Friday, January 24, 2020

The Winter Blues - Blog Hop

Welcome to The Winter Blues Blog Hop.  It is kind of a Blue day since it is the last day of sharing terrific projects with Blue as their focus.  Another great idea brought to us by Carla of Creatin In The Sticks  So a big Thank You for another round of fun and ideas to add to our to do lists.

My quilting goal for 2020 is to make better use of the boxes of scraps and drawers of stash fabric taking up space in my home.  Yes I will continue to buy new but I really need to focus on using up some of what I have.  Therefore every blog hop I participate in this year will have at least one thing in it made using scraps or stash or both. 

 So to kick off the 2020 blog hops I have made a couple of zip purses using stash fabric.


These pouches were made for a zip pouch swap I participated in earlier this month.  Once my swap partner let me know that she was open to getting her pouch in any color I was on a Winter Blues roll.
 I made 2 pouches because I made them on my embroidery machine and that just felt like I was cheating.  It is a design I got from Designs by JuJu



So now I have a question for you.  When does a scrap become a scrap?  This key fob was made with a piece of left over fabric from the fat quarter used to make this pouch.  So does it qualify as scrap or just stash because it didn't get as far as the scrap box only to the end of the cutting table. hmmmmmmmmm

I think I'll give one away (pouch and key fob set) on Monday AM (1/27/2020) to one of you who leaves a comment.


Several of my quilting associates have been making these vinyl covered candy bag pouches. Well when it was suggested that we included other small items for our swap partner with our pouch I felt the need to go out and find a candy bag that not only had individually wrapped candies inside but that was also blue.


I was tickled that I found this one.  The only problem was I didn't take into account that the bag was tall and thin making the zipper opening a bit small.  Yeah I know I could have done it on the side but.
After it was finished I did check and it will hold a rotary cutter just fine.


Before I knew that I could make blue pouches I got started on a blue scrap quilt using this super simple block made up of 2.5 X 4.5 pieces.  I love the quilt   but it is depressing that it didn't make a dent in my blue scraps.  


This lovely piece is made of stash fabrics.  It is the back of the scrap quilt.  I'm not sure which side I like more.


This quilt will go to Hands 2 Help 2020 Comfort Quilt Challenge this spring.

If you haven't already, do yourself a favor and drop in and visit all of the other participants in this wonderful sharing of Winter Blues ideas.  Here is the complete list just in case.

Thanks for stopping in and visiting.  Hope to have you back again soon.


Monday, January 20th


Tuesday, January 21st


Wednesday, January 22nd


Thursday, January 23rd


Friday, January 24th





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Saturday, December 28, 2019

Christmas 2019 Incoming

I love Christmas.  I love making and giving and I'm not adverse to receiving.   I have a few old friends who I exchange handmade items with every year and I generally make some type of small gift to send to family with their main gifts. My next post will be dedicated to the outgoing but this posting is dedicated to the lovely homemade gifts I have received this year.

My friend B got a lovely Bernina from her hubby for Christmas a little early,  just before Thanksgiving.  She made this wonderful pillow for me on it.


It came with this great matching ornament that was ridiculously hard to photograph. This picture just doesn't do it  justice.


my friend P made this beautifully hand quilted table runner.


and included in the package were these amazing buttons.


I love them.  For the time being I am going to pin them to my design wall and just admire them. One of these days I'll come up with a plan for them but it will have to be a very special project.

I also exchanged goodies with some local friends. 

I love FSL and received 3 beautiful FSL ornaments






And then there is this very cool snow
globe.  Can't wait to try a few of these on my own.


Then there are the quilty thoughtful gifts from those who are not the crafty type but who really, really know me well.



Gift cards to my favorite quilt store in Wildwood, FL

a just a wonderful quilty gift from a quilt buddy


The small wool ironing mat.  I already own the large one but this one is 10 inches square and fits right next to the machine or the mobile cutting mat. Perfect for the many small projects I like tinkering with.

My thanks to all of my quilty buds.

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.







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Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Christmas Virtual Cookie Exchange - Annual Blog Hop

Merry Christmas and welcome to the Annual Virtual Cookie Exchange. 
I have only participated in this hop I think once as I'm not a baker. I signed up this time because there were non baking options.   

Well since I showed up I decided to give the cookie part a shot and once again I have proved my basic inability to bake.

Started the process and pulled together the ingredients. I could find 3 of the 8 needed.


Run to the super marker for the remainder.


It is pretty much a buttery shortbread type dough spread on a cookie sheet and covered with raspberry jelly and chopped walnuts and baked.
So where could that go wrong.  Well I think for starters  the sheet I used was way to heavy.  And I apparently did a bit too much baking.


The upside is that the dough was so buttery the above pan ended up looking like this


after being wiped with a couple of paper towels.


After a bunch of fussie cutting I was able to put together a tray to take to Thanksgiving dinner



with leftovers. 

They were not as bad as I expected just a bit dry but great with coffee.


So back to the options Carol offered to participate in this hop.  I'm going with Christmas pieces from the past.



In this book from the distant past (publish date 1995 are patterns for jointed Christmas ornaments. Many years ago, maybe 2005 ish, I made these ornaments for my office staff and family.  I always loved them.  So every year when I pull my deorations out and see my lone jointed Santa I tell myself how this year I'll make some more just for me.

So thank you Carol for bring out these memories and giving me the incentive to slide a couple of  gifts for me in to the holiday creating mix.

The scariest part was that I found the book in the first place I looked for it.  


We had house guests for Thanksgiving breakfast and then we all went to dinner at friends. So after breakfast and before dinner I sat down and started the process while everyone else watched foot ball.

Copy the design to a fusible



Pull some scraps




Fuse the scraps to felt

Break for a wonderful dinner with friends.  Come home and finish the process to more football.



Cut out 




Add the details as in Jointed Arms and Legs

Iron and hand sew on the buttons and beads, no machine.  I actually used a marker for the bears nose and mouth and around Santa's beard and eyes. I am so very happy with myself.

And because my deal with myself was to do at least one embroidered piece per hop for 2019 I am going to show one of the very first pieces I made on my machine, last December, just for kicks and giggles. 


( yes that is a roll of toilet paper )

Happy Holidays one and all.  Thanks so much Carol for your amazing efforts not just for this hop but throughout the year.

Please take the time and visit all the cookie makers this week listed here for your convenience


December 2nd

December 3rd
https://moosestashquilting.blogspot.com/

December 4th

December 5th

December 6th



Hope to see you all hoppin around 2020.
.























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Monday, November 11, 2019

Stitch It and Gift It Blog Hop

This is a Hop that is right up my alley.  Thanks Carla for the great idea.  Everyone I know has something that I have made.  OK, they have lots of things I have made.  I have a group of 5 or 6 crafty buddies who have great collections of samples of what I'm working on and I have a collection of theirs. So what else can I do when I find a small sweet item that I really enjoy making, I find a group or organization who can use them.

Since I started crafting I generally made more than one of anything I tried  that took under 2- 3 hours to make.  Thus the collections to friends .Since I've retired and have more time, well you get the picture.

I've made lots of Mug Rugs . You can see this group individually if you go to the link



They went to a group of Vets from an  Honor Flight trip that a friend of mine was a guardian,

I also work with a team for Operation Shoebox that makes para cord bracelets for our troops which lead me to making a bunch of childrens bracelets for Operation Christmas Child, which is a holiday effort under the international organization "Samaritan's Purse".



Another fun item I have made lots of are Crochet/knitted Pin Cushions



This group went to Angel Snugs for a fund raiser.

I am an active member of The Big Cypress Chapter,of  the Quilt Guild of the Villages, Fl. One of our chapter's Charity projects is to make Preemie Quilts for a local Hospitals NIC unit.  I have the privilege to chair this group of amazingly productive ladies.

Our ladies make tiny quilts(11 x 11 and 17 x 17) for Christmas, Halloween, 4th of July and Easter.  The hospital has made arrangements with a photographer to take photos of these wonderful little ones to celebrate their first holidays and our little quilts add to the celebration. Our group delivers 90 - 100 quilts per holiday.



I supervise the project I don't actually sew for it.  I do take all the scrap fabric back and make something small for all of my wonderful volunteers



Easter Goodie Bags




Last year I made Drawer String Bags using

Drawer string bags for last years Christmas treats



approx 4 in across, 3.5 in high,3/4 in deep

The pattern is The Tinkalong Pouch Sewing Pattern the pattern is for the 2 larger pouches, to get to the tiny one she suggests taking the smaller of the two patterns down to 65%, it works like a charm.



And this year while the group is busy sewing together our Christmas quilts I am using the scraps to make "in the hoop" zip pouches totally  from the scraps from the mini's including the batting.. I did hit a couple of bumps in the road.  I made the first couple with no issues,


then I apparently got cocky and ended up with a pouch that has the batting on the outside.


 Did a couple more and made one where I forgot to open the zipper before stitching and had to do a bunch of ripping of embroidered stitches to free it up and fix. Hind sight says it would have been quicker to toss it and start over.


Then I thought I'd try stabilizer that was sticky and put it in the hoop upside down and broke a needle into 3 pieces and now need to replace this piece that has all the needle holes in it because it stuck to the bottom of the hoop and I tried to sew through it.

All in all a learning experience but so worth it to be able to thank these great volunteers.  So far I have 30 done of the 50 I need by the first week in Dec.

Now for having the patience to read all of this I am offering a chance to win a couple of these pouches.  I will pick a winner on Sunday, November 17 from those of you who took the time to leave a comment.  In the comment let me know if you want a holiday themed or if you have a favorite color group for me to sew from.

Again thanks to Carla for another fun idea for us to run with.  Here is a list of all or the participants in this hop.  You will be so happy that you took the time to stop by and visit each and every one.  Til next time.














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