Tree Bird Blog Hop (and a little house keeping)

Welcome to my edition of the Tree Bird Blog Hop. I must start off with an apology, as you will soon see, this is a very long post!  Thank you Studio E for this wonderful line of fabric. They are just truly amazing.  We couldn't have done it without Lana, who spread her wings and kept us all in line!  Thanks Miss Lana, you were a fabulous leader!   Madame Samm, who inspires us daily not only with her creativity, but those fabulous photos she posts, of the birds in her yard!  No wonder this hop called her name!
 ;-)

This fabric jumped out at me... there were so many ideas running thru my head when I saw it. Topped off with it happening at a time when I was gutting my sewing room and finding things I bought long ago... stashed and forgotten.  I'm sure none of you have ever done anything like that!   LOL!! Timing was perfect and I am happy to say, I got some de-stashing done, along the way!

 

I was very intrigued with the tree panels.

The first thing to pop into my mind was a picnic tablecloth, and I had a

piece of fabric in my stash that would work just great!

(my dining room table is standing in for the picnic table, that is under snow right now)

LOL!!

 

I made up little bird house's for the sides,

 to show off those cute little panel prints.

Since many table cloths are flannel backed,  I got to thinking...

WalMart was clearing out their flannel sheet sets...

I washed them up in hot water before I quilted it, and it worked like a charm!

I think I have to go back and pick up a couple more before they are gone.

;-)

 I've had a love affair with fabric bowls lately...

and found more clothesline was in my stash that I didn't know I had!

LOL!!

On a real picnic there are always things that need "contained".

Napkins, paper plates, etc etc...

As for now, it's a perfect fruit bowl!

 Next up, while cleaning, I found this pattern 

It couldn't have been that long ago that I bought it, cause it's

 still available...But I sure don't remember!

:-)

Market bags are all the rage...I zoomed in on that one on the lower right...

the insulated one!

 

That's the one I needed.

Perfect for trips to the grocery store...

or for road trips... your drinks are cool and 

convenient. I have a very old one from Keebler Cookies.

Remember the Elves???

It's tattered and torn, but we used it anyway.

(now I can throw it away)

:-)

Notice the "wings" on the sides. If you look closely at the pattern 

photo, you see they hook right onto the bag racks at the grocery store.

Now is that convenient or what?

 All this insulated fabric was in my stash along with the duck cloth...

Safely hidden from me.

Its had to have been at least 10 years ago I bought em...

Shame on me!

This birdhouse print is my absolute favorite.

Now, I've never been one to wear an apron...

but a few months ago while at friends, they insisted.

I had never seen one with a hand towel stitched in it before...

What a great idea.

Nothing beats a towel at your fingertips!

This pattern was a freebie I found online.

You can find it on 5Berries Sewing Patterns

(it's linked for you)

I made a couple of changes...

It was supposed to be reversible, but with the hand towel, it wasn't going to work.

I prefer not to have those long straps to tie, so I shortened them up

and added Velcro. 

Its a great pattern with easy to follow instructions.

Thanks 5Berries!

There was just enough insulated fabric and birdhouse fabric leftover to make a 

couple of oven mitts and a hot pad.

The oven mitt pattern is from 

Warm Company

and you can download it right 

HERE

NOTE: I just found out that the original link  for the oven mitt was not working.

The Warm Company has updated their web site since I wrote my post.

The link is now correct. Sorry about that!

:-)

The binding on the mitts and the hot pad, is actually Bias Tape.

My mother in law gave me loads of trims and tapes before she passed away.

This should make you laugh...

I do remember the days that Penney's sold fabrics.

I don't remember the days when bias tape was 19 cents!

LOL!!

Gosh, I kind of feel like I have an antique heirloom! 

Wonder what kind of art quilt could come of this label???

;-)

I have to say, having put an "Inspired LED" light on my sewing machine, 

was one of the best things I have done! I love my little Bernina, but it's light is pretty sad.

So many shadows...so little light.

Just look at how things brightened up with the light.

 

 And my eyes loved it too!

It's heaven for sewing on dark fabrics.

These little lights are just the greatest.

At one time I had another brand on my machine that cost twice as much,

but they were bulky, and eventually it peeled off, 

with all my free motion quilting.

I think these are going to be much better as they are only 

3/8" wide and 1/8" thick!

 It even has a switch that attached nicely on the side of my machine...

This Sewing Machine LED Lighting Kit is from 

Inspired LED for only $30

You can find more about them at www.inspiredled.com

They have a huge array of very affordable LED lighting, and just about any length you can imagine. You just cut them to fit with a pair of scissors!

 Lastly, I love these "Sam's Club" tote bags.

They are a whopping 17" wide 13" tall, and 11" deep.

You can sure load up a lot of stuff in these things.

Do they sell them anymore?

NO

so I had to make my own pattern.

If you come back tomorrow for a visit, I will have a tutorial posted for it.

My very own Tree Bird version!

In the mean time...

 maybe I'll stop in Sam's Club and just gloat about my bag a bit!

tee hee

.

Give away time.

 I have a set of these adorable little panel prints just for you...

and a couple other things

(It's a secret)

;-)

Leave me a comment telling me you either liked Moosestashquilting.blogspot.com on Facebook., where you will see my latest blog posts, or your following MooseStashQuilting, where you will see lots of quilting and stitching related posts. 

There are links on the right side bar of my blog page.

I'm looking forward to seeing you there and hope to inspire you even more!

I will pick my lucky winner on Monday March 23rd, the last day of our hop.

;-)

Oh and  before I forget...

Those Mischievous Moose have been at it again.

While I'm off trying to get them under control, please stop in and visit my fellow bloggers today.

I'm sure they have something "tweet" to show you!

Monday March 16

Sew Peace To Peace

Moose Stash Quilting

Buzzing and Bumbling

I Peace 2 Mary

Quilt Doodles

Just Let me Quilt

Les Quilts

A Stitch In Time

...Stop it you boys...

Honestly...those moose!