Little Lambkin Pillows

It is always fun to make something special for a little one having a birthday.  I saw this pattern when a blogger friend posted pictures of her pillow on her blog, A Quilting Sheep.  I followed the link she shared and purchased the pattern right away here at Ellis and Higgs.

I have two granddaughter with birthdays a week or so apart so I made two pillows, one for each of them.  They were pretty simple and fun to put together.

This pillow is for Mollie, she is now 5.

This pillow is for Emalynn, she will be 5 in a couple of days.

We will celebrate with both of them tomorrow, time to get the pillows wrapped up and ready for the party.  It was fun to do a little sewing and it may be a while before I get another chance. I am slowly moving all of my sewing stuff to my new sewing room.  So much sorting and organizing, so little time.

Sherry

Reading Pillows for Christmas

I really love to make gifts for people and sometimes I find something fun to make for all of my grandchildren for Christmas.  This year I was having trouble coming up with an idea.

And then I was reminded that I saw this tutorial at The Polka Dot Chair and made a decision that this is what I would be making for our grandchildren for Christmas.

I managed to make ten reading pillows this year.  It was so much fun and I have a few more to make throughout the year ahead.

I added their names with simple embroidery on my machine and machine appliqued something I cut out from the fabrics.

Many of the books were purchased at a library book sale held conveniently at my place of work.

The kids were pretty excited to receive their pillows and books.

I had the chance to sew all of these fun pillows while spending a few days at the ocean on a cold and wet weekend, which was an added bonus for me.

It is great to be able to use ideas shared by others to create something fun.  Thank you Melissa at The Polka Dot Chair for sharing this project.  I should start thinking about next years project  but for now I do have a few more pillows to make.

Sherry

Fun With Fabric

This is my a mug rug I made for my daughter for Christmas.  I used a pattern designed by Julie Cefalu of The Crafty Quilter.  I forgot to add the steam coming from the cup, I didn't notice until I took a look at this picture.  I'll do that next time and do a better job on the binding too.  It is interesting what you notice when you take a good look at the pictures you are adding to a blog post.

Lori Holt's calendar

My friend Melanie gave me this fun calendar when I visited her shop last week.  I love Lori's patterns and designs, this calendar is full of beautiful pictures. Melanie's shop is called Fabric Chicks.  You should visit her shop here on Facebook or here on Instagram, she has some great items on sale.

Fabric therapy - Strawberry Fields Revisited by Fig Tree.  Melanie knows that I love Fig Tree fabrics so she set this aside for me.  I know this will be fun to work with and make a beautiful quilt top.

I went to a baby shower last weekend.  The couple has decided not to wait to see if it is a boy or a girl.  I decided to make a couple of reversible bibs.  This was a fun and quick project.

Sewing is so much fun!

My Favorite Chair Has A New Slip Cover

Several years ago my husband bought me this cozy chair, it has been my favorite chair we have ever owned.  It is upholstered in a lovely flower fabric that has been showing wear for some time.  A week ago I started working on a slip cover using a matelasse bedspread.  I was quickly overwhelmed by the project and tossed it in a pile in my sewing room.  I was ready to throw the whole mess out.   I picked it up again today and decided to give it another try.

Here is my cozy chair with its new cover.

It is not a perfect fit but I do think it is a much fresher look.

The buttons down the side make it easy to remove the cover and toss it in the wash.

The view from the back.

We do have a dog, cat and many grandchildren to I am sure that this cover will be washed often.

Going back to the project when I was a little more focused did help a lot.  I was close to tossing the whole thing out the first time I tried working on it.  I think it will be a while before I try another project like this one.  I am very happy with the results but will stick to some "fun" sewing for the next few weeks.

So Many Blessings

Time for the "simple things" at home is always a blessing.  I had a few days this month to spend some time just being at home.  Baking, sewing and painting are some of the things I was able to do.  I am thankful for my job and all of the activities I am able to participate in but you can't beat a day at home doing the simple things.

Like baking cookies.

Sherry's Oatmeal Cookies

                            1 cup butter                                                    

                            1 cup shortening                                             

                            2 cups brown sugar                                         

                            2 cups white sugar                                          

                            4 eggs

                            2 teaspoons vanilla

                            4 cups flour

                            2 teaspoons baking soda

                            2 teaspoons salt

                            6 cups oatmeal

Blend butter, shortening and sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Blend in flour, baking soda and salt.  Stir in oatmeal.  I use my Kitchen-aid to blend everything together.  This is a large batch and hard to mix with a wooden spoon.  That is how I made them for the first 15 years.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 Minutes.                         

                                                              And sewing quilts.

Flying geese for my Midnight Mystery Quilt

And more baking.

 Zucchini bread

Some with raisins and some with chocolate chips.

Squash from a friends garden.

And more sewing of quilts.

 Midnight Mystery Quilt

Freshening up our home.

Fresh paint on the front door.

Isn't it nice to enjoy the simple things, I am so thankful for my simple home and time spent there with family and friends and a little time alone is nice too.

June Goal and Beyond

I am excited that it is only the middle of June and that I have completed my goal for June.  This quilt top is made with the Chantilly fabric line by Lauren and Jessi Jung.  I really like the cheerful bold colors.  I wanted to get it pieced so that I could give it to my favorite quilter, Leslie.  I do have to get the back ready before I see Leslie in July.  I took this picture at the last Sit and Sew I attended. I went there determined to complete this top and share my "ta da" before moving on to any other projects.

I will link this up with ALYOF 2015 later this month.

The picture below is of a box of fabric I won in a giveaway.  The box arrived all the way from Switzerland from Vreni who blogs at Oops-Lah.  Vreni just moved from Singapore to Switzerland.

I have already started thinking about how to use these fabrics.

I have a link on my sidebar to That Quirky Scrap Quilt Along.  I was not planning to join any new stitch alongs or start new projects until completing some of the many projects I have started.  This project helps take care of scraps and my basket was overflowing, and still is by the way.  These are the blocks I have completed so far for this project.   It is going to be really scrappy.

While sorting through scraps and straightening up my sewing room I made a stack of some of the projects pieced together and waiting to be completed.  This is the pile I made in just a few minutes.  I can see 13 projects and that does not count those in process.  It is time to get these things completed don't you think.  Do any of you who quilt or sew have so many unfinished projects waiting for you?  

February Finish

At the first part of the month I shared this project.  I made this from a design called Winter Wonderland by Kaaren at The Painted Quilt.  Kaaren's project was done in redwork, I used a variegated Valdani thread.  I was going to make a wall hanging but decided to make a pillow  after talking to my sister Lynda.  We are both pillow lovers and have made many over the years.

I love to use pillows throughout the house and this will be a fun winter pillow.

I did a little hand quilting on this project and I like how it turned out but realize that I could use a little practice on my quilting.  I think that I was starting to get 

It is harder to read the words around the edge "In the winter we can build a snowman"  but that just means that you have to pick it up and take a closer look.

I am excited about completing another unfinished project and I am still thinking about which project I should choose to complete in March.  I will be linking my post with A Lovely Year of Finishes and plan to spend a little time to see what others have been working on.  Take a look and be inspired.

I Am Joining "A Lovely Year of Finishes 2015"

I just read about this party sponsored by Fiber of All Sorts and Sew Bittersweet Designs.  At the first of the month you choose the project you are going to finish and then share it on your blog or on Flickr or Facebook.  Then at the end of the month when the project is complete you share it again and link up to the A Lovely Year of Finishes party.  I am too late to post my goal for the month on the linky party but I can share it here so that I will have the motivation to complete it.

This idea matches perfectly with my decision to complete projects that I have committed to or those that have been waiting to be finished.  I am excited about another way to be inspired to stick to my plan.

My project to finish this month is to get the binding done on at least one of these quilts.  It would be great if I could complete all three. 

Have a great day!

 

Sewing Is Therapy and Fun!

I have been a little behind on my quilt blocks and other projects but I did have time to complete a very fun project in October.  I was able to make these costumes for two of my beautiful granddaughters.  It was great fun and a little bit of a challenge since they live far away from us. I can be pretty particular about the fit but had to let go of that and enjoy the process.  Their mom did a great job of giving me accurate measurements which was a great help.

Little Harper's costume is so cute on her.  This one I did not make but would have tried if I had the time.

I spent a little time completing the embroidery on the block below while at the bookmobile conference last week.

Fiona's Garden Path Stitch Along block 9.  Now it is time to put it all together.

The two blocks below were completed this week when I took a couple of hours on Friday and hid away upstairs in my sewing room.

October Aurifil Designer Block

November Aurifil Designer Block

I will have to share more of our California trip and our Wisconsin trip soon.  We had a great time traveling but are thankful to be home for a while.