Christmas Projects 2016

  Gingerbread Potholders

I love gingerbread boys and they are my favorite to make at Christmas.  Well the cookie part has not yet begun but I did make potholders that are gifts for friends.

They are so cute and were easily made.  I found the idea online! Free pattern (my favorite kind)!  It's a nine patch made out of 2.5" squares. The potholder is small but would work as a trivet or a mug rug.  My special friends will receive them on Monday at Knitting Krowd.  Excited to share.
Here's the crowd, group or bunch of them.

 Project Runner for the Owl Cabinet

I used Lori Holt's (Bee In My Bonnet) book Quilty Fun  to make this runner!  Love her book and some day hope to make the Christmas quilt titled " Have Yourself a Quilty Little Christmas".  The blocks are all made from the book. No time this year, maybe 2017.  Here's the runner and my display.  Snowmen of course and the Santa owls were gifts from former first grade students, love the memories!

More projects are in the machine.... Watch for additional completed projects next week!

Dia de los Muertos

This year I'm using the theme Dia di los Muertos for my Halloween decorations!  I made a yard flag, quilted some table toppers, planted Marigolds, orange is the desired color. bought a skull yard stake!  I Love the colors and the idea that I celebrate my family who are in heaven.   This theme has brought back memories of my dad,  mom, my moms parents and all my aunts and uncles who have died.

* Mom had a wonderful sewing talent and encourage me to always try for my best
* Dad always encouraged my faith and was proud I became a Christian Day School Teacher
* Uncle Harold's outlook encouraged being positive, gave me juicy fruit gum when I was little
* Aunt Elsie was gracious and made the BEST cookies
* Aunt Arlene was support and had an awesome laugh and made my day joyful
* Grandma Steinert was a talented baker and crocheter
* Grandpa Steinert was an awesome builder.

 I was so blessed to have them in my life and the celebration of Dia di los Muertos helped me remember so many happy times, strong bonds to my family and joyful times with family.

So today I decorated skull cookies!  Thanks to Linda Hoyt Divine for the skull shaped cookie cutter.
 I should have purchased black icing.  Mixing colors does not make black, believe me.  BUT it is what it is and this is what it is this year.  I had a great time! 

Civil War Hard Crackers Quilt

Hard Crackers is a quilt designed by Carol Hopkins.  The finished size is 17" X 19".  Not my ususal quilt size, the small squares finish at 2" X 2".  Was a challenge but always good to stretch yourself in your  craft.   I chose blue for the outer borders, a a dark beige for the inner border, just seemed right for the blocks.  Not all the fabrics are reproduction Civil War fabrics but for 2016 my motto is "use what you have".

"Crackers" is the historical name for this quilt block, since crackers played a role in feeding the soldiers during the Civil War.  Soldiers were given a three-day ration of six to eight crackers. These dry thick biscuits, sometimes called hardtack were baked in northern factories, packed in wooden crates and shipped to locations occupied by the troops.

By the time they reached the soldiers they were hard and bug infested, leading soldiers to refer to them as "tooth dullers" or "worm castles".  Others described them as indestructible, "too small to shoe a mule and too big to use as bullets"

For a blending effect, I used a dark beige thread for the free motion quilting. This small quilt will be donated to the Friendship Quilters fund raiser, Tulip Tea and Quilt Sale, which will be held on

 March 25, 2017.

Two Project Completed

Today I finished two projects!  Yeah!  The new pillow for the bedroom is a Cathedral Window.  Always wanted to make a Cathedral Window quilt  but it looked to complicated and too time consuming. I watched a video by Shabby Fabrics on Youtube and just went after it.  The step by step process in an easy uncomplicated process was so helpful.  It was like doing an Origami paper fold only with fabric.  Tough part was getting the pieces (just like the paper ones) to be exact.  So here's the result.  TaDah!  Oh, just thought I'd say, not making a quilt, pillow will do.

Well it was supposed to go with the new bedspread and blend with the picture above the bed.  Well,  it's okay and will stay on the bed but goodness now the bedspread, picture and the pillow don't match  exactly and I live with a person who loves things to match exactly.  So it's staying on the bed.  Happy Me!

PROJECT NUMBER TWO

The second project was an I Spy quilt that I made from left over tumbler pieces.  The first I Spy quilt was completed about a year ago and I got tired of shuffling the extra tumbler pieces. Kids love colors and add animals, hearts, bugs, dogs and stars and you hit a home run. The tumbler blocks made panel and then added borders. It will be donated to a home for children who have not been fortunate to have lots of love and special care.  I hope the little person who receives this quilt will know that there is a BIG Hug to wrap around them each time they use the quilt.

Playing With Fall Fabrics

I love fall...fabrics, pumpkins, sunflowers, orange, red, brown and yellow!!  I spent several days playing with a large bin of fall fabrics.  Made two small runners or toppers.

The tea cart has a new topper.

Oh to have some fall tea cups to add.  Dreaming!

I made this topper for the top of the owl cabinet to inhance the cabinet that contains my  large collection. 

Adding the green was not a great idea.  It looked great with the green in the pumpkin fabric and using white thread to do the feathers in the middle wasn't the best either. Another lesson learned!  

But it's mine and I'm not complaining!

Knitted Lace

 The knitted lace process is knit two, knit two together and yarn over then knit two  This was my first attempt at knitting lacy effect.  It appeared to be easy when I read the pattern and  practiced the stitch.

The pattern level was EASY, okay I can do this.  Well it was going well until I dropped one of the yarn overs!  Goodness, didn't know which way to move the stitch back on the left needle.  So I ripped, removed, unknitted stitches, whatever you call it in proper knitting terms.  Well this happened several times. BUT

(Strange how the color intensifies when you place it on a forest green background  verses a burgundy background.)

I finally finished the project.  It took me a lot longer than I thought.  It's a birthday present, a July birthday present.  No, not next year July, this year July.  So I'm late! I'm late, I'm late, I missed the date!

   I'm pleased  and learned about picking up dropped stitches but for a while I need a quick, easy project, perhaps some dish clothes would be good. 

Prayer Quilt Process

Prayer quilts begin with the piecing of the fabrics.  This quilt has loads of floral prints and large white areas for quilting.  I love to do free motion quilting on my domestic Baby Lock machine.  On this quilt I just started quilting... did not have any idea what or where I was going with the machine.

I feel this design in the large areas fit well.  I started in the center and moved around.  This time I was practicing tracking or traveling (going over the same stitches to arrive at another area without leaving a trace of the second stitching.)  Really need to practice echoing, making the same distance between stitching  is a challenge.  It's not as easy as it appears.

This Prayer Quilt was made for Denise, who has cancer and has already been through one surgery and will begin chemo in two weeks.  After the first round of chemo ending in December another rest time and then a second round of chemo.  Blessing and Prayers are for Denise and her family.

The Bag Contains.....

           The bag is full of letters!  The entire alphabet  A- Z!

 I raided my novelty fabric bin and found fabric to make these letters for my great granddaughter, Molly! Happy 5th Birthday Molly!  These letters have a colored fabric on the front and a black and white print on the back. ( The colored side will help Molly identify the correct postion of the letters. Once a teacher always a teacher!) Extra letters, with a couple of extra e's and n's and l's,  will help her spell her last name, her sisters Fiona and Erynn's names.

I found the idea on Pinterest.  The letter shapes were sewn and the cut leaving a quarter inch edge.  Pinking Shears were suggest but mine are so dull it just made a mess. So I just cut with scissors and they will fray and be fluffy.
                                                     Enjoy your letters Molly!  XOXOX!

August 18, 2016 = With a smiling face Molly uses the letters to spell her name!  Have Fun Molly!

What's In The Bag?

The bag is made with alphabet lettered fabric, letters all over it!  The yellow stings are so bright like sunshine!  I wonder what's in the bag that was made for a special girl who has a birthday in August.  This sweet girl will be five!  Wahoo! Kindergarten this fall will be an exciting place for this sweet girl.  

Mama's Kitchen Table Runner

In 2009, I made this quilt for my dining room table.  The fabric line, by Kaufman, was titled "Mama's Kitchen".  This fabric reminded me of the kitchen at home when I grew up.  Love the cherries and flowers.  The blues and the reds are so happy, but it also has checks and polka dots! Amazing fabric line!

Plus the I love stars in quilts.  The left over fabric was popped in a bag and then stored in the cupboard, oh my the cupboard!   So I gathered the left over pieces and made this table runner.

I used the Sidekick ruler by Julie @ JayBird Quilts to make the runner.  The pattern is called "Seaside". I will be donating this runner, plus many more items,  to the Tulip Tea and Quilt Sale by Friendship Quilter,  March 25, 2017.   This event is held every other year at St. John's Lutheran. 

Scarf for Stef

This is our beautiful granddaughter Stefanie!  Her birthday is June 1, so this year I knitted her a scarf in her favorite color.  It's a bit short but when you are new to knitting find a yarn you love your don't think about how much to buy (lesson learned)  I'm going to suggest that she twist the scarf and sew the ends together. If Stef twists and sews (sounds like a 60's song) it will be a great cowl.  There are mistakes in this scarf/cowl and each one of the mistakes is a big hug for Stefanie. 

 Happy Birthday XOXO!

1800's Table Topper Quilted

Love the completed 1800's Table Topper that I completed today.  Quilted and Bound  Yeah!  The colors are so rich and great  jewel tones.

The quilt is made of all half square triangles.

The free motion quilting really is revealed on the back.  I really like the center border quilting.  I did the cursive "e" on the entire border.  I'm pleased with the thread color, looks so natural with this style of fabric.  

Another completed!  Onto the next project!

Going Old School

This year I decided to go "old school" or Vintage in my flower garden.  I love to plant seeds and watch their progress, that is if the snails, grasshoppers or lizards don't chew on the leaves.   Some of the seeds were gathered- ok I gathered them in the Association flower beds.  The gardeners don't dead head so I watch for the plants to go to seed.  Last fall I collect ruby red snapdragons and guess what they are blooming.   The seeds of the purple delphiniums were planted in my flower garden last year. So I saved the seed/ Wahoo!  They're blooming too.

Purple Delphiniums

Snapdragons

So this year I planted Hollyhock, Bachelor Buttons and Cosmos seeds.  These flowers always remind me of my Grandma Steinert.  She loved these flowers and always saved her seeds in empty jars.  Always remember seeds in green olive jars.
                                        The flowers will look like this when they are bloom.

Bachelor Butons

Hollyhock

Cosmos

Scrappy For Mexico

Cleaned out the 2.5" scrap drawer and made this quilt that will go to Juares Mexico with the mission team from St. John's in July. This year the team plans to build three houses.  Excited for the families who will be given a new home!

 It was fun to make this pattern and I'm sure the family who receives this quilt will enjoy all the different types prints in the fabrics - everything from flowers to zebras to basketballs and then there are chickens!  It's great to be able to share what I have been so blessed with others who have so little.

1800's Table Topper

My friend, Gretchen, gave me her leftover half square triangles.  I squared them up, assembled the blocks and added two borders using fabric that was given to me by another quilting friend, Denise.  Love when friends share with each other. So with all this wonderful fabric the only thing to do is complete a 1800's table topper.

Love the richness of the colors!  Next step is pinning and free motion quilting. Watch for the completion of the next step.