . .

This heat . . . could melt a snowman!

Holy Mac! Has it been hot and humid here? You betcha! Too hot to think much about anything.

My little Princess (Mysty) had to make a quick trip to the Vet yesterday morning, so it was a very stressful day waiting to hear back on some tests they were doing. Turns out the tests won't be back until this afternoon sometime . . . still worrying. They did let her come home though - after I coughed up $351.00! Wow . . . now I'm hot and broke. Here's a picture of my baby (she's almost 15). We love her to bits.

I did manage to get down to the basement on Sunday and started on my Snowman blocks - this is my prototype so far.

I always have trouble deciding when to do the blanket stitching - each layer separately or after it's all pressed down. I'll try it "all pressed down" first and then see how it looks - might be neater if I do it in layers. I was anxious to see how it looked put togehter.

I think this little guy is a cutey but I'm sure I'll be sick of him by the time I finish six of them. The little sign he is holding is lots of fun to make - I pencilled in the letters on a piece of white paper, cut it out the exact size of the sign shape, pinned it down and then using the quilt stitch on my machine I carefully stitched around the letters. I'm happy with the results! The lettering on my machine was too small and I don't like the way it strings itself together - this is much cleaner and bigger.

Please don't melt on me . . .

Still dreamin' . . .

Hello there! What a busy week it has been so far - all to do with the "paying" job, though. Haven't gotten a thing done on any of my quilting or other projects. This weekend we have absolutely nothing planned - so I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to get busy on at least some of the ideas rolling around in my head.

I did get to pick my son's brain when he was home last weekend - but only briefly. I did find out that I'm not as far ahead on one of my projects as I thought I might be. Back to the drawing board on some of that.

I have the little stack of "snowmen" fabric laid out - just waiting for me to make a decision as to how I'm going to use it. This will be my inspiration picture for the week! For me at least. Because no one in my quilt group knows what anyone else will be using for colors or prints, it's going to make it very interesting to see the finished quilts. With the theme only being stars and snowmen, I'm really hoping that that will limit some people from using wild colors - my choices so far seem to be leaning towards reds, blues, that really neat purpley one on top (it's called "Crazy Daisies" by The Buggy Barn - looks more like stars to me!) and of course different whites - the two shown in the photo do have a tiny white print on them. Most of the blocks I'm thinking of doing so far are appliqued or have alot of applique on them, so scraps of other colors will also be incorporated into the scheme. Can't wait to get started!

Need to go look for that time I need . . .

Pound, Pail and Paddle Day

What a wonderful day yesterday! The weather was beautiful, not too hot with a nice gentle breeze - perfect for sitting on the waters edge and watching the antics in the water.

These two pictures, of course, are examples of what is not supposed to happen on the way to the finish line.

These guys built some pretty sturdy boats and were able to make it through a few different races without having to walk it across the finish line. The river was a little shallow in spots and there were a few guys that weighed just a bit too much and ended up stuck on the bottom.

The local Lions Club hosts the Rubber Duck Races to raise money for different projects. Each ticket you buy has a number corresponding to a number on one of the ducks. The little cuties are all thrown in the water at the starting line and, with a little bit of herding, one, two and three eventually cross the finish line. This photo shows the herd heading towards the finish line - once again ours didn't make it to the end - I'm hoping 2008 will be the year!

As promised . . .

Here are my little sketches for the snowman blocks that I MIGHT use. It's always hard to tell until you actually start cutting up the fabric and trying to put it back together. There are actually five drawings there, but you can only see parts of four. Not sure what I'll do for the other two months - stars, maybe. I really like snowmen though!

Well, today has nothing to do with snowmen! Today is our town's annual "Pound, Pail, and Paddle" day. Wawanesa is located in a valley and is completely surrounded (on three sides) by the Souris River. So for quite a number of years they have a parade, social, roast beef supper and sell boat packages. Now these boat packages consist of all the same materials, usually plastic, barrels of some kind, other miscellaneous materials and of course some wood. It is usually teams that purchase the packages and they have from 9 a.m. to 12 Noon to build the perfect boat. It goes without saying that some of these creations are quite unique and do not float for very long. That's the fun part!

At 1:00 p.m. they start the competition to find out who's boat can make it to the finish line - each boat has two members of the team (one pailing out the water and one paddling) plus they have to switch positions in the boat 1/2 way through the course. They even have a "powder puff" where the girls/women try their hand at making it the finish line in one of the boats that will still float. I hate that term "powder puff" - sounds so neanderthal.

Weather sounds great . . . the beer garden will be open - should be a good day!

Plus my son (Brennan, almost 21) is home from Winnipeg. Hope to have him help me out on one of my projects - he's taking Graphic Design and I need to pick his brain about a few things.

Have a great weekend! (I'll post some "boating" pictures on Monday)

Never a dull moment . . .

As with anything new - it takes some time to learn and get all the crinkles out of the system. This is what I'm finding with setting the different views on the page and also trying to insert pictures into the blog. Some seem to work and others it doesn't matter how many times you try - they just refuse!

Well . . . looking around this sewing room indicates a lack of focus lately (this photo was taken when things weren't quite so crazy). Wow! Do I need to spend some time organizing projects or what?

The quilt on the wall was a "garden" themed challenge last year with my quilt group in Brandon. I call it my happy quilt because I learned lots and lots of new techniques and managed to incorporate all kinds of things from my garden - the drunkards path (we won't go into detail on that one); birdhouses, one of my cats, dragonflies, a vase of garden flowers and just lots of happy flowers. I told my husband (Randy) that I was going to hang it in the bedroom and he told me it could go under the bed! So it's in my sewing room instead.

Anyway, the group has decided that the project for this year would be to split into groups (those that wanted to) and do a block exchange. To add even more fun to the project, my particular group has decided to only do snowmen and stars . . . two of my very favorites. So for the past month or so I have been pulling out magazines for inspiration and doodling like mad - the gals in my group will expect something original - not just a pattern out of a magazine! There are six of us in the group and we are doing it for seven months - so what does that work out to . . . I need to make six blocks of seven different designs - 42 blocks. Plus an extra one or two to use for a charity quilt that we'll put together at the end. So the pressure is on - my daughter, Candace (23) and I have already been shopping for some nice background fabrics and snowmen/star fabric. Can't wait to get started, but, wait . . . the place is a mess! I'll post some of my doodles in the next few days - let me know what you think!

This is a new pattern of mine that needs to hit the market soon! I used Benartex

"Shadow Play" fat quarters for it and I thought it turned out quite nice. Fun to put together too - not difficult, just fun!

Really an easy pattern to make bigger or smaller - can't wait to give this one a try in pastel florals and bigger blocks - I think it would be spectacular! Oops! I'd need more time for that, right?

Talk to you soon . . .

Welcome to Sipiweske Designs!

I've been visiting quite a number of blogs lately and thought - Why not give this a try! So here I am wondering what to say. First things first - introduce myself and my quilt design business.

I am a quilt designer in Manitoba, Canada. I work full-time at a government job and would love to work full-time at quilt and fabric design - what a goal, eh? I have been designing patterns for almost four years now and have made a couple of trips to Quilt Market and numerous other trade shows - always amazing to see the talent that is out there!

Over the next few weeks I'll post some of my current designs that are out and about in the world right now. I have also been practising with my camera and have some fantastic photos to share with you too. This is the ideal time to be a Manitoban! The crops are up out of the ground and looking great (so far), the weather is fantastic and the colors are breathtaking. I hope that some of the splendor will come across in my photos.

I do have some new projects underway - not ready to share with anyone just yet! I really do need more hours in the day.

Here is a quilt photo to start things off:

"Scrap Happy At Home" is the name of this little number. Different sizes of crazy patch blocks are paper pieced and sewn together. The house is fashioned after my own house (except the chimney of course!) I usually don't like to work with plaids, but I enjoyed this pattern so much I made four pillow tops. It would also make a nice lap size quilt using four or six of the blocks - more of the crazy patchwork would be nice.

I took this picture of a beautiful Hollyhock on Sunday. What a wonderful little star shape in the centre! Nature is amazing, isn't it?

If you stop by, please leave me a note - I'd love to know who is out there!

Until next time . . .