"Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning, the devil says...."Oh crap! She's up!" Unknown

Monday, November 30, 2020

Baubles

 This fall I have gone in a direction that is so not me
and I am having so much fun with it.
I'm usually a pretty precise, organized quilter
who uses bright and fun fabrics, for the most part.
 
This fall I've been playing with ribbons and other trims, sequins, beads, 
yarns, and silk fabrics and have done a lot of hand work.

Now I have a pile of Baubles and I love them!


 
 
I found an online course taught by Isobel Moore
and started collecting things to make these fun little ornaments.  



The ribbons and trims are stitched down,
then some fun machine stitching happens,
and then the hand work is done, sewing on
beads and sequins.
 
 


Isobel teaches how to make fun trim to use for hanging the baubles.



 
These are my favorites!
Icy blues and silvers with a little white thrown in for contrast.
 





I've made three sets and have one more set to embellish and finish.
These have kept my hands busy and really pushed my creative juices
in a different direction. 
 
I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.
 
Happy Creating!




Friday, November 27, 2020

Stocking for Baby Girl

 With a new family member arriving at the end of the year,
I had to be prepared in case she arrives before Christmas.
That meant a Bucilla stocking needed to be made for her!
 
My daughter chose the kit and as of last night,
it's finished!
 
 
 
 
 
This Bucilla kit is called
"Santa's Workshop".
It took a while to make because of all of the
little parts and pieces on it,
but I love the finish.
 
 


Once again, the detail in these kits
is amazing.  Just follow the directions
and you won't go wrong.



This bear is just too cute!



  

All of the little pieces across the top would make really cute ornaments.
It's fun how they are all hanging there as Santa finishes them.  :)



the stocking can be stuffed to the gills
with little trinkets and treats.
Once the quilted stocking is made,
I stitch the felt stocking to the front of this
and have a very sturdy stocking.
 
 


For this stocking I used the same fabric on the inside
as I used on the outside.

This stocking will be given to my daughter for her home.
Next I will make a stocking for Baby Girl for my home.
I have a stocking for all of us at my house, too.
This way I can make more stockings and if they are here
for Christmas, they don't have to bring their stockings with them.
(They live across the country from us.)
Finding treasures for the stockings is what I love doing most.
I'd rather do that then purchase gifts.
 
Happy Quilting!
 

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Ellie for Baby Girl

 My first grandchild will arrive at the end of the year
or into 2021 and she's a girl!
My daughter requested that I make an "Ellie" quilt
for Baby Girl's own quilt.
I made a quilt for the nursery, but she wanted one for
Baby Girl to have as her own.

Twist my arm!

I had made Ellie once before for a grand niece
and enjoyed the process.  I did learn some things
and made this one differently.

Shopping was necessary to get the color fabrics my
daughter requested.
Then the fun began.


Meet Ellie!



I did not use any fusible on Ellie,
but cut each piece from freezer paper and
machine appliqued them in place.



It was fun picking the fabrics for Ellie
and deciding what piece would be used where.






I hadn't planned on making the border like this,
but did not like the fabric I had for it.
This idea came to me and I love it!





Each section is quilted differently
and Ellie has a gray meander all over her.


 
 
 The backing fabric is Kaffe's Wisteria
(I think!).
 
 
While I was quilting the border areas,
I decided to quilt little messages into the quilt.
They are hardly noticeable,
but I know they are there
and are part of the whispered prayers said while
the quilting was being done.
 

 
 
JOY


BLESS


LOVE


All that is needed is the label,
which will be made after Baby Girl's arrival.
 
This will be wrapped and ready for delivery!
 
I'm linking to Design Wall Monday. 
Happy Quilting!

Monday, November 16, 2020

Finished Baubles

 If you are hearing crickets from my blog,
it's not because I'm not busy working on things in my
Hidey Hole.

It's because what I'm working on can't be shown yet.

A baby quilt for my granddaughter is in production
and I don't want my daughter to see it yet.
(She reads my blog!)

What I can show you are some finished baubles.
Last week I showed the pieces I had made
from which to cut the baubles.
I also had some baubles that I had embellished.

Now I have completed baubles!


 
These are so much fun to make and are quite addicting!



The online class I am taking, taught by Isobel Moore, shows us how to sew the fronts
and backs together while adding beads.
She also teaches us a fun way to make the braids for the hangers
that is very unique and makes beautiful ribbon braids.



The more embellishments,
the better.  :)



I love the purple with the orange and pink.
(There are some stray threads that need to be cut!)


 
Using different ribbons and trims
adds so much to these fun ornaments.
I'm really getting to use a lot of the stitches
on my sewing machine, too.



The next set is ready for embellishing.
I LOVE this combination of silks,
trims and ribbons.



These are some of the fun stitches on my sewing machine.



Silver metalic rick rack... can't go wrong with that!




I love this mesh ribbon I found, too.

Let the fun continue!

Happy Quilting!

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Baubles

 Things have not been the same in my Hidey Hole lately.
Instead of piles of fabrics being cut into various size pieces,
I have strips of ribbons, trims and a few fabrics
being sewn with sequins, beads and fun stitches.

I am making Baubles and they are addictive!


 
 

Strips of fabrics and trims are sewn to the background
and then embellished.
 



The back of the piece looks so cool after all of the
stitching is done!




Another colorway is sewn.
I even used some Kaffe in both of these!  :)


 
Shapes are cut and the embellishing continues
with beads and sequins.



Next is to stitch this to the backing and finish it.


 

 
These haven't had the beads and sequins added yet.






I am having so much fun making these!!
Hopefully soon I'll be back to quilting,
but I'm enjoying the diversion.

Happy Creating!

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Birds on a Wire

 With so many babies being born in the next several months,
I've been on the lookout for baby quilts to make.
We have boys and girls coming in the extended family,
so I need quilts for both genders.

While on a quilt shop website,
I found this pattern and knew I had to order it!
This quilt is so not my style of quilting,
but I love it!

AND it was a blast to make.



The pattern is called
"Bird on a Wire"
by Barbara Persing.
 



I didn't want the quilt to be stiff with so many applique pieces,
so I pulled out my copy of 
"Crafted Applique" by Lara Bucella
that came out a number of years ago.
She  uses Modge Podge instead of an iron on adhesive
and it works well.
 
 
 

 
It was fun choosing the fabric for the birds
and putting them together.



I've had this bird fabric in my stash for a while.
It was found by a friend at a local thrift shop!
 
 

Organic straight line quilting was sewn across the quilt
and the blue binding was added.

This quilt will go into the pile of quilts
waiting for babies.


Happy Quilting!