Some finishes..tatting, sewing and quilting.

Well, hello! I haven't meant to be away so long but I just couldn't find the time to blog. I've thought about it and thought about it but just couldn't find a spare moment. I used to blog at work during lunch but can't do that anymore. We have a new computer system there and it's got all kinds of firewalls and won't allow me to post pictures. So, I can only do it at home and I just haven't had the time...

Ok, so much for my excuses...

Here's some stuff that has kept me busy.

 I made this sweet little pincushion last week.  I won the little kit from Susan of DesertSky Quilts. The pattern is called Heirloom Tomatoes and is from Rana over at Sewn into the Fabric. She has a pincushion of the month and this one was January.  It was fun and easy to do.

I quilted this little mug rug from leftovers of another project. 

Last Saturday, a few of the ladies in my American Sewing Group got together to have some sewing fun.  There were 10 of us all together and we spent the day eating, talking and making this bag.  This pattern is the Harmony Bag from Studio Kat Designs. Only four of us made the bag while the others worked on other projects or just sat and chatted.  Cathey from our group had made two of these bags and she walked us through the pattern.  It was great. I don't know if I'll keep this one or give it as a gift.  My sister really likes red so I'll have to think about this one...but I do like it and think it turned out really cute.  Her pattern was very easy to follow.  Here's a link to her site, she has alot of different bags...

Here's a tatted necklace I made last week. I got this pattern off of the Yarnplayers (Marilee Rocklee) Website.... This was a free pattern and it worked up so quickly. I love her stuff. 

And, I finished my tatted bag. I have been working on this for about a year and I finally finished it.  It doesn't look very big or very pretty in this picture but I think it's lovely. I made twisted cord from tatting thread for my drawstrings and I'm so happy with it.  I'm glad I finished it. It was alot of work. It wasn't hard, it just got boring after awhile and I kept putting it aside....I'm not sure if I'll leave it like this or line it but I like it this way right now.

Ok, gotta go for now so I can sew today.  Until next time, happy sewing!

A few fun finishes

I have been sewing and I've been making fun things. I like to make quick things so I can get that instant gratification of finishing something. Well, here are the things I've worked on over the weekend and got done.

I did finish sewing up my OBW top but haven't trimmed it or put the outside borders on it but I will and when I do, I'll show it to you...Come back later to see that!

I went to the Plano Quilt show earlier in the year and one of the things I came away with was a pattern and kit for this cute little bear. If you read my blog, you will know that I love bears and this one was so sweet, I just had to make him. I still have to put a bow around his neck, but I just haven't stopped long enough to go get any ribbon. This is made out of Minky and he is really soft. He went together really quickly but he sure made a mess going together. This stuff sheds! Wow, this is the first time I've sewn with this and it was messy. I had to get my sticky lint cleaner wand out and clean it off about 4 times before I got rid of all the fuzz. But, I think he's worth it...so cute!

Then, I made him a little friend.....another rag doll. I like her alot. I have to make another one too but I need special fabric for her. 

Doesn't she look happy? I think that's what I'll name this one....Say hello to Happy!

This pattern is off of Beth's blog, Love Laugh Quilt....

A few weeks ago, Joann's had a sale on Simplicity patterns and I picked up a pincushion pattern. This is the first one out of this pattern. I think it has about 7 or 8 different little pincushions but this was the one I really wanted to make. I think the owl turned out really cute. He stands about 5 inches tall and is filled with crushed Walnut shells so he feels really stable. Onto the next project.....

After Mr. Owl, I finished up a bag I had in the works. I had sewn this together some time ago but I had put it aside to work on other things. I put the pockets on the lining and made the straps and the closure and finally this project is 99% complete. When I go to get ribbon for my bear, I'll pick up a pretty big Fall button to finish off this cute bag. This is a gift for one of my sisters and I hope she'll like it..... I made this out of placemats.

Yesterday, I was going through my sewing room looking for quick things to make to get out of the way....I ran across a pair of socks and decided to make another stuffed animal. I finished him off this morning. I made one of these for both of my boys when they were little and I made one for my other grandkids, so I just had to make one for my newest grandbaby Carmen. She likes her Mr. Monkey...

Now, I'm working on my Row by Row quilt. I did one row and now onto my next one. I'll show you both of those in my next post. I'll be caught up with this and ready for next month...

I'm hoping to get all of my projects caught up this week. I've taken the week off and I'm sewing like crazy. I was going to my sister's today but I have the crud and don't want to spread it around. That still doesn't stop me from sewing so I'm going to get as much done as I can. Today is my birthday and I'm not going to slow down just because I'm older and sick!!! Ok, got to go so I can stay busy. I'll post more later. Til next time, happy sewing!

Catching up, feeling better and a finished top

I haven't posted in a few weeks.  I haven't felt good and haven't done any sewing.  I have had a terrible tooth ache.  My dentist fixed this tooth back in January but it didn't work. I finally had to give up and go to the endodontist and they drilled through the crown to do a root canal.  After two weeks of tooth  and jaw pain, I finally got some relief on Thursday and started feeling lots better.  My mouth is still tender but no pain..Woo hoo, you can only imagine the relief!  Anyway, I'm not on any more drugs and I finally felt like doing something besides going to bed... 

I worked on several things this weekend.  I made a quick little quilt top out of some Brown Bear fabric I've had in my stash.  I haven't had this in my stash very long, maybe a year or two...anyway, I already did one Brown Bear top a few months ago but I really liked this one when I saw it in another magazine. I fussy cut the animals out and the fabric I have left is really holey...(I hate fussy cutting only because of the waste of the fabric) I'm going to cut up the rest of the animals and use them on my last Brown Bear panel  that I have. I'm going to keep the panel all together on this last one  and just add borders around it. I'll use the left over animals in the border or maybe on the back of the quilt. Here's the Brown Bear top I made this weekend:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?

I finished this little quilt top for community service. This is a little top I started at my small group at our last meeting. I couldn't finish it at the meeting as the kit was short two blue cornerstones and I had to cut those out of my stash.  I cut those and finished sewing up the little top.  I'll give this back to the  group and we have long arm quilters that will do the quilting for us...

Here's a close-up of the blocks, this fabric is all different kinds of mocassins.  The fabric was pretty cute and I didn't like the border at first but it grew on me as I was putting it on.  I think it turned out ok and I hope some little kid will like it.

I also worked on catching up on my row by row quilt.  I made three rows and I'll add these to the other rows I  have already done. Now,  my little row by row is all caught up.. I didn't take a picture of those but I will and I'll show you later.

I didn't do this over the weekend but I wanted to show you this cute pincushion that I made at my last ASG meeting.  It is made out of wool and he turned out so cute. It's a little porcupine.

 I planned on working on the Barbara Brackman blocks but didn't get to them .  I have fallen behind and need to catch up on these too. I'll try to work on them this week.  I did all of my sewing while watching the youngest grandchild and she demanded my time too...so, these were on my list but she took priority. I'll have to catch up on them another time.

Unhealthy week-pincushions-Jelly Roll Block/Quilt- Finished Scrap quilt and a sick sewing machine

This week has been horrible. I started getting sick Tuesday and came home from work early. I have been off all week with this and haven't felt like doing anything but laying around. I guess it was a virus. Wednesday, my husband came home with it and Thursday my son came home sick. It has not been any fun to be at our house this week. My son and husband went back to work today, not completely 100% but able to deal... I finally felt good enough to do a little house cleaning and sewing. So, this week has been very unproductive.

I have sprayed my house down with Lysol and washed all the sheets, towels and cleaned all the bathrooms to prevent us getting sick again. After that, I was able to finally get a little bit of sewing done.

I didn't feel good enough to work on anything until last night. I started hand stitching this little pincushion. I finished it and stuffed it this morning...I had done this one before but it didn't turn out right so, I redid it. Here's the correct one. Isn't it funny how you can have the same pieces and if you sew it together wrong, it makes two different things? Well, that just about says quilting all over it, doesn't it?
I'm still going to do this one again. I really didn't want the green on top. I wanted the color that's on the bottom to be the fabric on top. Now that I know how to do the pattern, it will be easier next time. This is really what it is supposed to look like.



This is what I ended up with the first time...



Quite a difference, huh?



I should have told you earlier where I found the pattern for the pincushion. So, shame on me for not telling you. It was from a fellow blogger named Mae Britt from Abyquilt and here's a link to the pincushion. It was alot of fun to make.

I sewed the last row onto an organized scrap quilt and I'm calling this one done. I have more scraps and might make something else but this one's big enough. This fabric was leftover from three quilts I made a few years back. The quilt was called Starry Night and it was a Marti Michell quilt. I had to make three of the same quilt because one was for the girl that started the shop sample and had an accident. I made one for myself and I gave another away. I was really tired of this quilt by the time I finished working on these and I just put all the scraps away. I had some fairly big scrap pieces but not enough to do anything fancy. I saw a Moda University pattern and decided to do it. It was called La Jardin (I think-I can't lay my hands on the pattern right this minute). It really wasn't even necessary to have a pattern for this one. Anyway, I think this will look just fine quilted and bound in the lighter blue fabric. I have just enough left for binding. It's not anything fancy but I like the fabrics and always did.






After that was done, I finished up block 12 of the Jelly Roll quilt along...(I know mine is a little different than the pattern but this is how I wanted it)



and I sewed it into the flimsy...I don't have any border fabric. I'm still looking in my stash to see if I can use anything. If not, I'll check with the LQS and see if they have any fabrics from this line left. If not, I might just have to order something online to finish this one off...I really like this one and want to stay in the same family if I can. I'll show you again when the border's on.




While I was sewing this little quilt, my lovely little sewing machine and I were fighting. Ms. Bernina was being stubborn and kept stopping while I tried to sew. She kept freezing up. I kept pushing her along...turning her off and on to get her going again, and we finished up. (I guess she caught a virus from me too.) I was getting so much done today too...Ms. Bernina and I made a trip into town to the Bernina shop and my favorite repair man was waiting for me. I had called ahead to make sure he was there and he met me at the door and carried the sick little lady in for me. He took her in and checked her out while I sat in on a free demo. I looked around, purchased some fabric for the sashings and backing for the Crazy Patch Christmas blocks I showed a few days/weeks ago. I'll finish them up next. Anyway, he was able to fix Ms. Bernina up with cleaning, oiling and some sort of new sensor and I was able to bring her home with me. I don't know if I'll have time to sew on her anymore today but I'm going to try later. Have a good weekend and happy sewing...

A Christmas Giveaway and a pincushion giveaway.

Ok, I hope everyone is enjoying the July 4th holiday. I know I am. I get to sew another day, woo hoo!!!! I ran across a giveaway and since I'm working on Christmas, this is perfect for me. If you aren't working on Christmas yet, this might just be the perfect kick in the pants to get you started! Monica over at Diary of a Quilt Maven is having a Christmas giveaway. She's celebrating two milestones-her blog anniversary and 100 posts too. Go tell her congratulations and you can be entered in her giveaway...Here's a link to her site for your convenience.

Also, go check out a Bee in My Bonnet. She's got a cute pincushion tutorial and you could win one of them too if you comment. Click on the button at the sidebar and it will take you there. Good luck...Ok, back to sewing. Have a great day!

Patterns and prizes in the mail and learning to do the SSSR

Ooh, I got mail! Yes, I got junk mail and bills, but no, that's not the mail I was looking for! I got two wonderful things in the mail! I got may pattern from Quilt Taffy that I ordered. Sunday Best. It is a Schnibbles pattern and you've seen these all over blogland. I saw this one on someone's blog and I can't remember who's, but I loved it. They had done this pattern in Shangri-la fabric. I have enough left overs from my last quilt to do this pattern and just had to order it...I'm anxious to start working on this one. I have to have patience though because I've got to quilt my Quilts For Kids quilt before I can start anything! I'll be a good girl and do that first.

I also got my prize from Shell over at The Raspberry Rabbit site. Thanks Shell, the scissors and pincushion are lovely. I LOVE the little rabbit scissors! Pictures just don't do these justice! Shell even sent chocolate! Of course, it was Raspberry chocolate, love it! Lovely gift, I was such a lucky girl to win these!



Last night, I had a sweet lady from Oklahoma come and stay with me. Gina from Oklahoma came down and visited us for tatting. She showed us how to do the Single Shuttle Split Ring. I have practiced this a little and got a few little dimpled hearts done...This is still a little slow for me but at least I can do it now. I tried to do it previously with instructions but just didn't get it. Thanks, Gina for showing us how to do it...My group loved you and want you to come back and visit anytime! You were very helpful!
Ron, Gina's son, also made us some Tatting Tuesday buttons! (See the purple buttons on the corners) Aren't they cute? Wasn't that sweet of Ron? Thank you, Ron, we love the little buttons!

My pincushion, it's finished....

Ok, here it is. I think it turned out really cute. I'm going to let it sit for a few days and decide if I need to put more crushed walnut shells in it. I really like the little prairie points on it. I asked my husband what he thought about it and he said, What is it??? I couldn't believe it. Oh well, no accounting for taste, huh?

Pincushion..Tatting Tuesday

Last night I worked on my pincushion. I am embellishing the sides with embroidery stitches and buttons. You know, kind of like crazy patch but not as much. I did this while watching The Closer marathon. I am through embellishing and can now start putting it together. My husband stopped at the pet store and got me some crushed walnut shells to put inside so I'll be finishing it up this week. I have enjoyed making this. It's been alot of fun...I plan on making more pincushions but not as big as this one. I'll take some pics when I'm finished.

Today is Tatting Tuesday and I'll be joining my friends tonight at the Senior Center. I won't be able to work on my pincushion or maybe I'll make some tatting to put on it too...we'll see. til next time....

Working on the Crazy Patch and a Big Pincushion

I started embellishing my block last night while watching TV. I put some lace on one seam and sewed it down. Then, I added some beads in the holes of the lace to tack it down some more. I really like the results. I did the buttonhole stitch on one seam but didn't like it so I undid it. I'm going to get some tiger tape so I can measure my stitches more accurately for the stitches. If I get a chance, I'll work on it some tonight. It's pretty relaxing to do this.

Here's two of the blocks that we made. I kept these two cuz I liked them. We made 23 blocks in all. Shirley kept one and I kept these two. This shows how we made up the kits too.






I also had a little kit that I worked on. It was a sample that Shirley picked up somewhere. This kit had paper pieces in it that were 1" big. I sewed around the little hexagons and made it into a flower. I'm going to put a backing on it and make it into a small pincushion and give it as a gift...No picture yet, I'll show you the finished product soon.



Talking of pincushions! I forgot to tell you about this!!!

I went to one of the LQS Friday afternoon and saw the cutest big pincushion. I have got to make this. I took pictures of them. There were two of them. One was a tall one and one was short. I'll post my pictures tonight when I get home. I did find the pattern on the website. It is a MODA pattern and is available online at their site. Here's a link to it....it is called the Prairie Flowers pincushion...Go check it out. This is definitely on my to do list and I want to do it ASAP. I'm going to find the walnut hulls for it first. At the quilt store they kidded around and called it a door stop! It is so big, it could be used for a door stop. I loved it and I have to have one.

Aren't these cute? Diana at the LQS made these and I just think they are wonderful...I've got to make these.... I like them both so I guess I have to make a tall and short one.

Little Fabric Baskets and Pincushions

I made some gifts last week and could not show them at the time. I'm making more now and will show those later. I gave these away so I can show them now...These were alot of fun and easy to make. I love making these and you can use up small bits of fabric that you have been saving. I'm thinking now I will be making them like crazy patchwork with some of my embroidery stitches and tatting. I don't have time to do them now but will pursue these after Christmas...Here's a picture of the ones I made. I also made some pincushions to go with these. I gave you the link to these fabric baskets earlier. Here'a a link to the pincushions....

Here are my pictures:



I did change the pattern a little bit. The big pincushion is by the pattern and was done as a 10" square, I decreased the size of the square to 6 1/2" for the second one....I like it better. A friend of mine gave me one that she did with a 5 1/2" square. It's real cute too. I'll make some more of those and show them too.





Til next time...

Intermediate Quilts with Scalloped Border

Ok, here it is...The borders are finished but I have not finished quilting it as much as I want. That's why the pins are still in it. I did want to get a picture posted though so you could see that I was able to sew Friday night like I wanted. I got my hair cut then came home and started sewing. I sewed the binding on the machine, watched some TV and started the hand work of sewing the binding down. I thoroughly enjoyed doing this binding. It went together so easily and I definitely recommend the Easy Scallop Border tool by Darlene Zimmerman. It really is one of the easiest things to use and made the scallops perfectly. (I hate to use that word cause nothing is perfect but this was great!) You have got to try it for a scalloped border. I am no longer hesitant about doing scalloped borders. As soon as I finish quilting this quilt, I plan on working on the Red and White Quilt top I did some time ago. It also has a scalloped border. I want to finish this one so I can reinforce what I learned...









Yesterday, I went with some of my friends to our annual ASG (American Sewing Guild) luncheon... I had a great time visiting with all my sewing friends. We got there and had two sewing projects to do. One was to make fabric flowers and the other was to make a fabric rose to wear. Here's the pictures of those. Fun projects. No thinking, just doing. These were easy make it and take it projects. I finished mine at home as we didn't have enough time to finish at the luncheon. On the way home - I hate not having anything to do with my hands. Kathy had a Linus blanket in the console she was finishing up by putting crochet around the outside. I crocheted while she drove and finished up her blanket....She said that was great as now she can move onto something else. It was a fun time with good friends, food and sewing. What more could you ask for? (Except maybe some money thrown in!)
Here's the fabric Flower





Here's the Fabric Rose Pin




Last night, hubby and I went to another quilt friend's annual Halloween party. Another fun time. Good food and fun with friends. Thanks, Ann and Glen for the party. I had a great time....looking forward to next year.


I forgot to show you last week what a friend of mine made for me. Shirley knows I love pincushions and that I had been looking for the directions to this pincushion...she made me one some time ago too but she made these three sewing items for me and gave them to me for my birthday...The top one is the pincushion, the other item is a pin and needle caddy with Wool in the middle for your pins. Most people make it with felt but Shirley said I was special, so I got wool....

and the other sewing caddy is just a bigger version with some machine embroidery stitches and other fabric besides cotton. Also wool in the middle for the needles. She said I could put one in my sewing and one in my embroidery box...Isn't Shirley sweet for thinking of me. I have some of the nicest friends and I've met most of them through quilting. Thanks Shirley, love ya girl.






Today, I get to vege out and watch the Cowboys, hopefully they'll win today. We'll see. Til next time....