Practical handwork

I've been busy.

I have a nice HEALTHY stack of practical!!!

(knit dishcloths)

I love the waffle pattern shown.

I'll add some soap...

or something sweet...

wrap it up and say...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Any which way

It's cute......whichever way you look.

Inside.....

Outside......

Upside down.......

A special teacher gift made from these thrifted pajamas.

The hedgehogs were spied and I knew I'd find something to make with them someday!

Do I love the thrift store??

Yes I do! 

Let me count the ways!

 

 

Another little gift made using this method:  Little zipper bag.

I love giving little SOMETHINGS away.  ;)

Flowers for a Friend

I love to give flowers to my friends.

Thanks to my GREEN THUMB of a Husband...

I almost ALWAYS have SOME kind of blossom to GIVE!!!

;)

I usually have little leftover jars in the cupboard.

This one came from the grocery store FULL of instant coffee.

Let's face it...

I'm NOT a coffee snob...

BUT

I DO need like my COFFEE!!!

I really didn't want to take the time and effort

to get rid of that AWFUL glue mess on the side of this jar....

so....

I covered it up!!!

FABRIC to the RESCUE again!!!

A little bit of modgepodge was ALL it took!

I added a scrappy tote bag

and my gift was COMPLETE!

 

End of story:

My friend LOVED IT!!!

Woo hoo!!!

Friday Finish

It's always a happy day

when the quilt lines are ALL in...

the binding is ON...

and you can call it

A QUILT!!!

 

I love the way this creamy floral softens the quilt up!

The striped binding makes me happy too!!!

Here's the back.

;)

 

 

Between quilting lines...

I took a BREAK!!!

 

Lines can be tedious.

:/

There were a few triangle shaped scraps on my sewing table!

 

I HAD to do some

CReative sewing!

A little zipper bag!

 

Hmmm...

Add a couple of beauty supplies

and

I'll have a little something ready for

a CHRISTMAS gift!!!

Unscheduled activity

I never even THOUGHT about making a quilt like this

until...

Yesterday!!!

That's the day I recieved a "just because" package from Beebee.

;)

Very SWEET of her TOO, I might add!!!

 

But....

This unexpected burst of quilting is

ALL because of HER!!

If the floors aren't clean

and the bathroom is not scrubbed...

Don't blame me!

Blame her....Please.

She sent me some tumblers

cut with her Go cutter.

Do you have one of those??

I don't.

I have this little baby....

Handed down to me a couple of years ago.

 

I've never used it.

But guess what??

It's the SAME SIZE as Beebee's little tumblers.

:)

 

Now I'm puttering around

on a quilt that NEVER would have happened...

if it hadn't been for a

special delivery..

quilty gift...

sent by a blog friend.

Sweet!

 

 

 

Pancakes in a Jar

Here's a simple gift to give.

Almost homemade. ;)

Collect jars ALL year long from

 spaghetti sauce, jelly and fruit.

Clean thoroughly.

The hardest part......

 is figuring out WHERE to store them

AS you collect.

Get your ingredients together using this recipe.

Delicious Pancakes.

Fill the jars.

Spray paint the lids.

Cut 1 1/2" strips of Christmas fabric.

Add a tag with some instructions.

They're READY!!!!

Give one to a friend

and say

Merry Christmas!

Company!

Quite FREQUENTLY....

I make a quilt....

JUST because!

Well....

that little pile of quilt tops

came in HANDY today!!!

;)

These two are engaged

and I WANT to give them a quilt!

I realized I have quite a few quilt tops to choose from...

so....

 I might not have to start from SCRATCH!

I invited them over to do some looking!

This is the one they like!

I'll make it bigger before the BIG DAY!

And......

Here are three that ALMOST got chosen.

I'll have to fold these up for the next "occassion"!

This gives me encouragement to....

KEEP MAKING quilt tops JUST BECAUSE!

They will find GOOD homes before you know it!

little something

I made a little something for my little girl's

music teacher.

Isn't that little picture perfect???

I added some scraps and Viola!!!

A little gift card holder!

After piecing the little ornament and quilting it,

I used embroidery floss to

hold that card on the back.

Pretty simple.

I could have also added a little pocket.

But....I didn't think of that soon enough. ;)

I'm especially thankful for this teacher.

I've watched her grow up and

NOW

she's teaching my little girl!!!!

birthday gift

What do you give the expert knitter who has everything?

A new project bag, of course!!!

I had fun creating!!!

Just like making a quilt...

but a little simpler.

;)

hostess gifts

My husband and I were given hospitality last week

on our trip.

A couple of wonderful meals and

great fellowship with friends.

A thank you note would be sufficient....

But a quilted gift is lots more fun!!!!

Twin table runners.
14" x 30"
For two sets of great hosts and hostesses!!!



You can see I used lots of white scraps for the background.
I really like that part!!!!

My simple shapes were ironed on using steam a seam and
a simple zigzag stitch around each one.
Good thing I had some matching thread!!!
The long vine is cut 1" wide, machine basted in thirds
and then stitched down.
After zigzagging it down I took the basting stitch out.
Super simple!!


I machine quilted a few lines to help stabilize
and make my handwork easier...
The hand quilting NOW begins!!!!