Remembering 2010

Here's a little remembrance mosaic of some of the quilts I've worked on over the last year both for family & friends, 

 as well as for Quilts4Hope---sent to children living at New Hope Homes in Rwanda.

How much fun I have had creating! This blog and the wonderful readers and friends it has brought has added to my delight. Thank you all so much. I look forward to 2011 and lots of new projects! Get ready..........sew!

Carla

1. Blueberry Bars: sent to Rwanda. 2. X Marks the Spot: sent to Rwanda 3. Project Plume: Made for KCMQG challenge 4. Anniversary Crosses: made for Megan and Reid's 5th anniversary 5. Follow Me: a scripture quilt given to friends 6. Baskets: made for my grand daughter Haven's 4th birthday 7. Pink and Black: sent to Rwanda 8. Color Box: sent to Rwanda 9. Baby Munki : made for my new grand daughter, Jane 10. Square Dots: sent to Rwanda 11. Random Reflections: made from a Moda Bake Shop pattern and sent to Rwanda 12. Hope Valley Hexagon: quilt top still needs quilted 13. I Spy With My Eye: made for my grand daughter, Haven 14. Merry and Bright: Christmas quilt 15. For the Love of Waverley: a fundraiser quilt made to help my friends during a tough time 16: Once Upon a Time: an eye spy quilt made for my grandson, Ezra's 3rd birthday.

Good-Bye December

Determined not to sew on Christmas blocks in January, I've been working the last few days to finish up the virtual bee blocks due by the end of the month.

Jessica gave us jade green and dark red fabric and asked for any Christmas themed block. I chose to make a couple of angels for this KCMQG Scrappy Bee. Can you spot the difference in the two blocks (other than the obvious color choices)?

Tammy's theme for the Nittany Block Bee is trees....Christmas trees, to be exact. She sent grey Kona background and some pieces of various green fabrics and a red, inviting us to add some from our own stashes to add variety to her project.

A couple of little redbirds somehow managed to join the snowy scene. I thought they added a little Christmas cheer, don't you! With December coming to a close, I'll also be saying a sad goodbye to the Nittany Block Party. I've made some good blogging friends as a result of participating in this virtual bee over the last year. If you haven't tried swapping blocks with other online quilters.....2011 might be a great year to begin!

 These beautiful blocks were all  made for me by the members of the Nittany Bee during my month last March. I have big plans to get these lovelies all set together by spring.

2011, I'm looking forward to lots of sewing fun!

A Sewer's Dozen

If a baker's dozen is thirteen, then maybe a sewer's dozen is fourteen........do ya think?
I'm guessing so, because that's how many of THESE I have laying around my house right now.................        What a pile, huh!?

!

The first stockings were made a million years ago, when my first baby was born. I remember making an extra, thinking I'd need another someday.....then I had to add a fifth stocking a few years later, when I had a third baby.  (Megan has always claimed hers is smaller than her brothers'....it's the white one.) Can we say 70's calico!!

These five served us very well for along time.  Then about 9 years ago I began adding stockings, here and there, as our family grew to include daughters-in-law, a son-in-law and grand babies. Little by little it has turned into quite a collection, all cut from the same pattern.

On Christmas Eve eve,number fourteen was finished around 8:00 that morning, before my grand daughters arrived to play for the day. There wasn't enough rick rack to put on the toe and heel like the others...hopefully Jane won't notice. It's white like her mommy's stocking. (And maybe a teensy bit bigger!) I wonder if I'll be making more in years to come?
           And, yes, Santa still comes and fills each one with goodies every year. Whew!

 Welcome to the family, Janie Sue!!

Merry Christmas!

 Our family celebrates the true meaning of Christmas as the birth of Jesus Christ; God's  Only Son coming to earth in the form of man to be our Savior. What a reason for rejoicing! What a Gift! 
 Since gift giving is something that I love to do, I also enjoy the idea of the thoughtful giving of gifts to others during this season.  When our children were young, we did not try to make them believe in a real Santa Claus who brought them all the toys under the tree.  We did, however, tell them how much fun it was to pretend there was a jolly old elf who might fly through the sky on a sled pulled by reindeer. I also hang stockings on the fireplace and have quilts with St. Nick as the focus! 
So, with Santa's help, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas from my house to yours!

I'm pretty proud of this quilt, mainly because I had to use math to complete it!  I made the blocks over several years, finishing it in 1998. My friend, Susan, and I would get together on a regular basis and sew. I always call her the Pattern Queen, as she has a huge supply of patterns, with Christmas themes being no exception. The assortment of Santas in this quilt were part of her collection.

I remember that the guy on the right was called The Lean Mean Giving Machine!  I don't recall the name of the chubby one on the left, but his outfit looks a lot like a bathrobe don't you think?! Getting all of these Kris Kringles together into one quilt was my first experience with using filler blocks and creating my own layout.  I realize that it stretches the creative muscles! That's good and I keep trying to stretch it even more!

It's always fun to sleep under the Santa quilt from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day or so......
Perhaps it helps with getting those visions of sugarplums to dance in our heads!

                                           Merry Christmas from my house to yours!

Gingerbread Houses Wordless Wednesday

No fabric involved, but we sure had fun today...........................

                                                    Don't they look yummy??!!

Word Play

The mailman delivered this to my box yesterday!

I'm pretty excited about Tonya Ricucci's new book, Word Play. I've been a fan of hers for a while now. You can get it on Amazon.com, like I did, by clicking on the tab at her website. 

 Last spring, I used her tutorials when making a little wall hanging for my grand daughter.

                  Oliver's quilt has his name along the border of this quilt, thanks to Tonya. Her directions are very clear and easy to follow.  I'm hoping to do a whole quilt of words someday,  like the one on the cover of Word Play.  I think that would be so fun hanging in my house!

I even have a Christmas quilt with funky letters pieced into it. Come back on Christmas Eve for a full few of Santa and his reindeer on a quilt! 

Hearts

After my son, Adam, had open heart surgery to replace his damaged aortic valve, he was given a heart shaped pillow, similar to this one,  in ICU. 

 The pillow became his constant companion for several weeks after the surgery. He used it to support and protect his chest and incision. The simple handmade pillow was invaluable in his recovery.

 Because we are so thankful to the person who handcrafted the heart, my daughter-in-law, Kodie, hosted a pillow making party on Saturday. Four of us worked for several hours, in assembly line fashion, to turn out some hearts of our own.

 I brought along my Singer featherweight machine to sew together fourteen pairs of hearts cut from fabric we had gleaned from our stashes.

 My daughter, Megan and other daughter-in-law, Lauren, cut out the pillows and helped turn and stuff them. Kodie, Adam's wife did all the hand stitching.

 Today, Kodie will be hand delivering the hearts to the hospital for future patients. It was a fun morning and a wonderful way to give back, in just a small way, to the hospital in response to the gratitude we feel for Adam's miraculous recovery and survival. 

                                                               We love you, Adam!

Building Houses

I've been building houses. That's usually cold work during the winter months here in Missouri. But my buildings have gone up with no shivering whatsoever.

 I've been snug as a bug in a rug here in the sewing room under the eaves as I constructed my little houses made of fabric.  

Beth from Love, Laugh, Quilt is having a drawing of house blocks after the first of the year.  This quilty house is my entry.  You still have time to enter a house in the friendly village and maybe be a winner of a whole set of houses in return. Run on over and take a look!

 Santa is coming to this house on the beach in New Zealand. It's destined for Cat who's inspiration words for the Calendar of Houses Bee's December block had me yearning for summer already! Christmas, Christmas tree, pink and aqua decorations, sun, beach, family, holidays, school's out, and husband's birthday were the ideas that I tried to capture.

The beach bum Santa panel was purchased in a quilt shop along the beach in Oregon. I bought it for the flamingo, but it was so perfect for Cat's December block that I decided to give her one of my coveted pink birds! It was fun to use some selvage dots to represent Christmas lights on the eaves of the beach house and the tree. Building these houses for the Calendar Bee is such creative fun!

And, if you haven't dropped by Homemade Ginger and left a comment as an entry for her 100th Post Give-Away of this mug rug and 3 handmade fabric cards, there's still time!
Happy Quilting!

Mug Rugs

I've been doing a little sewing for Christmas.  These cute mug rugs were so much fun to make.

 Over the years, I have collected quite a few scraps from the "flamingo" projects I have created.  They came in really handy this week, paired with some bold black and white dots (love my polka dots!) to whip up these gifts for my friends in the Pink Flamingo Club. Today was our annual Christmas party, and even though I had to explain to some just what a mug rug was, I think everyone liked the coasters. Some thought they were pot holders and one friend thought she might hang hers on the wall. Silly girls!

 I explained they were meant to hold their cuppa and a snack. What a great invention! Have you made a mug rug yet? There are lots of ideas on flickr.

  If you don't think you have the time to get one done for a last minute stocking stuffer or to hold your coffee cup on Christmas morning, maybe you will be lucky enough to win one.  Hop on over to Homemade Ginger to enter Megan's give away of this mug rug (made by yours truly) and 3 darling hand made cards. Megan has lots of great ideas;  you'll love her blog. (Have you guessed that Megan is my daughter?)

This little selvage mug rug has a very special selvage at the very top....do you see it? Yes, a bit of Amy Butler's new Soul Blossoms that I couldn't resist at the quilt shop this week! Go ahead, try to win it for yourself! Good luck!

Merry and Bright Wordless Wednesday