I took a little break from all of the holiday stuff and decided to make something for myself. It is kind of like buying things for yourself while you are shopping........

I have wanted to make myself a name tag for some time. I put the vintage pink girl in there because I do like vintage things, my old Girl Scout pin just because, and of course a little bit of Barbie and some polka dots. All thing I like.

I was totally inspired by my friend Rachael of Blue Mountain Daisy . I love her banner and want to copy it in the worst way! So go over and take a look at it.

I am cooking up a new project for myself that will be a year long undertaking. I am hoping to tell you about it on Tuesday December 6th. Some of you may want to do it along with me, your own version of course. It could be fun..........

Kelly

M I A

I have been very bad about keeping up with the blog. Right now I feel like I am in high gear getting things together for Christmas. I have been sewing but a lot of it I cannot show because they are gifts and some of those people read the blog!

 There is a blog I check out occasionally called Beach Vintage . I found this awesome tutorial for a cool quick gift.

A little tissue cover using my vintage hankies! It is so simple you will not even believe it.

First find a hankie, vintage or otherwise. Do they even make hankies for women anymore? I always put them in a soak of oxyclean and rinse well. Let them air dry and then iron them smooth. A little starch helps too.

Bring each side into the center and press well.

Sew along the short edge. You may have to play with the size depending on if your hankie is large or small.

Voila! Perfect for a place that you don't want to look at a Kleenex box! I am going to put one in the guest bedroom for my mother in law when she comes to visit in a few weeks.

I had some pretty hankies and made a bunch.

The scalloped edges make a nice touch.

This one highlights the pretty embroidery.

The little munchkins had fun on Thanksgiving.

We all ate too much.

But we needed our strength for......

We decided to give charades a rest and try a new game. I think we will be going back to charades for Christmas. It's hard to give a up a good thing!

Kelly

Keeping It Real

In honor of all the upcoming holidays, something to make you laugh! I really do love my family!!!

Kelly

Happy Thanksgiving To You!



 As you can see I change the picture on my header. Yes it is a little blurry and old (1967) and I think I like it that way. Life was really good then, I say as I look through those rose colored glasses! This is one of my favorite pictures and I am not even in it! They are my younger siblings, Casey, Flynn, Darcy and Shaughnessy Hogan. My youngest brother, Duffy was not born yet and has since passed away. I love how Shaughnessy has her hair "set" for the big day, my brothers, Casey and Darcy in their plaid robes and Flynn in her fuzzy slippers with a smile that only a child can have on Christmas day.

Casey, Flynn, Darcy and Shaughnessy Hogan Christmas 1966

Jimmy, Kevin, Ellen and Dicky Meanix Christmas 1966


The above picture is of 4 of my husband's siblings (2 guns, a guitar and a baby!). We both come from large families, he has 5 brothers and 3 sisters. I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters. I am very thankful to have all of them. They made us the people we are today. They are the ones we were the closest to growing up and have shared experiences with, good and bad.

As we sit around the table and celebrate this year I will be thankful for each and every one of them!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Kelly

Bling!

Mirror mirror on the wall. Here is my crafty project with all the bling I have been collecting. It is a bejeweled looking glass for my granddaughter, Fallon for Christmas. It is really hard to take a picture of a mirror....any tips? It is very sparkley in person.

My daughter in law's grandmother died in September and when they we cleaning out her house there was a lot of costume jewelry and some beads  and  a little this and that.

I asked Krista if there was any junk jewelry that I could have for this project. I also hit up family members and went to a barn sale that a fellow quilter, Pat was having and found some more gems.

I think the crazier the gems the better. This is a clock for 2000, the one above it is a monogram pin that I think belongs to Fallon's other mom mom.

My sister in law Jan sent this rottweiler pin. They have 2 rottweilers.

An "N" for nana or her name Naomi, her great grandmother.  We all called her Nana.

A bee, some cherries, a tacky Christmas ball and a silver hand with a heart, it all works!

A frog completes our tour!

Can you imagine wearing these earrings?
I did fill in with some gems from the craft store. I have seen these on line and they are filled to over flowing with gems and baubles. I chose to "organize" mine because I did not have enough. I am happy with the way it turned out. I think she will like it and it has a lot of memories in it too.

It passed the test of a 4 year old who loved it and wants one too. For now she is happy to run her hands through the leftovers!
Kelly

Knitting and Jewels

I found this pattern and some great chunky yarn and decided to knit one of my Christmas presents. It is going pretty fast.

Mine is red and this is pretty simple, right up my alley! This is my first time using circular needles, my friend Christine gave me a quick lesson.

Here are some of my jewels that I have collected for another Christmas present. I am hoping to finish it by tomorrow and I will post some pictures.
Kelly

Keeping It Real

Kelly

Rainy Wednesday

I love a rainy day, I get very inspired. Today I taught a class at the Quilt Block, a local quilt shop in my area. We did mini quilts today.



Holiday Scene

 This is Leslie's




Hollyhocks

 Janet's....



Cats in santa hats

 and ML's.
I think they all had a good time and they asked me to come up with some more classes! Now that is a perfect end to a class!


My friend Cheryl has opened an Etsy store called Sewing With Silk . She has some gorgeous Dupioni silk and she will give you instructions on how to use it. I know a lot of people are "afraid" of silk but Cheryl will give you lots of good tips, go check it out. Tell her I sent you.

Our guild held a challenge this past October and made quilts to donate to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative organization. We also raised $900 that we sent to them, along with about 90 quilts for their on- line auction. I urge you to at least go and see some of the beautiful quilts and if there is one there you can't live without, put in a bid. It all goes to a good cause.

You can also go here Calico Cutter's Alzheimer's Quilts to see the quilts that my guild members made. Great job ladies!

Kelly

Quilty Monday

Yesterday was an all quilt day. Cheryl, Christine, Jane and I went over to Sujata's house to play. These are Sujata's blocks we were using as our inspiration. Sujata has 2 blogs, The Root Connection and Basket Full Of Scraps go check them out you will love her work.

It was like being in a store.

Everything was so nicely displayed.

How could you not be inspired?

Sujata was very generous with her stash and we really appreciated it.

We cut strips and promptly went to work.

It did not take long for the beautifully displayed fabric to look like this.

Jane and Christine at work....this is not a blurry picture of Christine, she always moves at that pace!
When the blocks are together I will post some pictures.

Last night was also our Penn Oaks Guild meeting. Our speaker was Jackie Gauker who dyes wool and also designs patterns. She is a very funny lady and had all of us laughing our heads off.

There is just something so nice about wool. Her color selections were beautiful, even some pinks, lime greens and blues that were tempting.

This is a quilt that combines cotton and wool.
If you are interested in finding out more you can contact Jackie Gauker at 610-944-8925 or thequiltpalette@aol.com. She also does custom dyeing, workshops and has a lot of cool kits.

Kelly

Keeping It Real

I got this one from my son!

Kelly