Advent Calendar Ala Oh, Fransson!

Here's my version of the advent calendar that I saw at Oh, Fransson!. (You can see my November version here.) Elizabeth is such a precise quilter. Make sure you scroll through her blog--she makes beautiful quilts!

My old advent calendar was missing some pieces, and was probably 7 years old or so. Time for a new one. When I saw Elizabeth's I knew it would work great for my family. I mean, POCKETS that actually hold something?! Brilliant! Also, love the fact that the numbers are jumbled up.

I think I'll be putting in a treat, a scripture verse to read, and the name of a Christmas book for our nightly reading. Hopefully the kiddos will be as excited as I am about it.

The fabric I used is called Frosted Memories from Moda.

This piece was from my stash. I used it for the backing and binding. I'm embarrassed to stay that I've had it for.ev.er! I decided it was high time it got used.

I think the sheet music lines make a nice subtle bit of interest on the binding.

Here are the slight changes I made:
1. I cheated and used 2 charm packs (which are 5 inch pre-cuts) instead of cutting out all those 4.5 inch squares. The charms worked great, but I had to dig into my stash for a few remaining fabrics to finish it off. If you don't have a big stash, I would suggest buying 3 charm packs to get the 96 total squares.
2. I didn't stagger my pockets (my brain can't do staggering) so I used 1.5 inch sashings on all sides.
3. I added a 2 inch border to the whole outside to give it a little more presence.

Show and Tell

Anyone else feeling the pressure build as Christmas gets closer? I sure am! I have one big project that I REALLY want to get done in time to give as a gift. I am making some progress, but it really should be farther along than it is...

This is going to be a Plain Spoken Quilt. The solid blues, greys, and white are making me so happy right now. It is going to be SO COOL when it's done!

Our parents were in town for a visit last week. I gave them the Family Reunion Quilt. Mom seemed happy with it. Dad is only ever concerned if it's going to be long enough to cover his feet and come up to his neck. :) I think it is...

The names faded a bit when I washed the quilt so mom said she was going to embroider all the names on. I am so happy she is doing that. I had thought that was what needed to be done, but I wasn't about to do all 33 names. Mom has way more time and many more years experience than me. She will make them look great!

This sign makes me laugh! It is in the restroom of the fabric store I like to visit when I go to my in-laws. It points to a trash bin. Do you think it actually stops shoplifters from flushing the evidence?


Finally, if you want to see some skills, check out my latest family picture taken by Leslie in exactly 5 minutes. My kids don't sit still very long...and yet the picture is AWESOME!!

Baby Blanket Quartet

There are times when I can't take it anymore and I just have to finish up projects before they drive me crazy sitting there in my sewing room. Or before I start on another mad sewing binge with a different project. I reached that point recently and finally got a bunch of the baby blankets all completed. Now someone I know just needs to have a baby. Any takers!?

Lavender Squares
Black & Blue floral (love this one--so unconventionally girly)


Yellow Clown
Bandanna & Cowprint

This was also in preparation and for a bit of practice before I get serious and tackle the quilting on this project that is yet unfinished, albeit pinned and ready to go.

Sewing With a Purpose

Here are a couple of charitable projects that I've worked on this month. If you care to join along, follow the links for more information.

My QOV blocks for amandajean. I think she has collected all the blocks that she needs, but the Quilts of Valor project is always looking for help.

Okay, I admit this one was a little sneaky. I emailed her about this project even though her deadline had passed. I was hoping that she needed more blocks and that I could get her address for the nine patch project. Luckily for me she needed my blocks. I think I ended up making 8.

While I was making them I decided I should make my own scrap quilt version of this maverick star pattern. I don't think I'll start on it until after the first of the year, but it's on my list.

Pillowcases for the Hole in the Wall Gang.

Now that I am quilting more than sewing, I only had a few large pieces of fabric left in my stash. But I thought these were well suited for kids pillowcases. I ended up sending 8.

If you are interested in helping contact Jackie. The deadline isn't until April 2010. And pillowcases are a cinch! We've made a gazillion of them. Basic directions can be found here.

Lastly, I have 2 small quilts that have remained unfinished that I'm hoping I can get quilted for Margaret's Hope Chest. I better hurry, the deadline for this one is November 15th!

Are any of you "sewing with a purpose?" I'd love to hear what you are doing! (Include links to your projects so I can take a peek.)

SK8TR Boy Knit Hat

My oldest son loves skateboarding. He and one of his friends are dressing up as skateboarders for Halloween. Love it! That means I am not too involved in coming up with or making his costume.

However, he was trying to explain to me what kind of cool hat he needed when I showed him this hat named "We Call Them Pirates" from Hello Yarn. That clenched it. I should have kept my big mouth shut, because then he HAD to have this hat for Halloween.

Being ever the non-conformist (not really), I made some adjustments to the pattern to make it work for what needles and yarn I already had, and to hopefully help it go more quickly since I only had 10 days to make it--along with everything else going on in my life. So here is my revised Chunky version:

Materials:
Size 11 (or 10 1/2) US 16" circular needles
Size 11 Dpns
Lion Brand® Wool-Ease® in BLACK (1 skein)
Red Heart® Soft Yarn in WHITE (1 skein)

***I just have to say that the only reason I have 2 different brands of yarn is because neither brand carried the other color when I was at Jo-Ann's. What is up with that? Aren't black and white the basics? Anyhoo....

Cast on 60 stitches using double strand of Black.
Tie ends together, place marker.

Ribbing:
Knit rounds 1-3 in *K1, P1* pattern, repeated thru entire round.

Body of hat:
Round 4:
Change to White (double strand also) and knit entire round
Round 5:
Change to Black and knit entire round

For Skull Pattern:
I eliminated columns 1 & 2 and started with column 3 and continued with pattern thru column 32. This pattern gets repeated one more time during a round. If you need to place a marker after the first complete pattern to keep track of your position.

I only copied rows 9-20. Whereas the original pattern ends up with 24 skulls on the hat, this pattern will end up with only 4 skulls, albeit rather large ones.


Finishing of body:
Knit 1 round BLACK
Knit 1 round WHITE
Knit next 6 rounds in BLACK

Shaping Crown:
*K4, K2tog*, repeat til end of round (50 stitches)
Knit entire round
*K3, K2tog*, repeat til end of round (40 stitches)
Knit entire round
*K2, K2tog*, repeat til end of round (30 stitches)
Knit entire round
*K1, K2tog*, repeat til end of round (20 stitches)
Knit entire round
K2tog repeated til end of round (10 stitches)
K2tog repeated til end of round (5 stitches)
Cut a tail and weave end closed, tying off on inside of the hat.

Happy Halloween! Be safe and have a great night!

9 Patch Count

I'm trying to figure out how many 9 patches were really sent to AmandaJean so I can make sure she gets her 70. If you sent yours already Thank You! If not, please consider getting them out as soon as possible. I plan on making up the difference (or begging for more) if we aren't to 70 yet.

Please leave me a comment or send me an email telling me how many you sent or are planning on sending so that I can get a good count.

And again, a big THANK YOU to all of you who volunteered to help with this project. (I think there ended up being 18 of us.) I received a very nice note from AmandaJean saying what wonderful surprise it was to get such a thoughtful gift.

Library Book Storage Box

We love our local library here at home. We probably go at least every week or two to get new books, movies, or attend story time. However, with 5 kids, even if I limit them to only 4-5 books apiece we still end up with lots of books floating around our home. And really, they have a hard time limiting themselves to just a couple books. I'm not sure I want to limit them either--after all, we're talking about them being excited about books and reading.

Anyway, I used to have a basket sitting under one of my lamp tables in my living room to store all the books in one place. It has worked out really well, until recently when the basket has been so used and abused it is literally falling apart in front of us. I've tried to find another basket that I like and figured what I really needed was something more substantial since it will get so much abuse.

Years ago I saved this project sheet for some stacking totes (scroll to pg. 151 if viewing it online) out of the Reader's Digest magazine, Feb. '06, pg. 213. The pattern actually comes from the Reader's Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual, check with your local library too--mine had some copies of this book.

I asked my favorite hubby if he could come up with a similar box--complete with handles and rolling casters so that we could have a new book box. Luckily in HIS shop he had some scrap wood that worked out just great for this project. He put it all together for me and then we attached the casters and I spray painted it to protect it somewhat.

It holds more books than the previous basket and I won't have to worry about it falling apart. The finished box measures 11" H x 15" W x 18" L, not including the height of the casters. Here's to reading!

Advent for November--Count Your Blessings

I used this great tutorial from Elizabeth at Oh, Fransson! to create a little November goodness.

Often times Thanksgiving is all about the food, but I like the idea of focusing on our blessings during the whole month of November. I'm hoping my family will go along with my idea this year and make it an annual ritual.

I am thinking that I will put little treats in each of the pockets, along with a verse of scripture that focuses on gratitude/blessings/giving thanks. I think that after we read a scripture verse each night we can then write down some of our blessings and put them in the pocket. Maybe we'll save them and read them next year...I don't know. It's an idea that is still evolving.

I used a charm pack (5 inch squares) called Pumpkin and Spice for my pockets. It was easier than cutting out all those 4.5 inch squares. Besides, I don't have a stash of fall fabrics to chose from. The charms worked beautifully! I did find the orange piece in my stash that was big enough to use for the border, backing, and binding.

My free motion quilting is getting better. I need some more practice time on my machine before I love it, though.

In a bit of randomness, I found this "bunny shape" in my quilting and made the mistake of showing it to my older kids. You know "Hey, kids! What does this look like to you?" Now every time they pass by it they point out the bunny. Nice! Anyone else ever notice weird shapes in their quilting or is it just me?

If you make this pattern, be sure to upload it to the Flickr group!

Loveseat Transformation Begins

This is beginning of the re-upholster project for the loveseat. I've done this before and so I do know what I am getting into. Let's hope it all turns out well enough to make me happy.

Love the shape of this little loveseat. And it is rather sturdy even though you can see that it and the slipcover are O-L-D!

Someone obviously washed the slipcover and it shrunk. Mental Note--pre-wash your fabric when you are making your own slipcover so that you don't have this same problem after your first washing.

I want to refinish the legs and then let them be somewhat exposed. They are such a pretty little shape.

Here I am so you can get the size and scale of the loveseat. Let's hope this works out the way I envision. And I just realized that we have never owned a new sofa (not including the futon we used to have) in our entire married life of 14 years. Every single one we've owned has been a thrift store purchase (during our college days), given to us free, or we've rescued it from somewhere and then redone it. Well...I guess the trend continues. Hmmm,...maybe one day I can get that nice leather sofa I want--new and ready to use immediately.

Racecar Baby Quilt

After the Pinewood Derby in the Spring the Cubscout leader gave me 2 pieces of this racecar print because he figured if anyone could come up with something to do with the pieces I could. I made the baby quilt sometime after that and I have just been holding onto it until I felt like I wanted to give it away. Well, this weekend I gave it away to someone at church who just had baby boy #2.

The back is definitely a little obnoxious, but all in all I do like it--obnoxious or not. The baby's big brother was ready to claim the quilt for himself, so it can't be totally bad. The yellow pieces are flannel, but the rest is cotton.

Unlike Emily, I am a machine binder. I figure on baby quilts especially they'd be used heavily and so warrant machine binding instead of hand binding. Plus, really, I do not enjoy hand sewing. So welcome to the world Baby D. I hope your brother doesn't steal your quilt too often.

Blogger Quilt Festival

I hesitated to join, but here I am...on the last day!

hosted by Amy at Park City Girl.

Here is my submission: The Fabulous at Forty Quilt I made for my sister Shauna's birthday in March.

I love it because it was my first big quilt finished, my first gift quilt, and because it was so fun to surprise her with it.

My 2 sisters and I flew to Shauna's house, without her having a clue, and surprised her for her 40th birthday. It was a great weekend! Good Times, good times... So, for that reason alone, this will remain one of my all-time favorites!

One a Day Quilt Along and a Plea for Help

I finished my nine patch quilt top from amandajean's one a day quilt along. (Her two finished ones are here and here. Directions here.) Most of my blocks were done before we moved this summer, but I needed to finish up the rest and add the sashing. I am SO HAPPY to have this one done. It really makes me happy to look at it. I was a wee bit skeptical when I was putting all my blocks together that it would look like a jumbled mess of ugly fabrics, but white sashing makes the world a better place, don't you think?!

Lots of pretty fabrics in there, lots of reminders from other projects, lots of fabrics!!! I am slightly embarrassed to say that there are no 2 fabrics that are alike on the whole quilt. That means I have more than 126 different fabrics in my sewing room (or maybe...more!). Granted, most are smaller scraps, but still...that's a whole lotta fabrics. But, somewhere a pioneer woman is smiling down on my use of so many random fabrics together, right?

(A few of my favorite blocks)

I did a slight variation to the directions. Instead of 2.5 inch squares, mine started out 3 inches (I was using my 6 inch square stash and couldn't justify all that re-cutting). Because I didn't follow the directions that meant I didn't need quite as many blocks. I ended up with 63. It measures 67" by 86" before the scrap border. This one is H-U-G-E for me!! Because it is already so big, I am putting the scrap border on the back like this. (That's the advantage to being late to the party, you get to copy other people's great ideas.) Hopefully I can get this one quilted before I die...Wish me luck!!


Also, did anyone notice that amandajean said she was wanting to make a THIRD quilt like this so her and her sisters could all have one, but felt like she didn't have it in her to do it again? I personally think that all the people that love and appreciate her quilting knowledge and inspirations should band together to help her out. Wouldn't it be cool to send her 70 completed 9-patches so she could make that third one? I'm sure she'd never ask for others to make her blocks, so I'm doing it for her!! Who's with me?? Leave me a comment if you're in--all you need is one finished 9 patch (Use 2.5" squares like her directions--not my 3" ones) and we'll make her mailbox a happy place! Spread the word!

For Christine

This quilt is a commission for Christine. It is for her new baby girl. She's decorating her nursery in a French country, shabby chic sorta way. Her main fabrics are the red gingham and a yellow toile with lots of white eyelet.

I used the old standby kidz quiltz design, only bigger. This one measures 48" by 60". It should be big enough that when her little girl grows up, it will grow with her.

(Matching Doll Quilt)

It took me awhile to find a quality piece of red gingham. Who knew there were so many 'cheap' (not in a good way!) ginghams around. I searched high and low before finding this Michael Miller piece that was suitable to use.

In the end it worked wonderful! And who doesn't love a gingham binding?!

(Christine's baby came a bit early, so her quilt arrived just in the nick of time. Congrats!)

A little something for Baby M

Congrats to Leslie!

She had her baby a couple of weeks ago -- a week before her scheduled induction and 16 days before her due date -- But everyone is doing well! We went and visited them this week. Brought along some baby goodness for New Miss M.

My favorite part of this quilt has to be...

Leslie's reaction!! Not that she didn't expect a quilt, but I was pretty sneaky. I used all of her favorite fabrics without her even knowing!

She had given them to me awhile back-- even went as far as cutting the squares, but couldn't figure out how to make them look nice together in a quilt. So I took them, added the grey dot and, Voila! I love surprises!

The only piece I bought was this pretty pink polka dot (from JoAnn's) for the border, binding, and backing. It goes so well with the other fabrics--so dainty and sweet!

So, to Miss M, we say Welcome to the family!

Apple Pie Filling

One of the beautiful things about Fall are all the fresh apples. You can't beat homemade applesauce, cider, or the creme de la creme: apple pie filling. I love being able to just dump all the ingredients for an apple pie right into the crust and in the oven it goes. This is probably the best canned apple pie filling that we've found. Originally we got this recipe from the Sweet Celebrations company--they are a candy and cake decorating supply co.

Canned Apple Pie Filling

Sauce for 7 qts.

Mix:

4 1/2 c. sugar

1 c. cornstarch or Clearjel

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

Add:

10 c. cold water

Mix well. Heat and bring to a boil and cook until slightly thickened.

Add:

3 Tbs. lemon juice and mix thoroughly.

You need a little over 1# of apples per quart jar for the filling.

You can either peel, core, and cut apples and then add them to the sauce and fill the jars, or just add the apples to the jars, and then pour the sauce over top. I usually do the latter.

Hot water bath for 25 minutes.

Last year I canned 23 quarts, which was 3x the above recipe, and I used 25# of apples. **I have to say that I am not too terribly picky about which apples I use for this recipe. If I can get them free or really cheap somewhere those are the apples I am going to use.**

To make the pie:

Make a double pie crust. Lay down bottom layer. Dump in 1 qt. jar of pie filling, spreading evenly. Top with 2nd layer of crust. Bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or until browned slightly.

The Ball Blue Book or Ball Complete Book to Home Preserving (pg. 170) also have an apple pie filling recipe. Either recipe you use are great tasting. I also quickly checked online at my local library and they have a couple copies of the second book listed. So if you think you might be interested, check with your local library to see if they too have copies. Or they may have copies of other canning books. The second book also has recipes for Blueberry, Peach, Raspberry, Rhubarb Strawberry and Cherry pie fillings. YUMMY!!

Leaf Rubbings

I have a great view of the mountains near my house. (The canyon is only 5 minutes away.) So when the leaves start changing I get a front row seat!

We took a drive up the canyon with our kids the other night and they kept saying, "It looks like a painting up here!" I couldn't agree more. The canyons are so beautiful right now!

While we were up there we collected leaves for a project I like to do every year -- Leaf Rubbings. I'm sure you've all seen this before. It's a fun and easy project you can do with your kids no matter what their age. I've done this a bunch of times with my kids. And even as they get older, they still seam to enjoy it.

So, here's all you need: Broken crayons with the papers torn off of them, any size/color paper you choose -- I prefer brown postal wrap (you could also use the inside of a paper grocery sack) or white butcher paper, and any size/shape of leaves you can find.

Directions: Put a leaf under your paper with the right side up, lay your crayon sideways on the paper, and rub until your leaf starts coming through. Voila! Instant fall leaf pictures! (I find it easier to do one leaf at a time.)

I turned our masterpieces into place mats for our dinner table. My local copy store charges less than $2.00 for hard lamination sized 11" by 17" -- the perfect place mat size.

Once upon a time I had visions of doing these rubbings from the leaves of the trees from each of the houses we have lived in and then framing them some cool way. It hasn't happened, but I still think it would've been a cool way to have something from the many places/cities we have lived.

In a totally unrelated side note: I am the lucky winner (WooHoo!!) of any quilt pattern from the giveaway yesterday on Quilt Taffy (I chose "Charmed and Dangerous"). Thanks so much Des and Corrie!!

Ottoman recover

Hubby found this ottoman and a little loveseat sitting out at the curb in our neighborhood with a FREE sign on them and thought I would like them both.



On the ottoman I was going to remove the old leather/vinyl cover and redo it with denim or muslin before making the removable/washable slipcover, but once I got into it I realized that there was straw or something like that under it all and so I ultimately had to leave the wrecked vinyl and just make the slipcover to put over top of that.
Sometimes the fabric dictates what you will do with your project. I bought this remant piece and probably would have thought about making a slightly longer skirt, but there wasn't enough of it and I wanted this piece. Also, had I had more fabric I would've FOR SURE done the piping fabric on the bias (it looks and lays so much nicer), but alas, I couldn't do it with limited amount of fabric.

Our cousin, Tiffany, suggested doing a monogram on the ottoman and I really like it. Gotta love it when I can put my embroidery machine to good use.

This picture above shows more the true color of this fabric--very lime green, but I love it. Hubby's comment about the ottoman--since he is the one who found it--"That looks nice, although that's an interesting color fabric". Leave it to the men in our lives to either keep it real, or not get it at all.


Stay tuned for the loveseat transformation hopefully within the next couple of weeks (O.K. let's realistically say, before Christmas). The weather has turned cool here and I am motivated to finish the living room projects, 1 hide-a-bed, a loveseat, paint, and some different accessories.

Bound

This quilt has been hiding in my sewing room since January. (Does anyone else have unfinished projects tucked away somewhere?) I decided to rescue it over the weekend. All it was lacking was the binding...how sad.

(back side)

It's now finished and in my quilt closet, ready to be enjoyed by the rascals.

Quilt details are here.

What I've been up to

I managed to get two blankets made before baby #2 came. We used the pink one to bring her home from the hospital.


this stitch on the border is my favorite. Using embroidery thread.







Original swaddling blanket how to HERE

*****The instructions say to use a 45" square piece of fabric, but since I wanted to use what I had in my stash these blankets are 36" x 45". Plenty big for a newborn. The 45" square blankets would be even bigger. I'd say you could use them for toddlers.

For a Good Cause

I am donating these 2 quilts to my dear friend Stephanie. Her son, Ross, is the same age as my Mr. H (10). In April he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Stephanie and her family are participating in The Walk to Cure Diabetes in Kansas City in October.

My quilts are being auctioned off to raise money for diabetes research. All of the money from the sale of the quilts will go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation JDRF. There's not much time, but I'm hoping with your help Stephanie and Ross can give a significant donation to the JDRF.

To bid on one of my quilts, go here for the pink and green one and here for the pink and black one.

Hurry, auctions end on Sunday!

You can read about Ross' diagnosis here and his team and fundraising efforts here. And if that isn't enough to convince you to bid, read here to see what a sweet kid he is!