Christmas trees and other goodies

 Today I'm working on Christmas items... These cute little stuffed trees will be decoration at Demo Days. The shop carries the book that has this pattern and lots of other cute ones.

 These trees are small... not a lot larger than my spool of thread. We're going to make quite a few and string them like garland.

 This pile of strip scraps is being turned into a second Christmas quilt. I'm doing one in just Christmas fabric but using the pattern I used to make my Blue Strip quilt. If you haven't tried strip piecing, you should! MINDLESS (my favorite type of sewing).
 

 These are some of the strip blocks that are done and trimmed. Some of the fabrics are from the 80's... time to use THOSE up!
Below is how I'll put them together... every 4 strip blocks put together like this form a diamond...  4 diamonds across and 4 down (64 blocks total). It should be about 72" square which is a pretty good size for a lap quilt. Since I build my blocks on muslin, I won't need to use any batting. I'll probably find a nice flannel for the back.... that will make it cozy.

 

 And if you know how I sew... one project at a time is unheard of! SOOOO... I'm also working on this tablerunner that is on my ironing board. The light aqua is the background of the triangle trees... there will be an aqua border with tree trunks built in and then maybe another border after that. This is also in the book that has the little stuffed tree garland. I can't remember the name but they will have it at Demo Days at Hearts to Holly. I could have made about 5 things from that book... cute wall quilt... nice pillows... a snowman lap quilt... just lots of great items. When I find out the name of the book I'll update this post.

And here is my only purchase when I went to another quilt shop in my area... I was looking for something different to add to my Christmas quilt and found this pretty string of lights fabric. Bought a 1/2 yard of it... just enough to play with.

Hexagon Christmas Tree pillow

 

Al and I are PUP sitting for our daughter's dog, Harrison (Harry for short). She and Jon have taken off for London to get in a last trip before starting a family. They know once they have children, the trips won't happen... at least not for a while. So Harry is here for 10 days or so... 10 LONG days. He's a bundle of energy!

Al is working today so I'm the entertainment committee for the day. We played catch and fetch and tug-a-war............ and now I'm pooped. Figured I could do some hand sewing while he relaxes on a quilt.

 

 

 

This is a Christmas Tree Pillow that I'm making as a shop sample. It's just 1" hexagon pieces put together in rows of 1, then 2 then 3... continuing until row 6. Add a final brown hexi as the trunk. This is an English Paper Piecing (EPP) method (you can see a how-to at with this link)... applique the tree to a background... layer with batting and a muslin backing. Quilt using floss through all layers. Then turn it into a pillow and stuff. You could add sparkly beads at the hexagon junctions... but with a puppy here, I know he'd just try to nibble them off. I've already pulled pins out of his mouth when he grabbed one of my pincushions.

 

 

 

I'll post of picture of the finished pillow when it's done.... WITH ANY LUCK, that will be today :/

UPDATE, same day evening: Finished up the pillow with lots of help from Harry (yeah, right!). Here it is...

 

Did a little machine quilting too... I like adding swirls of snow or wind. Harry didn't want me to add the piping... he was having too much fun grabbing it and running.

 

 

FREE Mug Rug Patterns and Ideas

While I was working today, a lady came in asking about MUG RUG patterns. I mentioned that I have a few free ones on my blog. This COULD be one... with all the work that went into it, I call it a mini quilt but it's mug rug size.

After thinking about all the mug rugs I've made, I thought maybe I should have a page that tells where they are because even I couldn't find them easily.

SO, here it is:

Aqua & Red Hexagon Flower Mug Rug












Dr. Seuss Mug Rug Ideas

More Dr. Seuss Ideas

Dr. Seuss Crazy Quilt Mug Rug

 


Christmas Ornament Mug Rug Free Pattern

64 Patch Mug Rug Idea - This is just 1-1/2" squares stitched together to make an 8" block then turned into a mug rug.

Teapot Paper Piecing block to make into a mug rug - Sometimes I use these paper piecing block (if they are about 8") to use as the front of my mug rug.. and sometimes I add a small border first.

Paper Pieced Coffee Cup Mug Rug Idea - No pattern for this but I found a free paper pieced coffee cup block online and added a strip to all sides to create a mug rug.

Hope this helps. As I do more or find more, I'll add them on here. Pretty much any small block can be bordered and then finished off like a miniature placemat to make a mug rug. I grab them all the time to use on my coffee table. They hold so much more than a coaster (you know, all the cookies and treats that go with coffee;).

Happy Veteran's Day

Dad in the Navy 1950's Korean War

Wishing all the Veterans a good day.

Thank you for all you are doing and all you have done!

Sunday Stitching

 Jenn and Harry came for a visit today. He was in DESPERATE need of his own bed...

I spotted a cute one on Pinterest so we made a similar one. Well, when I say we I mean Al. This is the pic of what we wanted:

We forwarded the picture to Al and "presto"...it's done. He's so talented! It just needs that gray wash and Harrison's name stenciled on it.
So, Jenn and Harry headed home.. We made a real mess in the sewing room so I'm going to spend some time cleaning and playing with my fabrics.

I have a few new ones from the shop... have to decide what I want to make. Aren't they cute? It's called Bluebird Park from MODA. Hearts to Holly has it in stock and in the popular HOLLY BUNCHES (12 FQs).

Modern Male Quilter and Teacher in Charlevoix

 

Gregg is a quilter and teacher in northern Michigan who was teaching a class at Hearts to Holly. This is a blue ONE BLOCK WONDER that Gregg made in about 4 days. This was a stripe fabric... turned out so pretty!

 This is another of his quilts... this class was a few weeks ago. I just love this one. Emily from the shop, made it in black and white with lime... really nice also!

Making something out of nothing

Yesterday I had a little time before Al and I headed to Jenn's house to help pass out candy for Halloween. There were a couple of blocks that needed finishing up and one that needed applique pieces basted to it so that I could hand stitch them down on our way to Traverse City... it takes us about an hour. Usually I grab some hand sewing so that I'm not bored in the car.

 

 

Well, finished up preparing that and still had some time to spare. I was looking at this pile of trash and thought... wonder if I could make something from that... kind of a challenge to myself.

 

So I started a crazy quilt block... just adding one piece next to another and another (even putting in some of the selvages) until I had a nice big piece.

 

Trimmed it down to an 8-1/2" square.

 

Well, now what? Thought about putting into my box of orphan blocks (yes, I have a box of those) but I still had time before we were leaving so I decided it would make a cute mug rug for my sewing room.

 

I kind of have a Dr. Seuss theme going in there... a Dr. Seuss quilt my sister made me... a matching pillow my sister made ... a Dr. Seuss picture frame my sister bought me (huh, seems to be a theme here too :).. a bunch of Dr. Seuss books and stuffed animals..  YUP, needed a matching mug rug.

 

I dug through my scraps of batting (yes, I save all of those too).

 

 

 And dug through my leftover panel pieces to come up with a backing piece (looks like a picture of Al and I waiting for the kids to visit)...

 

Gave it a quick quilting...

Then dug through my leftover binding pieces (got a box of those too)...

 

and ended up with this:

 

 Stitched the binding down on the way to Jenn's house......

 

SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING :)

 

And here's the funniest part. Al saw it and said "you're not giving that away, are you?.. It's too nice".

Sometimes I could just kiss that man!

The good and the bad....

The last few weeks have been ... well... happy and sad.

Happy was that Grandma turned 105! She's kind of in and out as far as knowing what's going on but what can be expected at that age. We brought her ice cream .... that's about her favorite thing now.

Another birthday was my brother, Ricky... well, Rick... but I still think of him as Ricky. He's a bit younger than me but a senior citizen just the same. Did some baking and sent him a box of goodies.

 

Ricky is on the far right... next to me and Grandpa. Happy Birthday, Rick! 

Sad was that my uncle passed away. Uncle Russ was my dad's older brother and a really nice guy. I always thought my dad and him looked a lot alike.  

He lived out in California so we didn't get to visit very often. In 2000 we took a trip out there and stopped to see him, my aunt and cousins. That's when we took this picture of Uncle Russ and Al in San Francisco.

They've been out to see us in Michigan a few times since then.
But the best times were when we were children and my grandmother (the one who is 105) would have a big reunion at her house. My cousins from out west (we never knew exactly where.. just out west) would come into town. We would have a ball... 6 kids in our family, 5 in my uncle's family and then another 5 cousins... fun, fun, fun!
It's nice to reminisce... good memories...  
 

Shopping the sales... and RESALES

I think I mentioned that my LQS was having a huge sale.... well, I went of course ...sort of...I worked one of the days so I couldn't help shopping as I cut for everyone.

 

This is a new line they're carrying from Minick and Simpson... REDS :) I bought some extra pieces from Collection of Love to add to them along with my favorite solid... Kona Snow.

 These two cuties came in with a children's line and they are something I just always want to have on hand so I bought a yard of green and a yard of the blue.

 This is more from the Collection of Love... plus a few more Civil War FQs.

 And these are going to be my new PJs... yup, just loved this pretty stripe so I bought 4 yards to make pjs... the periwinkle will be collar, trim etc.

Now on to the RESALE part:

I found this 3 yard piece of paisley at my local Goodwill for 1.99... YEAH! It's very pretty with my civil war fabrics. I gave it a good washing and pressing just to make sure it shrunk... not sure of the quality although it feels pretty good.

Now these scraps are from another resale... they had a bag of scraps for 1.25 and it included the cream in the top of the picture (about a yard of it) and all these jelly roll scraps.

It also included these "older" squares from Keepsake. They'll probably go in a strippy quilt... but first they are going to get a good soaking to see if they bleed when washed.

So today I'm sorting and putting away my new goodies (and washing and pressing and drooling over them). I know I don't REALLY need any more fabric but I just can't help myself sometimes ;)
And here's a finished project (have to justify my buying):

This is the quilt I was having problems with on the quilting but it turned out just fine. It'll be a baby floor quilt. The corners are hexagon flowers appliqued but could be left off.
This quilt uses 8 fat eighths, some background, a yard of medium pink and a little over a yard of the darker pink. The pattern will be at Hearts to Holly Quilt Shop soon. Sue, the owner, sells packs of coordinated fat eighths (called Flip Flops)... just what this needs.
Pattern- Little Flower Patch, about 66" square

Quilts and Veggies at the Farmer's Market

Had to add one note:
Hearts to Holly Quilt shop (my fav) has a BIG 6th anniversary sale going on today.
30% off RULERS, BOOKS, THREAD, NOTIONS and FABRIC (1yd or more) PLUS FQ are buy 6 get 6!!!!!  

Al and I had a taste for fresh bagels on Thursday so we went to the farmer's market in town. Since the weather is now starting to turn cold, they've moved it indoors... into the back area of the library. I couldn't resist taking pictures of the beautiful quilts that were a backdrop to the fruits and veggies.

Some of these quilts are for sale... some just for show... but all very  beautiful.

 This one (below) is done by an artist friend of mine... she's VERY talented.

 I love this TREE wall hanging below...  wouldn't that be pretty in an entry room?

 This one was hard to get a picture of but it's scrappy and fun. Love the color choices in the blocks. I would like to start a scrap quilt soon.... nice inspiration.