Tuesday, November 30, 2010

ornament factory....

I've been busy.
What have you been making?

Sunday, November 28, 2010

thanks Melissa!

My friend Melissa gave me this Stylish blogger Award today! Melissa has a great blog, Daily Life - Bits & Pieces, where she shares her very creative scrapbooking ideas & lots of other interesting tidbits. Check it out, I know you'll enjoy it! Thanks Melissa!
Here are the rules that come along with this award:
1)thank & link back to the person who awarded it to you (done!)
2)share 8 things about yourself
3)pay it forward to 8 bloggers you have recently discovered
4)contact those bloggers & tell them about the award.

Ok, here goes.....

8 things about me......
1) I have a college degree in accounting which came in handy for a while! But I enjoy my creative pursuits so much more.
2) I'm left handed
3) I originally thought I would be a music teacher, or a music therapist. I love to sing in the church choir.
4) I learned to sew when I was about 8 or 9 years old (that was just a few years ago!)
5) I love to do handwork, embroidery, hand sewing, handstitching binding on quilts
6) I hate peanut butter, always have.
7) I'm a city girl, love to visit big cities & always like to live near a major city
8) I have the greatest husband & 3 kids a girl could ever ask for. They make me happy every day.

So now you know more about me than you ever really cared for, right?

Here are 8 bloggers that I have been especially enjoying lately! I know, it says discovered lately, but I'm cheating! Some of these blogs I have been loving for quite a while. I award them the Stylish Blogger Award.....

Jen - Miss Punkie Pie
Gnee - Singing with Birds
Maria - Life on the Block
Jeanette - Sweet Jeanette
Lisa - The Princess and the Monkey
Jodi - Pleasant Home
Shauna - Gluten free girl and the chef
Jane - Sew Create It

Gosh I could give you a much longer list than this one! But, alas the rules say 8, so 8 it is. Thanks again Melissa!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Christmas Quilts

They took this picture of Ally & I when we dropped our quilts off at Happiness is Quilting last week..... Today the voting and bidding begins! If you are in downtown McKinney in the next few weeks, take a look around in all the shops for quilts that were entered. Ours are hanging somewhere, but I have no idea where! I'm going to need to go poke around and find them soon! I really enjoyed this project.

We are decking the halls today..... tis the season! I love unpacking the Christmas decorations every year & finding treasures that I had forgotten about. It's always fun to add new things too. This year I get to add the pretty swap quilts that Maria made for me! And the pretty winter swap quilt I got from Kate last year. Oh how I love swapping with other bloggers!

Looking forward to sharing some holiday posts with you soon! Now, back to the decorating!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Guest Blogger - Ally Z!

Today my daughter Ally has agreed to tell you about her Christmas Challenge quilt! You've all heard me talk about Ally before. I'll let her introduce herself to you....

Hello! It's Ally! my quilt is the one in the picture, It is called Gifts of Love because people give gifts when they love people. The hearts are made from the fabric we had to use and the presents are different fabrics, but some are the same. Also the presents have real ribbon on them o make them look wrapped up. The back of my quilt is the green polka dots and it has a label that I made with green and red markers. We turned them in today and they took a picture of me and mom to put in the newspaper i think.

Thanks Ally! I really love her quilt, don't you?

Now, back to the sewing room to reevaluate my list & make a plan for the coming week. I think I will continue my finish a day plan, as that really helped me accomplish a lot last week! Guessing there won't be a finish today though. Unless we count Ally's quilt! Yes! Let's do that.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Wednesday finish

An early finish today as my buddies will be here for Bible study in just a few minutes & I have a busy day planned! Still plan to finish up a couple other little projects later, but they are gifts & cannot be shared here. I knew you would want to see Kelsey's quilt all done..... Kelsey is the 7 year old daughter of my friend Kelly & one of Ally's favorite little people to babysit. She was here with us on Saturday evening & was interested in what I was working on. I gave her a bag of 5 inch square scraps & she & Ally sat on the floor & laid out a quilt top which I quickly stitched up for her (while they sorted buttons!). I promised to put her name on it this week & put a "blue backing" on it, as she requested.

I had this sweet blue polka dot flannel on hand, so I used that, both to applique her name across the top squares and to back the quilt. I wanted it to be a lightweight, soft snuggle blanket for her, so I didn't put in any batting. Just a second layer of flannel (solid white). I laid the backing flannel & quilt top right sides together, with the white flannel on top, stitched all the way around leaving an opening for turning. Flipped the whole blanket right side out, pressed it & ran a row of stitching around the edge. Simple & sweet.... I think she'll be happy with her creation!
Ok, off I go. Have a happy Wednesday my friends!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Today's finish...

A finish a day continues. Today's finish, this lovely pillow... My friend Pat did this beautiful cross stitch and wanted it made into a pillow to give as a Christmas gift. She provided the red velvet for the back, gold piping and the stuffing. I made a pillow form from white broadcloth so the stuffing wouldn't poke through the finished pillow. I think it turned out very nice! I hope she is pleased.

Also working on handwork this afternoon so I can finish up another project tomorrow. My 7 year old friend Kelsey designed herself a little quilt while she was at my house the other night & I am stitching it up for her. Adding her name on top.... can't wait to show you!

Monday, November 15, 2010

a finish a day.....

There are so many projects in various stages of completion in my sewing room right now! Ihad to do something to get it all under control. So I made a list of current projects (this list does not include assorted UFOs! There will be another time to deal with those), prioritized the list & set myself a goal. I will complete one project a day for the next week at least.

So, here is Saturday's completion. My Christmas Challenge quilt, titled "Welcome Little Lamb" which will be delivered to the quilt store this week..... The striped fabric is the challenge fabric which we were required to include. I am very happy with the way this turned out! I even machine quilted it myself (difficult to see in the photo but it's not bad!).

Next up, Sunday's finish. A sweet baby afghan to be mailed to Colorado this week:
And today, the purple and black purse to go with this purse that I made last week.

And it's only lunchtime! So I actually have time to move on to my next project & maybe complete two today! That would be wonderful. Up next, a pillow from a beautiful cross stitch that a friend of mine did, for her to give as a Christmas gift. I'll be back!


Thursday, November 11, 2010

still here...

Wow, bad blogger here. Sorry I've been missing.... I actually find it hard to blog this time of year because so much of what I am working on is for Christmas gifts! & I don't want my family & friends to see what they are receiving, know what I mean? Are you working on Christmas gifts too? Won't it be fun to share them all with each other after the big day is over? I think so too.

Anyways, one thing I am sewing this week is purses for 2 sweet little girls who belong to a friend of mine. I'm pretty sure those girls won't find their way here! So here is one purse done in blue & green as requested!
The other purse will be purple & black... you'll see it soon!

I am also hard at work on a challenge quilt for my local quilt store! I'm not sure I'm allowed to show you the whole thing, as they will be hanging around the square in downtown McKinney for voting & bidding. But here's a sneak peak.... 
Do you recognize this little lamb? I borrowed him from this quilt by Annie Downs, which I made earlier in the year. He just fit the theme of my Christmas quilt, which is "Welcome Little Lamb". Here's a look at the main section of the quilt. 
I promise to show you the whole thing at some point! Meanwhile, if you're in the area, you can go looking for it in McKinney next month & maybe even vote for me? My friend Jill says she's going to bid on the quilt & win it back for me. She's a silly one, that Jill! Oh, & all of the auction money goes to a local charity. Ally is working on a challenge quilt too.

So that's what's happening at ellyn's place these days. I promise to report in more frequently! Have a happy day friends.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

A new skill

It's always a good day when I learn something new! Today I took a handquilting class at my local quilt store. What fun! I didn't take any pictures at class (I was too busy!) but here are a couple of pictures of my very first try at hand quilting...

My stitches were far from perfect, but they got more & more even as the day went on:


We learned two different techniques. I will have to practice my rocking motion (and find a thimble that I like!) but I know it will get easier & faster with more practice.

I really enjoyed learning this! I have always loved handwork, since I was a little girl. I do lots of embroidery, blanket stitch applique & love hand stitching my bindings on quilts. Oh! and hand stitching wool felt:

So sad our Rangers didn't win the World Series, but they had a heck of a season! Way to go Rangers! I made this in honor of you....