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

August Wrap Up

I enjoyed making this little mini quilt today. I may even hand quilt it, what do you think? The Pattern is called Olde Glory by Temecula Quilts. It is a free pattern that you can find on the internet. I don't have a link to share with you.

I feel like a squirrel jumping from thing to thing. My sewing was a bit limited this summer and now I want to make it all!

I love Fig Tree & Co. Last fall I bought this entire kit with my friend Stephanie. If you have ever wanted to do a kit, I recommend any of theirs! You get ample fabric so you don't have to worry about cutting something wrong.

The instructions are excellent and it looks fall without looking too Halloween. Don't get me wrong I love Halloween but this can stay out all season.

Right next to the fall quilt is a BOM by Laundry Basket Quilts. I am going to try and keep up with this, so far so good.

I made this last summer and finally got it quilted for this coming weekend. Long May She Wave has waving quilting to keep with the theme! The border is a cheater fabric that added a little bit of zip to it.

I bought a subscription box from Fat Quarter Shop this summer and these cute tags were included. Quilt on one side and flag on the other.

This year I planted my tomatoes in pots to keep the deer away. We have 5 bucks and many does hanging around. It wasn't perfect but at least we got some for ourselves instead of feeding the wildlife!

Kelly

Baby Rory is Here!

 

Our newest grandson, Rory is here! He is as sweet as can be and his sisters and brother are in love with him. He was born in June and I am a bad mom-mom for taking so long to post these pictures. In my defense I have been a little busy helping out.

He made his appearance 12 days early which surprised us all!

Babies on quilts is one of my favorite hashtags on Instagram!

I usually make my quilts on the smaller side so that kids can drag them around once they get older. The stars are a dark navy blue and I love a striped binding!

For those of you that have followed me for a while, our twin grandsons, Jax and Cam are starting Kindergarten next year! They were lucky enough to have a full in-person year of pre-school this year. I can't believe next week they will be 6, time is flying.

They also played soccer this spring and daddy was the coach. It was fun to see my son Colin in the role of coach after so many sports he participated in as a child.

Now to some quilty stuff.....I absolutely loved making this quilt. It was a Block of the Month with Figtree Quilts called Summertime Picnic. I ordered it before the pandemic started so it was nice to get a present in the mail every month during hell on earth. If you think you are interested in the pattern I think she is coming out with a book sometime soon.

I love that it has the date "2020" on it. My friend Carolyn did a super job quilting it for me and I am in love with the Baptist Fan pattern. It may be my new "go to" pattern.

I am a big fan of Lori Holt of Bee In My Bonnet. If you are a beginner quilter you must check out her blog and Instagram. Even as an experienced quilter I have learned so much from her. She is also a marketing genius with lots of things to buy to make quilting even more fun.

This is where I am as of yesterday and I only have 5 more blocks to make. If you are interested in making this go to her blog for all the details. You need her books but they are very user friendly.

When I am working on a project like this I separate my fabrics into 2 baskets. The background and 

the main color, in this case reds.

I keep all the scraps from the blocks I cut in another basket and sort through it as needed. This system works well and I highly recommend it. It also keeps my sewing room from turning into a disaster area.

Friends are definitely enablers! Stephanie and Patti are both doing this new Block of the Month from Laundry basket quilts called, Anna's Baskets. Once I saw the blocks I knew I had to make it. Basket quilts are one of my favorites as you will see down the page......

The fabrics are a bit more traditional than what I usually use but I think they are a perfect mix of fresh colored traditional fabrics if that makes sense.

more.....

and some more....

The blues are wonderful!!!

So now I will talk about some new things in my sewing room. Have you all heard about clappers? I had my husband make some for me and I gave some to my friends in my bee. This is how you use them. Once you press your seams (open or to the side) you place the clapper on top to flatten it. I love them and it is amazing how much flatter your seams are once it cools. I have about 10 of them in different sizes which is very convenient. It does take a little bit longer when you are sewing BUT if you really need a seam to be flat they are great. I do feel my blocks have turned out better since I have been using them.

This book stand is something I never knew I needed! I use it for books and patterns and it ends the searching for the right page or trying to find my book under all my fabrics. It also takes up less space.

This was an amazing find at a local shop in my town. The color was the first thing I saw and once I knew it could store my threads I was sold!

I like that it will keep them from getting dusty and they just look pretty.

My basket quilt top is done!!! It is King Size and was a bear to make. It think it will be my last. I decided to do a dark fabric surrounding the baskets to give it a different look. These colors are not very good in this picture.

This is a better representation of the colors.

My friend Helen is going to quilt it for me in the early fall. I will be sure to show it to you.

I have also fallen down the cross stitch hole. I am blaming the pandemic and all the Flosstube videos I have watched! I used to do cross stitch in the 1980's. My oh my has it changed!

This was a birthday present for a friend.

The floss is gorgeous and you can get it hand-dyed. The linens are also amazing and they too are hand-dyed, printed and many many colors to choose from. I am not letting myself get carried away but it is so tempting.

Now for some pretty color. These are Alison Glass fabrics that I had to add to my collection. They just make me happy to look at! I feel like fabric collections don't last very long and if you want it you need to get it. Anyone else feel like that?

My coleus is stunning this year. I bought my plants bigger and I think that helped. This is a very shady spot and it's hard to find something colorful for this spot.

The pots near my front door went crazy. I love the licorice plant in front. I am always looking for easy care free plants that just need water and a little fertilizer.

I also did some major pruning. If you are a plant in my garden that is not performing, out you go! I had some bushes that were just too big and were shading other plants, the hibiscus I got were a dark maroon red that I didn't like and some were a pain (barberry). Luckily my husband has all the toys I need to make this an easy project. We pulled out about 7 big bushes in about 45 minutes, without disturbing my surrounding plants. It was wonderful.

It left lots of  holes for new plants and gave added light to those that needed it.

Many of you know I am not a fan of purple except when it is in the garden. My petunias look so pretty, they are glowing!

I have discovered the deer do not eat Vinca. It will now be a staple in my garden. This is a gorgeous red.

They will take bites out of the cone flowers but mostly leave them alone this variety is called Papaya. It is much more beautiful in person.

Somewhat quilt related...My granddaughter Piper (Rory's big sister) went up and got her quilt when she saw Rory wrapped up in his. She cracks me up! She will be 2 this week and is a sweet, energetic girl. I call her Pippy and she fits her name.

When I am with her we read a book before naptime and her go to book is Go Dog Go! It's all about the dog tree party and we look at that picture for a long time. I love that she wants to read books and hope to keep it going. My daughter sent me this picture of her after she was put to bed. I think it's working!

Thank you to everyone who sent me emails asking if I was still blogging! It got me off my butt. Truthfully life is just busy and for those that do Instagram you know how easy it is to post something from that platform. Blogging take a lot more time and effort. I am more likely to go get my book and sit on my porch and enjoy the summer weather when the day is done.

Kelly