An orphan, now a bag!

What became an orphan block, has resulted in a tote bag. This block was first intended to become a jacket but ended up in my orphan bin instead. Also in the bin, was a pack of rail fence blocks and I just cut them up into 1-1/2” strips. Only the portion of the trees (see the blocked out area) was used for the bag and the remainder will be made into something else one day …. perhaps another tote bag.

This bag made its’ way to Peg in Australia for our SSCS.

So, take another look in your orphan bin and see if any blocks can be made into a tote bag.

Have a great day!

Couldn't Wait!

I’ve been seeing other folks opening up their SSCS gifts and I decided …. me too!

Juliann sent me this gorgeous wall hanging and in the other packages were a tree/pincushion and a tin box with fabrics and chocolates! I have long been admiring the stitcheries out there in blogland and now there is one in my home. Love, love, love it! Thank you, Juliann!

The chocolates will be devoured at some point and the fabrics will be showing up in a quilt soon.

This will be my last post for this year and to all who celebrate, I just want to wish you a happy and safe holiday season!

Talk to you in the New Year with lots more to show you!

Just a wee peek!

I’ve been playing lately! This is the first time that I’ve done meander quilting and what fun it is! It is a bit addictive doing those swirls and whorls ... I get so involved doing it that sometimes I sort of forget to breathe. :o)

Not bad, eh, for my first time!

Wow …. Did we ever get snow yesterday! Our nephew traveled from Montreal by train and we could not use our car (cars were getting stuck in the snow on our street) to pick him up at the station. We walked there and back. With the wind chill, it was -20C. It was good exercise and put colour in our cheeks. Today, it is digging out time!

Have a great day!

These are crazy and blogging

A few years ago, my SIL was making these stockings and selling them at a local craft show.

When I saw photos of them, we just had to have a pair.

They are so rich and crazy in all their glory. The backing is red velveteen and the scraps are lace and satin and velvet and ……. wonderful! :o)

Sadly, today, I learned that Connie is/was contemplating closing her blog due to lack of time for blogging. Reading the comments left on her post, a lot of us understand where she is coming from as there is a problem with time. Time to blog and time to read blogs. Over the past few weeks, I’ve had to re-organize my time spent on blogging as I found that too much time was spent at the computer and not enough time spent working on my quilting.

So, have come to the conclusion that there are 7 days in a week (not new to you, eh) and on Mondays, I will read all blogs that fall within A-C; Tuesdays will be D-G, etc. You get the picture.

There are new blogs and rings popping up all the time now and I want to be able to visit them all as well as my older blogs and I have found that by organizing my list of daily blogs to visit, there is some order of time management in place.

If one of my favourite blogs hasn’t posted in a couple of months, then it’s transferred to a monthly blog that I visit every month. This way, I’m not spending my time looking at an inactive blog.

I know there are bloglines, etc. out there that I can register with, but they have their problems too. Many of us post more than once a week and I would not be able to keep up. So for now, this method works for me.

If you have a great method for blog reading, let’s hear from you.

Have a great weekend!

Raining Snowmen

How many of you have purchased printed panels and made them into quilts? I fell in love with this gem many years ago and very quickly put it together and hand quilted it. It still makes me smile whenever I look at it and it gets hung up every year along with all my other quilts! :o)

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you’ve seen my quilts and some of you might be surprised that I use these panels. ;o)

Yesterday, while browsing through blogs, Elsie wrote asking if it was OK to use these printed panels. Why not use them?

There are a few more panels in my stash that will be made up one day.

I’ve received my SSCS swap gifts from Juliann. It is so tempting to open my packages and there will be a tug of war with my self-control until Xmas morning. My DH is not helping at all as he is just as curious as I am to see what is inside them. :o)

Have a great day!

Stockings, anyone?

I just love these patchwork stockings. They were simple to do and quick with all the quilting done by machine.
Here is the layout that was used to make them up. Browsing through my 2-1/2” squares was easy pickings and my selection came together quickly. Whatever colour was missing, my stash came to the rescue and more 2-1/2” strips were cut to add to my bins of cut pieces for future needs.

The names were hand quilted in. Originally, they were to be done by embroidery, but this way was faster to do.

Have a great day!

Hand Quilting ... sigh!

What is it about quilting that makes it so tactile? Bren showed her latest quilt that she has been working on and I thought that was a good idea for posting as well.

When I’m working on this quilt, my hand frequently reaches out to touch the completed areas. What is it about the feel of the fabric and the quilting that tempts me to touch and touch again? When I see photos of quilted beauties (done by hand or machine) on your blogs, I wish I could reach into the computer and run my hand over the quilting. Those photos draw me in every time.

I’ve been struggling to get this quilt completed and the more I work on it, its' beauty is revealed and I am determined to finish it soon! My goal is to do at least one block a day, some days I can accomplish 3 blocks … only 42 blocks and the borders to do. The New Year for sure, that is my goal.

Have a great day!

Just Yo-Yo-ing Along!

Here is another yo-yo Xmas tree hanging that was made a few years ago. This was a great way to lessen my button stash! After sewing clothes since my teen years, there is quite a huge collection and quite a variety showcasing different stages of my life.
This hanging is so vibrant with the colours, the buttons and the beads. A bead was sewn in those empty spaces where the yo-yo’s are joined together. The beads give it a shine when the outdoor light just hits it so.

If you’ve never made a yo-yo …well, try it at least once. They are so easy to make and are a great take-along project.

Have a great day!

Edit:

I got this pattern from www.freepatterns.com/ (click onto Holiday patterns and scan through the photos) and you can download the pattern.

Winter is Here!

And with a vengeance, with lots of snow and freezing rain. Yesterday was a good day to stay indoors and just sew and stay warm and not venture anywhere with the car.

I’m getting closer to assembling my Winter quilt. Just a bit more on the bottom section and then the sides can be sewn together.

When I first started this quilt, the colour choice became evident after going through all my winter fabrics. There was a lot of blues with snowflakes on them. I’m amazed how over the years, I seem to have accumulated a lot of this colour fabric and how perfect they are for this quilt. Snowflakes are the theme, and even the red fabric in the house has some printed on it.

I'm trying to finish the top as soon as possible .... there are Xmas gifts to make and must make time to do those up!

Have a great day!