Christmas Tea Cart Topper

I always enjoy decorating my tea cart with seasonal toppers. Tea and Pfeffernusse cookies remind me of my Grandma Steinert.   This topper was begun in August of 2016...yep I said 2016.  But I finished it in time for Christmas 2017!  Yeah!

The large white square needed a special machine quilting design.  I like the way it turned out.

I've had the Christmas Tea Cup fabric for a while but just couldn't bring myself to cut the fabric, tough with only a fat eighth of fabric. I fussy cut the fabric and could only get three motifs that would center.  Polk A Dots are my new thing for Christmas.  This is a joy for me to finish.

Take Along Knitting Bag

When I found this fabric, sheep knitting, I just knew it had to be a gift project for my knitting group.  These ladies are so special and they deserved something special made with this fabric.  

Every time I go to an appointment or other activities like the car wash I take a small project to knit.  If I don't have anything to keep my hands busy I fidget and fidget and it seems to take forever.
This pattern was a lunch bag.  I thought this was the perfect Take Along Knit Bag!

I chose the fabric for the band because I thought it looked like a knitting stitch. There is a draw string inside the bag that will keep all items enclosed. I made a total of six bags, five for knitting friends and one for myself.  It was an assembly line project.  Can't wait for my next appointment.

Christmas Bauble Banner

Just in time for Christmas!  I finished the Christmas Baubles Banner and it's only Dec 3rd!  This is a Moda Bake Shop Recipe, love their patterns. Being free always makes me smile.

The best part of this project is that all, ALL the fabric were already in the fabric closet in my sewing room!  No purchase!  So pleased with myself that I used up stash fabrics. Oh no worries, there is still plenty more where that came from!  This banner is the perfect size for the dinning room wall next to the fire place.

Merry Christmas!

Annual Thanksgiving Tea

The Saturday before Thanksgiving is my Annual Thanksgiving Tea!  Spending the afternoon with my friends sets the tone for my favorite holiday.   It's a joy to plan this event which began in 2004!
Invitations are sent, recipes selected (some even tried before the event) but always tasting the best for my friends. 

The top tier are Pecan Pie Bites- Really Sweet!  The middle tier contained layers of pound cake separated with pumpkin butter (don't eat the candied leaf or you'll break your teeth) and the bottom tier are cranberry walnut tarts.

These soft pumpkin cookies would make great Whoopie Pies!
They were like having a piece cake.  The spices are so Thanksgiving.

These Salted Caramel thumb print cookies were light and delightful.

The Tea also included two sandwiches, Chicken Salad on marble rye bread and Pimento Cheddar 

Cheese on white bread. The chicken salad included green apple, walnuts, cranberries and leaves of baby spinach.   The Pimento Cheddar Cheese spread was my moms recipe.

Three types of Tea were served: Lady Grey, Pumpkin Spice and White Pomegranate.  Always served in my three fall tea pots.

Friends are the best part of the tea!  We laugh, sigh and catch up on events, hobbies, community, grand kids, and those beloved pets! 

Sorry ladies, still working on photography!  Perhaps a goal for 2018!

I always enjoy making a special party favors for my guests!  This year I made small fabric baskets packed with miniature English tea cookies inside.  Love the turkey ribbon I found at Hobby Lobby!  Score on that purchase.

This event is such a great way to celebrate with friends!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ready To Deliver

These charity quilts and knitted items are ready to deliver.  I have met my goal, that the projects would all be completed before October 15th!  Yeah!  I love using my craft to help those that are less fortunate than me.

Knitted Items

These blankets will be donated to Casa Teresa (a home for unwed mothers).  They have such a wonderful program!

This was my adventure knitting mitered blocks.  It's made of cotton and is so soft and cuddly. Used Love That Cotton purchased at Hobby Lobby. The cotton will launder well and wear well. I chose the traditional baby colors: pink, blue, yellow and green.  Sorry,  I'm not a gray baby person.

This is a car seat cover that is also baby soft.  Once again, it's a traditional baby pink!  This item is made with soft baby acrylic yarn. Any cute baby girl would love to snuggle in this car seat cover but would probably fall asleep with this soft blanket covering them.

This sunflower yellow quilt was a great design for my beginning knitting skills.  Love the design and the texture that the acrylic yarn made.

Quilted Items:                     

My heart goes out to children who have stressful homes and unsafe childhoods.  This crayon colored quilt will be donated to Western Youth Services.  They assist families who have unstable homes.

This is a split nine pattern that I adapted from Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorial. The back reminds me of gum balls!

Lots of swirls to quilt.  Happy colors, happy quilt.

Veterans in Long Beach Veteran's Hospital need our support and care.  I love star quilts and this one has loads of stars.   The fabric was donated to me by fabric designer Jamie Fingal.  

Love the secondary red and white hour glass squares and the added white stars are so special !  God Bless America

So with my goal met, now I can work towards Christmas!  Yikes my friends tell me there are only 10  Wednesdays till Christmas. But I love fall and Halloween too!  Goodness!

Paper Doll Quilt for Molly

Molly is my Great Granddaughter and will be six years old on her birthday!  I made her a Paper Doll quilt for her birthday.  I loved paper dolls when I was young, spending hours dressing and redressing them.  Molly needed a paper doll quilt! (Thanks Pinterest for the idea)  But I didn't have a pattern... SO I enlarged a blank paper doll I found and then added hair and shoes.

The doll has velcro on the shoulders, waist and in her hair for bows!  The Doll had to have outfits that will provide hours and hours of joy!

Of course she needs to have several outfits to wear!  Such fun making the outfits for Molly to change!     I had such a great time making the outfits.  Here are the darling outfits!

Bows were included in the package for each outfit











I loved choosing the fabric for the outfits! Lady bugs, bees, flowers, scotty dogs and of course there had to be out outfit with an owl!  Wish I could have found a bit of fabric with a unicorn.

                       Wonder what Molly will name her?

Making Progress

The medallion quilt is beginning to take shape!  Yeah!  I finished the step and  I've added the half squares all around the outside of the quilt.  Next step is a vertical row of star blocks (do love star blocks).  BUT  I changed the pattern.  The original pattern had the star blocks attached to the side of the half squares.  Points not matching just made me want to put the quilt unfinished in the Good Will Box.  My friend, Rita, suggested adding a small border between the half squares and the star blocks.

Oh the change it made! It won't go into the Good Will Box now!

Next step is a vertical row of houses on the left hand side.

Mystery Medallion Continues

STEP FOUR       Completed
This step placed a Tumbler Row (wedge pieces) on the left and right sides of the medallion and the baskets.  The  tumbler pieces are 4.5" tall and 3" wide at the bottom edge.  " Choose a variety dark and medium colored fabrics."
Then add a 2.5" border around the entire piece.  This quilt is growing rapidly!

Here are the results of Step Four.  I chose a purple (there is purple in the other blocks) for the 2.5" border.  

STEP FIVE

Step Five is half square triangles.  Lots of them...  80!!

The triangles are made and squared up to 2.5".  Now to attach them to the quilt body. Stay tuned for the results!

Next Step is Star Blocks!

Fidget Quilt or Twiddle Muff

A “Fidget, Fiddle, or Busy” Quilt Activity Blanket or Twiddle Muff (either knit or crocheted) is a small lap quilt, mat, blanket or muff that provides sensory and tactile stimulation for the restless or “fidgety “ hands of someone with Alzheimer’s or related Dementias.  Fidget Quilts provide sensory or tactile stimulation through the use of fabric choice, colors, value of colors next to one another, textures and the use of accent or simple accessories such as pockets, laces, trims, appliqués, buttons, beads, ribbons, braids, zippers, etc.

Here are the four we completed during Friendship Quilters last meeting.

Mine is the one in the upper right hand corner with white background. I used some orphan squares to make the background.

  

Knitting the Twiddle Muffs have been great practice for my knitting skills.  I enjoy changing the textures and adding color to the muff.

I love the green sparkle yarn, but it left green sparkles all over the floor.  I'm still finding treasures. Giving to others brings great happiness.

Marvelous Mini Monday

Working outside my comfort zone!  I'm challenging myself to complete the blocks for Marvelous Mini Monday posted by Temecula Quilt Company.  Decided to make it a patriotic mini.

The blocks are small, REALLY small.  The Jacob's Ladder is shown here:
The block begins with the half square triangles  at 1.5" sewn and cut diagonally.   This is a real eye opener for me.  This block finishes at 2" square WHEW!  I did it.





The blocks are NOT paper pieced!
First block with nine patch went well. Completed blocks are 4".
Then came the Jacob's Ladder.

Here are the two blocks I've completed.

Monday is just around the corner and a new block to complete.  Wondering what is wrong with me... the mystery quilt, the mini Monday and the quilts for the Mexico Mission Trip. Enjoying every minute!

Mystery Quilt Step Three

The third step of the Mystery Quilt are complete.  

Using all those saved pieces from other 1800's quilts was a good idea.  I love scrappy quilts and this one has that appeal.  The baskets of step three have an appliqued handle.  I fused the handle with a fusible and then machine stitched them down with the blanket stitch on my machine. The 6 inch basket block are a variety of blue fabrics.  The gold fabric border looks good with the blue.   ONWARD to step number four.

Mystery Quilt In Progress

A Mystery Quilt In Progress - joined a group of my friends - to follow directions and complete a quilt, one step at a time, that will be made with Civil War or 1800's fabrics.  
Here's step number one... LOADS of little blocks!  Thirty six a mixture of different reds and different beige backgrounds.

The border of this section was a left over piece of fabric from the Underground Railroad Quilt I made for a library display.  The blocks weren't difficult but squaring up the blocks seemed to take forever. This step is 15"X 15".

STEP # 2 COMPLETED

The next step in the mystery quilt was made of nine patches! Each square in the nine patch is 1.5" square.  After stretching my brain, directions confused me,  I decided it would work easily if I cut 3 dark pieces 1.5" X 5.5" and three light pieces 1.5" X 5.5"  After sewing dark/light/dark and light/dark/light I would cut each section into 1.5" strips.   Forty nine patches each measuring  3.5". 

Here's the second step!  Yeah!    Of course all my friends are on step five, Yikes! But I'm at an advantage.   I see all the steps that they have completed.  There really is a method to my madness!

I already know what's next HA!  Watch for the next step.

Kitten Quilt

This pink, scrap quilt is for a new kitten "Khaleesi",  owned by my daughter.  I searched for the bag of pink left overs to make the disappearing nine patch small quilt.  Amazing that there are so many shades of pink.     

I did the free motion quilting with light pink thread.  I stitched hearts and some have echoed hearts.  Linda loves pink and hearts.  Can't wait to see that cute kitten sitting on the quilt.

Here she is, just too cute!

Prayer Quilts

Two completed Prayer Quilts that will be tied and delivered in the coming week!
This crayon colored quilt is for Aidan. He was born 9/16/2005. Aidan was diagnosed with a terminal tumor on his spine in Sept. They did radiation and now started Chemotherapy. He is now paralyzed.

The quilt is made with 2.5" squares, all of which were found in the scrap drawer.  The back is just so boy!  It's a solar system type print. The black borders make the colored squares pop!

The second quilt, is for a Fred who is wheelchair bound with MS.  Fred is such a faithful Christian who struggles with this illness but has a wonderful attitude.

This quilt is a nine patch that has been skewed after the nine patch was sewn together.  The saw tooth border enhances the quilt.  The corners came out without planning.  Sometimes good things happen!

Praying for both Aidan and Fred!