Potholder Party!

Well, not really a party!  These are a few of the gifts I have been busy making for Christmas.  I can finally post a little about them now theat they have been given and received.  Every year I try to make many of my gifts, especially for my family.  I love to think about the person I am giving the present to as I make it.  Of course, I always believe I can get way more done than I actually can!

I have a few more things on my list.  The recipients will just get a happy surprise in January or February (last year it was May before I got them all sent!!)

Anyway, here are three different kinds of potholders I made this year.

Bright star with swirly quilting

Back of Star

Black and White log cabin variation with Jester's Hat quilting

Back

Green with ladybugs disappearing four-patch with a swirly Jester's Hat variation.

Back

 Potholders are fun to make and go pretty quickly.  I use the heat resistant batting in them.  I love to go to my friends and family's houses and see them using my potholders!

December sewing (a little late!)

Here are a few glimpses of my Christmas sewing.  I made lots of ornaments this year, including 12 of these little owls (one of them was an Angry Bird!).

Overexposed Owl!

 I sewed these little ornaments for my daughter and son in law's tree.  They have a puppy and a one year old who took turns grabbing the ornaments off the tree.  Eventually, all the ornaments were on the top of the tree.

I made these pillows for my sister in law.    She asked me in August if I would make them for her.  I cut out 10" squares of batting and sewed the strips to the batting, trimmed them down and then quilted lines in the spaces.  I practiced my FMQ on the backs.  

Don't they look great in her family room?  I decided I needed some, too, so I am making some for my house (they won't match our family room but oh well!)

This pillow was my Christmas gift to my wonderful mother in law last year.  I never got a picture of it so I snapped a few this year.  It felt like visiting an old friend!

I have a few more projects to post (and mail).  Hopefully, they will be ready soon!

PS. I linked up to Sew Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations and Freshly Pieced.  Go see the lovely projects!

Crazy Caterpillar!

The day I flew five and a half hours on a plane with my daughter, her husband, and a very cute six month old, I made a soft toy to take with us to hopefully amuse the adorable child.  She was very good, slept a good part of the time, and was somewhat amused by the goofy caterpillar her grandma made her.  I snapped a few pictures before they got here to take me to the airport.


I (obviously) sewed some scraps together with some ribbon to make him.  The only really clever thing I did was sacrifice my pin box.  I sewed it inside the caterpillar with some tiny rocks inside it to make it rattle.  It works, too!  Tada!  It rattles just enough to attract her attention without bothering the other people around us on the plane.


The back is a soft flannel pink polkadot. All the feet and antennae are fun for the baby to try to get in her mouth.  Just the right size for holding and shaking around.

We had a great trip and the baby was very good on the plane, as I said.  She didn’t like the carseat very much, though, so we sang the magic song, The Wheels on the Bus, many, many times.  For some reason, it makes her stop crying.  Magic.





Linking to:

Christmas in February!

     Just in case you weren’t already aware, Christmas is coming!  I was sewing myself silly in December in an attempt to have a semi-homemade Christmas this year.  Some of my family is far, far away and I was hoping to send them some Christmas cheer.  I only managed to get the presents partly done by Christmas but I finally mailed them last week.  On the bright side, it will be quite a surprise and more special because there won’t be any other presents to distract them, right? 
I ended up making 11 pillows this year, two table runners, five pairs of pj pants, several shirts for the baby, one zipper pouch, and nine keychain wristlets.  I didn’t get pictures of everything (of course!). 
I read an excellent post about a woman who has documented all of her quilts since the late 70’s (Tessa from Fabric Therapy.  Go check it out.  Awesome, right?).  I started quilting in 1980 and I have a few pictures of some of the sewing I did back then but most of my quilts have been given away (and loved, I am sure).  I am hoping to get some pictures from some of my family and I will post them if I do. 
I do have pictures of some of the pillows I made.

I tried out some different quilting designs on each one.  I amuse myself when I can!

Free Pieced Potholders

I went a little crazy and made a ton of these.  I love piecing with my scraps of bright fabrics, especially the polka dots!  I used a layer of regular batting and a layer of Insulbrite so they are usable.  I gave some away for Christmas and I still have a few waiting to be gifted.  I enjoyed practicing free motion quilting on such small projects.  Lots of fun!

I am linking up to Sarah's Whoop Whoop! Party at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. Click over to see what everyone is doing.

Sock Swap!

I signed up to participate in the Sock Swap on Mary Lou Weidman's blog (actually her chatroom).  Mary Lou is a very talented quilter, author, and teacher who makes story quilts.  I missed out the the previous swaps (adorable bees and owls).  I needed to make 19 of these socks (I made 20) to send to the swap master who will then mix them up and redistribute them.  Mary Lou sent us all a plan and directions.  The socks had to be cheddar, turquoise, green, or red (I tried them all).  The background had to be cream on cream tonal prints.  The size could be any even number up to 14 (I tried them all!)  It was a fun block to play around with and I can't wait to see what the other quilters come up with.

Some of them are more "sock-like" than others.  Some of them look like rainboots!  I resewed that one funky one and it didn't want to match up so it may be the one I keep.
Have you ever participated in a block swap?  This was a one time deal so I thought it was a good one for getting my feet wet in the online Bee world.
I am linking up to The Girl Creative and Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds.  Jump over there and see what the other crafty people have been up to.

Baby quilt is finished just in time!

My daughter had her beautiful baby four weeks early!  Luckily I had just finished the baby quilt and took it to the hospital to welcome my new granddaughter, Saydee.

I made this improv butterfly quilt for my daughter to hang over the changing table.  Nice and bright, right?  I used the brown dots to match the curtains my daughter made for the room.  The back is interesting, too, in case they feel like changing the scenery.

This is the biggest quilt I have machine quilted.  My free motion quilting is coming along (in other words, I finally got the tension figured out!).  I figure a newborn won't look too closely!  I washed it and I love how soft and crinkley it is.

I used bright pink thread, too.  (Be bold!)

I am joining in on the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Click the link and you too can spend hours of fun with beautiful quilts!

I linked up to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory, also.  More fun finishes to check out!

Modern improv quilt

Another small quilt project to practice my free motion quilting. I tried out some swirls using pink quilting thread. I like the charcoal grey Kona much better after quilting. My quilting leaves a lot to be desired but it is a lot of fun and my friend Susan doesn't mind. I love this kind of piecing, too. Lots of color, lots of fun!
The binding is large polka dots (it looks like stripes in this picture, though, doesn't it?).

I linked up to Lush Friday and Confessions of a Fabric Addict's TGIF! Head over to find more Friday finishes!

Bee Pillow

Here is a quick project I finished this week: a bee handprint pillow!The back is soft flannel covered in tiny bees.

Don't you love the pom poms?

Okay, so I have been trying to practice my free motion quilting by making some small projects. I found this block in my stash when I cleaned up a little. It is from four years ago, made by some of my Kindergarten students and not included in their quilt, I think, because it was the wrong number of bees. We remade the block for the quilt and I just could not throw it away. So now those kids are fourth graders. I quilted the block and made a cute pillow for my rocking chair at school.

I am linking to Quiltstory Fabric Finishes.  Go over and see all the sewing greatness!

Autism Speaks Donation

My friend Maggie asked if anyone would be willing to donate to a charity auction for Autism Speaks. I was happy to volunteer a quilt. I made it using a jelly roll and part of a layer cake. The back was harder to decide upon than the front. The auction is next weekend so I finished it just in time. I used wavy straight line machine quilting. I washed it and now it is all crinkly and lovely.

Jump over to Quiltstory and Trendy Treehouse to see more fabric finishes for the week!

A free motion quiltalong!

I am so excited! Just as I am trying to learn how to machine quilt, here comes A Few Scraps with a fun quiltalong to help me out! I have now made three little quilts to practice but I am still not very good at meandering. I am hoping to get some tips. Jump over there for the quiltalong and a giveaway!

This is the little quilt that I gave my daughter for her birthday. I am still much better at the straight line quilting.

Scrappy House Quilt Finish

I made this little quilt for a friend I teach with. She and her husband own a small house they are renovating that they call the Love Shack. She spends many weekends on hands and knees scraping and sanding. After a few years of weekends, it is finally coming together. It was her birthday last week but she was in Australia! So I delivered this little gem to her today. It is taking the four hour trip to the shore with them right now!

This was a fun project and I am half way through making another one for my sister-in-law. I am practicing my machine quilting (and I have a ways to go) and it is lots of fun. I was able to write the words "love shack." How fun is that!?!

I am excited to have a follower (finally!).

I am linking this to AmyLouWho's Sew and Tell and Show and Share at Just a Girl and weekend wrap up at Tatertots and Jello.

New Kindergarten Quilt

Here is the new quilt made by my class, my assistant, Janet, and myself. We make one every year and this year I decided to use their handprints to illustrate one of the songs we sing. Kindergarteners are fascinated with rainbows!


We started by making a paper quilt to see where the handprints would end up and how big the rainbow would turn out. Then we laid the white cotton over the paper template to recreate the rainbow. It is hard to get small children to only make one print! They are very tempted to print until all the paint is gone (we watched them very carefully and this was a great group of 22 five and six year olds).



My friend and assistant, Janet did the quilting. We shared it with all the parents at the end of the year program and it will hang above my chalkboard for next year's kids to enjoy.


This is the back of the quilt. I let the kids make the dot with fabric paint markers and draw around them to make bugs, faces, rainbows, houses, and flowers. I think they did a great job!


I am linking this up to Amy's Sew and Tell Fridays. Go now and see the many great finishes this week!

Upcycled man's shirt to maternity shirt!

My middle child is expecting in November so I have been sewing her some new clothes. For this shirt, I stole a man's shirt from her brother (he actually has outgrown it) and added some black dots. I decided it was a little plain so I made the flower pin to brighten it up. It was easy to cut off the sleeves and use the binding around the armholes. I made the ties to so she can adjust the fit. I hope she likes it!