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Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
"Twis" the Day Before Christmas...
And all thru the house, all us creatures are stirring... cooking, cleaning, wrapping... you know all those things we do to get ready for the big day!
:-)
Our stocking are hung, by the chimney with cheer.
In hopes that St Nicholas soon will be here!
:-)
Our stocking are hung, by the chimney with cheer.
In hopes that St Nicholas soon will be here!
I do love my new Christmas tree. No mess'in with lights that won't light, no needles shedding all over the carpet... A life is good.
Accept, there was no time to make the ornies for this little guy. :-(
And there are so many buttons to hang them on too!
...But there is always next year!
:-)
This fun little pattern, which is 4"x6"
Packs a big Door size tree.
Actually it holds 2 complete paper piecing sheets for door size trees!
Wow, do those large pieces go together fast!
You can find it here at
Oh I am hearing clatter... not from the chimney, but the kitchen, I think that's my que to get off the computer and lend a hand! They have such a subtle way of telling you don't they!
LOL!!!!
Merry Christmas to all... and to all a good day!
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Not for the true to heart!
When I stumbled on this wonderful pattern "Vintage Tin" from Crabapple Hill, I knew I had to make it for someone special for Christmas. Now my big issue, was there was no where near enough time to get it done, by the time I found the pattern! What to do, What to do??
Hummm... free motion quilting, I have always loved that. Wonder if I could just free motion stitch the design.
I picked up a great tip awhile back. By cutting a dissoluble stabilizer in sheets that would fit thru my printer, I could actually scan and print the design directly onto it, saving myself from having to trace the design out. Adhering it to the front of my fabric allows me to stitch just like normal. The added plus is that it gives you extra stability, so hooping really isn't necessary. Once it's all done, a quick soak in water makes all the stabilizer disappear. That is just about the greatest tip, I have ever used. Not only a time saver, but I don't have to worry about mis-tracing anything. :-)
I did use a heavy quilting thread for my top thread, so it would show up better, since I was not going to be hand embroidering it. I do a lot of jumping around. It's much easier for me to trim out of the jump threads, than stop and start all the time.
Here are some of the blocks...
You can see that it isn't quite the same as hand embroidery...
But it certainly is an option that works!
Especially if you are in a real time crunch!
I do love the detail of this pattern. So many little things that any car guy would pick up on, for sure!
:-)
and a great stash buster for the quilter!
Can there be a better combo?
And to top it all off, this fun little label is included with the pattern.
Too fun!
I put this on my longarm once it was done and ran a simple little pantograph over it all.
It's not for the purest for sure, but in a pinch, it worked out well.
Thank goodness, my guys are not connoisseurs, they wouldn't notice or appreciate all the hand work that went into it anyway! LOL!!
Let the holidays begin.
Wishing you all the very Merriest of Christmas's and a Happy New Year!
Monday, December 16, 2013
Loved to Death
You know it's all worth it, when you find that one of your quilts were just "loved to death".
I asked my brother to take pictures of the quilt his little one has dragged around for years. Pretty sad, it is!
It was made from scraps, 6 or 7 years ago. I scrounged to find enough fabric to make the darn thing. It really was just a bonus quilt in my mind. But in the mind of a 2 year old, it was his new best friend.
It's been everywhere he has, and he never goes to sleep without it. Even getting it away from him to wash, was a challenge. Trying to sneak it out at night after he went to sleep, didn't work out well for them. Ended up when it was time, he would pull up a chair and sit in front of the washer and dryer and not leave until he had it in his hands again! LOL! Now that is real love, I'd say.
Somebody has a birthday this week, and guess what????
There is a new twin size, big boy quilt that he is getting. I was thrilled to find this flannel.. You couldn't get much closer to the original one I used.
I asked my brother to take pictures of the quilt his little one has dragged around for years. Pretty sad, it is!
It was made from scraps, 6 or 7 years ago. I scrounged to find enough fabric to make the darn thing. It really was just a bonus quilt in my mind. But in the mind of a 2 year old, it was his new best friend.
It's been everywhere he has, and he never goes to sleep without it. Even getting it away from him to wash, was a challenge. Trying to sneak it out at night after he went to sleep, didn't work out well for them. Ended up when it was time, he would pull up a chair and sit in front of the washer and dryer and not leave until he had it in his hands again! LOL! Now that is real love, I'd say.
Somebody has a birthday this week, and guess what????
There is a new twin size, big boy quilt that he is getting. I was thrilled to find this flannel.. You couldn't get much closer to the original one I used.
All the cool trucks and tractors are from Anita Goodesign
You can find them here...
While it's says it's a "Baby" design
We are not going to share what with Mr. Mason.
Little boys don't take kindly
To being referred to as a "baby".
LOL!
While I don't expect this to replace his thread bare treasure,
I hope it will be a good substitute!
Happy Birthday Buddy!
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Eye Spy
I became very enchanted with the eye spy theme quilts this past year with the Nancy Drew blog hop. There are so many different types of "spy" quilts you can do.
I stumbled on this pattern awhile back on the Hoffman Fabric web site...
And personalized each globe.
I stumbled on this pattern awhile back on the Hoffman Fabric web site...
It's Snow Globes by Denise M Russart
Here is the link for the free PDF file
With all the Christmas fabrics that I have collected, I knew these snow globes would be perfect!
I took it a couple of steps further and made mine into a lap size quilt
And personalized each globe.
My quilt is longer than most.
I like a little extra so my toes don't stick out
on these cold winter nights
So my quilt is 73" long
It's such a fun way
to make a commemorative Holiday quilt!
Bet you have someone on your list who could use one too!
It is a fast and easy pattern to do.
I have to share. I used a gold Glide thread by Fil-Tec, for the first time, to quilt this.
My HQ16 has always been an easy machine to stitch with, but this thread ran thru it like a dream. Not one thread break in the entire quilt. Oh it was a great quilting day!
:-)
Happy quilting.
A big thanks to Hoffman Fabrics and Denise for sharing such a fun and easy pattern with us!
Saturday, December 7, 2013
When Pinterest Inspires...
I love looking thru Pinterest. Recently I stumbled on this adorable tutorial over at U-createcrafts.com
http://www.u-createcrafts.com/2009/11/snuggle-snowmen-tutorial.html
http://www.u-createcrafts.com/2009/11/snuggle-snowmen-tutorial.html
Snuggle Snowmen
Finished quilt size: 44"x64"
With those little faces peaking over the snowball pile, I knew I was going to have to jump in and play with this one myself.
My version is a bit different. I made my snowball pile bigger, to keep those toes nice and warm! LOL!!
So there you have it. My version of the Kilroy's Snuggle Snowmen!
A big thanks to U-create and to
Natalia and Kathleen for sharing their inspiration with us!
You can visit them at their blog
http://www.pieceandquilt.com/
With those little faces peaking over the snowball pile, I knew I was going to have to jump in and play with this one myself.
My version is a bit different. I made my snowball pile bigger, to keep those toes nice and warm! LOL!!
I even dug thru the pattern pile, and found this pattern that I bought years ago.
It had never opened, but was perfect for my quilt!
A big thanks to U-create and to
Natalia and Kathleen for sharing their inspiration with us!
You can visit them at their blog
http://www.pieceandquilt.com/
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Giving Thanks Blog Hop Winner
It's hard to believe that almost a week has gone by already. What a wonderful blog hop Michelle at the Quilting Gallery put on. We got to visit so many friends and make new! I just love it!
I am over the moon with all the wonderful comments I received from you all. So many new followers. I will give it my best to make it worth your time! :-)
Now, for the winner of my give a way...
Random.org has picked #89
That would be Michele T November 23, 2013 at 6:00pm
I love following blogs for inspiration!! Thanks for sharing in the hop!!
She is so right about all the inspiration, and it's my pleasure to share with you.
Michelle, I have sent you and email for your mailing info. As soon as I hear from you, your fabric and secret surprises will be on their way! :-)
A big thanks to all, who visited me during the hop. Hope to see more of you.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Giving Thanks Blog Hop
To visit my fellow bloggers!
It's that wonderful time of year, when we take a moment or two to really think about the good things in life.
What better time than Thanksgiving time. Thank you Michelle for bringing us all together to celebrate a wonderful time of the year!
Here is the USA, fall is upon us. Leaves have fallen in my part of the country, and the warm reds and yellows are changing to brown. But it all makes me warm and fuzzy...
I would like to share my warm and fuzzy color log cabin quilt with you. It's called "Autumn at the Cabin". It was the shop hop quilt in 2010 for the Central Kansas Quilt shops.
I love the cream color background fabric. It was a specialty fabric that Hoffman made just for their hop. All the names of the cities that participated in the hop were on it. How cool is that?
I fell in love with this quilt, when I saw it hanging in the Quilting Bee in Salina Kansas. I was lucky enough to visit them during a Quilt Shop Bus Tour that took in 3 states, back in 2010. I can't tell you just how much fun that trip was! :-)
This shop did a little damage to my credit card!
LOL!!
You can surely see why!
See the quilt that caught my eye, hanging in the classroom photo above?
The Quilting Bee was so kind, to ship me the kit once the fabrics arrived in their store. But there were 9 other shops involved. I didn't get fabrics from each of them. I shopped my stash instead. I do, so love being able to shop the stash, when I can!
This quilt was so fast and fun to put together, that I am asking myself, just why did it take you 3 years to open the package??? Oh that endless bag of PIGS (projects in grocery sacks). But I am please to say, I checked off another one of em!
:-)
I can't tell you, just how thankful I am, for you! Each and every one of you, who have read and supported my blog for 5 years now. I started blogging to encourage myself to finish up those PIGS, that I have. While it probably hasn't been as successful on that front, cause you all keep finding me new things to try. Yeah, you know who you are. All of you, who share their patterns, quilt-a-longs, stitcheries, tips and tricks. I can't get enough of it all. So much so, that my PIGS have a hard time fighting their way out of that sack! LOL!! But you know I love it! I've made so many wonderful friends in blogland, too.
Have you ever sat and thought about blogging? It's the one place were we come to meet others with like interests. We take all the other peripheral "stuff "out of the equation, and make friends based on our love of whatever we blog about. Sharing is rampant and support unlike anywhere else I've been. I may not know your face, or where or how you live, but I do know, I love what you have to share and have taught me. Humility is the word that comes to mind. The definition of it is "the state of being humble and free from pride". I can honestly say, you all humble me every day with your endless encouragement and inspiration. Pride... I fall down when it comes to that. I wear my pride of being a part of you, on my sleeve, for all to see! And I won't apologize for that! :-)
So what I really have to be thankful about this season, is the fact I am starting my 6th year blogging. You have helped me grow to having 700 Google followers and 374 Bloglovin followers (and counting). Email followers... whew, who knew!
If your new to my blog, welcome. My goal is to inspire and entertain you down this crazy quilting road we all seam to love to travel! I'd love for you to join me! I promise a raucous fun time along the way.
***
Along the way...lets have a give a way, wadda say? (I'm such a poet) NOT! tee hee
A 1 yard piece of this wonderful Thanksgiving fabric.
And a few secret goodies!
:-)
You can see what I did with this fabric last year.
Leave me a comment telling me about why you love blogging. Please make sure your are not a no reply blogger. On Tuesday Nov. 26th, I will pick a winner!
Remember I promised a raucous time!
:-)
Just so you know, I am in the process of a garden remodel.
I will soon have an outhouse (not a real one) with a deck and some rocking chairs
Toilets are going to be turned into planters. And we will be able to sit along the pond.
Bringing out the redneck in me! LOL!!
What will the neighbors think?
:-)
Happy Thanksgiving.
You might consider being happy your not my neighbor!
hahahahahaha
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