Anyone up for a New Handbag after the First of the Year?

Henrietta's Handbags  I Belong to a caazy quilting group (no not a group of crazy ladies) and came across this site.  I had to share it with all of you.

Save this link if you are wanting that new purse for yourself. Give yoruself a treat after finishing all the hours of christmas sewing.

When the hustle and bustle makes way for calmer days, treat yourself.

A Special Gift

 November was a very different month for our family. Both of us were sick for several weeks and a very close family member was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Breast Cancer. It was a very emotional time while desicions had to be make as the gamot of medical tests were done.

Stuck at home, I went to my sewing room and pulled fabrics, thinking I was sorting.  I came out with a group of fabrics and announced I was making a quilt for the patient and it was to be done before any surgeries. Now I was on a mission.  This was November 12th.

Our families decided to have Thanksgiving together, so that date became the day she would recieve this.  I chose the Dresden Plate pattern I had been doing as table runners.  I made 12 plates placing 4 lengthwise and 3 across. Adding the borders made it twin size. I needed to work quickly and time allowed for everything to go just perfect.

This picture is a closeup of the peices that make up each plate. They are topstitched to the block with a feather stitch. The center circle is hand stitched in place.

The border of the quilt was done in a patchy fabric bringing the colors together. The actual quilting was done by machine which saved me a lot of time.  I placed double hearts in between the plates and stitched around the blocks of the border.

Now it is almost Christmas and I have her pillow case done. I used all the same fabrics and chose to use french seams. The fabric on the end of the pillowcase, purple roses isthe same fabric use to back the quilt. It is going in the mail this afternoon so she has it before her second Chemo treatment.

A Special Lady is so deserving of a special gift.

Pocket Pal Donations

Aren't they just adorable. Here is the link to a machine embroidery site Swak Embroidery .
Watch the video on how to make these adorable In-The-Hoop Pocket Pals for the little ones to cuddle up with.

The real reason I am bringing this up is the pattern is free to download. They are sending them to the military saying, "I support you".

I encourage you to download the file and send the Pocket Pal to your military families.

Last Minute Gifts!!!

I received an email from my favorite quilt shop about making last minute gifts.
The headline was: 10 Minute Table Runner and Coasters Too! My thought's were: no way, now just how hoaky is that. Meanwhile, my other hand was sending an email to them signing up! Now I had to see this.

The table runner has four seams. Yes, that is it. Sew a tube, turn it inside out, sew the short sides and flip for a point. No batting no sandwiching to quilt it. I love it and it is very decorative. It actually took more than 10 minutes-classroom setting.

The project was the coaster. We purchased assorted Christmas prints, which were on sale!
They ran them through the Accurate Cutter into 5 inch squares. It took 5 squares per coaster. When they are properly stacked your sew all along the outside edge, turn them inside out and poof a coaster. I am sure many of you have made these, they fit nicely around stem ware too. The fabrics were festive and will be fun for gift giving.

Until then, stay warm!!! All week long we have had single digit cold weather. Max and Fritz ask to go out, but when I open the door they run and hide! Does that tell you anything? When it warms up i guess it will snow for me.

Do You Ever Purchase More Than One of Something?

I do, especially when it comes to the grand kids. Rule of thumb is, If this granddaughter will like this item the next one is how old and almost ready too! See easy to justify the concept.

A few years ago I made this same tooth fairy pillow for my oldest granddaughter. This one is for Elizabeth. It is sad to say but I do not have one of these for the next granddaughter who is 4. I should probably rethink how I justify my concepts.

Something In The Making.....a simple piece of fabric: Holy Cow it's a Blog!!

Something In The Making.....a simple piece of fabric: Holy Cow it's a Blog!!

Holy Cow it's a Blog!!

I finally found my blog.....not really but life has been crazy. I am still vertical and breathing in air.

We vacationed for three weeks in Japan, cleaned out my MIL house where she lived for 50 years and signed final papers on the sale this month, all new windows in our house, plus a BRAND NEW ONE over my sewing desk, upgraded my car to a 4WD, added another Model T to our collection. Whew!

Okay, yes, I have been adding and using fabrics and thread. Now that the nights start so early I have started a hexagon quilt by hand. Very scrappy for all those odds and ends I have kept. I took a quilting class on Dresden plates. Wow! This is so simple and pictures will be up soon, well as long as I do not loose my blog again :)

I always have my eyes out for great gift giving projects and found a couple of great sites I would like to share.

Here is the "Moda Bake Shop" . I have this linked to a hexagon quilt and Dresden plate projects. Both of these are projects that jog warm memories from my past. Finally, I am taking that memory to a reality.

Calico quilt has a list of the fabric suppliers all on one page for us. Browse the links and find all sorts of quilt patterns. Grab your coffee.....no grab the coffee pot, take your time.

Happy sewing everyone

Red Hat Ladies

Time has just been flying by around here. What have I been doing? Keep up, slaying all the dragons getting in our way.

My weed pile is getting taller, and already turning into dirt, it's a good thing. I will reuse all this dirt next year in the garden.
I even have more weeds growing. Speaking of gardens, I have really fed the Elk this year. They had a smorgasbord out here and have ended up with more goodies than we did.

This week I dusted off my sewing machines and embroidered some gifts for a friend leaving work and becoming a full time snow bird. She is a red hatter so she will add these items to her collection. The next step is to make my base so I can crazy quilt them to the red bag. The RW needs a tassel on the bookmark.

Time to hurry they need to be done by Saturday. In times like this, why do I rush myself???????????? If anyone is interested, this link will take you to the "Red Hat Ladies". Would you believe that they were freebies!

Our Family

I will be back blogging soon. Everything has come to a screaming halt around here. Please visit our family page for more information.

New Crazy Quilting Group

I am leaving this information on my blog so that all of you can check out the new "Crazy Quilting" group. Many of us belong to several but hopefully you will have the room or time to join one more.

This group is new, swaps 8 1/2 inch blocks which are randomly swapped. Most of the members have embroidery machines. Do not let that scare you away if you do not have an embroidery machine.

In the past, I have completed all of my crazy quilting by hand. I am learning a new concept here, making the block using my embroidery machine. It should save me some time.

Come on in and join the creativity.
Use this link to find us: "Crazy Quilting"