Twas the Night Blog Hop - My day

Thanks to Mdm Samm and Marlene for such a fun twist to our normal blog hop routine...this one has us making and gifting and receiving...oh my!!

This is what I chose to make to suggest a quickie but thoughtful gift set to be made for a Christmas gift...

This is a coordinating set of a needlecase, twine dispenser and clover clip jar (or quilting pins jar)...

I believe the twine dispenser is self explanatory as I used a retro sugar canister like you'd find in a diner and added measuring tape fabric ribbon around the top and a button...

The clover clip jar is made the same way from a Ball 4 oz. jar...

The needle case is made using two fabric scraps 3 1/2" x 9" and canvas and batting cut to match...and some of that measuring tape ribbon...

You can see I quilted the text scrap (to be used as the outside) to the canvas for stability and then layered the inner fabric and batting to make a sandwich...lots of those clover clips to hold it together.  Then stitch around leaving a 2 inch open spot to turn it right side out...then top stitch all around for a finished look, and add the felt and ribbon, also top stitched down...

Then add a bit of hand embroidery to make your recipient feel the love...

And Voila!! Ready to gift...

Just as a side note, the project I am currently making for Christmas is a longer term project...also done with hand embroidery...

I am using my new toy, a Beam N Read LED 6.  Wow, I have to say, this is a very nice tool to give you wide LED light exactly where you need it.  I definitely benefit from the directed light as this is back stitched black-work done on a texty busy background.  Works great :)  Please excuse the belly shot...I wanted to show you how easy it is to stitch with no hoop as I like to do and still shine light right in the proper spot.  It hangs around your neck but isn't heavy at all and never gets warm...I am very pleased with it.

Our family has what I consider to be a large collection of musical instruments...I have picked 12 of them to put into this project beginning with a Mountain Dulcimer.

On the First Day of Christmas, my true love played for me a dulcimer in a Pear Tree...

We do have a dwarf pear tree but my true love will not be in it...he does play me the dulcimer often though, especially old hymns.  We have a bit of a family Hymn Sing every Christmas.

Stay tuned for further instruments as we get closer to Christmas!  You might be surprised as to some of the instruments included, lol!  Any guesses?

And now I get to reveal what I received in the swap that was organized as part of this hop.  I had the great fortune to be paired with my friend Patty from A Stitch in Time...she is so talented, and she was so generous with her time and thoughtfulness in this gift...wow!

 A Jewelry Travel Case which rolls into a convenient carry-all, a canvas zipper bag, and some wonderful fabric.  You can see that we share a love for Sweetwater fabrics and that she understands and shares my current fixation on Doctor Who.  Thanks Patty,I just feel so spoiled.  I admitted to her that I may have carried that zipper pouch about with me for a while crooning..."My Prescioussss..."  

Thanks for wading through my extra long post, please be sure to visit all the other wonderful people sharing this day with me!!  May your Christmas be Merry and Blessed!!

Friday, Nov. 14

Quiltscapes

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Stitch In Time<-sent a giftie to me :)

Kris Loves Fabric<--you are here!!

Life In The Scrapatch<-My gift went to Pat :)

The Days Dewings

Ok, I Admit I am a Little Terrified of this Next Step

This Quilt has been a two year process but now I am almost done...

 Rolling out the batting to size...

 It's a bit of a squeeze on my bedroom floor at 75" x 90" with the outer border, but I made it fit!

 Sandwiched and pin basted...

 Sorry for the poor pictures...it is just too nasty outside with cold and rain to get any outside.

A peek at the galaxy print backing...

I am going to start quilting today...and yes, I am a bit terrified.  This is not usual but I feel a bit of pressure to get this right.

The patterns for the blocks if you too want to take up the challenge can be found here:

 http://www.whimsandfancies.com/
 http://trilliumdesign.blogspot.com/2013/04/is-there-doctor-in-house.html
 http://www.fandominstitches.com/2011/05/doctor-who.html
 http://quietplay.blogspot.com/

Wish me luck?

Let's Talk Turkey, Shall We?

Because sometimes a girl needs a break even when she's trying to be good and get a project finished...she just needs a naughty moment to make a frivolous block for no reason other than the joy of piecing it...he still needs his feet embroidered on but how fun is this guy?


Thank you Lori Holt from Bee In My Bonnet...I had fun making a turkey this afternoon...now I must get back to my machine quilting my DW top...ha!

A Finish For an Upcoming Wedding

I don't think my husband's sister has ever read my blog so I believe this is safe to post :)

I thought it would be fun to make a quilt with a modern twist on the traditional Wedding Ring.

She and her new husband-to-be are blending their previous families to create a gorgeous new family of 6 kids.  As a mother of one boy I can only marvel at their ability to keep track of all those different schedules!

 One line in the background for each person,  this was fun to stitch and pray for blessings for each one!  I really love the cross-hatching it created in the corners!

 The fabrics are all from a strip collection of Hoffman Bali Batiks and the backing is that same American Jane dotty fabric that has been showing up in my newest leaf blocks and the GTSB blocks...I think it makes a superb backing fabric as well!

For the quilting, I chose to outline all the rings and the triangular shapes in the background.  As this was not done continuous line it took FOREVER!!  But I think it turned out pretty well and I didn't mind burying all those thread tails...much!

Another leaf for fun :)

 I made another leaf from my friend Soma's pattern...you can find the pattern to make your own here.

Hard to tell...as it's so realistic, eh? 

I am still machine quilting so not much new to report yet...but it is nice to be working on a finish for a change  ;)

Have a great day!