Yearly Xmas Ornament Extravaganza

One day each year I endeavor to create a new ornament for the Christmas tree.  In addition, this year I decided to make one for each of my coworkers to add to the fug mug swap(funny coffee mugs).

I saw some floating around online, so I looked up the pattern for folded fabric ornaments on YouTube.

I used a pot lid for my pattern.

I had an opportunity to use up some wonderful fabrics given to me by Joan of Keeping You in Stitches.  I just loved the Thimbleberries fabrics.  They were perfect for the project!

Here are the finished products!

...to add to my tree!

I have a plan this week to share with you my crumb block project.  I am almost half-way done with making the blocks, although it does not look like much yet.

Happy holidays to you all!

Child-sized Snail's Trail

Hey all,

A friend of mine was looking to have a quilt made for her soon-to-be nephew.  She indicated she wanted a more traditional design in two colors.  I poked around the internet, and found a snail's trail pattern. I just finished it yesterday, so I thought I would share it with you!

The quilt is about 42" by 54" and is backed with flannel.  All of the fabrics came from Connecting Threads.

I reached out to some fellow quilters to ask about designs, and it was suggested that I mark out concentric circles to go with the movement of the quilt.  Here I hope you will see some of the quilting in it.  I used a chalk pencil and spools of thread as spacing guides.

So much has happened since my last post.  I have a few antique machines to show off, and am working on a new crumb project.  I hope I can keep up the motivation to post again soon!

I've been sewing

It seems that even though I have more time left in the day ( I am on a full time internship that is less intensive than classroom instruction and externships), I still have a hard time with getting behind my machine.  Oh well, sunny Florida has given my family plenty to do, and it is nice to finally enjoy my weekends again.

I found some orphan blocks a week or so ago, and thought my friend and fellow intern might really like a quilt.  She told me she loves quilts but I don't think she has a real, handmade quilt.  She also has a bright personalty, so a quilt made so 30's prints is up her alley.  I can really only sew on the weekends because the only place to work is the dining room table and setting up takes a while.  Here are some picks of the progress.

Here is the top.

Here is my workspace.  I miss my old quilting space.  It was small, but a bit more roomy than this.

I quilted pears in the open spaces.  I might go over the pear outline again in pale yellow, but I am not yet certain.

Hopefully I will have more progress soon!

What do quilters do while children play?

Why, quilt of course!

My first vintage machine

Every once in a while I peruse EBay and Craigslist for Singer machines.  I want the Singer 221, but the featherweight seems like a hot item which drives up the price.  I saw a vintage machine on craigslist which was listed by a newish thrift store in a nearby town for $40, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to check it out.  I had no model number to go off of, just a picture.

...and she came home with me!

Don't you live my backdrop of boxes?  The cabinet is in great shape.  Turns out she is a working Singer 99.  It was from an estate sale.  The seller told me it was open and in use around the time the owner passed.  Just the kind of machine I was looking for.

I can't wait to try it out!

Post-Vacation Update

I had a nice post completed yesterday and when I hit post, it was lost.  If I had completed the post on my PC, a draft would have remained.  Since I completed it on my cell phone, no draft was saved.  Grrrrr.  I had to walk away from it for a day.  Today is a new day, so here I am!

While on vacation in beautiful Maine, I made great progress on my EPP project.  I also kept up with my exercise, which made me happy.  Exercise is such a huge part of my routine; without it, I feel like a slug.  I won't bother you with any post-exercise pictures (I wouldn't take any anyway), but I have some hexie photos to share.

I finished a stack of 28 blue hexie flowers.  They now wait for their turn to add to the mother ship.

I also made great progress on the ring of neutrals which will be next to add to the mother ship.  Out of 30 needed, I have 19.  Perhaps these will be done before I move to Florida at the end of the month.  As I look at the design, I think I will add another ring of neutrals.  I want the band of neutrals to be a bit thicker than what is shown.  Thoughts on that?

Finally, I want to share with you a somber sight.  I packed up my sewing area this past weekend.  I hope I can find a small corner of our (smaller) Florida digs to set up station.  I will post pictures when that happens.

Also, I wanted to thank some of my fellow bloggers, including JulieK, Sharon, and others who went out of their way to contact me and inform me I was listed as a "no reply" blogger.  I hope I have fixed the issue!

I have linked up to Life Under Quilts to share my hexie journey.  Check them out!

Maine

A cool, wet morning here in Maine!  When the rain finally stopped after more than 12 hours straight, I jogged about 2.5 miles and then settled in for some hexie basting.  Time to start on some neutrals.

Look at this lovely view!