Sewing for Christmas

Daughter has an Advent calendar that is normally filled with candies each day. This year I decided all that sugar is not necessary. Instead, I have been making a few doll dresses and tucking them into the pockets of the calendar.

 

Daughter has an impressive collection of American Girl Dolls, but they don't all have Christmasy clothes. Here are four dolls modelling new outfits!

Jamie's Poinsettia Dress



Juliet's formal Christmas dress



Addy wears a lovely velvet and plaid dress



Rena wears winter white pants with a
fir-trimmed top and a warm fuzzy hat!

I sewed up three Christmas potholders for three friends, each reflecting individual personalities: one is full of fun, one is elegant and one is down to earth.

 My favorite is the candy cane one with the backing that says "bah humbug"!

 And here is a UFO table topper that is finally finished! It sat in the drawer, needing binding, for two years. I bound it, and husband took it to work for a gift exchange.

 It went home with a happy co-worker, while husband came home with some Starbucks Christmas coffee!

Scarf and Potholders

I think this may be an example of false advertising:

 Fun Fur?

FUN FUR?

This was not a fun fur to knit! All those little hairs were confusing and difficult to work with.

 It did not help that the only size 10 needle I have is a circular set...

But the scarf was finished on time for daughter to wear it with the rest of the girls in the choir ensemble!

 

 

I finished off some potholders this week.

 I had to use scraps to piece the backs. I like how they turned out!

 Another set...front

 ...and back.

This last one is an example of quilting that takes all the attention. On the left, the curvy quilting takes away from the piecing. So I pulled it out and did straight line quilting, and once again the piecing shows. Much better!

 

I was not able to accomplish my goals for the end of November. The quilted church banner is put away until next fall. The baby quilt is not yet quilted. And daughter's coat has not even been cut out. But the Holiday Lane pillow was finished on time for the blog hop. And the potholders are now finished, and I am happy about that!

 

All I want to work on now is Christmas projects and gifts, but that baby quilt must get done. That is my goal for this first week of December!

Holiday Lane Pillow Blog Hop!

Welcome! Today I am participating in this wonderful blog hop!

Sponsored by Sew We Quilt (http://www.sewwequilt.com/)

and hosted by Pauline (http://www.quiltnqueen.blogspot.ca/)

this blog hop features a pillow pattern by Jill (http://www.jillilystudio.com/)

 

I knew right away what fabric I would use to make my pillow--fabrics designed by Laurel Burch. I am a fan of her holiday fabric lines.

 

A few years ago I made an Advent Calendar...

 ...and a matching tree skirt using her very colorful fabrics.

 

So of course, my Holiday Lane creation must match the set!

No pillow would be complete without a Laurel Burch signature kitty in a window, watching for excitement along Holiday Lane...

 Ah, a lovely candle burns in a neighbor's house...

 It looks like a flock of tropical birds have landed in the trees outside...

 And here is the completed pillow. I love it!

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this creative diversion from some rather challenging projects.

 

You can check out more Holiday Lane pillows

today at these ingenious bloggers:

Living Life One Day at a Time

Polka Dot Classic
Sophie Junction

I'm Keeping Busy You Are Here

Sunshine Quilting

The Treehouse

Petit Design Co

Nun's Quilt World

Ellison Lane Quilts

From This to That

Mary on Lake Pulaski

Luann's Loose Threads

Till We Quilt Again
13 Woodhouse Road

Thanks for stopping by!

Goals Not Quite Met!



The banner did not hang in church at all, for it was not finished.  Here is what is done so far.

I need to finish the edges and sew a rod pocket on the back. I ran into some problems, both with my machine and with the fusible web. The machine would skip stitches and it took me days to figure out how to fix that....use a Quilting Needle! As for the fusible web, it was old and did not stay stuck, so I ended up doing a lot more machine applique than expected.

The leaves look so pretty!

Tomorrow is the day I post my finished Holiday Lane pillow!

The hop is already in progress. If you would like to see some amazingly creative pillows, you can find the full schedule with links here.... http://www.quiltnqueen.blogspot.ca/2012/11/lets-take-trip-down-holiday-lane.html

See you tomorrow!

Goals for November

I have too many projects going, so I am setting some goals...Hopefully I can accomplish all four of them by the first of December!

 

First project is this Thanksgiving banner that I am making for my church. A few things have hindered my progress, but I am determined to finish this one and have it hanging in church this Sunday. Yikes!

 

Second project is this baby quilt. Isaiah was born on November 4, so this gift will arrive a little late. I do have it pin basted, using a minky for the backing and no batting. I did a little quilting, but it will have to be ripped out; I will try using the walking foot next. 

 

The third project is a pillow. I signed up to make one and showcase it on my blog for this upcoming blog hop....

Here is what I have so far....   It must be finished by November 21! I am not sure which day I will be assigned to blog about it, so I want to have it finished by the first day of the hop.

 

The fourth project is a coat for my daughter. She picked the fabric; now I have to make it! I hope to start it after Thanksgiving. It is not a difficult pattern, so hopefully it will be ready by Dec. 1!

 

That's it for this month's goals. I am feeling some pressure to finish the banner, but the rest will fall in place. I will post more as I accomplish each goal!

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Magazine!

 

 

http://www.quiltmaker.com/blogs/quiltypleasures/

 

While I have so many things to do, I am making time to follow this blog tour. It is for the newest edition--Vol 6!--of the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Magazine.

 

I love love love this magazine. 100 quilters design a special block, each featured in this really fun magazine. I won a copy of the first edition way back when...and I used many block patterns to create my batik sampler quilt:

 

I am making some slow progress on projects...hope to post some pics by the end of the week!

 

Two Birthday Projects Delivered!

I made a table topper for a friend who celebrated her birthday today. Here it is all quilted and bound.

 

This is how I ended up quilting it. The leaves are simply quilted a quarter of an inch inside the leaf. And the border has simple lines. But the sashing....well, I tried free-motion quilting for the first time. I had to rip it out quite a few times, but in the end I felt satisfied with the job. It was not so easy!

 

 

The birthday dinner party was held tonite, and I said I would bring the cake. And what a cake it was!!!

 

Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Ganache

and Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting.

This five layer cake was decorated with chocolate shards that I produced myself, using a tutorial I found on YouTube. It was delicious! 

Two Filmsy Finishes

An invitation to a surprise birthday party meant the quick production of a special quilted gift! Here is a small wall hanging or a table topper for the birthday woman. It is roughly 24" square.

The fabrics all came from my stash. I especially like the border fabric, which is a Thomas Kincaid print from Joann's. It is gorgeous in real life! I must figure out how to quilt it this weekend, as the party is on Tuesday!!!

 

On to the baby quilt I was working on last week. Here are a few of the personalizations that I put together...

baby's name

 a little bus

 

 a little car

 

 And here it is, all put together!

 

It turned out so cute!

 

Now, how am I going to quilt this one? ! ! !

Baby Quilt in Progress



My niece and her husband are expecting their first child in November. Of course I must make something special for the new baby who will make me a Great Aunt.

 

For the nursery, they picked a transportation theme; Target carried just what they wanted and in some great colors:

So, for her baby shower, I made two crib sheets, trying to reflect the theme and colors. I found these matching fabrics at Joanns, and they made up nicely into solid bedding that will endure many many washings.

Now I am working on a quilt to match. I googled baby quilts, found a few ideas that I liked and went to work. I cut some basic rectangles, plus a white strip for personalization of the quilt.

Kinda boring, huh?

Look what happened when I added horizontal sashing. Wow! It pops!

Next up is the personalization...adding the name and a little something else, I think. Stay tuned...

I'm keeping TOO busy...

This...

(food preservation from an abundant harvest)

 

and this...

(Daughter's driving and homeschooling)

 

have been keeping me from this...

(poor lonely dusty Juki)

 

Every once in a while I have a teeny break. I've been making a few blocks that are destined to become potholders:

 

Here is one I finished for myself. It was an orphaned "oops" block.

I am looking forwards to (hopefully) life slowing down a bit in November...