Twas the Night before....

Twas the night before the blog hop and what do you know- Bobbie is here with something to show
Creatin' in the Sticks made me a gift - a little tea pot and a mug rug just gave me a lift!
 
 
 Carla did a fabulous job and stalked my pinterest page to see just what I'd like and she hit the nail (or pin, as the case may be) right on the head!

Aren't they the sweetest things? - She even made me some sweet pins to go with the pincushion! 

 
 
I had so much fun with this hop- its perfect for me - I am a last minute gifter- no matter how hard I try I am always making something on Christmas eve. I must like the adrenaline rush or something!
The other bloggers have shared so many great ideas that will make my gifting easier!

Right now I am in the middle of getting ready for our bazaar which is on Friday. I have been crafting like a mad woman. People donate items in need of TLC and I give it a fluff fluff  here and a spritz spritz there and a couple of la tee dahs - sometimes people even buy their own items back :)


Wreath before

And After

 
My wreaths make a quick and easy non sewing gift.









 
 I also made

kitchen fun on one side

 and Gingerbread on the other

Reversible aprons - my friend mentioned last year that she didn't have a Thanksgiving apron so she was just wearing her Christmas one.   I thought "since I line my aprons anyway, why not make them for Christmas AND Thanksgiving" or another holiday.

 

Peanuts Fall



Peanuts Christmas

 
 





I wore the Peanuts Apron to our Thanksgiving dinner and threw it in the washing machine- I am at work so it is difficult to get another picture of it. My Mom took pictures of it and sent them but the attachment didn't come through- oh fiddle! So I've added a picture of the fabric.

I had to put Trudy's name on her phone case because I wanted to keep it!

These are my "go to" gifts - glasses cases and cell phone cases. I hate losing my phone in the depths of my purse and my friends are always losing their glasses too, so I make these that hook on your purse with just a carbineer hook (sometimes you can get 2 for $1 at Wallyworld) I was going to put my phone in the case so you could see it in there- and then realized- I am taking pictures with my phone....Duh!:)

Thanks so much for stopping by! and our Super duper Santa's Helpers deserve a cuppa hot chocolate and a candy cane for putting this hop together! Thanks Madame Samm and Marlene! You are the best!

Be sure to stop by and see what everyone else is making!

Quilt N Queen

I Piece 2 Mary

Kwilty Pleasures

Creatin’ In The Sticks < ----made me the cutest Teapots

From This To That < -----this is ME!

Sew Me Something Good <----- I made her gifts!

Gracie Oliver Arts



It is snowing outside  and a whole 6 degrees tonight
Brrrrr

 

 

A Quilter's Dream come true!
'Twas the night before Christmas,
And the quilts were not made.
The threads were all tangled, the cookies delayed.
The stocking weren't hung, the pantry was bare.
The poor weary Quilter, was tearing her hair.
Stacks of fat quarters, tipped over in streams.
Visions of Log Cabins, had turned into dreams.

When what to her wondering eyes should appear,
But a bus full of quilters with all of their gear.
They went straight to work with just a few mutters,
Sorting and stitching and brandishing cutters.
The patterns emerged from all of the clutter,
Like magic the fabrics arranged in a flutter.
Log Cabins, Lone Stars, Flying Geese & Bear Tracks
Each quilt was a beauty-even the backs.

Her house how it twinkled, her quilts how they glowed.
The cookies were baking, the stockings were sewed.
Their work was all done, so they folded their frames,
And packed up their needles, without giving their names.
They boarded the bus, and checked the next address.
More quilts to be made, another quilter in distress.

She heard one voice echo, as they drove out of sight,
Happy quilting to all and to all a good night!

Author Unknown  -

 

Vintage Quilt to gift bag

I went to a bridal shower yesterday.never met the bride before, all I knew was her name and liked vintage. (she is marrying a friend of mine) So I made a gift card holder from part of the vintage Quilt.

Mysteries and Mayhem

the handprint belongs to the recipient of my project

I have had sew much fun just looking at everyone's Nancy Drew Projects! I have been sew amazed at the talent and creativity shown by everyone! Detective Samm and Detective Carol have done a fantastic job keeping us amateur sleuths in line! I think they deserve a promotion!

As I was puzzling over what to make for this hop, I started thinking of mystery stories in general. Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, The Three Investigators, The Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames, The Dana Girls were all a part of my childhood, and I have a niece that loves to read as much as her Aunt Bobbie. Her favorite books seem to be the same ones I loved.  I knew I was making her a pillow, but I had no CLUE what pattern I would use. Footprints, clues, hidden treasure, creepy passages, old clocks, lilacs – nothing was clicking and then I had a hunch of my own!

“Read read read Thats all I can say”
― Carolyn Keene, The Secret of the Old Clock

A Question Mark!  Every mystery starts with a question- Who Done it? The Three Investigators use the Question Mark as their symbol because “they stand for questions unanswered, riddles unsolved, mysteries unexplained." I couldn’t find any patterns on line or even a picture of a quilt with a question mark so I made up my own. 

 I picked up a few clues from my fellow sleuthy bloggers.  Every mystery has clues- footprints and .......

FINGERPRINTS

so I tried my hand  at FMQing some fingerprints into my quilt



I had to play with the color so the  fingerprints would show up in the picture.



Another thing a good mystery has is a secret, whether it is a secret passageway or a secret compartment-

"After Nancy had discovered Fay on deck, and Captain Easterly  had been sure he would not return, the thief had made two visits to the clipper and hidden in the secret compartment of the wardrobe"

the Secret in the Pillowcase

So of course my project had to have a secret compartment too (mine is not as cool as the books behind the painting that we saw earlier this hop, but it is hard to see.) Since this pillow is meant for a reader and that reader has glasses, I added a secret glasses compartment on the back of the pillow- if she is anything like her Aunt Bobbie, she needs her glasses right at hand.

Abby’s Birthday was the 3rd of March, but I didn’t have her present quite finished- we took pictures anyway!

Here is the finished project (without the pillow form)

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island."

— Walt Disney

 



Abby forgot to put Samantha's coat on her.
And then I sat her in the snow! :)



I was taking a blog reading break during my Nancy Drew project and Amy, over at Naptime Crafters was hosting Dressing Up Dolly. Mom 4 Reals shared a tutorial for a book bag for an AG Doll- I had a few “too small” HST’s  and squares leftover from the pillow top so I put them together and made Abby’s doll, Samantha a book bag.  What is a book bag with out books? I didn't have access to a printer so I wrote up some handwritten books. I used quotes from Abby's favorite books: The Bible, Little Women and Nancy Drew. I have plans for an Anne of Green Gables books too.  I stitched the bindings on the books with my sewing machine.



My Camera has blink detection and after every picture of Samantha,
it said Blink Detected!
 Reminded me of a Trixie Belden Mystery-
 the case of the Blinking Eye



Abby said that Samntha LOVES her new books!
"They're just the right size!"

Like Madam Samm, I Love my coffee and I love tea too so when I came across a cup cozy in the midst of my sleuthing frenzy... I had to make one- Can't read a good  any book with out a cuppa -

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! -- When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice



it fits my regular sized cup and...



I added a tab so it would fit through the handle
and be adjustable, however, it barely fits my big cup!  
I still need to sew the velcro on- the glue melts when the cup is hot!

Thank you for stopping by to see all my sleuthy projects- I hope you are having as much fun on this hop as I am! Be sure to hop over to my fellow detectives and see what they have come up with! I have a hunch you will love it!

Thursday, March 14, 2013 

Rose Prairie Quilts and Farm

Quilt ‘n Queen

Our Busy Little Bunch

Just Quilt It

Hilachas

Loves to Quilt

Sew. Darn. Quilt.

From This To That<<ME!!

LynMarie At That Other Blog

Friday, March 15, 2013 

Little Mushroom Cap

Why-Knot-Kwilt

Daisy Days

Julia P. at That Other Blog

The Day Before This Day

Sew Far

 Rainbows. Bunnies. Cupcakes.

Les passions de Cliodana

That’s Sew Julie (moved from 3/8)

Sew We Quilt <<<<Our Fabulous Head Detective!

Can I get half a Whoop Whoop?

From THIS
64 HSTs

I guess that would just be a Whoop. cause I made a Whoops!

I had my pillow all done and started to close it up, when I remembered I wanted to put a zipper and a label in the thing. So, I guess I will take it out and fix it tonight at MySweetMommie's while she works on a spinning star project- She doesn't yet know what we are doing with her stars, but I do :)

to THAT
This pillow is a Prayer Pillow for one of our Graduates

Sew, our Friday Night Sew In will be Mom's Surprise Spinning Stars and me fixing the pillow!



Traveling Stash Give Away

 Make sure you enter my GiveAway- its open until Monday June 18,  10AM. Click under the owl picture to get to the Giveaway post.

You can visit Nadine here

Speaking of GiveAways- I received the cutest little pouch from Nadine. I won it during the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day. Nadine let me choose the fabric and she made this pouch especially for me! I love it! I also received some stitch markers, that I left at home and forgot to photograph. I think I want to make some of these pouches for Christmas gifts- wouldn't they be cute hanging on a tree?

On Mystery Monday over at Annie's Ruby Slipperz, she asked where we get our inspiration from. I found some inspiration in some unusual places this week.

Colors from Emma's Moon

FMQ designs from Amy's blouse

FMQ designs from Pastor's Tie

Inspiration is everywhere!


Have a great Weekend!





I am linking up with

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Teacup Thursday/ Friday Finish

 Teacup Thursday  FRIDAY
and a FINISH!!!!

It is finished and on the road to California and my cream and sugar bowl are also "on"  the Road to California block :)



Can You see the Sunshine in the purple square?



Here is a sneak peek.   Of course I can't show you the entire thing just yet because it's a Mother's Day gift and probably won't arrive until Tuesday. I will post it on Wednesday for sure!

There is a Give Away over at It's Sew Kiki

and at Maureen's    There are a few more giveaways on the sidebar -be sure check them out!

Have a pulchritudinous Mother's Day Weekend!

Hop aboard the Christmas train

 I love sales and I especially love 75% off sales! I found the panels for these aprons after Christmas a few years ago.
and I put them away.
and I forgot I had them.

 

*then* I came across them the other day whilst "bolting" my fabric. I, of course, decided *not* to follow the directions - I don't like hemming raw edges, so I made it reversible. I put a bigger pocket on the plaid side and played around with the topstitching. I think it's much more fun to have two aprons in one! For the next one, I plan on using AbbyDoo's machine- she has all sorts of fancy schmancy stitches to use. :0) I *can't* teach her to use them if I don't play with them first, right?

I'm linking up to Christmas Through the year!

Today I am celebrating my birthday (still) by taking mySweetMommie out for lunch! and of course stopping at all the quilt shops on the route. The route had a few detours to get to the quilt shoppes- i got a new pen to mark my quilt top and some fat quarters!

Actuated by the Hop part 2

SPOILER ALERT!!!

 If your name is CAMom Please do not read any further!!! You have to wait for the mail (hopefully tomorrow's mail) before reading this post! CAMom received her package on thursday!

WORD Of THE DAYMain Entry -Actuate
Part of Speech- verb
Definition- to start a function or action, motivate, to set working
Notes: when something is activated, it is made active. When something is actuated it is moved to take action (or produce a consequence)






To celebrate CaMom's Birthday, SisterMine, MySweetMommie, Abbydoo and I were planning a surprise made by all of us. But as the best laid plans of mice and men seem to go, we were unable to complete said surprise. So I found myself with less than a week before the birthday and nothing to send my very dear CAMom. And then the Creeping Crud found me and I ended up with only 3 days to make something! But as usual- I work best under pressure and was actuated by the over 159 tabletoppers

pinterest page

in the blog hop and this little block from Christine to make my own table topper. I can't tell you how much fun I had hopping with Madame Samm on this table topper hop! So many great quilters and new friends to meet!

CAMom if you are still reading this you are in BIG Trouble! No Peeking! She did good and didn't peek!

From this

Years ago CaMom sent Sistermine and me a bunch of vest and jumpstart panels. I made most of them and put some away for gifts but saved these  to make *someday* for myself, but never did. I also had  fabrics from the same line that I thought about using for curtains in my sewing room but decided not to use. The designs on these panels were sew cute that I decided to make the improv log cabin block with them. It was a very fun block to make! No measuring allowed! In fact, it was so much fun, I made two!



to that!     This one is for My tabletopper



"Cut, Sew and Enjoy" 
I stole the title from the instructions fabric  I used in the quilt

I played around a bit with the quilting - these mini quilt's are great for practicing! I used the sewing basket from the vest as my label and some pink checked fabric from my "supplier" (AKA CaMom) for the backing. I really like the way both blocks turned out and had a hard time choosing which one to send!

I hope CaMom enjoys her mini quilt and knows how much I love her! Happy Belated Birthday!