Ornamental

Don't you just love homemade ornaments? They are full of love and memories. The care that goes into making them makes them extra special. I thought I would share a few of my love made, merry memory ornaments. I received this mitten in an ornament exchange from my quilt guild Along with this cute little frosty fellow.

The Santa stocking was made by my beloved neighbor, Pauline. She is my children's adopted grandmother. So nice to have a grandma across the street, especially when the other grandmas live miles and miles away.
This cute Christmas tree also came from my quilt guild. I love it's primitive look.

I made a bunch of these candy canes one year. The little pocket is good for putting fun treats in.

This year I took part in Chookyblue's SSCS and here are the lovely ornaments Renee made me. Look at how precious this is. The time she must have put in to make it. I feel so blessed. And this little guy just made me laugh. Isn't he just too much. I had to share him with everyone that came to visit yesterday. Had to share the joy he brought. Now I'm sharing with you.

Thank you so much Renee!
What are some of your favorite homemade ornaments? If you post them let me know so I can come and see. Have a great weekend! Enjoy your holiday festivities.
Em

Hummin' Along

Apparently I'm a thief. My hubby told me I keep stealing the covers. I started this quilt ages ago (You've probably seen it a time or two.) I'm hoping it will help with my thieving problem so my dear hubby does not freeze. Our current quilt barley covers the bed. This one has plenty of overhang, so even if what my hubby says is true, I'd have to steal quite a bit before he runs out of quilt and the frosty air hits him. I've taken the last week or so to quilt it on my dear friend Marilyn's Handi Quilter. Thank you, thank you Marilyn I don't think I could have wrestled this on my Bernina and been happy with the results. You can see the quilting better here.

So now it's time to bind. Binding is one of my favorite parts of quilting. I love the quiet relaxing aspect of it. And lucky me while I was down visiting my parents last week I found these at a garage sale. Some of them have never been open. They will be great to watch while I bind my quilt.

I'm a bit of a musical junkie. I love the old musicals. Growing up in a house full of girls we enjoyed many hours enjoying these classics. My dad said they should be required viewing for all young men so they know what a girl expects and can act accordingly. Don't you all agree? My boys think he's crazy but they have seen them all. Someday they may thank me when they win that special girl's heart.

Monday Muse

Sorry for the tardiness of this post. My perfect hubby, with lots of character, accidentally took the memory card for the camera when he went to work this morning so I could not take pictures.
Today's muse is something I learned from a dear friend that doesn't have a blog. Do you ever wonder what to do with all those strips of fabric that are a little to thin to sew with but are so cute that you don't want to throw them away. I know they make cute ties on bags of candy and popcorn balls for the holidays. But that hardly puts a dent in these fun strips. On the other hand a Christmas garland is festive and will put these pretty strips to good use. First gather all these pretties.Cut them into about 5-6" lengths. You do not need to be precise in this. I just fold them until they are about the rights size then cut a bunch at one time. You tie these onto a piece of string. I use hemp. I tie a bead on the end of the string so my little pretties don't fall off.Then you just keep adding the little pretties. Pushing them together to make this fun garland.To decorate your Christmas tree. This is a simple project that children can help with. A great way to create not only a fun garland but a Merry Christmas memory.

Monday Muse

I have decided on a theme for the year I am president of my guild. As you probably already know I love scraps: Scrap baskets, scrap bags, scrap quilts. Little bits of fabric thrill me. My blog has a scrap theme. So it is only fitting that my theme should do with scraps. I thought I would take a positive spin on the hard times so many are facing with a little play on words. So without further ado my theme... "Scrap happens, make a quilt."
With that in mind I thought it would be fun to have a challenge each month to see what the ladies could create from their scrap bag. As a prize I thought Lurline's dilly bags would fit the bill. Who know I might fill it with some scraps and maybe make a dent in my scrap bag. I had so much fun making a few this weekend. First I made one just as the instructions outlined. I learned my lesson last week. So before I tried my own thing I made this Christmas dilly bag.

Lurline suggested beads on the ends of the ties. I had some fun ones that I though would look like little snowballs but I could not get the ric rac through the holes. But I found that they came apart. So I separated a few and used the centers like snowflakes on the ties instead.Next I took out my scraps. I had a bunch of bright fun half square triangles left over from the Unchained Memories quilt I made for my niece. You can see it here if you scroll down the page. I sewed these into flying geese to circle this little dilly bag. I was so glad Lurline included the math formula for figuring the circumference of a circle, or I would have been hunting through old math book. How not fun is that? Much more fun to be playing in my scraps. I used beads I had made from sculpty clay. They are mostly white with swirls of bright color. DD saw this and fell in love. We have decided that these filled with a little treat will make great gifts for her friends. So I have my work cut out for me. Good thing these are so simple and fun to make. Thanks again Lurline. I love your fun dilly bags!!!

Show and Tell Friday

I wanted to join in the fun at Amylouwho with her fun show and tell Friday. I just finished binding this last night. I had so much fun making these baskets with the New Riley Blake fabric, Sublime. Isn't this fabric rich. I love the dark chocolate with the cantaloupe, olive, bright pinks, and a touch of red. And who doesn't love ric rac. Especially when it is soft and fuzzy.
I still have a little bin of this wonderful fabric to create with. Oh my mind is just spinning with possibilities.
Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. Enjoy making your Thanksgiving plans.
Em

Surprises

Look at the wonderful surprise I received in my mailbox recently. Five grandmother's garden blocks for Lyn's challenge. Aren't these the most adorable little blocks. They are hand pieced and I was just doing the happy dance when I saw them. Now to meet the challenge I must figure out a mini quilt that uses at least four of them. Let the creative juices start flowing. Weee, this is going to be fun. My next surprise came while I was out trying to sell my patterns. Now this is pretty amazing. I went to Christensen Wholesale hoping with all my fingers crossed that they would carry my patterns. Never did I dream I would walk out with a huge bag full of fabric and ric rac (their's is soft and fuzzy.) How fun is that? They liked some of my patterns but wanted them in their fabric, you may know it better as Riley Blake. They also gave me some to come up with a new design with. Look at all this fabulous fabric. I think I've died and gone to heaven.

My next surprise is one I shall look back on and laugh. I don't think I've been getting enough sleep. It couldn't be that I'm a little off my rocker. The other morning I got up as I usually do, bright and early. Sliced a loaf of bread for sandwiches for my family. Yes it takes a loaf to feed my hubby, three teenage boys and DD. Set the slices out in piles of two in preparation for sandwich making. Made two tuna fish for J. Made four ham for hubby and Alex. Started to make two PB&J's for N and DD. Had the peanut butter on when I realized that I had spread the peanut butter on top of two of the ham sandwiches. Ummmm, wonder how that would have tasted. Better than if I had put it on the tuna I'm sure. No one will ever know unless they want to make one for themselves. Instead I got out another loaf, glad I make five at a time, and fixed my little surprise blunder.

Monday Muse

The fun little thing I tried this week was the checkbook cover by Crazy Mom Quilts. I probably should have made just a simple one before I dove into a pieced one. But I wanted one with houses to cover my business checks. I thought it would go along with my logo. I didn't know if I would have time to make two so I just jumped in feet first.

First I took a few 1/2 square triangles out of my triangle drawer. You know all those ones you end up with when you sew a small square onto a rectangle or square and then cut the extra triangle off. Well I usually will mark a line a 1/4 inch from my first seam and then sew a 1/4 inch from that line so I get a free 1/2 square triangle when I cut it off. Then I put it in my 1/2 square triangle drawer for use later. Well anyway I took a few of these and cut them in half so I would have the right angle for roofs for my houses. Then I cut some triangles to put on the other side of the roof. Added a little square and wha la a little house was born. I made three of these added strips between so it measure the right size for Amanda Jean's checkbook cover.

This is where it would have been helpful if I had made a simple one first. Then I would have known how tall to make the pieced houses. I guess I could have measured my checkbook, but where's the fun in that? Instead I just sewed fabric on the top and bottom. I knew what size to make the bottom piece because the tutorial said how far to turn that up. But with the top I just added enough to make it the finished size. Well my cordinating fabric came down too far and looked funny above my houses. So I made a pocket to put a pen in to cover that up. Problem solved and now maybe I won't lose my pen. One can hope.

So here it is. The front...

And the back.

Thanks Amanda Jean for such a great tutorial.