RAG PURSE FOR MY DAUGHTER

I recently posted the flannel rag purse I created with the flannel scraps from my good friend's stash.  I wanted to make one of these purses for my daughter, however, I decided to use some cotton quilting fabric I purchased with kitty cat motifs for the front and a cotton fabric I purchased from the clearance section of one of my local quilt shops instead of using flannel. It came out sew, sew cute!!! I fussy-cut the squares so that the kitties weren't cut off when sewn; added a label and velcro closure.

I hope my daughter will have fun using this when she goes shopping for jewelry supplies for her business. She creates beautiful jewelry using her handmade beads (or if you like to make your own jewelry, she sells her beads so you can incorporate them into your own designs). If you'd like to check out her blog and Etsy sites just click here. No need to fight the crowds in the stores for some great gifts...shop from the comfort of your home....and the gifts will be shipped to you. In fact she's offering a 20% off discount code Black Friday through Cyber Monday...you can find the details by visiting her blog.

LIL' TWISTER FALL TABLE RUNNERS

I spent many hours (over several days) working on three Lil' Twister Fall Table Runners as gifts for my three grown children and their spouses. (We are going to be visiting with them over the Thanksgiving week and I wanted to create something special for them).  These great fabrics were purchased when my daughter was visiting (I was planning on using them to make some Fall projects for my home at the time....but, as we know, plans change!).  One of my favorite new tools is the Lil' Twister tool that I used for a Halloween table topper that I previously posted.  My original plan was to make some pot holders or hot pads with the blocks; but, after creating several of the blocks, I decided they would look really nice as table runners...I even did the free motion quilting by myself, made some labels, and I think they came out great!!!  Guess we will have to wait till next year for me to sew some Fall items for our home (Christmas quilt projects are on my list next)...and I haven't even started working on my Christmas cards....where does the time go????

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!!!

FUN RAG PURSE

When my daughter was visiting, we went shopping for fabric with my good friend and quilting buddy.  While looking at all the yummy fabrics, we found a purse pattern that we thought would be fun to make. My friend has a large stash of flannel scraps from projects she has created over a number of years and decided to share them with me so we could make 'matching' rag purses.  I ironed all the fabric scraps and she cut them into 5" squares. We split them up and I started on my purse as soon as I got home (she lives next door so that was a very quick trip lol!!!). Just like a rag quilt, once it is washed, it is sooooooo soft. This was such a fun project and one I plan I using again soon!

QUILTED RUNNER FOR MY 'GRANDKITTIES'

My daughter and son-in-law recently bought their first home. The living room has a large bay window where my 'grandkitties' love to sit and watch what is happening in their new neighborhood. I thought it would be fun to make them a 'quilt' of their own to sit on in that window and this is what I came up with.  I found these adorable cat and mice fabrics online and decided they would be perfect for this project (see the closeup pic above).  Even though this runner is large, (25"x58"), I decided to use an 'envelope' method to create it so I wouldn't have to add a separate binding and to make it reversible. After sewing the layers and turning it right-side out I stitched around the edge 1/4" (which also closed the opening I left for turning). Next I sewed around again an inch in from that seam. I had to piece the fabrics to get the length I needed and so for the quilting I did a stitch-in-the-ditch in each seam line and again about 2 inches on either side of the seams. This left me with three good sized areas to do some stippling (since I'm still learning it was a great way to get in some more practice). I can't wait to see how the 'boys' like their runner on our next visit.

PILLOWCASES & GIFT IDEA

A good friend's church is going to be having a bazaar in a couple of weeks and a couple of ladies are making pillowcases to sell, so I offered to make some to donate.  After shopping for some fun fabrics together,  I found an easy-to-follow tutorial on You Tube (click here) and then had fun making these.  Not only will these make great gifts, but you could use them to 'wrap' a gift inside by tying a ribbon around it. (...think...new pajamas and socks inside for the 'Night Before Christmas' with a new pillowcase to sleep on while waiting for Santa to visit....awwwww!).   Plus, it saves on wrapping paper, tape, etc. and becomes part of the gift. If you make any, I'd love to see a pic.

MONOCHROMATIC WEDDING CARD

Friends have a family wedding to attend later this month and I offered to create a card for them to give.  I thought it would be fun to do a white monochromatic look.  I used Ranger watermark resist ink to stamp some branches and the word 'Love' onto a piece of white cardstock. The heat embossing powder I chose is Polysparkle from Ranger (I've had it for a very long time). I like that it is not just plain white.  It has tiny colored sparkles blended in that show up when you move the card around. (pic taken in the evening so the lighting is not good..sorry). I used my Corner Chomper on two of the corners and added some Hug Snug seam binding that I tied in a bow on the opposite side.  To complete the card, I added some 'pearls' on top of the seam binding and stamped a sentiment on the inside. The stamps I used are from 'my cute stamps'.

VINTAGE SHEET QUILT

Finished and on display

The front

The back

The label

I just finished a quilt for my daughter (my biggest quilting project to date) which uses a vintage sheet that was owned (and well used) by her Great Aunt as the main fabric for the blocks as well as the back of the quilt. When my daughter and son-in-law were visiting in September we went shopping for quilt fabrics to match. We were able to find some yardage and some really pretty batiks that compliment the colors in the sheet. I decided to highlight some of the 'sheet' squares by adding dark green in the corners (snowball blocks..you can see one in the pic above with the label) and I'm so happy I did.  After I was done measuring, cutting, stitching and getting my quilt 'sandwich' ready, my dear friend, Betty, did the stippling for me (which I really, really appreciate since this is not a small quilt). I then spent many hours yesterday attaching the binding and hand stitching it to the back. I made a label using some leftover fabric from the quilt and one of the decorative alphabets on my amazing Janome sewing machine. I decided to throw it into the washing machine to see how it would look and I love it!!! I actually think it looks even better with all it's 'quilty wrinkles'...can't wait to give it to my daughter when we go for a visit (but until then I think I will just enjoy having it on the back of my sofa). BTW, the model above is my dear hubby (well, just his big hands and feet, lol!!)