This is for my Brother!

All my brother wanted to know was what a person could use all those felted bowls for? So I thought...hmmmm... how about paper clips, spare change..

 

Then one day my Dad was checking them out and thought maybe he could turn a wooden insert for them...so now I have little bowls that can hold snacks as well!

 

 

I love them! What does my brother think now?

 

 

And another UFO has been completed!

 

 

These barrel bag sets are a favorite of mine. They are perfect for travelling. The small case fits a toothbrush and toothpaste perfectly. The large one is big enough to hold your basic shower supplies!

 

 

I have a couple more small UFO's to finish....

 

Happy Stitching!

 

 

Scraps! Scraps! Scraps!

It has been a long time...months in fact since I had a clean ironing board!

 

 

And months since I had no full scrap bins piled underneath my ironing board!

 

 

After several months of sorting and cutting scraps I have them all done....it doesn't look like much for all the effort I put in but I will get 3 or 4 beautiful scrap lap quilts out of these.

 

 

First I cut the hexagons, next the pairs of strips (for a French braid quilt) and finally with what was left I cut 2-1/2" squares. I emptied at least 5 boxes...and maybe more...

 

...I shall not let my scraps get so out of control again.... 

 

Let the quilting begin once again! Happy stitching!

 

 

 

 

A Little Fun...

It is always fun at this time of year to sort something out and then clean it up! So what did I do? I cleaned up my yarn stash. It is usually something I stay on top of, but I did have a bit of left over wool from other projects...

 

It was good timing that I found this pattern in a library book.... It is an Idiots Book for Knitting by Megan Goodacre. It is a fabulous reference book, especially for beginner knitters.

 

 

I could not resist, so for several evenings I knitted up a storm with any feltable wool scraps I had.

 

 

Here they are after felting in the washer in hot water.

 

 

I fit them over glasses to dry them.

We were using cups to drink out of for a day!

 

 

And...dry and done. Now the big question is...what in the world do I do with them all????

 

 

 

And finally, I can show and tell something I made for Christmas.

 

This is a needlecase for interchangeable knitting needles. I found the pattern online at http://missusvonkysmeed.blogspot.ca/2010/05/how-to-make-interchangeable-knitting.html

 

It was a fabulous pattern. This case I made for myself...

 

 

And this case I made for my wonderful friend Cheryl....

 

 

 

The only thing I may have done differently is use a stiff interfacing to make it a bit more sturdy. But it is great...it has little slots for the needles, larger pockets for the cables and a zippered compartment for the tools you need for interchangeable needles.

 

Now I have to get my sewing room cleaned up so I can have some fun this week quilting!

 

Happy Stitching!

 

 

 

 

A Day for Me!

I had an opportunity today to sew! Uninterrupted quality time in my sewing room has become a rare treat indeed!

 

 

I have had this little project cut out for quite some time, sitting right beside my sewing machine just waiting for a few hours of my time.

 

And what fun! First I pieced a basic quilt to cut up again!

 

 

Next I began cutting tilted squares from the quilt top.

 

 

 

This is my first time I have cut into a top!

 

 

 

And look how cute this is!!! It is just 11" x 12!

 

 

I'll get it quilted another day...after Christmas!

 

 

And in my spare time I have been slowly ironing and cutting scraps. They are not all scraps....some are just smaller pieces that I took out of my stash and some are fabrics that I have used enough and some are just fabrics where I wondered what in the world I was thinking when I bought them!

 

 

 

 

I have a little system set up so I can get the most bang out of them. The first cut is a large hexagon if the scrap is large enough. If not, I am cutting pairs of 8" long scraps for a French braid quilt. Everything that is left is cut into 2-1/2" squares.

 

And here is my favorite thing this week... a rotating cutting mat.

 

 

Perfect for cutting those hexagons. I don't know how I ever lived without it!

 

Happy Stitching and Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

A Little Christmas Spirit

It all started last January...

 

My cousins Amy and Mike contacted to me to ask if I would make their girls Christmas stockings. Little did they know that the last few Christmases I haven't had much Christmas spirit. Since my Mom passed away Christmas has been difficult for me. Of course I agreed right away, but then I spent 9 months both looking for the 'right' fabrics for my vision and also procrastinating a bit.

 

I never did find the right fabrics so I went onto plan B. 

 

Plan B turned out pretty fabulous I think!

 

 

I am so pleased with them. The snowflake stocking was a paper pieced snowflake I had saved many years ago on my computer. I have no idea where it originally came from. I added a bit of decorative stitching, some white rick rack and a big white button!

 

 

The stitched Santa block came from Red Brolly (Thanks!!!)

 

And finally a view of how I create...

 

 

My whole cutting table looked like this!

 

So back to my story... I want to thank my cousins for this little gift of Christmas spirit that they brought back into my life (even without realizing it). I feel a little like the Grinch except so less green...making these Christmas stockings has put a little Christmas spirit back into my life...and I am sure my heart grew three sizes when I finished them!

 

Back to Christmas gift making...

 

Happy Stitching!