Tuffets!

I made four tuffets from Miss Rosie's Quilt Company. I used an older charm pack from Fig Tree Quilts called A Yuletide Blessing. I sewed some trim around the rectangular one and put some buttons and ribbon on the other three. It was fun making these!

Merry Christmas!

This is our house on Christmas Eve. Yes, that is snow! (I know...it's Texas!) It was beautiful!

Our tree in the living room. I never got around to putting the beads and ribbons on it. It is beautiful anyway!

The dining room table being set for Christmas dinner.

Santa came!

At Nana's house too!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Our family certainly did!

Lucille

I forgot that I had made another large Christmas quilt. This is a quilt I made for my daughter. Her house is decorated in red, green and black. I used Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. pattern, Lucille. The fabric is Christmas Presence by Moda. The colors fit her decorating perfectly. Even though it is a Christmas quilt she leaves it hanging all year!

There's only one bad thing about giving a quilt away...now, I have to make one for myself!

Christmas Quilts/Some Tootie Time

This is the only large Christmas quilt I've made. It is from a pattern called Toulouse by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. and made with a Maison De Noel (Three Sisters/Moda) fat quarter bundle.

My friend Ty did a beautiful job on the quilting.

Now for some Tootie Time!

Watching the parades on Thanksgiving Day...Gotta have my Howdy Partner hat on. It's Texas, you know. Emily calls her cowboy hat Howdy Partner (LOL) she takes it off and swings it around yelling Yee Haw!!!

Close up of Emily!

Close up of Sarah!

This is a shot of the the whole Tootie family...my daughter and son-in-law with the Tootie Babies. Those two little wiggle worms can't stay still for one second!

I Spy Swap

I participated in an I Spy Swap hosted by Karen at http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/. Look at these wonderful squares I got in the mail the other day.

More...



Even more...

And more! Karen included a chatelaine she made. The little pillow is a pincushion with a pocket for scissors. On the other end of the ribbon is an eye bolt with a nut. This is to hold thread! Karen does a Tool Time Tuesday post every week. She has a very inventive mind and shows how she uses unconventional items to make quilting tools and other gadgets.

I can't wait to start on the I Spy Quilts I have planned for the Tootie Babies. Thank you Karen for all your hard work. It was a great swap.

Crazy Christmas Quilt

This was one of those stack and slice quilts. I cut out large squares of Christmas fabrics, stacked them up, sliced through the stack twice vertically/twice horizontally and then moved the cut pieces around so that there were no repeats in the block. It was just that simple!


The machine quilting, done by my friend Ty, is mittens. Really cute and so appropriate for a Christmas quilt!

Check back tomorrow for another Christmas quilt.

My block of the months for 2009 have all been sent to me by the quilt shops sponsoring them. I just ordered two more from Homestead Hearth Quilt Shop for 2010...Halloween 1904 by Blackbird Designs and Holly and Mistletoe from Blackbird's book Let The Cold Wind Blow.

I saw this quilt in Houston and it is gorgeous!

Meet Uncle Santa!

This is a pattern by Country Threads called Uncle Santa. I made this quilt in the early 90s. The Friendship Stars on the top row are embellished with buttons from my Girl Scout uniform. The flag is not pieced, it's a real miniature flag. I machine pieced and hand quilted this piece. I also used a form of utility quilting on Santa's beard called Chicken Scratch. This stitch looks like a V with a small holding stitch at the point.

Virtual Christmas Quilt Show

I've entered my Rick Rack Christmas Trees quilt in SewCalGal's Virtual Christmas Quilt Show! Do you have a favorite Christmas quilt you'd like to show? Check out http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/2009/12/virtual-christmas-quilt-show.html to see how you can join this fun show and tell!

I love Christmas quilts. I have several finished and several more in the works! One day I hope to have a Christmas quilt for each bed in my house. I'd love to put the quilts on the beds on Thanksgiving evening and keep them on through the holidays.

Hope to see your Christmas quilt in the show!

Christmas Jewel Box

I thought I would show you another Christmas Quilt. This is the jewel box pattern done in reds and greens. I didn't use any "Christmas " fabrics just homespuns and tone on tone prints. It is lap size. Actually, the pattern is a mystery quilt from Judy Hopkins.

My friend, Ty, quilted this on her long arm. If you look closely at the quilting you'll see pine boughs and pine cones. Perfect for a Christmas quilt.

Tomorrow I'll show you another quilt from my Christmas collection.

Rick Rack Christmas Trees

This was a fun quilt to make! I used several different greens for the trees, a white on white for the background and a gold with a little glitter for the stars. The red fabric is my favorite because it has little multi-colored Christmas lights sprinkled all over. It made the perfect trim for the trees.

My friend Stephanie gave me this pattern quite a while ago. My friend Ty quilted this for me on her longarm. If you click on the picture you can see a bigger version which shows the quilting close up. Also, I used the gold for piping in the binding.

Several people asked for information on the pattern for this quilt. It is designed by Marjorie Rhine of Northwest Quilt Designs. Her website is www.QuiltDesignNW.com. I haven't been to the site so I hope it works for you!

Thanks for all the compliments on my November Schnibble.

Just In Time!

Ok, I just sewed the last border on the November Schnibble, Picnic! I really enjoyed this pattern. From the ingenious method for half square triangles to the perfect fitting piano key border it was all so easy. I used Moda's Wiscasett by Minick and Simpson because I love their fabric.

I can't wait until tomorrow to see what our December Schnibble is!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A New Quilt

I broke out a jelly roll for a quick quilt. I love this book! Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintot. I want to make every quilt in this book! Actually, I have made one top already and have another planned.

Each quilt is a generous lap size. You only need the jelly roll, some border, backing and binding fabric.

This is the French Braid quilt from the cover. I'm using American Primer by Minnick and Simpson. It worked out perfectly because there were 20 lights and 20 darks. It's simple to sew together and I've been putting one row together a day. I have five done and it takes 8.

That is my design wall. Actually, I have another design wall in the hall outside my sewing room that I use to audition blocks before I sew them into rows. This wall in my sewing room has everything I am working on pinned to it. My friend says I have layers...and she's right. I like to have everything in plain sight, that way I don't forget about something!

Oh, yeah. I am working on my A Year of Schnibbles quilt. Had to stop and order some more charm packs. My design idea got a little out of hand. Hopefully I will be able to show something other than bits of blocks before too long.

Before The Feast

The dishes are ready...



Piled up everywhere...

I'd like to show you my Thanksgiving dishes. The pattern is called His Majesty. They are made by Wedgewood which bought out the original maker, Johnson Brothers. The dishes used to be made in England but are now made in China. I love the turkey and the little bits of pink and green are just perfect for my colors in the living room and dining room.

Stay tuned...I'll show you the table set for Thanksgiving soon!

Locker Hook Rug

I finished another locker hook rug. This time in pink and green for my guest bedroom. This is such a great way to use up some of that stash you're tired of. The pattern of the fabric doesn't really show, just the color.

All you need is a rug canvas, cotton string and a locker hook. The locker hook looks like a crotchet hook with a large eye on the opposite end.

I put this at the end of the bed in front of the dresser in my guest room. Now I'm working on rugs for the sides of the bed. Cheap, easy and cute!

Olivia

Olivia's birth announcement quilt is completed. I used hand applique, hand embroidery and machine quilting. The center of the flowers are buttons. Her room is decorated in pink and brown so I think this will be perfect!

Her quilt top is done too. The backing and binding are ready...

I think it turned out so cute!

Here are pictures of the hand embroidery.

It's ready to go to the quilter.

After: Living Room and Dining Room

It was a long haul but, finally it's done!


It's funny to me how different things look in a picture compared to real life. I never noticed the pictures are crooked and the quilts are all sideways!




I'd like to tell you about some of my things. The double porch rocker (with all the pillows and yo-yo quilt) belonged to my grandmother. I used to sit with her on the front porch and call the whippoorwills. When she passed away I was fortunate enough to get it.




Many years ago my Mom gave me the secretary. She has given me so many things. Once, when my sister visited she said to my Mom, " Now I know where all your furniture is."




The coffee table was the first antique I ever bought. It was a library table and my husband used it to study when he was in college. After a few moves we cut the legs down to coffee table height. I've always loved it cut down. There is a drawer in the front that we use to hide remotes and Christmas Cd's (and candy). LOL~




The framed doily was made by my great-grandmother. I have two more framed pieces that she made.

The two (lime) green chairs were also my grandmothers. I would love to recover them but my daughter really loves the way they are right now. So, I'll leave them as they are for awhile.

The mirror over the couch belonged to my Mom. When my daughter was little it was hanging over her crib and she loved to look at herself. A friend from Florida made the floral swag with branches from a curly willow tree that was cut from a tree in my Mom's backyard. She also made the wreath in the dining room.

The bow front china cabinet and the victrola and music stand are antiques I purchased. I never bought my antiques outright, I always put them on layaway. Everywhere we moved (in the Air Force) there would be a little antique shop that was my favorite and I would pick things up here and there.

I've got the fabric to make the curtains for these two rooms and the rods are already up. Somehow, quilting always takes priority!

This is the dining room. See the cradle? It's full of albums filled with Tootie Babies pictures. Imagine that!

The large cabinet is a display cabinet from a department store. I have my teapot collection displayed in it. We moved it from the other side of the room and I like it so much better where it is now.

The table has two huge leaves and they pull out to make a very long table. We've had many family dinners around this table. Lots of memories...

The buffet was a gift from my Mom as well as the sewing rocker. Sometimes it is called a nursing rocker but I can't imagine that with no arms for support! That is my grandmother's silver tea and coffee service on the tea cart.

I know that these days the decorating style I have is outdated. Pink and blue went out long ago but I still love it. Oak has fallen out of favor too. I wouldn't give up my turn of the century golden oak furniture for anything.

The walls are much darker than they appear in these pictures. I love the new floors! I'm so glad that it is over but, we still have to do the upstairs...