Snapshots QAL Blocks 1 and 2 with Minis and a Partial Parade

 Here are the first two blocks for the Snapshots QAL, find the patterns and support St. Jude's here.

 The mini patterns and directions can be found on the Out of the Blue Blog.

My Elephant parade is coming along well too :)  These patterns can be found at Lorna's Sew Fresh Quilts blog.

She Quilts with Flowers in the Snow

As she quilts, she shakes her fist at the snow and ice and says "Oh yes, take that winter!"  :)  A bright floral and texty goodness baby quilt, pattern can be found on Bee in my Bonnet blog.   You can find the tutorial here.

 The blocks are 10 inch finished and the quilt is a 4 x 5 block layout.

 

Here it is hanging out on our woodpile, we have been enjoying fires in the fireplace most nights lately.

 A few detail shots...

Turtle Time

 This week Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts has added the pattern for the turtle to her Elephant Parade...this picture is not the best but the weather continues to challenge me and not allow for better outside shots.  I am using wool felt for the eyes and I love the texture it adds to the quilt blocks!

Here are my blocks so far...I have multiples of the elephants but I chose to do them all the same, I look forward to seeing them set together in quilt form :)  Thanks so much Lorna for such a fun QAL!!

And Sew On

I had a chance to finish my version of Fat Quarter Shop's Snapshots QAL Block 2 today which is a fun sewing machine.  It took longer to pick out the fabrics than it did to sew it...really!

There is still plenty of time to join this QAL and to donate to the worthy cause of St. Judes Children's Hospital.

Weirdo or Whimsy?

Yea...don't really want the answer to that.

After making these fun matching kits for gifts, I had an idea I would make one for me last night...


I may have been cooped up too long because of bad weather, or maybe I was just hungry...

 My favorite fabric with some coordinates...check! (does it look a bit like an egg?)

 A great color of wool felt named "honey mustard" ...check!

 This is where it gets a little ummm...different.  I have had a towel I bought on clearance sitting on my sewing table for just the right project.  It wanted to move up in life from a humble towel to a very usable sewing kit....check!

I just have to keep it away from these guys...

Pattern is from Lori Holt from Bee in My Bonnet.  She has a handy little camera icon that shows her IG feed on her blog sidebar and there you will find the little tutorial on making a sewing kit from an orphan block.

Making A Couple of Matching Gifts

So it is still snowing steady here, good time for some sewing!

I am one of the only poor souls not on Instagram but that doesn't mean I can't stalk some of the people who are.  Lori Holt from Bee in My Bonnet has a handy little camera icon that shows her IG feed on her blog sidebar and she had this cute little tutorial on making a sewing kit from an orphan block.

I chose to use some Kaffe Fasset fabric to make matching kits for my Mother-In-Law and her sister who is going to be moving from several states away to be in her neighborhood soon.  Hopefully they will like their daisy sewing kits and enjoy some together sewing time with them soon :)

 I used some of my favorite prints for the inside lining and pockets...

And that ruler ribbon is so fun!  I used a couple thimble charms to "cute them up".

Have a good day all!

Flower Box QAL - first block

Flower Box Block 1

So I am waiting impatiently for Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet's new book Farm Girl Vintage...very impatiently.  When she offered this QAL, I jumped on board.  You can find the tutorial here.


I have a lot of scraps left over from this fat quarter grouping of Heather Bailey and Amy Butler prints that I bought along with some friends for the first Craftsy BOM way back in January of 2012.  I had a post here about our clever technique for buying these lovelies.  I gave away the blocks from the sampler as I enjoyed putting them together but didn't really want the finished quilt.  I would like to have a quilt made from this grouping so the Flower Box QAL seems a perfect way to get that done.  And I am using STASH, yay!!

Anybody else want to join in and bust those scraps?!

Frog Week

Thanks to Lorna at  Sew Fresh Quilts this is Week 3 of the Elephant Parade QAL...

Before I show you my block, let me tell you why this is my favorite block in this QAL.

How many of you know this rhyme?

Five little speckled frogs

Sitting on a speckled log

Eating the most delicious bugs (yum, yum)

One jumped into the pool

Where it was nice and cool

Then there were four speckled frogs.

The verse is then repeated with one fewer frog each time with the final verse ending with:
 "Then there were no more speckled frogs".

I became acquainted with this rhyme when taking my toddler son to Story Time at the library over a decade ago.  It probably would have faded as many memories do except for two things.  My young son loved frogs almost as much as his Thomas Trains.  They were his imaginary invisible friends who followed him through his day in a tiny invisible race car.  The second  reason is that he sometimes left the first "s" and many "r" sounds off of words.  So when he sang this in his sweet, tiny voice it sounded more like this:

Five little 'peckled fogs
Sitting on a 'peckled log
Eating some Most delicious bugs yum yum
One jumped into the pool
where it was nice and cool
Then there were four 'peckled fogs...

Yep, this memory holds fast.

So when the next block in the Elephant Parade was a frog, well...I had trouble stopping at just one "fog"...

 Wouldn't this be cute as a line up of 5 on a "speckled log"??!!

I made a silly, off-center mouth to reminisce at how my son, and when I was little...how I drew these frogs inspired by this book.
 


Hope you make time to join us in this QAL generously provided by Sew Fresh Quilts.  I know I would love to see your blocks :)

Harry Potter's Bookcase Row 1 Done

These are blocks 1-5 from the Harry Potter Bookcase QAL known as Project of Doom 2015 which can be found at Fandom in Stitches here.  The QAL released the pattern for block 6 Wednesday but I haven't finished that one yet :)

 This is block 4, I think it may be my favorite so far with Harry's glasses.
 I had originally thought I wanted to hand embroider book titles, losing enthusiasm for that at the moment...there are some really neat examples in the flickr group of people who have though.
 

It's a Family Affair

So I had a chance to sew my baby pachyderms this afternoon...

I am going to make a bit smaller quilt than the pattern calls for and find myself with four large elephants and 11 babies so far.  The patterns have been well done and easy to follow making for a fun bit of sewing.  The pattern is from Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts, still plenty of time to join us!!

Miss Kitty Kitty has been fighting me for my sewing chair this last week, when she's this cute I sometimes let her win.  Don't let her fool you though, she did that head tuck as I walked toward her  :)

Here it Snows Again

Saw that on a church sign on my way to town yesterday...

I have been sewing but nothing to share today so I thought I would share a few pics from our last snowfall...

 Lots of snow removal necessary to make our driveway passable, this is just a small corner of it...

On my walk this morning around the property with my German Shepherd mix I got a lot of snow in my boots.  The dog had to hop high to get through the drifts, he smiles more than I do at such matters...

 The Lord provided us with a beautiful sunrise to enjoy though!

 I believe we need to do some birdhouse repairs this spring, that roof looks leaky!!

Love how the shagbarks hold onto the snow :)

Have a great day!

We Support You Blog Hop-My Day is Today!

A great big thanks to PAT from Scrapatches and to Mdm Samm of Sew We Quilt and Sew We Stitch  as well for including me in this hop.  We all know someone battling Cancer... this hop is for all of THEM...


My mother was diagnosed and treated for early stage breast cancer last year so I am well aware of the heartache, struggle, courage and bravery involved in this fight.  Thankfully, my mom did well with her surgery and treatment and is continuing to do well now.  I pray for that outcome for everyone faced with this disease.


My project utilizing Mdm Samm's sweet bra applique pattern is a tote bag / book bag.  The pattern can be found here:

The "We Support You" Friendship Quilt Pattern is available 

for purchase for $12.00 by emailing Madame Samm directly 

to  madamesamm@me.com

 Using my new learned skill from our last hop, box pleats and a re-purposed ribbon or two I made a small version of the bra.

And added it to some sturdy duck cloth folded and sewn into a tote bag with wooden handles.
Sorry for the awful sewing room photos, the weather has not cooperated and allowed me better outdoor options.


Now, for a chuckle...
my 14 year old son walked into the sewing room and found this "bra bag" and asked me "What are you going to do with this?  Are you going to *gasp* carry it in public?"
(translation: anywhere where I am or my friends might see)

I told him straight-faced that I thought it would make a great bag for his track shoes...ha!  He does not think his mother funny...hmmm...


Please be sure to visit all those on the list below that I share the day with and give them some comment love!!

Feb  4^th 

Kris Loves Fabric<--you are here!!

Words & Stitches

Jane's Quilting

Tea Time Creations

Digging Out After a Bit of Sewing

 Still no quilt block pics outside today with the wind...but here's a shot of my wonderful husband digging us out from the foot of snow that fell yesterday...

 This is the mini Snapshots cake block from from Fat Quarter Shop's Snapshots QAL to benefit St. Jude's Children's Hospital.  You can find all the details here along with the link to donate.  The mini directions can be found on the Out of the Blue Blog.

 Here are the two together...

And I just could not resist the Elephant Parade happening...

Have a great Monday, my friends!!