Slowin' down

I'm doing some slow sewing while the kids play this week.

I pull this little project out every once in a while and add a few leaves. This week was the perfect time to bring it out again.

Wonder how many leaves will appear this week???

I'm away from home.....

Away from my machine......

This is keeping me very happy. :)

This is what's keeping the little ones happy!

Just one

I made just one.

Just one is all hubby needs on his desk at work.

Why???? did it take me so long to think of making a small quilted coaster for him?

As I made ONE.....,

I had an idea!

How about making one every once in a while "Just because"?!

Will he mind crazy pink hearts donning his desk in February?

;)

It's here

Merry Christmas friends!

May the holidays bring laughter, fun, special memories and love to your house this year.

Thanks for joining me as I plug along here in my sewing room.  Your comments and encouragement mean so much!

Christmas is coming

One more sleep until Christmas Eve!

Ms. Juki is in the shop.... So little Fanny F.W. Is helping out.

She's not as fast as Ms. J, but she and I get along famously.

The gifts need to be wrapped....

The house should be cleaned AGAIN!

(Wish it would stay clean)

There are things to bake and cook.

(The family wants to be fed even if I am busy). ;)

I'm sewing.

It's not because I'm lacking gifts to give!

It's because my sanity says I need it!

 How about you?

Do the busy days DRIVE you to the sewing machine?

Friday

It's Friday...

and I finished a quilt top this week 

MOSTLY because there are REALLY nice quilters in this world!

Friends from all over sent a couple of blocks

(and some sent more!)

This mix of recycled shirts

makes a quilt I want to KEEP looking AT!!!

AND....

I had that fun stripey border fabric in my stash.

I think the addition from Mr. Kaufman 

updates the whole thing!

;)

The blues and browns are PERFECT!

This is where I was working yesterday.

I moved my little machine into the dining room

to work with friends.

It's NICE to change the view every once in a while!

AND...

SUPER nice to sew with company!

Thank you friends.

Your blocks make the most WONDERFUL kind of quilt!

Square management

You may not need another little thing on your sewing table.

You may have the fabric organization GENE!  :)

You may already have the perfect spot for ALL your scraps and leftovers.

I'm always collecting little squares.

I have a "THING" for little squares.

I like to cut them up out of the leftovers from projects.

Getting them rounded up is always the challenge.

This little basket was a prototype.

I was designing a little COASTER basket found here

and made a FEW

I WONDER baskets.

"I wonder if this work?"

"I wonder if THAT will work??"

This basket was TOO big for coasters...

but it works for my

2", 2 1/2" and 3" squares.

They all have a corner

and ONE corner is leftover for....????

Do I dare begin a 1 1/2" corner??

'

This little basket is made up of TWO 11"x 11" squares.

I laid them out BACK to back

(wrong side to wrong side)

and cut out 2 1/2" squares from the corners.

I used some bias tape.

Laid that bias tape down

and covered EACH corner.

I opened it up and sewed around...

I turned at each corner after going 1/4" past the corner.

With needle DOWN...

I turned the basket and stitched.

Then I rolled the bias tape over and top stitched.

Each corner is now covered.

I added bias tape around the top

in the same way.

The only tricky part is moving EACH side

up to meet at the corners.

Not really tricky.

Maybe a little fiddly.

;)

I don't really need anything else on my sewing table...

BUT...

I DO appreciate a little organizational HELP!!!!

******************

Thanks to everyone who entered

the fabric giveaway.

Winners were announced here.

;)

congratulations Shawna!

Three

Knitting little hats is sort of addicting!

You finish one...

You want to make another.

Yarn is so FUN!

and...

Hats are easy.

I can no longer watch a movie

without knitting needles in my hands!

Typically I'm working on more than ONE thing!

This weekend I had THREE finishes.

Two little.

and...

a BIG one!

Sweaters are NOT addicting.

They go ON and ON...

and you wonder if you're going to enjoy wearing

the item you are laboring OVER!!!

Instead of button holes...

(I'm a beginner)

I crocheted some loops.

It fits.

That's a relief!

After ALL those HOURS!!!

But.....

There's a little bit of cruelty to the knitting bug.

When you're old enough to have TIME to knit something warm....

You're body is telling you IT's TOO. TOO. HOT!!!

Some of you ladies will understand.

;)

Red and Green

I managed to make a star today.

Let me tell you....

Diamond shapes are a shape to be RECKONED with!

All those BIAS cut edges!

They like to MOVE.

It's great when you're trying to make a curved vine

with a bias STRIP.

NOT fine when you're trying to make a block

with lots of seams that need to match up.

I'm also at a disadvantage

because I'm using no pattern or template!

I"m trying to figure it out ON MY OWN!

I do this frequently.

I tear my hair out...

and wonder WHY?

LOL!

How many blocks will I make?

I"ll probably keep going...

because....

I LOVE this block!

By the time I make a FEW more

I"ll be an expert at DIAMONDS.

Here's hoping anyway!!!

;)

flannel LOVE

I walked into the fabric store 

and was immediately SUCKED IN

to the flannel isle!!!

Who can resist the CUTE prints they have there???

Good thing too.

I'm donating these to a family in need for the holidays.

Seven kids.

SEVEN chances to make a cute pillow case!

SEVEN cute flannel fabrics to CHOOSE!!!

SEVEN strips of cotton to POP in the middle there!

My fabric stash is an UNENDING source of POP goodness!

Yep.

I'm having fun!!!

Hey!

I even made a one for someone at MY house!!!

;)

Super SIMPLE last minute sewing project!!!

I made mine very much like this one.

My pillow case and coordinating fabric are flannel

My POP (trim) is cotton fabric

and 3" wide.

Hope you're able to SQUEEZE a little sewing in this week!

It's definitely a squeeze at this time of year!

Follow the Star

It's amazing to me how often I turn to FABRIC

to help me out!!

I found a beautiful Nativity set last week

at the thrift store.

You know how much I love shopping there!!

The only problem with the nativity was....

It needed a BACKDROP.

NOT my white wall.

It wasn't easy solving my little problem....

But FABRIC...in the end....

was the ANSWER!!!!

I began by making a QUILT.

A SMALL quilt.

 ;)

Something with stars to hang behind the nativity set.

It was a GOOD idea.

BUT....

the QUILT didn't turn out quite right.

(sorry I didn't think to add a photo of REALITY)

That big gold star is ALL that's left of my FIRST try!

I CUT that big star out of the quilt.

and then began making little stars.

I layered fabric with batting...

just like a quilt

and then machine outlined a star.

I cut around leaving raw edges.

MAYBE someday I'll buttonhole stitch around these guys.

:)

My stars hang on a wrought iron wall piece.

It's perfecto!

(you can see it peeking out of the third photo)

;)

This is what GREETS me as I walk into the house.

I LOVE IT!

If at first you don't succeed...

TRY TRY again.

And....

 If the quilt isn't the answer to your backdrop issues.... 

Cut it UP!

Ha!

Quick and Easy Gift Ideas Blog Hop

Hi Friends!

Today I'm joining a great BLOG HOP

hosted by Sew in Love (with fabric).

A BERNARTEX fabric company blog.

During the next week there's

a GREAT line up of projects and ideas you'll want to

watch out for!

There will also be a giveaway at EACH stop along the way.

 A Win Win situation.   ;)

I received a selection of prints from the 

ORIGINS line of fabric

and designed this great set of coasters

ALONG with a "berry basket" to hold them in!

I LOVE the BRIGHT green in the center of my coasters!

Plus...

that little bit of green stitching

makes them EXTRA special

and takes just a little bit more time.

;)

The Origins line of fabric also includes

these ROUND motifs

that are SUPER simple to construct

and also FIT in the handy dandy basket.

I had a hard time deciding which set to make....

so ....

I made them BOTH!

The tutorial for this project is over at the Sew in Love (with fabric) blog today.

I hope you'll make a few 

and give something....

or....... a WHOLE bunch of SOMETHINGS

that are HOMEMADE away this holiday season!!!

For a chance to win a fat quarter bundle of Origins, make sure you're signed up to follow the Benartex blog either by email or through a blog reader (see both options in the right hand sidebar at Sew in Love with Fabric). Leave a comment letting me know you are, and leave a second comment if you follow Benartex on Facebook. In your comment, let us know if you're making any handmade gifts for the holidays this year (and if you are...where are you in the process? Idea stage? Halfway done? Already wrapped?). The giveaway will remain open through Tuesday, December 9th at 11:59 pm EST. 

Polyester

I brought a quilt top home today.

I felt sorry for it and knew I could find it a happy home. :)

It's laying on my floor screaming 1970!!

I don't mind the sound.

The vivid color has me wanting to scream along!

I'm going to leave it spread out.

The noise is making me happy!

Thank you friends

It's not 2015 yet....

but I already have my 2015 quilts going!

Thanks to KIND blogland friends....

quilts for the high school seniors

will be EXTRA special this year.

Thank you

Emily, Megan, Victoria and Mary!

Don't these blocks look FUN together???

The "HOW to" for this scrappy block

is here .....

and then there's a second idea  HERE.

(I have a second post about making it even scrappier!)

I made mine with old shirts

thinking they would be great for the boys.

Mary sent some pink and orange.

I'm sure she didn't want the girls to feel left out.

;)

I will be making at least 4 quilts this year.

IF I have enough extra blocks.....

I'll make more and donate them to the local hospital chaplain.

I'd love to add some QUILTY love from BLOGLAND

into these FUN quilts!!!

*I'll send my address if you leave a comment letting me know

you're interested in sending a block.

(I'll be accepting blocks for a long time...

haven't settled on an END date yet!)

:)

Thank you in advance for being

the RIGHT kind of NEIGHBORS

in this little corner of the world

I like to call BLOGLAND!!!

Friday finish

I'm not sure why.....

But I seem to get more sewing time in when I'm busy!

Strange.....but true

This little baby quilt using scraps was a great diversion from all the "have to do" things this week. ;)

Amazingly enough....

It's d.o.n.e.

Yeah!

Love the back!

Those little orphan blocks are the perfect addition to that blue/yellow stripe!

They look so cute all lined up there.

I love baby quilts. 

I love scraps.

I love done.

:)

I shared how I made these simple blocks HERE

Thanksgiving

Giving thanks with a grateful heart today.

Scraps on Monday

It's a scrappy

dump and sew kind of day!

Lay out the scraps

and

SEW!

Today I had to do a little

DIGGING before

I dumped the scraps on the table.

Here's my new scrap basket

and a little model to give you an idea of SIZE!!!

I didn't want to dump the WHOLE thing!

Well??

Do you think it's big enough???

Will I have enough to finish my baby quilt???

Ha ha!

:)

Each block begins with a 4" center.

Strips/scraps are sewn together

and cut into 3" wide segments

fitting them around the square

log cabin style.

Block is trimmed to 8 1/2".

(the transportation print is also cut into 4" squares

surrounded by muslin strips 3"...

trimmed to 8 1/2")

**note: my measurements

are 1/2" too big.

It's less stressful.

and fits into  my

HURRY SCURRY

kind of quilting style.

;)

I'm calling this my scrappy

TRANSPORTATION quilt!