12 days of Christmas in July

Welcome back. Today I want to introduce to my sweet little granddaughter.  Her name is Sarah and she is 7. She loves to sew.  I think it started when she was just little, and her family stayed at our house one Christmas eve. Of course grandma had to get up early Christmas morning to finish a few things. Sarah had woken up early,  so I took her to my sewing room with me.  She sat on the floor and played with fabric. She would sit at my machine and pretend to sew. She has gone to quilt shows with me and loves to play with the longarms, and join me on shop hops. At about 4 or 5 years old, she got her own sewing machine.  It was bought at a thrift store and is an old JC Penny model. She loves it.

If you remember, on Saturday, I posted a tutorial for a pillow cover. This is one she made. She used the rotary cutter, and did have a small mishap. She is fine.

Today, she is going to share how to make a dolly pillow. She loves to get grandma's scraps. For these little pillows, you can use even charm squares and they work for Barbie dolls as well.

We usually use just whatever grandma has.

You need:
2 pieces of fabric
Stuffing
Thread
Scissors
Machine

Take your 2 pieces of fabric,  put right sides together and sew along 3 sides with a 1/4" seam.

Turn right sides out and stuff.  I teach her to stuff as tight as possible.

Sew the opening closed with just like a top stitch.

Your little girl has a gift to give to a friend for their dolls.

We would love to see your projects.  Feel free to share your photos with us.

Please join our friends for more fun ideas
christinashandicrafts.blogspot.com
abyquilts.wordpress.com
www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com

Remember, we love to hear your comments. I am responding as fast as I can it was a crazy weekend, and then the 24th of July was a very, crazy long day at work. As in 13 hours long.

Christmas in July blog hop

Well, today is my turn on the 12 days of Christmas in July blog hop.  We have sure had lots of fun ideas for gifts. I want to thank my friend Sarah over at www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com for  putting this together and for her willingness to let me join.

My post is a very easy one. Between now and Chrustmas, you can make lots of pillow covers for throw pillows.

Last year, I made throw pillows for my grandkids. With the intention of making pillow covers throughout the year. The best thing, is how fast and easy they are.  You can make them in various sizes and many different fabrics.


Materials needed:

1 12x12 fabric square
1 rectangle 16x12
Thread
Rotary cutter
Cutting mat
12" pillow form

The instuctions:

Cut your rectangle so it is 8 x12. Hem one of the 12 inch edges on each piece. Just a narrow hem. This is your backing for the pillow.

Now put these 2 pieces right sides together with the 12 inch square. You will have your back pieces overlapping by 4 inches in the center.

Pin and stitch, using a 1/4" seam allowance all the way around.

Turn the pillow right side out.

Stuff the pillow form inside. You will have a tight fit, but that is okay.

My grandkids had a blast sitting there, removing the pillow covers and putting different ones on.


I love these pillows. You only need to buy 1 pillow form for each gift, then make as many pillow covers as you want.  It is so much easier to store the covers than to store several pillows. 

Want a fancier pillow?  Use a pattern for a 12" quilt block and use that for the front. You can also put batting on the back and a backing on the square and quilt it, then finish the pillow.

These are pictures of the pillows I made for the grandkids.

Please join my friends today and see what they are sharing.

www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com
devotedquilter.blogspot.ca
jeanmckinstry.blogspot.co.nz

I love to see your comments. Please leave a comment and I will reply. Also, remember to leave a comment to be entered in the drawings.

Christmas in July blog hop

Christmas is coming. And it is coming fast. In fact, right now, through July 25th you can visit different blogs for Christmas in July. There is even a fun quilt a long going on. So, pull the Christmas fabrics from your stash, and join us.  I love to make gifts for Christmas. In fact, it is a tradition. I have done it for years.

This blog hop id put together by my friend Sarah over  at www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com.  She posts directions for the quilt along each day. And the best thing is there are giveaways going on.

There are 2 - 3  bloggers posting each day. Visit them and get started now on Christmas gifts. Visit my blog on Saturday, July 22nd , for a fun gift to make for Christmas. Then, come back again on July 25th as my 7 year old granddaughter is going to share a fun gift.

Hop on over to Sarah's blog www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com  for a list of bloggers each day. For some reason, I can't seem to make a copy and paste of the list work.

finish along 2017 q3 list part 2

So, I am trying to organize my sewing room. In doing so, I find half finished projects. So I am adding a few more to my previous list.

1.  The hummingbird quilt. This was going to be for my mother in law, but she passed before I got it done. I have someone else that I will give it to. I know the someone it is for will really love it.

2.  The boot scootin boogie quilt. One of my favorite songs. In fact, I know I need to make a couple of these quilts, because I have at least 1 daughter who would like this. This packet is only part of the pieces.

3.  The train quilt.  I have 2 of these.  I trimmed in red and 1 blue. I think they will both be for the same grandson. They are ready for quilting.

4.  My granddaughter picked out this pattern when one of our quilt shops was closing. This will be for her for Christmas.

5.  Ballerina wallhanging.  I keep misplacing the panel, but this will be for my granddaughter.

6.  The red briar farm quilt.  I have the pattern, I have pieces cut and applique started. But they keep getting up and walking away. I need to make 2 of these. 2 little grandsons love farms.

7.  The tractor quilt by www.countedquilts.com
This is another of those quilts that I need to make 2 of.  They are fun to do. I have all the pieces cut, but they just keep walking away.

8.  Tropical punch. This is a pattern I am retesting for a designer. So, it might as well go on my list.

9.  This is one that caught my eye from a magazine. I am making it a bit larger. Not sure who will get it.

10.  I have been eyeing this one for a while. I have all the fabrics. This one will be for me.

One day, all my projects will be completed. Then I won't know what to do. Some of these have deadlines, and some don't.  Maybe someday I will learn to not start so many projects.   Please leave a comment and tell me you don't do the same thing. I don't know why I do that.

The Tardis quilt, what a great learning journey

The Tardis quilt is complete. It is my first finish for the finish along challenge. You can see my list of many projects by following this link https://kathyskwiltsandmore.blogspot.com/2017/07/2017-quarter-3-finishalong.html?m=1.   This was a fun quilt to do, and full of challenges.  But what a great learning experience.  I love challenges, because they can help us grow.

Read on to see how this quilt came about.

I had never heard of or seen a tardis quilt. Well, that is until one day I just happened to look at pinterest, and there on my pinterest was a quilt that my daughter had pinned for me. Her hubby is a Dr. Who fan, and she thought he would like this. Well, this happened in December. I was trying to get Christmas gifts made, and I thought wouldn't it be fun to try to make this quilt for my son in law. Well, I searched for patterns and found a drawing and measurements. I sent it to my daughter and she said, yep, that is perfect, so I printed the information from www.quiltsofafeather.com and started cutting and putting it together. I wasn't sure it would be ready for Christmas, so I opted to try for his January birthday. Putting the quilt together wasn't bad. I took the lettering for police box over to a copy store and they enlarged it and played with it until I liked it. Then I appliqued the letters on. I chose to do 3 of the windows in yellow so that they looked like lights were on.

When I asked my daughter about this quilt, she said that in the show this police box (phone booth) comes down through the sky. So, I thought a nighttime type of sky. I chose a wide backing that was a dark mottled blue, and then I thought, wouldn't it be cool to use a glow in the dark thread? Right, at $40.00 a cone, not. The lady at the quilt shop suggested that I try an embroidery thread. I started looking through what I had and found some coats metallic thread. Oh, boy. That was hard to work with. I struggled with it like you would not believe. I got to the point that I didn't want to quilt it, because I didn't want to be yelling.  I finally found a video on youtube using superior threads metallic thread. The lady doing the quilting said to loosen the tension, almost all the way loose. Guess what? It worked!!!! I actually enjoyed working on this quilt after that. I chose to do a loopy star design, free handed, and I love the way it looks.

For the windows, I tried my hand at doing a wood grain look. Didn't turn out quite the way I expected it to, but I think it looks alright. I do know that I do need to practice. I used maxi-lock polyester thread for this in blueberry cob. It is a variegated thread and I love the look. One of the things I should have done is used my bobbin the same color because sometimes I see the white bobbin showing through. I guess we live and learn, don't we.

www.wThen on the area around the windows I did a back and forth design. I used the same maxi-lock thread that I used for the wood grain.  The back and forth design and wood grain, I learned from a book called "Free Motion quilting with Angela Walters" of www.quiltingismytherapy.com

I loved doing this quilt, there are some things I learned. Make sure my batting is totally flat. Use a color of bobbin that matches the thread I am using on the top. On the metallic thread I used white in the bobbin, which was okay. All in all, I am really proud of this quilt and I think my son in law will like it, even with the imperfections that are in there.
I love to hear from my readers. What challenges have made you a better quilter?

Linking up with whooping it up Friday at www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com

2017 quarter 3 finishalong

Over the last few days, I have been trying to clean and organize my sewing room. It had become a place to put things I wasn't sure where to put. In cleaning, I ran across a bunch of ufo's.  Ufo's are unfinished projects or objrcts. I really am tired of moving them, so I decided I needed to just finish them. Some have deadlines and some don't. Some are very close to being done, like finishing the binding. So, I decided I should get them done. But, if I link to the #finishalongq3 link at a hostesses blog, then I can be entered into a drawing to win some cool stuff. So, why not?

These projects are in no particular order.

1. These 2 stacks of Christmas fabrics are going to be used in a project for a 12 days of Christmas blog hop that I will be joining in on July 22nd. So, come back then and see what was created. Best part, you get a free pattern or two, depending what I decide to do.

2.  This stack of Christmas fabrics is for a Christmas row along blog hop I am doing. Keep an eye out for this project. I believe this is a September one.

3.  This one is for my son. I started it and got it to.the binding stage and never finished it. It is almost done. It will be great for football season. It is a throw size quilt. Would also be great for he and his wife for picnics.

4.  This is going to be a nice fleece jacket for my son. Aiming to get it done before football season.

5.  This one is for my hubby. It will be a throw or twin size, but will be nice and cozy for game days. Aiming to get it done before football season starts.

6.  This is a quilt for a blog hop for a friend's new book. The book is called "Piece and quilt with precuts" by Christa Watson.  The book releases in August. You can pre-order from her for a signed copy by visiting her website www.christaquilts.com
Check back on August 18th to see my finished quilt.

7.  This one is for 1 of my daughters. I have just the binding to do.

8.  This is for 1 of my grandsons. I just have a little bit on the bottom to quilt and then bind. This is backed with fleece, nice and cozy.

9.  Not sure who this quilt will be for. It would be a cute quilt to hang in or near a kitchen, or put over a couch that is near a kitchen.

10.  I started this Christmas quilt a few years ago after seeing a friends. Need to get it quilted and bound.

11.  This is another one that just needs binding.

12.  This is a quilt for one of my daughters.  I actually tried to get it done for her wedding. It will be 3 years this October.

13.  Another quilt for a daughter.

14.  July Island Batik challenge. Baby quilt.

15.  This one is for my September challenge for Island Batik. This will be for a September blog hop

16.  This one is for our bed.

17.  This is for my son in law. He loves Dr. Who. This is another that just needs binding.

18.  This one is my May Island Batik challenge. I just need to get it quilted and bound.

19.  This is for my son and his wife. They got married in December of last year. I need to get it done.

20.  A friend's quilt.

21.  I think this will be for one of my granddaughters

 22.  Another one that just needs binding.

 23.  My flamingo quilt. Need to get the other side finished.

24.  My June challenge for Island Batik.

25.  My peacock quilt. This one has quite a bit of work done on it, but I can't remember where I put it. I will add a picture as soon as I locate it.


Yes, this is quite a bit that needs done. The ones with just needing binding should be done this weekend.

I know what I need to do, and that is when I go down to work on things, just focus on what I am working on. I am aiming to get as much of my list as possible done this quarter.