My day - 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop

Welcome to day 4 of the 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop.  We have been prepping for this showcase for months. So, so glad that Sarah over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict had this wonderful idea and gathered us all in for this summer rush.

The photo above is a warm welcome using my version of the quilt that Sarah is doing as a quilt along each day of this hop in 1 hour increments.  I was priviledged to be a tester and Yes it is very doable in 1 hour segments. Her tutorial is spot on to follow.

I have a collection of small quick gift items.  I use them not only as Christmas gifts but also as hostess gifts throughout the year.  Even though these are all being presented in Christmas fabrics there is no reason not to make them, for example, for your Thanksgiving hostess in fall fabrics, there is plenty of time. So lets get started.  Oh and if I used a tutorial I have the link in the title of the item.

The first item on my list would be the ever popular 1 Hour Basket  

After all you need something to put all these goodies in.  This basket can really be whipped up in an hour. When making multiples at one time they go even a bit quicker.

Now this wrapper for a bottle of wine takes about 20 minutes to sew up. It is as simple as it looks. A tube of fabric with a ribbon in the side seam and a boxed bottom.  It's all in the fabric.

                                        

This little envelope contains

a gift card, again great for any occasion.

This is a fun gift that I started making this year,  coasters made with coiled rope and some fabric scraps.  

Takes less than 15 minutes per coaster to make. Made the little  Catch All Tray  just the right size to contain them.

This Hexi pattern for the Pot Holder / Hot Pad was new to me. I really enjoyed making them.  I list them as / Hot Pad because I forgot to put the traditional hanging pot holder loop on and didn't notice until picture time.

Last but not least are my dish towels/hand towels.  

All depends on where you hang them.  These are another under an hour project. 

In some of my pictures you will see assorted holiday candy tins or  a box to keep with the  Christmas theme. I live about 10 minutes from a Russell Stover Warehouse store.  It's huge and the selections are endless. We just had to go this week cause I needed Christmas props. Oh yeah, not only do they sell candy but they also have an ice cream stand.  Wowzer.

This is the background quilt for lots of the shots. It is a very enlarged  Swoon Block (king size) that I made in the summer of 2012 for the first Christmas in this house. This particular version of the block is an 80 inch square before the borders. Can't find the posting of the finished quilt. The front side of this quilt is made of 16 regular size scrappy swoon blocks.

And keeping with the theme of this event I am linking you to a post I did last year for another fun hop that has my tutorial for the Quickest Easiest Fudge Ever

I hope you have enjoyed your Christmas visit. I enjoyed having you, so much so that I am having a give away. I am giving away both the Pot Holders and the Hand Towels to 2 of my visitors at the end of the Hop.

Here is a list of all of the participants in this wonderful hop.   So many great ideas with so much time to get them started  for Christmas.

Merry Christmas,     Selina

July 14th:     Sharon Vrooman @ Vrooman’s Quilts

                    Carole Carter @ From My Caroline Home

July 15th:    Yanicka Hachez @ Finding Myself As An Artist

                   Chris Dodsley @ made by ChrissieD

July 16th:     Marsha Hodgkins @ Quilter in Motion

                    Leanne Parsons  @ Devoted Quilter

July 17th:     Tonia Conner @ All Thingz Sewn

                    Selina @ Selina Quilts

July 18th:     Lara Buccella @ Buzzin Bumble

                    Soma Acharya @ Whims and Fancies

July 19th:     Joanne Harris@ Quilts by Joanne

                    Suzy Webster @ Adventurous Applique and Quilting

July 20th:     Vicki in MN @ Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting

                    Jennifer Fulton @ The Inquiring Quilter

July 21st:     Michele Kuhns @ Crayon Box Quilt Studio

                    Jan Ochterbeck @ The Colorful Fabriholic

July 22nd:     Alla Blanca @ Rainbows. Bunnies. Cupcakes.

                     Zenia Rene @ A Quilted Passion

July 23rd:     Joanne Hubbard @ Everyone Deserves a Quilt

                    Paige Alexander @ Quilted Blooms

July 24th:     Carolyn Jones @ …by CJ

                    Tisha Nagel @ Quilty Therapy

July 25th:     Susan Arnold @ Quilt Fabrication

                    Beth Sellers @ Cooking Up Quilts

                    Linda Pearl @ One Quilting Circle

March 11 Update

We have been away for the past week enjoying time with family and friends at Disney World.  The down side to the vacation was the pollen and its adverse effect on my ability to breath. I've been home for about 20 hours and am feeling sooooo much better locked in with the air conditioner running.

I've been keeping a hand written log of what I have worked on in my world of crafting since the beginning of the year.  One side of the book notes what I want to do or have committed to do and the other side shows what I have done each day. Each night I make a note of what I worked on even if I only worked on it for as little as 15 minutes.  I must admit it has been eye opening  and it is keeping me on track for my commitments.

Since my last posting I have been making Mickey and Minnie hats for Angel Snugs. (yes they do get permission from Disney) I turned in the Mickey's before the trip and the Minnie's got dropped off on the way home.  I managed to make 6 of each.  Totally forgot to take pictures of the Minnie's before I turned them in. Blaming the pollen for that oversight. This is a picture of  the Mickey's before the ears were attached.

I made a couple of the Pixie Baskets, the tutorial has been all over the internet.  They were a fun project that I did in an evening.

I've also been keeping up on my Quilty 365 blocks.  Before the trip I was one ahead. Last night I prepped 8 and stitched 4. I think that I am now 3 behind.  I hope to get them done today.  I'm so afraid of getting behind on this project and then dropping it. I've started to put the blocks together in groups of 8 just so I can keep track of them.  They outgrew their space on my wall way to quickly.

I made 2 additional sets of rope coasters and baskets. One set was requested by my cousin and the other was a gift for the friends we met up with at Disney. My friend can't wait to try making them on her own. Always a good response when making things for crafty friends.

I finished quilting and binding the Honor Flight quilt I was working on with my guild. Turned that in before I left for Disney.

My girls like to hang with me when I am sewing so I made them a rather large bed for the sewing room floor from an old Mattress pad and a fleece blanket kit I got on sale and with a coupon from JOANN's.  This photo shows Nets testing the in progress bed. Shes seems pleased.

And then because I have nothing else to do I started a new hand quilting project just for me

These are my dotty clam shells.  I love them.  I had 3 fat quarter bundles of these dots just hanging out in my sewing room.  I saw a clam shell quilt posted somewhere and my brain started to click away at the possibilities.  I had always wanted to "quilt" a quilt with that pattern but had never given any thought to making a quilt with them.  Not having a clue where to begin I started to google. This is where I am on the project.  It is truely a learning experience and I am enjoying it completely.  The info available out there is amazing.

Where did January go?

January certainly flew by.  Looking back I can see I was busy, and actually accomplished way more than I thought. Great thing taking pictures of everything that happens in life ;-}

This is my Quilty 365 project that I started on January 1.  So far so good.

I also managed to finish this baby quilt for my cousins first grand child.

This is #2 on my Q1 FAL

Love the fabric I found for the back.

So very little girly.

The big happening in my life this month is that my little sister moved from NJ to 4 blocks from me here in Florida.

I really missed having her near by this past year.  What I forgot was that she is my biggest quilting fan and that she isn't shy about asking me to make her things. And being the wonderful big sister  that I am, I don't know how to say no.

She told me she was in need of new placemats and some matching rope coasters.

This is her set of reversible mats.  

And a close up of the matching rope coasters.

She asked for them after seeing this set made for a local church. They supply weekly meals to their seniors.  A placemat goes out with the first meal and at Christmas all mats are replaced.

Fronts and backs

Our guild is taking on this project.

I have a personal goal of 2 per month for the year.  

Another local group, Giving Dolls, hand makes dolls for various Childrens Organizations.  When they send their dolls to hospitals they include 24 inch square quilts.  This size works well with wheel chairs.

This is part 1 of # 3 of my Q1 FAL

I had some great monster fabric 

I'm hoping to make at least 1 of these a month for 2016.

I had this great fabric in my stash for the backing.

Come on February, bring it on.

January Updates

Where is time going? We've already passed mid January. Yikees!

I have been productive, I am happy to announce that I have finished my Christmas gifts for 2015. 

 They are now in the hands of my very patient friend.  This was the first item to be crossed off my 

Q1 - FAL list.

BA is the recipient of just about every Christmas thing I have ever attempted to make.  Going to her house at Christmas is like going to  a  "crafts my Selina show". Room after room.  We have been crafting friends for upwards of 40 years. Sharing gifts, ideas and challenges the entire time.

So for this Christmas I decided I needed to do something for spring instead of winter.  When we were together in the fall she mentioned that she liked to use placemats.  I have made her Christmas ones in the past.  Spring sounded like a great idea.

As I was finishing them up I came across this tutorial by Julie Hirt  for making rope baskets. Great tutorial and so easy to do. The fabric scraps in the basket and coasters are from the placemats. A great addition to the package. ( she called to thank me and to have me send her the tutorial info )

For Christmas I participated in another postcard swap.  This lovely tree was made for me by       Eglea Senna . It came to me in Florida from Brazil.  I love it.

The  winter bunnies were done by me based on a pattern by Michelle over at The Raspberry Rabbits. They made their way to Brazil and I believe they had a very Merry Christmas there.

My sister saw the basket and coasters that I made for BA and she wanted a set.  Of course she wanted them to match her placemats.  The ones I made last year.  Good thing I am a scrap hoarder.

The basket is about 14 inches across and 4  inches high.

The coasters are about 4 inches across.

It's a good thing that they are addictive to make because we had company for dinner on Sunday who saw them and wanted a set. She went to my stash to pick out her colors.

And I have been able to keep up with the 365 project in spite of the temptation of the baskets and coasters.