Hello 2015!!

Another year filled with plans and dreams begins.

Starting a new year is almost like a "do over."

What do I need to improve on this year...

what do I need to change....

what do I need to add to my life...

or take away...?

The possibilities are endless.

I started 2015 off sewing.

(shocking, I know!!)

See, I was SUPPOSED to be cleaning my sewing room.

And I was doing pretty well

Until...

I found a bin with partially constructed blocks

from several years ago. 

What's a quilter to do?

"It won't take long to sew these into a top and then

I can use this bin for something else!"

Well, a little over a day later we have this:

This block is Bonnie Hunter's "Crabapples" from 2007.

Several years ago I made a quilt with these blocks and had the

Checkerboard patches sewn together for more blocks.

A little paper piecing, cutting of setting triangles, sashing and cornerstones

and here we are.

Okay... Maybe NOW I'll get my sewing room cleaned!

Happy New Year

 and

 Happy Quilting!

Goodbye 2014

2014 has been a pretty productive year for me.

This year found me making a lot of little things

for my church's bazaar,

AND

I was able to add some bigger finishes to the list, too.

Here is a little collection of some of what went out from

my "Hidey Hole" in 2014.

I look at this collage and am so thankful for the

Multitudes of fabric and patterns available to us today.

I have a big project planned for 2015

and we will see if I can pull it off.

In order to do this, I am going to have to be

disciplined and organized

and not allow my quilting ADD to rule.

To help the process along,

Santa brought me a new toy for Christmas!

I don't know if this will help make the cutting faster,

but it should be more accurate.

It will be fun to play with this and see what comes forth.

For those of you who have the "Go"...

which dies do you tend to use the most?

May 2015 be filled with much joy, peace and good health

and may all of your quilting goals be met!

Happy New Year!!

One More Finish

There is one more finish to end my

2014 quilting adventure.

I had started this quilt a number of months ago

and had it quilted in October, I think!

I finally sewed the binding on yesterday

and finished the hand stitching this afternoon.

This quilt was a kit from one of my LQS's

and will be given away.
I just don't know to whom yet.
:)

The lighting was terrible when I tried to photograph
this quilt, so I have one photo of my daughter holding it up....

And another photo of part of the quilt on my design wall.

These are not my favorite colors to work with,
but I do like this quilt.

"Chocolate Blueberry Bows"

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what
others are quilting.


Happy Quilting!

Go Tell It on the Mountain...

... that Jesus Christ is Born.

Merry Christmas!

I pray that this day has been filled with

Peace, Joy and Hope

for you and for those you love.

" For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; 

and the government shall be upon his shoulder:

and his name shall be called

Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6-7

I also hope that

Santa was good to you

and brought your wonderful

 quilty things!

My daughter LOVED her

Christmas decoration gift.

Meet "Rudy"...

The Sock Monkey Reindeer.

Too cute!

 

 Many blessings to you and yours on this joyous day.

Merry Christmas!

Meet "Jingles"....

My best Girlfriend

LOVES Sock Monkeys.

I have to fight the urge to buy everything

"Sock Monkey" that I see.

When I saw the kit for

"Jingles"

I HAD to buy it and make it for her.

The construction was a bit of a pain,

but he turned out so cute.

He is ready to be gifted tomorrow.

I know my friend will love him.

Now my daughter wants one!

:)

I am making progress on the quilt from the pattern

I have been asked to test for

Jan at The Colorful Fabriholic.

I am LOVING this design!

This fabric is so much fun to work with on 

this design.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

May you find

Joy

in the holiday!

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what
others are creating.

Happy Quilting!

More Ornaments and Such

For a few weeks I have not been able to knit

because it is causing shoulder and arm pain.

The upside to this is I'm getting these

Ornaments made!

I had purchased the kits back in the spring and had not gotten them done.

HOHOHO

 

These guys were all in the same kit, along with the

Gingerbread Man I posted last week.

They go together pretty quickly and are so cute!

I have one more of each of these to finish.

Over the weekend I was able to work on the

Quilt I am testing for

Jan at The Colorful Fabriholic.

(You can see the quilt at her link.)

The Flying Geese are made and are ready to be sewn into pairs.

(Yes... I am a pinner!! And a trimmer!)

Last week I had a request to show how I put the stockings together

made from the Bucilla kits.

I don't use the felt piece that comes with the kit for the backing,

but buy some cute fabric that goes along with the theme of the stocking

and make a complete quilted stocking first.

I make a small quilt from the fabric

and then trace the felt backing piece that comes in the kit,

adding 1/2" all around the piece to accommodate the binding.

I cut the quilted stocking out, sew around the sides and bottom

and bind it on the sides and the top.

After the quilted stocking is made, 

I stitch the felt stocking front to the quilted stocking.

This makes for a much sturdier stocking....

ready for stuffing!!

Isn't this the perfect fabric for this Beach Santa?

The inside view, waiting for goodies.

 

 The top edge, bound and stitched down on the inside

and ready to be hung.

Merry Christmas!

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating

and

Happy Quilting!

 

 

 

Where Did This Week Go??

It's Friday already?

Wow!

Once again,

I can't show what I am working on

except for a couple of ornaments I finished last night.

These are more Bucilla ornaments.

I just love making these!

There are four more in this kit and I hope to have

those finished soon.

I did get my Christmas decorations up this week.

YAY!!

I LOVE that I have some Christmas quilts

to decorate with now.

This quilt was finished this year.

I made this Santa many years ago.
I wonder if I still have the pattern?

I finished this quilt this year, too.

This is one of my favorites.

(I found the tree for my vintage ornaments at

Tuesday Morning.  Isn't it perfect for these ornaments?)

 

These santas are made from old quilts and blankets.

I bought them at a craft show over several years,

and was so disappointed when the crafter stopped

coming to the show near me.

 

I made our stockings a couple of years ago from

Bucilla kits.

Aren't they just too cute?

 

I hope everyone is having a great week and is finding time

to enjoy the season.

Happy Quilting!

Design Wall Secrets

It's that time of year when we can't

always show what is on our 

Design Walls.

(HOHOHO!!)

What I can show you today are

Two Bucilla ornaments I just finished.

These Jolly guys are all finished except for the hanger.

I love using the Bucilla kits.

They have easy directions to follow

and look so cute when finished.

These two will be given to someone special.

The Flying Geese production continues

for the quilt I am testing for

Jan at The Colorful Fabriholic.  

This is going to be one fun quilt!

Enjoy your creative time this week.

Hopefully it will be a break from the craziness of this time of year.

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are

working on now.

Happy Quilting!

Pattern Testing

I have been asked by

Jan at The Colorful Fabriholic

to test a pattern for her

and am quite excited!

:)

It's an adorable quilt

and requires LOTS of Flying Geese.

These are the four fabrics I will be using,

along with white Kona.

The pieces have been cut....

 

And sewing has begun.

 

I'm using the "No Waste Method" for making

Flying Geese found here.

Please visit Jan at her blog to see the fun quilts she creates.

Happy Quilting!

Making Mittens A Different Way

I found this tutorial a while ago and bookmarked it,

thinking it would be fun to do.

A couple of weeks ago I stopped at the thrift store

where I find the men's shirts for my quilts

and picked up a couple of sweaters to use for

these mittens.

Yesterday I decided it was time to try them.

They are fun to make!

And easy!!

The pattern is available on the blog post linked above.

 

The pair with the button was made according to the tutorial

linked above. 

The sweater I used had a wide ribbed band around the bottom.

I used this ribbing to make the cuffs for the other two pair.

I also stitched the outer layer (sweater layer) to the ribbing and the flannel

where the cuff is added. It was not staying in place otherwise.

From one $4 sweater (100% cotton), I made three pair of mittens.

They are thick and warm.

 

These will be donated to a group that needs warm items.

Happy Creating!

First December Finish

This little quilt has been in the works for a

long time.

I think I started it in the beginning of the summer

and finished sewing the binding on it last night.

I love it... it has four of my favorite things

1. Polka Dots

2. Stripes

3. Kaffe Fasset fabric 

(All of the fabrics are his.)

4. LOTS of green

This quilt reminds me of crystals.

I need to put "crystals" in the name.

The HST's start small in the middle and grow to the edge.

The swirling quilting really sets off the design.

I knew I wanted to use the striped fabric for binding, but didn't have

enough of one piece. I decided to use four different stripes and

love how it turned out.

The name just came to me!

"Crystal Green Persuasion"

:)

Happy Quilting!

December Design Wall

I'm pretty sure I just wrote the first

Design Wall post for November last week,

Didn't I??

Yet here we are...in the last month of 2014!

Over the past few days,

in between cooking and cleaning,

I finished the inside part of the

VCU t-shirt quilt for my older daughter.

It is a wild quilt, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Tomorrow I hope to get the fabric for the borders.

I held off, not knowing what colors I would want to use for each border.

I did use quite a few of her shirts.

Using the graph paper method made it a lot easier

to put this top together.

It's doubtful that I will get this quilted before Christmas,

but will take it to my LAQ right after the holidays.

One more gift almost finished!

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!!