Time~

 Did you get all your Christmas projects finished in time?

I got all my gifts finished, but there was one project I wanted to finish 'for me' that didn't quite make it.

My Crafter's Edge project for December was to be a pillow cover. I got it all prepped, but finding the time to quilt it like I wanted was not in the cards.  I used the Whimsical Tree die and had a lot of fun deciding how to position the branches and how many to have on each tree. I machine embroidered the words.

But I wanted a big block of time to do some quilting on it, and it just didn't happen. Maybe it can happen this week. ;-)

What kept me from working on it? Well, at Thanksgiving our youngest son asked if I would make him an afghan that went from his shoulders to over his feet~ he is over 6 feet tall! It seems he sets his heat to go down at night and some nights he is still up working when that happens, so he said he 'needed' an afghan that was long enough. Yes, he has quilts but as he pointed out~ nothing is as snuggly as an afghan. LOL He has a point there. So I purchased the yarn, chose the pattern based on the one of mine he always claims when he is down visiting ;-) and got to work. Over 6 feet is a loooong afghan! But I finished in time! And he was so surprised~ he really did not think he would see it until at least February and he was ok with that. :-) 

This week we have cold temps and it is a winter wonderland outdoors~ 

 good time to stay in an sew! ;) ;)

Have a great week!

Until next time`

Happy Stitchin'!!

Happy December!

I can finally start to reveal some of my secret sewing this year, 

and this was the biggest one!

I hosted a quilt-along on a small FB group. :-)

We made a mystery quilt~ I designed it in my EQ program and gave the ladies a little block assignment each month. Some months it was 2 blocks, some 4 (but easy ones)

By the third month they all knew it would be a Churn Dash quilt, but they couldn't figure out how all the different size blocks would fit together. :-)

It was soooo much fun!!! 

I made 2 quilts. The one above was all scrappy blocks and backgrounds. I still need to add my outside border and it will tie all the colors together. Right now, Christmas sewing is keeping me from it. ;-)

I also made a Christmas version~

In this one I made all my Churn Dash blocks from various greens, and used the same background for all the blocks. I have a border fabric that is Grinch fabric for it.

Both quilts will finish at 84" square. :-)

 I can't wait to get them quilted next year!

 

Right now I am knee deep in Christmas makes and bakes and loving every minute!

I hope you are having a fun December too!

 

Until next time~

happy stitchin'!!

It's Friday!!

Did you have a good Thanksgiving? Did you hit the sales today? :-)

I am too much of a homebody, don't care for crowds. LOL  So I have been sewing!!

I used the Gingerbread House Die from Crafter's Edge~

 

And I put it on a kitchen towel~

I like it, but I felt it needed something~

How about a little hand embroidery with perle cotton thread?
 

And now I am in love!! :-)  It was so fun to play in my scraps and the dies are so nice to work with!

No sharp edges so even my DGD could help me!

For the rest of this month Crafter's Edge is having a 30% off sale on their site.

(while supplies last) The discount will show up in your cart when you checkout.

Go check them out!

I am already planning another gingerbread project. :-) 

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

A New Pattern!

I recently had the pleasure of pattern testing 

for a new-to-me designer and an improv quilt!~ also new to me!

Emily @ Dame and Dane Quilting designed a fun quilt called 'Squaretangle'.

I was a little nervous as I don't think of myself as good at improv, but discovered it was really fun! The hardest part was choosing the fabrics! (for me)  LOL Making the angles and pathways was a little like playing Chutes and Ladders.  :-)  I had the pieces on the design wall when sewing with my friends and they each offered suggestions for rotating/moving blocks until we hit upon this arrangement.  I love it!

Of course it had to be rainy and windy when I tried to get some pix! This is the best of the lot. ;-) You will be seeing this one again as I plan to add borders and an applique to it. Fun, fun, fun!

Emily also has a fundraiser going on with the release of this pattern and you can find the info in this screenshot with the link below.

 

Fundraiser link

---Once you make a donation take a screen shot of the PayPal receipt and send it to Emily in an email at DameandDaneQuiltingco@gmail.com to receive your pattern (s).  ----

If you are on Instagram follow the link #squaretanglequilt to see other tester versions. One gal turned hers into a child's jacket!  :-)

I will be back later in the week with more fun projects! ;-)

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!

And Happy Thanksgiving!!!

A Little Fun Sewing!

My how time flies when November first comes around!

I have been doing a lot of secret sewing~ Christmas gifties that I cannot reveal until January! And pattern tests, but in between all those projects I did have a little fun. ;-)

My friends and I got together for a weekend sew-in! But before we did, we each cut out 75 red tumblers using the Accuquilt 4½" die, 75 green tumblers and 30 gold tumblers. We were to cut from our stash. 

 Then when we got together we put everyone's reds in a bag and mixed them up and pulled out hand fulls! We did the same for the greens and golds and then made tops with our new bunches of tumblers! The amazing thing was that we didn't always get any of our own back but got 3 or 4 of someone else's depending on how hard the fabrics stuck together.  

Four of us just went 'helter skelter' and didn't try to make any designs but one smart cookie arranged hers to make a modern tree top. :-) 

Aren't they all fun?!!! I plan to border mine with a green fabric which will make it lap size. :-) 

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!

A Little Something Fun...

What do you sew on to de-stress?

Do you have a favorite mindless sewing project?

I like making string blocks or pillowcases.  Lately my 'sew-jo' has been waning, so yesterday I worked on a few pillowcases. :-)

I had purchased the two with the white background, and made the middle one.  When I purchased them, I thought they would be just perfect for 2 of my grands, and I didn't think the 2 yo would use a pillow yet~ oops! I was wrong, so I made up the third one and am real happy with how it turned out. 

Then I pulled out my Crafter's Edge machine and alphabet letters and put the kids names on their cases so there would be no problems when they arrived. LOL  I tried out different sewing machine stitches just for fun. :-)   It was a perfect 'mindless sewing' afternoon! :-)

And a quick reminder, the Crafter's Edge website is having a 20% off sale for the month of October~ a great time to stock up on some fun dies!

 

Now that my 'sew-jo' is back, I need to get to work!

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

Pumpkins?

While the Pumpkin Spice Muffins are baking and filling the house with wonderful smells, 

I thought I would show you another use for the Crafter's Edge Beach Ball Die. 

 

Remember in June when I made the balloon balls for the grandkiddoes?

 If you cut just 2 more of the die 'melons', you can make pumpkins!!

How cool is that?!  I left a little opening in the seam at the bottom of one of the melons and used it to turn my pumpkins. Then instead of filling with fiber fill, I blew up a balloon inside. :-) This will make them much easier to store from year to year as I will just have to pop the balloon and fold them flat to store. :-) 

And just a little reminder~

"From October 1 to October 31, all orders on Crafter's Edge.com will receive a 20% off discount! No coupon codes are needed, the discount will automatically be applied at checkout. This discount is only applicable while supplies last, and cannot be combined with other sales or promotions. The discount is not applicable to wholesale or resale orders."

 

Until next time~

Happy pumpkin season!!! 

Water Bottle Carrier?

 Do you carry your water bottle with you when out?

I usually leave it in the car, but I may change my mind next summer if I have a bag like this. ;-)

The last time my DD came for a day we worked on this water bottle carrier...

The pattern is from Linds Handmade and is called the H2O To Go  

We used sheets of faux leather for the exterior, so we had a bit of extra piecing, but it worked out well and we were both quite happy with the results.

The she hopped over to my embroidery machine and made a little hand sanitizer holder from the faux leather scraps. ;-)  

What a fun play day! :-)  

She usually has some little project to work on together when she visits and we have such a good time.  I wonder what she will come up with next time? :-)

Today is a very rainy, windy day~ a great day to be sewing! ...with a pot of soup simmering on the stove top.  Yum! So off I go!

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

Secret Sewing and a Winner!

Sara @Sew Sweetness has released a new pattern bundle

and I was fortunate to test this fun backpack.

 It is called the Chickadee Backpack and makes clever use of metal frames to hold the top open.

I made it in a school print for my DD to carry to school (she is a teacher), but my DGD immediately took possession. LOL  I had a little accident with my phone and unfortunately deleted the pix of her strutting around in it.  It is rather large, but she did not care! LOL

The winner of the gingerbread men from my last post is Michele!!

Congratulations! I will get them off in tomorrow's mail. :-)

And finally, I want to tell you that Crafter's Edge is having a 20% off of everything sale for the month of October!  The discount will show up when you go to check out.  I will be back with a fun little project I am working on~

Until then~

Happy Stitchin'!!

 

Is It Too Early...?

...to sew for Christmas? :-)

I think not!! I have a few gifts finished up (sorry no peeks until they are received and opened), and I made something for me!

Last year I decided I needed to decorate my kitchen with all things Gingerbread Man this year. So to that end I made a little wall hanging~

 Sorry for the poor lighting~ it is raining! And we need it so badly that I am not even going to try to edit the pix! ;-)

I was thinking about pulling a pan of gingerbread men out of the oven before decorating when I made this. I used the Crafter's Edge Gingerbread Person Die.  I fused heat & Bond Lite to the back of my fabric and then cut out 2 men at a time. It went really fast~ so fast in fact, that I have a few extra's to give away.  I have 3 with the fusible on the back ready to go. They would be cute on an apron, hotpad, whatever you can think of! Would you like them? Just comment below and I will draw a name from all comments to receive them. :) 

I love the Churn Dash block so much that I had to make a big one as a border. :-)

It is all quilted and ready for hanging.

I have a few more gingerbread projects up my sleeve~ I hope to finish them all before December! :-)

Thank you for visiting, until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

Happy September!!

Hello friends!

August was such a busy month for us with a retreat for me,

 and then DH was ready for a camping trip.  :-)

I am glad it is September as it means a little bit of a slow down for me. I am basically a homebody and love to stay home and sew and quilt and create.  :-) It is all fun, right?

I wanted to show you two of the projects we did as a group at my August retreat. 

First we all made the Andalusian Pouch. 

This is a pattern by Sara @Sew Sweetness. It is one of the Minikins Series~ #3.

What makes it really special is that it has wire frames that hold the bag open, and when closed it kind of reminds me of a men's toiletry bag. My friends made them in all fabrics and colors and they all did such a nice job! We had orange lobsters, 30's print, Harry Potter, cats, the Mandalorian and  Maleficent all represented. LOL

One of the ladies in our group has a GO! machine and a Tumbler Die and she cut everyone a flag quilt kit.

They went together so fast with the corner trimmed off for us. :-) 

Mine is in the center with the star field in the upper left. I plan to hang it this way when quilted.

Some of the ladies left off the stars and plan to machine embroider them in at home.

I did make a few other projects, but they are secret sewing so will have to wait.

I hope you have a lovely autumn! Any plans?

Have you started Christmas sewing?  While I made a couple things at retreat, I also have a few things I want to get busy on soon...and not wait until December 23rd! LOL

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!

There is a Monster in My House!

I believe it is an alien! LOL

 I used my Crafter's Edge Alien Space Die set to make this cute little reading pillow for my DGD.

She loves to read and be read stories. The last time she visited, she noticed I had a pillow behind my back when I sat down and she 'needed' one too.  I thought this cute little alien would fit perfectly since she loves pretending there are "mon-sirs" in the house. (She hasn't quite mastered the 'st' sound yet ;-) )

I made all the 'legs' the arms and the antenna 3-D using a fusible product to secure my fabric pieces together before cutting.  

I took in a little excess at the corners so they didn't poke out~

I am not a big fan of pointed corners and sewing the corners this way really helps.

I can hardly wait until my DGD's next visit to see her reaction to my monster. :-)

 

I just got home from a retreat and got so much done! Unfortunately most of the things I finished are Christmas gifts~ so no pix yet.  Christmas is in the air here and I am sewing like mad!! :-)

 

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

Quilting!!

The weather cooperated, the stars aligned~ I am not sure what happened! 

BUT I was able to spend the weekend quilting up a few small tops for a friend. 

My friend (no blog) has a friend who is a Chaplain to a firefighting unit and he is a member of the Federation of Fire Chaplains.  The federation will be meeting in TX this fall and will have a silent auction fundraiser as one of their activities. So my friend decided to donate some of her tops and I donated the quilting.

I think we make a pretty good team. What do you think? :-)

   I used some pantographs to do the quilting. I really prefer pantos over rulers as I am just too left handed to properly control my machine and the ruler. LOL

Today I finished up a few pattern tests and other things on my cutting counter, so now it is time to dig into a new project! :-)

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!

A Little Challenge...

Good afternoon!! I hope you are having a great day!

 While we were on our trip in June, I visited my friend Barbara (no blog).

We have known each other for many years and like to do joint projects. We share a love of embroidery, cross stitch and quilting, among other things. So it was that I used my Crafter's Edge Crossover II to cut us both little partial kits.

I had purchased mini charm packs of Kansas Troubles 'Prairie Dreams' and I used the smallest tumbler die to cut the mini charms. A set for each of us. The challenge was very simple~ make something with your tumblers. :-)

Well, Barbara got busy before I was even gone LOL and cut herself a bunch of solid tumblers to match the small ones in the kit~ she made a template from an already cut tumbler.

And she proceeded to make and hand quilt (!) this adorable mini~

Sorry, I could not rotate it properly. :-/ BUT isn't it adorable?!!!!

 

when I got home, I had a jillion and one things to do and while I had my tumblers right next to my machine, and my idea in my head, I just didn't find the time to play until today. :-)

My tumblers are sewn together. (click on pix for closer views)

I found a scarecrow coloring page and simplified it and I am going to embroider it and them attach it to the side of my tumblers. :-)

 I will start stitching tonight and hopefully you will see it finished pretty soon! 

 

BTW~ that little Tumbler Die worked great!! It comes with 5 different sizes, but the small one fit the mini charm pack perfectly.

The Crossover II is still on sale until the end of the month  ;-) ;-) 

Be back soon with a finish!! (I hope!) LOL

Happy stitchin'!!

Do You Sew Clothes?

I did. For many years I made my own clothes

 and when our kids were young, I made theirs too.

When I started quilting, I got out of making clothes, but every so often I get that call. ;-)

This time, it really was a call!

My DD needed a vendor apron for a craft fair.

I loosely followed the tutorial on Crafty Staci's blog~

I made it shorter for my DD and used velcro instead of a button, I switched the placement for the two pockets and a few other things. DD loved it, which was the whole idea. :-)

I also made a dress for DGD.

 This was a McCall's pattern (I can look up the number if you need it)

It was a quick sew, and I enjoyed it. A nice change from my usual sewing.

Now I am thinking about getting back into it and making myself a few tops...

maybe...

Do you sew clothes?

Until next time~

Happy stitchin', whatever you are making!!

 

Quilts & Stuff

Why does it take so long to get back into your routines after a long trip?

It seems like I have been putting away for ages! ;)

These are the quilts I delivered to the grandkiddoes on our trip.

This is 'Ripples Cubed' by Joanne @Canuck Quilter. 

The large squares are Batman fabric for my Batman loving DGS. 

 Backed with a light grey Minky.

This is 'The Taylor Quilt' from Erica @Kitchen Table Quilting

I backed it with a snuggly roses plush fabric from Hobby Lobby. 

It was a bit of a trial to get pieced, but it quilted up really nicely and washed up so soft!

Ready for snuggles, just like my oldest DGD. :) 

 

This is 'Luv Bugs' by Catherine @ Running Doe Quilts, 

but is a card for Villa Rosa Designs. ;) 

I turned it into lady bugs for my little red headed DGD. 

It has lady bug fabric in the alternate squares.

All of the quilts were fun to make and to deliver. It was way too hot for quilts on our trip, but I am sure the kids will get a lot of use out of them this winter.

 What are you doing this summer?

Any trips?

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!

 

Do You Love A Sale?

  Then you will want to head over to Crafter's Edge where the Crossover 11 machine is 25% off this month! :-)

 Have I told you how much fun this machine is?!

I made the balls for the DGkiddoes, my DGD's top~

 

I've cut binding~ very fast! And now I'm working on a Tumbler Die project.

Check out all the fun dies at Crafter's Edge soon! ;)
 

Happy 4th of July!!

Are you celebrating with family today?

Our kids were all busy, so DH and I are grillin' and chillin'.

We just got back from a month long trip, so a little chillin' is definitely needed! :-) While away we picked up my DMIL's sewing machine. DH's aunt had saved it for one of his sisters, but they didn't want it--so we asked if we could take it for DD and they were very happy to keep it in the family.  It is a National, Model FA630.  I don't know very much about it other than it was made in Japan. 

DMIL took very good care of it and has notes in the book, stuck to the machine, on the needle packs and just everywhere! It is really a trip to read them and think about her. She did a LOT of mending with this machine.  She & DFIL farmed, and raised 5 kids... 2 boys + DFIL = a lot of jeans to mend! :-)

 

I cleaned and oiled it for DD and then took it for a test drive. 

Oh my goodness~ this machine is a work horse!!! :-)

I had this bag that I wasn't able to topstitch with either of my domestic machines, so I wondered if this machine could do it~ it sewed through everything I had thrown at it so far and would you believe it did!!??  It acted like it was sewing through butter!!

This is the Artemis Shoulder Bag.

 The pattern is by Tori of Toriska

I am not sure where I got the faux leather, I really liked it, but sure learned a lesson about it~~ just too thick for my little machines. Hmmm, I wonder if DD would let me 'borrow' her machine... long term? :-)  LOL

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

Play Ball!

Are you having a good summer?

I had some fun playing with my Crafter's Edge Crossover II machine recently.

I used the Beach Ball die..

And made some balloon balls for my grandkiddoes!

These are just too fun! I tried 2 different ways to insert a balloon~ by leaving a seam open and by making a buttonhole. The buttonhole was by far the better way. It seemed like leaving an opening in a side seam made the ball slightly wonky.  I made these when my kids were small, and when I saw the Crafter's Edge die I just knew I had to make them again. The great thing about them is that you don't have to worry about a child biting or inhaling balloon bits. When the balloon loses air, just take it out and insert another and blow it up. 

The kids had so much fun batting them around. If your kids are older another fun way to play with them is to insert a marble in the balloon~ the balls go wacky! LOL

In the above pic you can see my buttonhole vs side seam. ;-) 

Looking for a little indoor (or outdoor) fun for your littles?

Try balloon balls! :-)

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!