Dec 29, 2010

My Quilty Christmas

This was what I was doing just days before Christmas:

003

But they were finished just in the “St. Nick(ho ho ho) of time for Christmas day!

148238_10150112151542387_607512386_8138731_7108964_n

035

And there were “I spy” quilts for the little ones.

granddaughters i spy quilts

Then Mr. Sunshine surprised me with EQ7 under the tree…

014 

…and a featherweight machine that is just so tiny cute! 

017

  Looks like it’s going to be a very fun…

new year

daisy name

Dec 20, 2010

Holiday Wishes

elves

This is a busy week…that just got busier this morning when we discovered that our stove is broken…right in time for all the Christmas baking and as we are planning on having the whole family here for Christmas Eve dinner.  Yikes!  But Oh well, I know it will all work out somehow…it always does. 

Very soon now I will be able to post all those projects I have been working on secretly the past while.  I am especially excited for those I love to finally receive them. So fun!

I hope you are all having a beautiful, wonderful Christmas. 

christmas name

Dec 6, 2010

Look what I found!

felt ornaments

I climbed into our little attic room to get out the Christmas decorations and came across a forgotten box filled with these felt ornaments.  I had to bring them down and have been playing with them.  So many good memories!  I stitched these up 31 years ago for our tree.  It was our second Christmas together.   

They came from a book by Sandra Lounsbury Foose.  I loved her designs back then and over the years have collected five of her books.  They are all out of print now so I feel lucky to have them.

017

I’ve also finished two more blocks for my little applique quilt.  Each one will finish at 5 inches square.

christmas name

Nov 27, 2010

Projects for in-between projects

little zipper bag

I have several finishes that I still can’t show.  However, this little zipper bag isn’t a Christmas secret.  It was just a fun break from the other bigger projects going on.  The pattern is from Keyka Lou.

For the most part I am on top of things for my Christmas sewing this year.  Wow, such a great feeling!  033

Outside everything is snow covered and pretty.  Inside we spend our evenings by the fireplace where I relax and stitch away on these cute little blocks.  I just LOVE them! 

044

bells

In a few days we will be putting up the tree and decorating the house.  Such an awesome time of year!

Nov 15, 2010

No peeking…well…maybe a little one

There are so many things I’ve been working on but most of them I can’t share just yet.  This is the time of year for secrets you know. 

tag

But I can give you a peek at this miniature house block that’s a part of a bigger project.

016 - Copy

The little window is only 1/4” square. 

012 - Copy

I used part of a Carol Doak pattern for the house and added one of my favorite little quotes.  It’s all going together nicely, I think.

And these pretty pieces are part of a stack of fabric on my cutting table awaiting their turn for the next project.

007

daisy name

Oct 28, 2010

Watch me grow!

When I go visit my parents I can still see the pencil lines on the kitchen doorway where my mom marked the growth of all the grandchildren.  The kids loved to have her measure them and make their mark.

006

I want to create the same kind of memories for our grandkids so yesterday I stitched up a growth chart to hang on our wall. I found this fun monkey fabric in my stash and made it up as I went along.  I still have to figure out how I am going to mark it.  Any creative ideas?

           twenty seven inches    thirty inches

27 inches and thirty inches tall so far.  We have a lot of wonderful growing up years ahead of us.

daisy name

Oct 24, 2010

And another one…

Of course I couldn’t stop at just one bag…no…Nanette’s pattern was just too much fun to put together. 

I had some favorite fabric strips that were saved together and thought they’d be perfect for this, except the pattern calls for 4 inch strips and I found that mine were only 2 to 3 1/2 inches wide.  Drats! 

So I donned my thinking cap, jimmy-rigged the pattern a bit, did some extra piecing and came up with this.

007

Woohoo!  I like it.

Other than the lining, I used only scraps.  No two strips on either side are alike and there wasn’t even enough to make two handles of the same fabric…they are similar but not the same. 

012 

A new bag and a little lighter scrap bin.  I’ve used those favorite fabrics nearly down to crumbs.

006

daisy name

Oct 22, 2010

Scrappy Afternoon

017

I just got this pattern by Nanette of Freda’s Hive.  Also Jodi at Pleasant Home is inspiring us to use our scraps… so I rummaged through my scrap bins for pieces to make this and enjoyed a quiet afternoon at my sewing machine. 

011

Those little bits of leftover fabric are now being put to very good use.

daisy name

Oct 4, 2010

That was close!

005

I nearly lost the top of my little pinkie today!  While zipping through the fabric with my rotary cutter, I suddenly realized I’d made a careless mistake.  But whew!…it just got the nail and the tiniest sliver of finger….no blood…no pain…and one very lucky me! 

There are safer ways to trim ones nails so I will slow down and be more careful now. 

daisy name

Oct 2, 2010

Little flowers for little girls

003 005

  004

While watching TV today I stitched up a whole bunch of these flowers for my sweet granddaughters.  I got the instructions from Polka Dot Pineapple where Lettie is absolutely amazing at creating gorgeous flowers from fabric and paper. 

daisy name

Sep 27, 2010

Button Tree

033

This little Christmas tree will be staying up all year long.  

I found the pattern by The Drawn Thread in a little stitchery shop while we were in Victoria Canada last year and just got around to making it.   

035036   

There 23 very tiny little pearl buttons.  All different.

I have a pearl button collection kept in a glass jar in my sewing room.  They are pretty to me and I love looking at them and playing with them. 

049

And now a few are sweet little ornaments on my tree.

019

daisy name

Sep 15, 2010

I can see clearly now…

new sewing light

My sewing room was once a bedroom.  The minute the kids left home it became mine….my own wonderful space where I can create to my hearts content.

new work light

But I’ve been noticing it is harder and harder to see little stitches. And then there are colors…they are one thing during the day and change when working in the evenings with the light fixture on.  I got my glasses adjusted….still frustrated.  I moved in some lamps … still frustrated.  Then it dawned on me…this is a work shop…not a bedroom.  I still had the light fixture from when it was a bedroom.  I immediately replaced it with a more functional…yet really pretty…light with higher wattage capabilities and more bulbs. 

Now in the evenings when I flip the switch, it looks like the sun is shining all over my room.

025

I even got a better type of bulbs that don’t change the colors of things.  They shine nice and bright and clean. 

It’s a world of difference and I’m loving it!

daisy name

Sep 8, 2010

I love this old yellow quilt

 

You know I love yellow…

046

and I love hexie flowers…

  045

I really like reproduction prints…but these are the real thing.

057

I love this quilt!

023

It’s all hand stitched and hand quilted.

054

My daughter and son-in-law were cleaning out stuff when they came across this old quilt that no one wanted.  They gave it to me and I am thrilled!  I’m hoping I can find out a little about it’s history.  That would be fun but so far no one knows where it came from.

In the meantime, I’m still working on my own hexies. I have 22 flowers complete with more ready to go. 

074

And they mean just a little bit more to me now.  Perhaps, if I finish it, one day my quilt will be found, old and worn, and someone will appreciate all those tiny stitches and the love that went into it.  That would make me happy. 

daisy name

Related Posts with Thumbnails