Thursday, January 28, 2016

Hexie potholders....they are just like potato chips!!!!!!

 Well, they are...I bet you can't make just one!!!! I had downloaded this pattern a long time ago but recently Caroline of sewshecan revised it and I decided to try it out. One of my New Year's Resolutions is that I am trying not to buy any fabric unless absolutely necessary, so I dug through my stacks and stacks of fabric and came up with this.
Bright and fun!
 This was such a fun project that I couldn't stop at one(see just like potato chips!) I decided to make a set for my daughter-in-law for her birthday. Here is what I can up with.....


I decided on strawberries for the center and lots of bright colors to surround them.
And here is where I admit to my boo boo! Note the hexi on the left...no ribbon to hang the potholder with! OK then...how about a trivet...making lemonade out of a lemon!  When I finished the potholders, I decided  they needed a dish towel or two! I found Amanda Jean's(crazy mom quilts) fantastic pattern for a simple patchwork dish towel tutorial. A quick and easy way to make a striking dish towel. Now I have matching pot holders and dish towels for my birthday gift!




I have also been working on my blocks for the Shiny Happy House quilt club. Here are my first four blocks.

My first house

Starry, starry night

Starry, starry night at Christmas!

A facsimile of my house
Interested in joining our little group? Check us out at Wendi's Shiny Happy People. It is really fun, so why not come and join in.

Saturday, January 9, 2016

I'm Back!!!!

I promised myself last year that I would post more regularly and for a while, I did. Then life happened and I kept meaning to post but didn't. I have been busy sewing, just not posting so here is a little of the missing months!

First of all, I took Wendi Gratz's FUN FUSIBLE APPLIQUE PROJECTS on Craftsy. This is a really fun class with lots of great applique hints. I decided to make quilts for my grandchildren for Christmas so off I went! I made the Woodland Quilt from the class for my grandson and had a blast making all of the animals. I included my grandson's name on the quilt and made it in his favorite color green!(If you click on the photos, you can see them in a larger form)


After I had put the top together, Wendi came out with a pattern for a moose and I designed a skunk so I took the bear and the fox on the top row off and added the two new animals. I didn't get a photo of the additions but here is a picture of  Teddy with his quilt on Christmas morning.


Cute little skunk

Big, Bad Moose!


Teddy on Christmas Morning

When I finished this quilt, I decided to make a flower quilt for my granddaughter but then decided to add birds, butterflies and snails for the cuteness factor! I found the adorable snails on Sher's Creative Space on Craftsy. ( I have gotten some wonderful applique's from her store btw!) I added my granddaughter's name on her quilt also, as well as some metallic bling to the appliques! I wanted to add a magnolia for Mississippi and a dogwood for where I grew up so I designed them and I think they turned out nicely. I also did a cardinal and a mockingbird that you can see on the quilt by the magnolia and dogwood. Here is the photo of Maddie and her quilt on Christmas Day.






Magnolia

Dogwood

Maddie on Christmas Morning

After I finished the tops of the quilts, I decided to make some placemats for Thanksgiving. I appliqued cute little pumpkins from The Patchsmith on Craftsy also. It was so much fun! I only have one photo but I made 6 with names on all of them! Whew, I wish some of the relatives had shorter names! I also made matching coasters with a little pumpkin each.

When I finished these, I tackled Christmas placemats. Would you believe that I made over 40 Christmas ones? I only put appliqued names on the kids tho', I was kinda' tired of letters by them. For my final Christmas sewing, I made stockings for my kids, grandchildren and great nieces and nephews. I didn't have time to take a photo but if I make some more, I will add them later. If you look at Teddy's Christmas morning photo, you can see one of the stockings. I made an Olaf stocking for Maddie and a Teenage Mutant Turtle one for Teddy!





I think this post has gone on long enough, but you can see that I have been busy. I have started a new class at Craftsy and have joined the Shiny Happy House quilt club and the Small and Sweet quilt club so I should be quite busy this year!