Keeping It Real

Holy Crystal Ball, Batman! How Did You See That Coming?

Dylan as Robin

Remember the green dyed tighty whiteys? I think he looks pretty realistic.

We went on line and drew up a plan. The red "vest" is a t-shirt that we cut the sleeves off and fused the details on. The belt is a grosgrain ribbon again with fused pieces on it.

The cape is satin, of  course and the mask is a piece of felt.  All in all this was not too hard to make, though I did not think I would still be making Halloween costumes for my children at 33! He loves it!!! This is the only sewing I have done this week, so far...

So I will leave you with this little cheesey saying,

Robin: "Holy molars! Am I ever glad I take good care of my teeth!"
Batman: "True. You owe your life to dental hygiene."

Kelly

Oh My!

What a job I have ahead of me. I am doing a quilt that will be in a book. It is not due until May but I thought I should at least make a block to see if my colors work and how long it takes to make one. Well there are 43 pieces in the block, the block is 8 1/2" square and I need to make 48 of them!!!!! Two of the pieces are 1/2" x1/2".

Good thing I am at least starting it because there is going to be a lot of squaring up to do.....what is 43 x 48?! I don't think I even want to know....

Kelly

A Very Random Monday

What can I say about this? Green tighty whiteys......my son Dylan asked me to dye a Tshirt and these so he can be Robin, Batman's side kick for Halloween. I should be quilting....

Who knew you could sew and play Scrabble at the same time? I am so hooked. Right now I am playing 11 games with unkown people, it's fun. I learned QI is a hot word to use. I should be quilting.....

Played with Maddy....

and Elliot doing crafty things.....

Draped gluey embrodery floss over balloons and let them dry....

Mom mom did hers in red rick rack.....When they are dry, pop the balloon and you have your bowl.

We made some cookies and had a fun day....no sewing got done that day either.

I could not resist this. A retro Barbie pattern from back in the day. I said I would never sew Barbie clothes, but this is tempting me.

Especially this one, Maddy loves it. I love this dress too! I would wear it, only it needs to be a little bigger! I also said I would never make catherdral windows and temptation is at the doorway.
Needless to say I have no sewing to show for this week, but hopefully that will change this week.

Kelly

Keeping It Real

Kelly

A Finish

Peppermint Patio

I finished the first Christmas quilt. It looks much better in person.

I am happy with the quilting I chose. It would have been a lot easier to do a simple meandering but I opted for a flame type stitch. I like the texture it gives the quilt.

I used a checked binding which I am also happy with and think it gives it a Christmasy type feel.

I used this that I picked up for $4.00, already to go when I need a binding. It is 2 1/4 inches wide which makes a nice size binding. This is going to last me for a while, it is 10 inches across. I wonder how much yardage it is?

I have started on the next quilt too. I think this is going to be fun. I am planning on a buttonhole stitch around each circle. This one is called Gumdrop.

This made quite a hit the other day. Lots of people emailed me wanting to know where I got it. You can go to  Archipelago Arts to buy one. It's only $10! There are some other cool ones there too.

Kelly

Monday Morning's Musings

I wanted to show you the work the ladies in my class did on Saturday. How cool is this? Paige decided to make 2! yes 2 mini quilts! This has some yo yos (did I spell that right?) which I thought was a great twist. She also used wool for the stems.

This is the other one she made....great job!

This was Christy's.....I like how she used the polka dot type fabric for the border.

This was Diana's and she has not machine quilted that much but did a beautiful job, very nice.

Kathy accidentally cut the edge of hers but fixed it with a nice little ribbon trim (upper right hand corner).

Penny and Christy

I did not get a picture of Penny's because she had to leave early. She almost had it completely finished before she left....send me a picture Penny!

One of the most amazing things about blogging are the friends you make...some you meet and some are only online. I am lucky to have met in person, Barb of Fun With Barb . She won a give away last month and look what she sent me! Thanks Barb it is so cute.

Congratulations to my son, Johnson. A year ago you decided to change your life and we all are so happy you did! Love you!! xoxo

Kelly

Keeping It Real

Kelly

Quilt Block Class

Tomorrow I am teaching a class at our local quilt shop, The Quilt Block. I decided today to whip up a new sample. I really do enjoy working on this small scale (8 x 10 1/2). Makes a great gift too!

Kelly

Miscellaneous Wednesday

Yesterday was guild day at Calico Cutters. This was our block of the month, how cute is this?

Wendy Etzel was our speaker and her are some of her quilts...sorry the pictures are not too good.

The other day I went outside and walked around my yard as the leaves are just starting to turn. I decided to cut some branches and bring fall inside. Looking at this arrangement makes me very happy.

Isn't this cool looking? It's romanesco, I roasted it in the oven, very good!

Plugging away on the Christmas quilt. I think we will call it Peppermint Patio, that is what Maddy calls Peppermint Patties!

Kelly

Pretty Pretty Pincushion

Every year in December our guild has an auction. People donate or make items, you buy tickets and put your tickets in the jar to try and win the item of your choice. I always try to make something as it does support our guild. I had not decided what I was going to make until today.

I stopped in Tuesday Morning (a store like TJ Maxx or Marshall's) and found this cute little dish for $4.99. I have been downsizing my stuff in the house so I walked by and then it hit me. I could turn this into a pincushion.

The opening of the bowl is about 4". I cut out 2 circles, one for a lining to put my stuffing in and the polka dots for the decorative outer part. My circles were about 12" across....this is a little experimental depending on the size of your opening. I wanted mine to go up over the top, if you want yours more flush it could be smaller.

Gather the edges of you lining, fill it full (I used crushed walnut shells at the pet store) and stitch it closed tightly. Use quilting thread doubled so it does not break..

Gather the edges of the outer fabric......

......or not. I found that the only way to get it really tight was to use a rubber band to hold it. I think it could also work without gathering. I then trimmed down the raw edges to make sure it fit inside my bowl.

Next I squirted Tacky glue all over the inside, especially on the upper edges.

Place inside and adjust the filling if necessary and add pins....done!
I  put a bowl on top while it dried to make sure it made contact with all the edges.
This is a fast project. I think it took me less than an hour from start to finish.

Kelly

Monday Morning

I forgot to show you the other thing I made at the get away. Cheryl and I bought the clasp and pattern at the quilt show in September. First of all I did not do a good job and it is so small it was practically impossible to work with. The whole thing fits in the palm of your hand.

The outside looks better than the inside, I totally messed it up....but kept on going! I used a feedsack fabric for the outside and love the colors and pattern on it. I am not saying I wouldn't make on again but I think it has to be a bit bigger.

We had a birthday party this weekend for my granddaughter Maddy, her birthday is Tuesday. She was not happy that Elliot was helping to blow out the candles.

There was dancing on the deck, it was a beautiful day. How do they know about break dancing??

A blow up thing.

Silly cousins.

A Barbie Dreamhouse which she has played with non stop.  It is pretty cool. Here she is trying to play with it while they are putting it together. Jim had the patience of a saint!
Happy Birthday Maddy!

Kelly