~ Happy New Year! ~

Wishing everyone a safe, happy and stitchy New Year!

Another Peek

There will be a couple more  little mice coming for my Christmas quilt.  So, keep checking!

Yesterday, I worked on the block that actually got me started on this whole thing.  This is the only part that is not my original design.  The angel is from Shabby Fabrics Blessings of Spring quilt.  I have, however, completely changed her outfit.  This block is not finished as yet.  This little girl will be holding a basket, as soon as I can make a final decisions as to what exactly is going to be in the basket.   I also have an idea for a top border, but it will extend across several blocks...at least, that's the plan. ;)

Anyway, here is my little Christmas angel on her way to delivering a few Christmas goodies!

Thanks for joing me on yet another quilting adventure!

Again?!?!

I know, I know....I cannot help myself....yet another new project.  This one is a little special...it's my own design, once again.  A sleepless night proved to be a creative flow for an idea I have been wanting to do for a while.  Something with my own Christmas design ideas, but somehow I couldn't seem to get what I liked to appear in my rough drawings.  Although this particular little block does not appear "Christmas-y", this chubby little fellow is the start of this new venture. 

* * * Merry Christmas!! * * *

Merry Christmas to all! 

  I hope everyone finds a little quiet time for themselves and family during this hectic time of year.:))

Thanks for stopping by this year and visiting with me. :)

I don't know.....

by that, I mean...a Partridge in a Pear Tree? 

Kind of a funky looking partridge, don't you think?  Although,  I do like this little block.  I am especially happy with my 'pear' fabric. :)

This crazy little guy is from A Christmas Story quilt by Hatched and Patched Designs.  Lots of cute little things going on in this one, that's for sure!

A BIG CHRISTMAS FINISH

What?!!  I actually met one of my goals for this year?  Woohoo!!! I wanted to finish the top for my "The Night Before Christmas" quilt before this Christmas.  And...believe it or not...I put the last applique star on it yesterday!  Above is almost the entire top.  Here is the upper portion:

And, the lower portion:

I forgot!

I made another penny rug...stars and circles for this one....and forgot to take a picture of it.  It has been done for over a week or so.

And.....I drew this little house (only 3" square; 5" with the checked border).  There is going to be a house-a-day SAL beginning January....check it out...Little Houses.  There is a pattern available.  I (in my infinite wisdom, of course) decided to make my own.  I thought it turned out pretty cute and ooh! so little!

Once again, wool felt and fabric for the applique.

*** for Ineke:   Knowing me....I would probably get about 10-15 of them done and then pffftttt!!!  Even so, 10-15 could make a cute little quilt! ;)  Just the idea of such a tiny block intrigued me.  Had to give it a try!

Jolly Little Elf

How cute is he?  The good thing is that he was very easy to make.  Everything needed was included in the Just Another Button Company pincushion kit for this cute little Santa. :)  His belt buckle and moustache were a bit straighter, until I started squishing him into the branches of our Christmas tree!

Berries and Bluebirds

More birdies, once again!
Berries and Bluebirds (Gail Pan Designs)

The top portion of Block 2:

The bottom:

Entire block:

Birds and more Birds

Funny....I did not realize until I was going to take a few progress pictures....all I have been making the past week are: birds.
My Partridge ornament from Esther Aliu's Twelve Days of Christmas design.

My second large bird from the third block on Hatched and Patched In My Garden.

My bird for the top portion of the second block of Berries and Bluebirds from Gail Pan Designs.
With the basket of funny blooms thrown in there, too, also from In My Garden.

Still another to come...the bottom portion of the third block from B&B also has another bird, which I am working on now.

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving...lots of family, food and fun.  Now we are in full swing towards Christmas!  Won't be long now!

* * Turkey Day * *

Wishing all who celebrate a very Happy Thanksgiving! 

Christmas Time

I guess all those early Christmas commercials have had their sublimal effect on me....I have been in a Christmas mood for about a week now.  With that in mind, I worked on another of my Christmas Fun (Lynette Anderson Designs) blocks...the snowman.  I am enjoying how these little blocks are evolving with the wool felt.  Here's my dapper little guy:

Here's two other little wool projects I completed very quickly.  These are from a kit which includes all the wool felt, floss and cord to complete four different ornaments - two mittens and two stockings.  It is called Christmas Woolens by Rachel Pellman.  Here are the first two:

The butterflies and dragonflies...

the pears and snails....all together!  My completed Block 2 for In My Garden (Hatched and Patched Designs) is below:

These blocks are big...approximately 21 inches!  I have only done two blocks; when you think about it, the quilt is already 40 inches or so wide.  Gonna be a biggie!

Edited to add:

Geez!!  How could I forget??  I don't want to be on this guy's "naughty" list, that's for sure!

I had finished the wool felt applique for this guy last week.  I made him into a funky pillow with Jingle All the Way fabrics. :))

...Pears and Snails....

...a funny combination, no?  :)  These are two small parts of my second block for In My Garden.  A few pear trees...just a glimpse of those for now (since I am stilll working on the applique).  And the snails!  I love snails....no, no, no.....not real snails, a bit too much like slugs for me...  :p  yuck...Fabric snails, of course.  This little 'snail train' has a total of seven of these cute guys.  The shell is the size of a quarter, to give you a bit of perspective.

The snail's bodies and the pears are done with wool felt. In the background you can see the beginning of my pear trees. 

 This has been a fun block to work on; still to come:  dragonflies and butterflies!

A little Christmas Fun

I really liked this free BOM from Lynette Anderson when I signed up for it.  I made one little block right away.  However, in the midst of all my many and varied projects, it fell by the wayside.  I decided I needed a little something different to work on for a day or so.  I started another block for this cute project...the Santa.  I also decided to go in a completely different direction than the first block...can you guess??  ;)  ....wool felt for the applique....not so different for me. However, different from what is recommended in the pattern.

I also worked on two of the heart blocks that will go with the snowman.

I am using Lynette's Scandanavian Christmas fabric for these blocks.

In My Garden and Trees

I was asked by Judy at Bears Paw Fabrics to make this wool felt hanging for the shop:

I had completed the portions necessary for Block 1 of In My Garden by Hatched and Patched Designs.

Remember the birdie, the fountain and the flower field? Back again, all together!   Here are the two smaller squarers with the birds and flowers (? I think that's what they are!).

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Little Bits

OK, OK...I just can't help myself.  Another new one...go ahead....50 lashes with wet strands of floss....;)

Little bits and pieces from the first block of  In My Garden, by Hatched and Patched Designs.  I am using wool felt (surprise! surprise!) for lots of the little tiny pieces for this block.  Check out my tiny trees:

I did not plan this for my bird...but when I placed the French knot for the eye, the pattern on the fabric, gave me this.  My own 'angry bird.'  (For those not familiar with the term..a very popular video game.)

And a total picture of my birdie.

A close-up of the little flower field

and the fountain...with all the pieces in place, ready to stitch.

There are still a lot of parts for this block...so - back to work!

Bluebirds and Berries....my way

Not a bluebird in sight!  I guess mine will have to be called Blackbirds and Berries, or as I had mentioned to Anne Marieke, Crows and Cherries. :) 

Here is the original quilt, Bluebirds and Berries.   It is very pretty, but I wanted to make it more 'mine.'  :)

Sneak Peek

Another new one....just a tiny peek for now.....

"TUIT"

 Most of us know what that is...'tuit'...you know a round tuit.  The everlasting symbol of procrastination.  "I'll do it when I get 'around to it."  Right?  All quilters, stitchers have those projects, don't they?  I cannot be the only one with a 'few' projects that are on my TUIT list.  There always seems to be a new project that will get me totally distracted and another one goes onto the TUIT list/pile. 
I have been making a small attempt to clean-up my TUIT list.  One of the projects was Postcard Cuties for Winter by Bunny Hill Designs.  All that was left to do was to finish the applique on two scalloped borders and the four corners.  I am proud to say that this one is now crossed off that every-growing list!

Now...what's next?  ;)

Curtains

Definitely!  I was on a small 'home improvement' kick...at least through a bit of sewing.  I made three new covers for my throw pillows for the sofa, after purchasing a new slipcover and new living room curtains.  Then, my attention was drawn to my kitchen curtains (which I have only tolerated for now).  It seems I can never find exactly what I want regardless of how much actual shopping or web browsing I do.  So I sat down and tried to decide what I like.  First, my kitchen window is 72" wide.  Of course I have always had the usual valances and short panel curtains that have been available.  But I wanted something different for a change...something in colors that I knew I liked and with a pattern I liked.  After that overwhelming introduction, here they are.  Still short panel curtains with a valance, but with a little something added...a checkerboard and a few stars....a couple of my favorite things.:)

I drew the pattern for one 'scallop' on the valance on freezer paper.  It was a matter of making three additional scallops on the paper and ironing it to the fabric.  My biggest fear was that the valance would be too short or too long. It turned out to fit exactly into the window frame the way I wanted...with no shirring on the rod  so that the scallops would hang flat and straight.  The stars?  What else?  Wool felt!

Oh, and have you ever tried to take pictures of curtains in your window when the sun is shining?  Almost impossible!  These pictures were actually taken before the sun came up this morning.

Is it Halloween yet?

First, let me say I am sorry if anyone is having trouble reading my blog.  I have checked and rechecked all the settings and everything appears to be fine.  I have no clue why the background would show up dark.  I currently am using a fall template that has all the code provided.

Now...Halloween, anyone?  I know, I know.  A little early, you say.  But I have three projects completed recently, all Halloween-related.  First, one of the newest kits from Shepherds Bush, "Get Scared."  (I didn't use the wording that was provided on the chart.  A fun little kit that stitches up pretty quickly.  You know I had to do this one....a sheep and Halloween?  Of course!

Second (and third) are my witch's shoes from the Bewitching Boo-tique Club from Bedecked and Bedazzled.  All of the items in this club will be needlepoint, with lots of fancy threads, buttons, brads and trims.  They will have an ornament-type finishing...hopefully, soon!

(this one has been done for a while)

and

I finished this one today...which is good, as the third kit should be arriving soon!

**Note:  Carol.....c'mon....get stitching on your little shoes! **

The Third Barn

Finished the third of four of my barns for the Little  Red Barns quilt.  Another cute block. :) 
Although it looks as though one leg of the windmill is crooked, it is the way the fabric puffed up a bit, when I placed it on the table.

*** NOTE:  I cannot take credit for selecting the fabrics for these blocks.  They are provided in the BOM kits from Shabby Fabrics.  The 'windows' portions are preprinted on fabric and provided with the pattern and buttons.  ***

My Penny Rug

I have always looked at and wanted my own penny rug.  I know I have looked at the shop models over and over again, trying to decide if I could actually make one, and like it.  I think I have managed to do it!

I think my Willie Raye chickens like it, too!

Too Cute!!

...and it's free, too!  Erin Russek released this little freebie on her blog yesterday morning.  Needless to say, I fell in love with her cuteness!  I had to stop eveything and make her right away.  My little Christmas Angel is stitched on Kansas Troubles Warm Memories fabric with all wool felt for the applique.

Isn't she sweet?  Check out Erin's blog here.  Lots of nice patterns and some great applique tutorials.

How could I forget?

Maybe because the weather has been so dark and dreary for the past several days.  I was waiting for a nice day with some sunshine to be able to hang my finished "bizzy garden" (now it's official name) on the fence and take a few pictures.  Beautiful day today with plenty of sunshine, but with quite a bit of wind 'gently' blowing. :)  So the quilt looks puffed out, since the wind would blow every time I would get ready to snap the picture! 
(Again, that shadow that divides the quilt in half is from my roof overhang.  Unless I wait until late in the afternoon, this is what happens.)

Here it is overall, although the top portion is overexposed.  At least you can see the overall effect of the borders.

Pillows

New curtains and a new slipcover for the sofa called for a few new pillows.  Very quick and easy to make (especially since I reused the pillow forms I had used on the old pillows).  The fabrics are from my Primitive Gatherings fat quarters I used for my garden quilt. 

More wool

In the midst of making my flower block for my little garden, I decided to also make a wool mat for the table.  Lots of circles, but very easy to make using my GoBaby! cutter.  Here's a picture of it all together and ready to be stitched.  It is only glue basted for now...and I notice (of course after the picture) that one of the little stems is crooked.  Not to worry, it will be straightened out during the stitching.

(The two black circles at the top are magnets to hold it onto my refrigerator, which has lately become my place of choice for pictures).

My 'bizzy garden' is all together!  Woohoo!  Big Hapy Dance time!   I will try and get a few pictures once the sun comes out around here today. :))