Merry Christmas

 

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas! It tool forever to get this picture and still Pippy turned her head exactly 2 seconds before it went off! She is always holding her little brother's hand!

It was interesting to hear everyone's thoughts on how I should set this. I need to make a decision because if I go on point I have to make triangle blocks to fill in around the edges.

I will do a tutorial after the holidays on how I am appliqueing these together. You will not believe how easy it is!

Carol from Texas, your comment made my day! I am so happy to inspire you, I could not reply by email because it comes up as a no-reply comment. If anyone does not get a return email from me that is why. 

The end of this year has been a roller coaster of emotions for myself and my siblings. I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Kelly

December Post

 

I know it has been a long time since I posted. All I can say is life is busy! I am so irritated with Blogger, it loaded all my pictures backwards but I am just going with it.

I am participating in a doll quilt swap on Instagram for 2022. Since I took these pictures the center applique is complete and almost all put together. I am actually thinking of HAND QUILTING it!!! We'll see.. I wanted to get a jump on it because you know, life gets busy.

If you like to give books as gifts, I totally recommend this one. I love her ideas and her simple yet elegant ways. Check it out you will not be disappointed.

I have gotten away from applique but have found my way back. I need handworks for when I am at my bee. I bought this pattern from Lori Smith, ages ago and have decided to try and get one done every month.

This would be a nice gift for a quilter or an appliquer. It lays around your neck and has 2 lights on the end. The nice part is there are 3 different strengths of light, I love it!

I love everything about Lori Holt. She is a genius at marketing and these bags are so cute and quick to make. I have already made one and will hopefully show it sooner rather than later. It's a panel with 8 bags to make and her zippers look amazing but won't be available until next spring.

I took a class this past fall and this was the block I made. I don't love my color choices so I made it into a pillow that will be donated to the local Veteran's Hospital through my guild. So glad to not have a UFO!

This is another installment of my Anna's Baskets by Laundry Basket Quilts. So far I have kept up! I love her instructions and think I am a better piecer because of it! The fabrics are beautiful too.

I have not made a lot of presents this year. This is the Trixie Zipper Pouch by Minki Kim that is so much fun to make and easy. It looks so good when you get it finished too. My neighbor is a new sewer and we always exchange gifts, so I made this for her.

These were just too cute to not make! I also discovered The Fat Quarter Shop weekly YouTube videos that are so good! Every quilter will learn something new and they always show the newest fabrics and gadgets.

Which way do you like this straight .........

or on point? My friend Jen has an antique quilt in this pattern and I fell in love with it! I drafted my own pattern so I could have my own.

The colors are pretty similar to these. Mine is appliqued, not pieced and I figured out an easy way to do it. If you want to see how I am doing it, let me know I will do a tutorial.

Let me know which orientation you like, I am torn!

I found this vintage towel with my last name initial on it. I just love it and think it fits in with my Christmas decor.

How cute is this? The pattern is by Arabesque Scissors. Not hard to make but it's small so beware.

I t makes my December sewing all that much more fun. I love to sew seasonal thing in season, don't you?

I found this gorgeous vintage quilt and love how it is going with my theme this year of simplicity, red and white.

Seriously this is about all the decorations I have up. I love adding real greenery to the fake.

This was a kit that I finished last year, except for the binding!!!! So the binding is done for the grandchildren to enjoy this year. Thank you Carolyn and Jamie for the excellent quilting!

My simple kitchen table display.

This was a quilt that I made in 1980! It was for my parents 25th wedding anniversary. It is also hand quilted! Who am I? It's pretty rough and the binding was taking the backing and bringing it around to the front! I had only been quilting for 4 years and the supplies were very limited. I am pretty sure every fabric is polyester!

The reason this quilt came back to me is that my mom passed away October 30th. This is her passport picture from 1976. I think she would like this one.

Kelly

End of Year Post

 

Our Christmas card this year. For those of you keeping track, upper left hand corner going clockwise----Jaxon and Cameron age 5 (they are twins),  Elliott 13 and Griffin will be 16 next week! Madison 13, Piper 1, Finnegan 5 and Brynn 3 and my oldest grandchild Fallon is 17!! Life is certainly better with grandchildren in it!

I definitely scaled back on the Christmas decorating this year. I focused on my kitchen table that is the heart of our home. Putting live plants there seemed fresh and just right, I love the simplicity. The beautiful nativity scene is a gift from my friend Stephanie all the way from Germany! I am hoping the amaryllis bloom in the next 2 days, my fingers are crossed.

Today I am cooking the things that can be done ahead. I am making Pavlova for dessert, 2 of them because everyone loves this! It's a little fussy, but mostly you need patience. Have you ever made it? Give it a try, it's light but yummy.

The new Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patters by Barbara Brackman is out and in color!

I have Electric Quilt and use it all the time. My guild did a Sew Along and I drafted most of the patterns on the program. They will also be offering software in 2021 that goes along with the book.

At this time of year sewing is on the back burner. This is a block of the month with Fig Tree Quilts. I am keeping up with this one! I think it ends in February or March.

We are starting to put the blocks together which I am glad so I don't have to make too many more blocks.

These are my Zoom blocks that I work on when we have Zoom meetings. I am almost finished the 10th one, I wonder how many more I will make?

I am still making the house blocks here and there. I have over 50 now.

My friend Cindy made this tub for me and it is perfect for storing the blocks so they don't get lost.

Even the inside is pretty.

I love this fabric by Cathe Holden. These are some labels for the back of quilts, but think of all the other things you could do with them.

This print features vintage paint-by-number paintings that are so fun.

This one features needlepoint. How cool would this be in a tote or purse?

I am trying to hold back with the cross stitch but it is hard! The patterns, the floss!!! It's all so great and so different from the 1980's.

This is a zipper pull that was made from a sampler image.

If you don't know, they now have cute little things like this to loop your floss onto. I don't want to tempt you but they sure are cute.

This year I have read 63 books! I think I will be able to finish this one in time to make it 64. This is pretty intriguing and an easy read. Do you keep track of your books? I do on Goodreads. I have started so many books that I have already read so this helps and I can also recommend books that I liked.

A while ago I posted a pattern for a quilt that I was working on that I called Pandemic. It was wildly popular, I sent out hundreds of patterns. Jayne sent me this picture of the quilt she made with the pattern as a wedding present. I think it is terrific! Thanks for sharing Jayne!

As the year comes to a close, I hope you find some good things to reflect on. I know everyone hated this year but I am choosing to look for the good things. Two really good things happened to me this year, so I am focusing on them. One I will share in the new year so stay tuned (-:

This morning 4 bluebirds were snacking on berries in the front yard. They were so beautiful against the white snow and the red berries, just an ordinary thing that made me feel good. I am going to keep looking for those kind of things.

I painted this the other day and have found that painting is very relaxing and very different than quilting. If you mess up usually you haven't spent months or maybe years of your life creating it. It's just paper and paint or fabric and we can always get more.

 

From my home to yours..... we wish you a very Merry Christmas! 

Kelly