New Business Venture!!!

I have been selling my quilts and quilting related projects for close to 10 years now. I have also been teaching for 13 years. Comfort Cove Designs is also the name of my small business I have here at home. Although I have a full time Monday - Friday job, I love having this little business on the side! Well I have recently started a new venture and extension to my business. I now am into embroidery work. I have been working on Christmas inventory since January, but I wanted to get into something more year round. Well I found what I have been looking for .... BABY BLOOMERS!!!!!!!!!!! I have recently started embroidering ready made lace eyelet bloomers. So far the majority of my clients have wanted the bloomers personalized with the baby's names on the backside. Here are a few examples.





Tonight I made a lady bug bloomer for another customer. I just looooove how the lady bug turned out!!!!



Tonight I am also doing a few other samples of butterflies, and Princess themed designs. I am hoping within a week time to have my Etsy account set up and ready to sell my work there. I am also working on a Facebook Group. Once I have these in place I will post a message here for anyone who may be interested in ordering a cute bloomer for some sweet little girl they know. At the moment the size of the bloomers go from 0-6 months, 6-12 months and 12-18months. If you have any questions or comments about these bloomers, please do not hesitate to drop me an email or a comment and I would gladly get in touch with you!!! I will be shipping worldwide!

And on to other news.... I got back to my scrapbooking last night! My friend Crystal and I have decided to attend a scrapbook crop night once a month at a local scrapbooking store. We had so much fun last night working on our babys' scrapbooks!!!! I managed to get the first two themed pages completed last night. I am currently working on my pregnancy photos.





I also got back to working on my scrapbook recipe binders. I hauled my Fish/Pasta/Rice binder out this morning and while William was napping I managed to get a few pages done. Here are a few examples. Since I didn't have much time to sew this weekend, I did still manage to keep with the Pink Themed Scrap Saturdays through the Rainbow Scrap Challenge only it was with scrapbooking paper instead of fabrics!!! Hey it's still pink and I used pieces of pink scraps!!!!





So that is how I am justifying!!! :) oooh does it also count that I am drinking a pink grapefruit carbonated fruit beverage right now???? :) lol how about that I used a piece of scrap muslin and stitched out a cute butterfly for potential bloomers???



Well its already 12:30am and I am zonked!!!! I am off to bed to get some zzzzzzzz. Tomorrow I hope to stitch out a couple more bloomer design ideas and work on a few more recipe pages. I also have to stitch out a sample bloomer for a gal at work who had an idea for a design. I will get that completed and take it with me to the office on Monday.

Quiltingly Yours
Andrea

End of Maternity Leave

Sigh.... its been a little over a year between sick leave and maternity leave. Today is my last full day home before I head back to my full time job. Its been quite an eventful year between being a Mom to an AMAZING and funny little boy and my health up and down like a yo yo!!! How fast did the time go at all!!! I remember when I finished my last day of work on March 26th of last year. I thought to myself, "self... you got yourself a nice long year ahead of you"!!! HA!!! yeah RIGHT!!!! with the blink of an eye it was gone!!! Back to reality tomorrow!!! I will miss being with my little boy terribly, but I must join the ranks with many of the other working Moms out there and get working again. I am looking forward to the adult interaction again!!! Although I forewarned them that I will probably be driving them all nuts with my silly children's songs I have been singing the last year!!! LOL

So I finished the pink project on Saturday night!!! Here it is!!!


Tidy Bags with matching large pin cushions!!



I loved it so much I actually made a second set to keep for myself! I hope to have the little pressie packaged up and ready to send to my friend before the week is out. Apparently I hear Canada Post is in the negotiation process of a possible strike!!! Ugggh!!!! I sure hope not!! I have a few packages that I may be sending out very soon!!! This couldn't come at a worse time!

On my last day off with my boy, he decided this morning to keep me up most of the night with his teething (poor little fella) and then decided he wanted to start his day at 5:30 this morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ugh!!!! He normally would wake up at 7..... I am going to be a victim by days end!!!! Hopefully I can get a little cat nap in at some point today.

Well on that note, it is 7:30am, and Trevor will be home in a half hour from working his overnight shift. Time to make a nice breakfast for us all.

Quiltingly Yours
Andrea

Scrap Saturday!!!

I am FINALLY going to take today as my Scrap Saturday again!!!! I had to take a few of those off the last month or so to play catch up on a few things before heading back to work next week. I am almost caught up!!!!

As part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month, I won't be making a quilt, but will be making some smaller projects. I don't have alot of pink fabrics, but after some searching, here is a little tease of what I will be using to make my little project.



I hope to complete it by this evening. Stay tuned!!! This is a little something special for a very very good friend of mine!!! You will know who you are soon enough missus!!! I know you read my blog regularly!! I hope to make a second one for myself!!! I think I will stitch up the second design right now.

Remember my February Red month Rainbow Scrap Challenge strippy quilt??? Well here it is!!!



It is FINALLY going on the machine to be quilted!!! I am free motion quilting this one too. There are 36 blocks to quilt in total. I can only do 6 at a time before my eyes get strained where it is against a white background and the design is a bit detailed.



I have 12 complete already. I will do another 6 this evening.

I also have the teddy bear quilt quilted and the binding is on by machine on one side.



I will slip stitch the other side down by hand later. Binding is good work to do when there is a little 'ankle biter" running around and you can quickly drop it to run after the little man!!!

Well speaking of the little squirt. He is having lots of fun right now playing in my rubber maid containers of scraps and his toys, so I am going to take this time to do a little work down here in my sewing room!!!

Quiltingly Yours
Andrea

Last Week of Maternity Leave

I am on my last week of maternity leave. I head back to my full time job next Tuesday after the Victoria Long Weekend. I can't believe how fast this year went!!! I will miss being away from my boy all day long but I am also looking forward to being around adults again.





Although I'm sure they will have to get use to my singing all the silly songs I have been singing every day to my boy!!! lol I think I now know every theme song from every show on the Treehouse Children's TV channel!!! LOL

Along with spending time with my boy this week, I still have a few more things I really want to finish before work next week. I did finish the two mug rugs I am sending off to my two friends in Turkey.



I finished the binding on them last night. Tonight Trevor and I will get the care package set up and I will mail it off tomorrow.

This morning I will be layering the Teddy Bear quilt. Mum will look after William this morning so I can baste the quilt without worrying about a little boy walking over a pinned down quilt or sitting on pins and needles lol. Tonight I might try to get a start on the quilting. I would love to have this quilt finished by the end of the month and give to my friend and her little boy.

I miss posting regularly to my blog as I have been doing the last few months, but I know I will again very soon! I haven't been able to post messages on my favourite blogs either lately.

Well I'm off to baste a quilt!!!

Quiltingly Yours
Andrea

Latest Play Things in the Sewing Room

I am working hard at getting a few things off my list before heading to work in another week's time. The past few days I have been playing with a little baby quilt I am making a good friend of mine for her little 4 month old boy.



I finished the top last night around 11:30. Here is a little sneak peek of the quilt. It is approximately 54" x 54". It will be a nice play quilt or a cute snuggle quilt when he is older when lying on the couch cuddling with Mommy and Daddy. I just loooooooove the colour combination with this quilt and had sooo much fun making the teddy bear faces. I found the quilt kit on the Connecting Threads website. I just loooooooooooooooove that website and have done a bit of damage to my bank account on this site!! lol

Here is another little something I have been working on with my embroidery machine. I am making these little mug rugs to add to a care package that Trevor and I are sending to our friends Sinan and his wife Ulku in Turkey.



Sinan and I were penpals many moons ago. I met him when I was 21 years old when I travelled by myself to Turkey to visit him and another friend of mine Pelin. Sinan lives in Istanbul, and my girlfriend Pelin lives in Ankara. I spent 2 glorious amazing weeks in that country and just fell in love with the whole culture, food, sounds, history and sooooooooooooooooooooo much more!!! I am DETERMINED to go back to that country again. I can't WAIT for the day when I do!!!!!

Tonight I plan to complete the mug rugs and get them layered and quilted. We want to send the care package off in the mail before the end of the weekend.

Speaking of mug rugs... I am involved in another mug rug swap here at Leona's Quilting Adventure!!! I had fun the last time with her first mug rug swap, I just HAD to get involved again!!!! While I make this one, I will make a little one for William. It will be more of a smaller version of a placemat though as he needs his own little mat at the dinner table. I will make it with frog fabrics and embroidered design as he loves frogs!

My next goal is to get the red strippy quilt quilted. This is a quilt I made back in February during the "red"themed month in February with the Rainbow Quilt Challenge.

Well it is almost 10am here and I have to get myself ready to run a few errands this morning and afternoon. My first one being a dental appt. to get a cleaning. Chat again soon!!!

Quiltingly Yours
Andrea

Wild and Crazy Week!!

Whew!!!! What a week!!!! I have been insanely busy since before William's birthday party last week that I haven't had much chance to go online let alone blog!!!! The next two weeks will probably be just as busy as I have 2 weeks remaining before I head back to work full time. This was a wild and crazy yet fun year between raising a sweet little boy for his first year and being very very sick myself. Despite being sick most of the past year, I have enjoyed every single precious second with my little boy during my maternity leave. But now it is time to start the next chapter of my life and get back to work.

In the next 2 weeks I have a few more doctor's appts, a dentist appt., an appt. to set up for William for his 1 year old needles and check up. Not to mention a pile of phone calls to make!!!! I also want to finish up a few more things in my sewing room.

This past week, I managed to complete a few more sets of embroidered Christmas bathroom towel sets, bind two more sets of Christmas placemats, make two baby bunting bags for my boy,


cut out two more mug rugs and have them embroidered for my friends in Turkey we are sending a care package to.

I also worked in the kitchen making cakes and cookies and nibblies for William's birthday party we had here at the house last Saturday, April 30th. I made a carrot cake for the gang at work. (I took William into the office on his birthday, Friday the 29th to pass out cake), I made William's birthday cake he would have himself at his party,




(Something tells me he liked his cake)!!


(the birthday loot)!!!

as well as a cake for all his guests. I also made mini eclairs, cheese dips, stuffed brie wrapped in puff pastry, vanilla cupcakes,



a big pot of slow cooker chili, and other nibblies.

I really hope despite all the work and things to get done before going back to work I will work harder at my blog! I hate being away from my blog and reading up on all my friend's blogs too!!! Once I return to work, my time will be limited to evenings after bambino is down for the night and my weekends. I plan to stuff in as much as possible during the times including my blogging!!!!!! I am a queen of multitasking!!!!! lol

And although there is only 5 more minutes to the end of the day, I do want to wish all of you Mom's, new moms and moms to be a VERY HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!! I had a really nice day myself. I got to have a beautiful sleep in (thank you sweetie)!!! William and Trevor gave me some beautiful clothes, I got to have some play time with my little boy, and then Trevor and William went to Nanny and Poppy Best's house for supper and I got to spend some nice quiet quality time with my Mum and enjoy a nice supper together. It was a very nice and relaxing day. I am soooo lucky and blessed to be the Mommy to one super duper amazing little boy!!!!!!





Quiltingly Yours
Andrea