A Couple of Gifts

Here are a couple of other gifts I made for Christmas.  This one is an iPad case for the new, larger iPad.  I hope it fits!  I didn't have the model to try this one out!

And, I bought the bib on the left at a little shop in CO Springs so I could figure out how to make it. I made the little bib on the right!

Baby's First Christmas

I made this little soft book for our little grand baby's first Christmas.  We've been having SO much fun with her this past week.  She's so adorable :)


My plan was to quilt the pages of the book, but I soon realized that if I quilted one side around the picture, the quilting would not match up or look great on the page on the "back" of that page, so I left it un-quilted.  It's only about nine inches square so it's fine without quilting.

Isn't she just the cutest?  We love her!!

Star Wars

Now I can show some of the gifts I made for Christmas!

My family was excited for the new Star Wars movie so I made Star Wars pillowcases!

(A couple of them got non Star Wars pillowcases :)

Even the baby got a little Star Wars pillow :)

Have Yourself a Very Merry Christmas!!

My son sent out this picture with the following caption:

"Grandma and Grandpa Holt are having a blast preparing for Christmas with their grand baby."

Yes, and now that she's here, we're having even more of a blast!

Here's wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!  I hope you are able to enjoy this time with your family and friends!

And the Rest!

Here are the rest of the Sew Savvy show and tell pictures!


Some very talented ladies in this group!

Is everyone getting their last minute Christmas preparations done?  I made three pies today and now I'm making Candy Cane cookies.  Trying to stay out of the stores though!


Look below at the beautiful cards Dawn made.  These won't get thrown away!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas Eve tomorrow!!

A Few More...

Here are a few more show and tell items from the Sew Savvy party!

Is this quilt amazing, or what?




Yes, those are cats on this quilt, for the cat lovers out there!

Some little girl is going to be thrilled with her "Frozen" quilt!









This quilt is beautiful in shades of red.

(I have to say, I wish my hair looked as good in the back as these ladies on the front row :)

A Few Show and Tell

Here are a few show and tell items from the Sew Savvy party Saturday.  I know I showed pictures of Sheila's Hampton Ridge quilts before but I tried to get better pictures this time.  I was still a bit too far away.  You can see though how gorgeous these quilts are and I love that they are the same blocks in two completely different settings.

She also finished her "Warm Winter Blessings" quilt and showed that!  I will be hanging mine up again next month :)

I'm not sure of the name of the maker but don't you love the wall hanging with little snowmen careening down the hill in little tea cups?
SO cute :)

Sew Savvy Christmas Party

Yesterday was the Sew Savvy Christmas party at Hi Fashion!  They always go all out for their customers and yesterday was no exception!  We played games, had treats and everyone received a door prize.  The grand prize was won by one woman who has a choice between two sewing machines or a $600 gift certificate to the store!  Wow!  It was a nice time also to catch up with quilting friends before the holidays, enjoy one another's company and be inspired by show and tell which topped off the event.  I will share some pictures of show and tell in the next few days :)

A Quilt in (almost) A Day....

I rarely ever buy kits but every once in awhile I just really like something and buy the kit.  I pulled this one out the other day thinking I could probably get the top pieced in a day - just like Eleanor Burns!  I almost got it pieced in a day.  If I'd been able to work on it the whole day, I probably could have done it one day!  However I finished it up the next day!  I have one or two other kits I want to pull out and finish up - part of my UFO stash.  However my goal for this year is to not start any more blocks of the months, or buy any kits!  I really want to focus on finishing up Dear Jane, Patchwork of the Crosses and some of my UFO's, and make a tree skirt for a gift.  Hold me to it!!

Caught up on the Moda Shuffle!

I finally got caught up on the Moda Block Shuffle.  It's my understanding there will be 9 more block patterns for a total of 30 in all.  I've made 20 and remember, these babies will finish at three inches! Those little half square triangles in the Bears Paw block finish at 1/2 inch.  I like them!  The good news is, I will be practiced up and ready for Dear Jane when I start back on that project in January.
The only Moda block I haven't made so far was an appliqué block, which just didn't seem to fit in.  Why one appliqué block out of 21 pieced blocks?  Plus it was birds and I'm not overly fond of birds.....

Happy Birthday!!

A big Happy Birthday to my son-in-law, who is the father of our beautiful granddaughter! We love you both!

Moda Sampler Shuffle

I decided to do the Moda Sampler Shuffle.  Each week they are supplying three block patterns to participating stores.  I have been downloading mine from Hi Fashion's website, or My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe's website.  The blocks finish at six inches, but to challenge myself and practice my miniature skills, I decided to half size them, so mine will finish at three inches!  Here are the first nine that I've completed.  Apparently there will be thirty in all.  I'm not sure yet what I will make with them - maybe a table topper?

All Caught Up!

I was able to get all caught up on my Plain and Fancy Block of the Month this weekend!  I was only two months behind, luckily.  I think I'm getting the hang of the pressing of these blocks too!  It's amazing what a huge difference pressing can make!

Have a nice Sunday :)

Guild Christmas Party

Wednesday I went to the CO West Quilt Guild's Christmas party.  We ate a lovely soup and salad dinner, made ornaments, had show and tell and they drew names for the winners of the two raffle quilts!  Tons of fun :)


We were challenged to make a New Year's resolution last January to complete a quilt this year that we've always wanted to finish.  Someone finished the Thimbleberries Christmas quilt which I made 3/4 size several years ago.  It was fun seeing it full size and it's very large!

My New Year's resolution quilt was to finish Dear Jane, which alas, I didn't do.... But I got a LOT closer to finishing!  So hopefully I will finish it this year - that's my plan.  Maybe I can show it at next year's Christmas party.  I bumped into a friend at the meeting who is working on hers too and hopes to finish it this year.  Like she said, "I hope I still like it when I'm done, after all this work I've put into it!"  I feel the same :)


Sheila finished these two quilts, that were part of a block of the month.  She made double the blocks, so made two quilts, but put them together in very different settings!  I love them both - she does beautiful work!

Here they are kind of side by side, so you can see how different they are!

A unique modern looking quilt was shown!  I love the colors - and look at the back (below)!

We had the choice of three different Christmas ornaments to make - all quick and easy to do.  I chose this little ribbon Christmas tree!


I've been in my sewing room all day!  It's been nice :)

A Gift to Myself

I am a regular viewer of The Quilt Show, with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson.  Recently Alex has fallen in love with Dupioni Silk and she has raved about it on the show.  I have seen quilts in shows that are made from Dupioni Silk and have noticed how pretty they are, but didn't have a desire to buy any silk until I saw this picture in Machine Quilting magazine last month. I think this quilt is machine embroidered but how fun would it be to design something similar and hand embroider and embellish it??

So I decided to purchase myself a Christmas gift and here it is!  16 fat quarters of Dupioni Silk in those rich, beautiful colors - oh so beautiful.
This gift gives me inspiration to design and create something in the New Year, with a fabric I've never used before, and then to see how much fun I can have embellishing!!  It's the gift that keeps on giving :)

I better re-watch those videos on how to work with silk....

Gift Ideas for Kids!

http://studio5.ksl.com/index.php?nid=61&sid=37588744


Check out these adorable "Halfway Homemade" gift ideas for children (click on link above)!  So cute and they don't look too difficult to make either.  I have two more small sewing gifts to make for Christmas and I hope to get to those TODAY!  Have a good one :)

I'm Really Not THAT Old!

Recently a young friend asked me to text her a picture and then said, "If you don't know how to do that, call me and I'll walk you through it."  I thought it was funny that because of my age she assumed I didn't know how to fully use my cell phone.  I could have said, "Hey, women my age and older are quite good at using fancy computerized sewing, quilting and embroidery machines!  Ha! A cell phone?  Piece of cake!"  But I just smiled and told her I thought I could handle it :)


My friend Annie came up with a list of "How to Care For Your Quilts" instructions that she gives when she gifts a quilt to someone.  Here are a few of her ideas:
1. Do not dry clean.
2. Do wash, but seldom.  Wash with ORVIS or another product developed especially for hand-made quilted items.  It is also recommended to use Color Catchers the first few times (can be found in the grocery store laundry section).
3. Do not use bleach.
4. Use the gentle cycle on the washing machine with tepid water.
5. Using the dryer to fluff your quilt is good, but place 2-3 dry bath towels in with the quilt on a warm, not hot cycle and not more than five minutes (I usually let mine dry a little longer, but it depends on your dryer.)  Lay flat to finish drying.  (Sometimes with wall hangings that have gotten dusty - rather than wash them I just put them in the dryer briefly to fluff all the dust off!)
Notes:
Sunlight fades fabric colors (I found this out the hard way with a quilt my Mom made us when we got married).
Handmade quilts do not fair well with most pets.
If you prefer to use the quilt as a wall decoration there are special quilt hangers in the the quilt shops that won't harm the fabrics.
I thought these were great tips!  I think it's a good idea to put some instructions in with the quilt when gifting it.  Most people don't know, but want to know, and would find these tips helpful!