February's 1 XMAS a Month Item

I loved the Christmas Apron that I made one of my neices for Christmas last year, so when my local quilt shop placed their Christmas fabric on sale right before New Years Eve I just had to see if there were any fabrics that would work well for another Christmas Apron.  I literally arrived on the last day of the sale with barely an hour to spare, so the choices were sparse.  I do love the print and am very happy with it.  The red striped fabric for the ruffle and top straps was actually with a line of patriotic fabric and the green was found elsewhere in the shop as well.

 This quilt bag is not actually another Christmas gift, I made it for another customer with a beautiful huge quilt.  Sadly, you do not see the quilt in the bag because two days after I finished the bag, I caught a persistant stomach bug that gave me 48 hours of total misery.  I could barely do much of anything the following day, now I'm feeling stronger every hour, but I still don't dare eat anything exciting and have now been caffine free for four days.  I so miss my coffee, but as I must have cream in it, I don't dare chance it quite yet.   I haven't even looked into my studio, it would just make me feel worse.   I hadn't quilted her quilt yet!  Darn it, now I'm behind again!  

I will be happy, when I am quilting again!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

 A couple of sweet table toppers finished, just in time for their big day!  These are the second in the table topper of the month series by Cotton Way.  I bought the kit with the pattern and I decided to add fabrics from my stash (the plaids and white with hearts) and I mixed the fabrics together and was able to make two!   


These are cute little Valentines that my DD whipped up last night, they only took her about 30 minutes.   I got the idea from pinterest, except they used brown paper and cut out the shape of a pumpkin and used a large running stitch around them.   I gave my DD scrap booking paper to use and figured a zig zag stitch would be easier and more forgiving for her.  She cut out the hearts, sewed them up 3/4 of the way around, filled them with milk and dark chocolate m&m's and then sewed up the gap to seal them up.  She had to go around a couple of them a little extra in spots where she kind of slipped off, but she really improved as she went!  Hope your Valentine's Day is full of love and Laughter.  Happy Quilting !

Fast February Finish

       I was inspired to make this large quilt bag by the HUGE quilt (116" X112") that I quilted for a good friend and customer.  Beautiful quilt, but once quilted would simply not fit back into the bag that she had given it to me in.  I couldn't bear to use a plastic trash bag, and so necessity being the mother of invention, I grabbed some fabric from my stash and quilted it, using a very lightweight batting, and just sewed the bag together.  Simple, no lining.  I zig zagged the raw edges on the inside because I have not yet figured out the serger that my dear Aunt gave me, and I added the pocket on the outside this morning to have a spot to put my invoice.  Otherwise it would have been my last January finish!  What another FABULOUS way to use up my stash - 3 1/8 yds gone!   If I had a fancy embroidery machine I could embroider my business name and number on the plain pocket !   I used "Large Popcorn" for the panto, nice wide straps.  Can you see her beautiful blue, yellow and white quilt peaking out?       Happy Quilting!

More Snowmen . . .

It's a shame I didn't finish these last Friday, when it was snowing like crazy and only 28 degrees outside!  I finished them both today, Wednesday, while it was windy and 76 degrees.   They both fit the WISP category as I started them at the same time seven, maybe eight years ago.  My favorite quilt store offered the pattern and kits and a table topper of the month club.  I bought the pattern for each month and most of the kits.  My original idea was to make one for myself and then use my stash to make another as a gift . . .  I didn't get very far!  I had the snowman and star blocks completed except for stitching around the stars and adding the eyes, nose and scarf for the snowman.  The center was supposed to be a hourglass block, but I remembered the snowflakes from a different project and did those instead.  So glad they are done!    I came upon a bag of little pincushions, mostly cut out, just needed assembly.  I made two of the square with ric rac, the flower one was an experiment, and well, it didn't go exactly as planned!  I think I have too many petals, I think they are a bit long and I rather like the plain pink side versus the "right" side.  I sent one pincushion along with a couple of charm packs to Texas as a bit of encouragement to a new quilter.  I hope she enjoys quilting as much as I do !    Happy Quilting!!!

New Year - New Resolve!

 

With this new year, 2013, I feel new resolve and less uncertainty and I have many, many resolutions, large and small.  Many "do nots" and many more "dos" on my list, and needless to say, many lists!  I am very excited about the 1XMAS Project this year as I have resoved to be more organized (of course this involves a list).  It has also come to my attention that I have a "thing" for Christmas fabric.  I would say that the greatest amount of fabric that I have is Christmas fabric.  I just love it and they keep making more every year!  This year my list for 2013 1XMAS Projects does not have presents that must be done before the big day.  Instead, I went through my fabric baskets and bins and listed Christmas projects that I had previously planned and in some cases found a new purpose for old fabrics!  I am also putting aside fabrics I don't expect to ever use and will put in a yard sale in May.   I am very happy to say that I have successfully completed the first project(s) on my list!   All of the fabrics are 18 years old or so, the store "Cloth World" was reorganizing and had a huge sale so . . . well anyway, back then I had no plan so I just bought various fabrics and brought them home and put them all in the same bin.  I did not use all that I bought that year, but I did use up all of some of these and finished up 6 1/3 yds total.  I used Christmas microsoft blankets for the backing and prewashed all fabrics, these will be nice and warm to snuggle up with and I have no idea where their final home will be.   Whoops, can't forget the matching pillow cases.  Happy Quilting!!

1XMAS Update

 I got a great start on final Christmas projects,  I needed little ornaments for my "Quilting Sisters" Bee, so while I was perusing Pinterest I saw the sweetest little ornament that seemed super easy and fast!  (One of my Resolutions is to be more computer savvy and figure out how to link up)  The ornament I saw used white wool as the background, red gingham fabric and a star as the template.  Using only what I had on hand, mine had red wool and I matched up scraps of Christmas stash.  I used cookie cutters as my template for the fabric and then pencil sketched a generous 1/4" for the background.  I tried to enlarge it with the copier, but it didn't come out properly.  I made 28 total ! 

Next I made these two kitty candle mats for my Step MIL, and bought two candles to go with them. 

Then I decided to reduce the templates from the candle mats and make mug rugs and two of these have already been mailed to my MIL, and the other set will go to my Uncle and his wife.   The next type of mug rugs I made up from another idea from Pinterest.  There were no directions, just a photo, and when I clicked on it the blog was in Spanish, but she didn't provide a tutorial.  The mug rug on her blog were thinner and taller, but you can made the template any size you wish.  I used grosgrain ribbon for the handle, but the possibilities are endless!

    My final Christmas project, is a present.  My DS, also my first born, celebrated his birthday the week of Thanksgiving and he turned 17 yrs old.  Wow, was that ever a shocker!  When did that happen?  I also realized that he needed his new quilt SOON.  I made him a Star wars quilt years ago and he had asked for an update, but as he is a bit picky and does not like to shop for fabric, I had procrastinated.  I went shopping and the long and the short of it is that a small simple, uncomplicated project grew and in exactly one week I ended up with this!  I finished quilting this around 9 pm last Thursday, 12-13-12, my daughter unpinned it for me and I trimmed it. 

Then at 11 pm the entire family went to the cinema and watched the first showing of  The Hobbitt as my birthday present!  It was wonderful and we all enjoyed it immensely!  Returned home for a few hours of sleep and then off to my guild meeting where I showed my quilt (unbound) for show and tell.  When I arrived home, we were without power for most of the day so I couldn't bind my quilt or post to my blog the 1XMAS item(s)  We later went out to dinner and were getting ready to watch a movie at home when my FIL & Step MIL called to wish me a happy birthday, and then told me about the massacre at the school in Connecticut.  We didn't mention it to the kids that night, but over the weekend, as we learned the details the disbelief became sorrow, then anger, then sadness, incomprehension and back through the cycle again.  Today is the first day I've been back in my studio, I've cut and sewn the binding strips and after this post am going to sew it on and then wrap the quilt for my son.  I wish I could make a magic quilt to wrap him and keep him safe forever, him and all children.  I am so glad I made this for him this year.  I just cannot imagine what those families are enduring.  I hope that everyone has a happy and blessed Christmas, and I so wish for peace on earth and good will to all.

Happy Quilting & God Bless!

Thankful Finishes - 1 XMAS Item(s)

Worked on many things in November, some close to being complete, and thankfully, some completed!  One of my nieces had started making Christmas cookies and goodies a couple of years ago, and I thought about making her oven mitts with matching towels and adding a couple of cute baking accessories, but never got too far with the idea.  Then last year she mailed us some of her treats, which was a nice surprise!  (I have made Christmas cookies and sent them to many of our relatives each Christmas for almost 20 years, only missing the year my son decided to be born the Tuesday before Thanksgiving . . . when he wasn't due until after the New Year!!)  So, at an after Christmas sale at my local quilt store I found the sweetest fabric, and decided to try an apron from a book I had bought awhile ago.  It is the closest to garment sewing I have tried in many years, I can actually say it was fun to make, and I would love to make more!  I so wish I had bought more of the same fabric, I don't have enough left to make another like it.  It's a little big on my DD (she's only 13) but my niece is nearly 30 and I think it will fit nicely.   My other XMAS items were so fast and easy to whip up, I am very grateful to my "quilting sisters" Bee for showing us how to make them.
They are candle mats, although you could use them as soup mats or whatever else came to mind.  I made two from the scraps of Apron fabrics, and the other three are for my sister.  There are two patterns, one with three of each fabric and the other with four of each fabric.  I am going to make one more for my sister to even it out.  I have more cut out for my mother in law's Christmas gift, along with a couple of candles.  On my "someday" list, I'd like to reduce the size of the templates, so that they would be the right size for mug mats, wouldn't that be cute?
I also managed to finish another WISP/UFO!  I designed this little baby quilt over a year ago and cut out most of the fabric, but never got around to finishing it.  It went together so quickly, I felt silly for procrastinating so long.  I just love the colors, they lift my mood whenever I look at it.  I used citrus varigated thread to quilt it and it worked beautifully.  The Batik on the back is so lovely too - almost used a microfleece on the back, but it seems more like a summer quilt.   We enjoyed a very quiet and

relaxed Thanksgiving, a nice break before the rush of the holidays.

 Our dear Samantha does not look relaxed as she supervises my DH as he carves up the turkey.  Much to her dismay, he refused her demands offers of assistance!  Happy Quilting!