Truly Inspirational!

Check out this link to meet an amazing Texas quilter.
http://www.youtube.com/texascountryreporter

39 Years & 49 weeks

I didn't even make it to 40 before I needed glasses! My birthday is 3 weeks from today and I got the specs last Thursday. I need them for working and driving at night. They are dark purple (I know how shocking that is!) and have the requisite bling (another stunning revelation!). By the way, Harley Davidson went with me and let's just say, there are a lot of glass cases and cleaning clothes at our house now!

Yarn Wreath

Finally, a non-knit or crochet way to use left over yarn! I saw this idea on a favorite blog and knew I had to make one (2, actually!).

You use one of those straw wreaths from the craft store and you don't even remove the plastic cover. I found that the cheaper the yarn, the better it works and looks. Wrapping the wreath is a great project for TV watching, you know, mindless and needing little quality control!

You can find the tutorial for the project here, http://calebdanielle.blogspot.com/2010/10/diy-yarn-wreath-with-felt-flowers.html.

I had 7 sheets of felt and I made enough roses and leaves for 2 wreaths. Looking at the photo now, I probably could have made 3 wreaths with that amount. I kind of overloaded this little guy! I hope to get to an actual fabric store that has a more extensive selection of felt colors.

I think these roses would also be cute on hair clips and headbands for little girls or on knitted slippers for big girls!

It's a Bird...

It's a plane...

It's a Kindle cover!

HD got me a Kindle for Christmas and after searching online for a cover, I found this awesome free pattern here

http://www.chicaandjo.com/2009/09/03/make-a-custom-kindle-cover-case/ . It is very simple and I only used part of 2 fat quarters. The pattern says your fabric needs to be 23 inches long, but the 22 of the FQ was plenty. The fact that the cover also acts as a stand is a big bonus!

As Promised...

Quilt top #2 from the scrap bin! Very fun, very finished and in Johnson City for sale-WOOHOO!

Scrap Challenge

Here it is, the object of my shame (one of the many, actually!), my scrap bin. Usually I am a merciless "thrower awayer" of things, but I just can't do it with fabric. HD once made the mistake of coming in the room while I had the bin dumped out on the floor and said that I should just throw it away. "GET OUT!" was my response. I mean really, I am pretty sure that I have almost never gone into his Garage Mahal and told him to throw things away. Almost. Never.

Anyway, I do use my scraps very frequently to make small projects, but I am aiming higher in 2011. I am going to see how many quilt tops I can make out of the fabric in this bin. So far, I have two pieced, one cut out and another one planned.

I hope that you guys will be inspired to do the same, after all, it is "free" fabric. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Don't Faint....

I know you were about to, faint that is. Posting two days in a row, whatever has come over me?! Several finished projects, that's what! I love to hand embroider tea towels, the traditional flour sack kind. I got the idea of adding the fabric cuff from a quilt shop in Washington and I think it really spiffs up a regular towel. I even went a little crazy on the rosemary one and used my new ruffling foot. I have many more towels planned. It is a good thing, since I ordered a 50 pack of the towels and I cannot, under any circumstances, pass a display of iron on embroidery transfers without purchasing several. As my friend at http://lollyquiltz.blogspot.com says, "If one is good, thirteen are better!" Well said!

I Won!

Every year my bee, the Strippers, has a lotto block drawing at Christmas. It is voluntary and your name is only in the drawing if you contribute a block. The year's color scheme is determined by the previous year's winner.

In 2009, my friend Kelleigh won the set of batik blocks. She chose purple and brown as the colors for 2010 and I won them! I now have to start looking for the perfect fabrics to sash them together. Road trip anyone?!

Notice that thing in the lower right corner? That would be my purple slippered foot, I do always like to coordinate with my project!

Happy Birthday, Elvis!

Be sure to properly pay homage today, you know, with a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich. Or you could just put gravy on everything you eat!

We love us some Elvis!

Happy New Year!

I do realize that I am a tad tardy here! I had good intentions, but after playing Mexican Train until 2 am on January 1, my "train" kind of came of the track. I was sick for a few days and then it was back to work. I have quilted 7 quilts in the last 4 days with 3 more to do this weekend.

I hope you all had a fun, safe New Year and that like me, you have big plans for 2011! One of my hopes for this year is to be more disciplined to make time to sew for myself. We'll see!

Here is a selvedge ornament that I used as a package trim. These are fun to make, but I know you may be thinking..."I could have used that idea about 3 weeks ago!" If you start now, think how many you can have made by next Christmas!

I used spray baste to affix a piece of thin batting to my base fabric before sewing on the selvedges. I thought it needed the extra body. I used a cookie cutter to get the shape of the tree. Notice that the trunk is even a dark brown selvedge! I plan to make some in the shape of Texas next.

I am working on assembling another scrap quilt, so stay tuned!