Christmas Gifts

I think I mentioned in a previous post (or two) that I spent from mid November until just last week, furiously stitching away on Christmas gifts!!

So here they are!!! I made lap quilts for all four "boys" (that would really be men). Last year I had made all the "girls" lap quilts (they were my guinea pigs for FMQ). Well, the boys loved using their quilts, so I made them their own!

This one is Tylers' made from four of his old Cinch shirts! He calls it The Cinch Quilt - but it was my first Bonnie Hunter pattern called Mountain Majesties.

Here's Rygh"s. It also had three of his old shirts, plus some brown shirts that my friend Janet O. found for me. I added a couple of other plaid fabrics for color variation. This one was Mike's favorite. He just went on and on about how pretty it was. It is a Bonnie Sullivan pattern called "Fireside".

Next is Bobby's. He loves RWB quilts, so of course I did one for him. It only has one of his old shirts, but this quilt was totally from my stash/scrap basket. Even the backing!! Bobby told me that of all his Christmas gifts, the quilt was his favorite! Not pattern - just hour glass blocks put together in a pinwheel pattern - just because that's how it looked best to me.

Now for Mike's. I didn't have it completely finished by Christmas. In fact, I only the the top and the backing pieced, and I put them in a box and wrapped them up so he would have a gift under the tree!! He was so surprised that I had that much done on it!! He had no idea that in all my stitching, I had included him!! But I finished quilting and binding it before our last cold spell (12 degrees F for our low on two mornings!), so he was glad to cuddle up under it and read or watch TV. Unlike Bobby's, I bought all the fabric for Mikes'. I found the backing on ebay for $3/yard! and then bought Connecting Threads Home Mirage Fat Quarter Bundle and pulled the pieces that coordinated with the backing.

Of course, I knew he would love another brand quilt, so I machine quilting the brands and bordered the brand blocks with scrappy FG - simple and quick!

For the FMQ, I outlined the brands and then crosshatched the backgrounds with diamonds. I then stitched in the ditch around the FG. For the borders I quilted a repeating star/scroll pattern that I designed. I trimmed the quilt and then bound it with the scraps from the backing. I may enter this one in our quilt show in April - if I can get it away from Mike! Should be warm enough by then!! LOL

For the girls I made quilted three pocket clutch purses. The pattern came from the Better Homes and Gardens Quilt Sampler Spring/Summer 2013 issue. I only have photos of two of them, sorry. I think they turned our so cute, I'm making one for myself!!

Catching up!

I hope that all of you enjoyed a fabulous holiday season! Ours was busy, but oh so very enjoyable. As I mentioned in my last post, I was furiously stitching away on Christmas gifts, and I will post about some of them later. In addition to sewing, there were all the other activities that go with Christmas, and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment! But alas, a couple of things got dropped - again, no Christmas cards were sent from this house and I didn't blog very much!! But here's a recap of some of the events in my life!

My birthday is the first part of  December, and I had some especially special gifts this year - my kids are awesome! This little quilt was made by Mandie!! So special - scraps from a quilt that I had made from my dad's wool shirts!! She machine appliqued it - but she hand quilted it!

Rygh and Lyn gave me a quilting book and a charm pack of wools!!! I LOVE them and am planning on trying my hand at a wool applique project later in the year. Any suggestions?

I received several other super great gifts, just not quilty so not sharing them here.save one. On December 14th, Mikkie took me to Austin for dinner and a performance of "The Nutcracker" at Ballet Austin. It was FABULOUS!!!! The orchestra was wonderful, the set gorgeous, the dancers superb! No one else in the family are Classical fans, so it was a very special Mother/Daughter time!

On December 17, I hosted our guild's Christmas party! Sixteen of the group came and a great time was had by all!!! Go here if you want to take a peek at the fun!

Then on the 19th Mike and I traveled to Old Glory, Texas to spend a little time with Mike's cousin and his wife. We then went to the Anson Cowboy Christmas Ball which has been an event since 1885 except for a year a two during WWII. It is always so much fun, and we always enjoy our time with family!

All the kids were here on Christmas Eve, and we had such a pleasant time - great food, great fellowship and a plethora of super nice gifts! Most of all it was so fun to watch Gracen play with the boxes, wrapping paper and the old toys out of her basket at Nene's house!!! Here she is with her Aunt Mollie!

Hope this finds each of you enjoying a blessed beginning of a new year!

My oh My...

...what happened to November?!!! It has been one month since I last posted, and my sincerest apologies to those of you who participated in "What's On My Bed". I promise I will do a post about that soon. I LOVED all the photos that I received and I so want to share them. But...Here's my "blur" of a month.

I finished a lap quilt for a friend's birthday...

Worked goats, shipped kids and older nannies...

Made a trip to East Texas (4 1/2 hour drive one way) to deliver some goats and work my Border Collies...

Bess

Pete

Did my chores every day - here's the milk cow (Isabel) and her young calf (Ira)...

Enjoyed the splendor of autumn...

And then it got "frosted"...

We experienced 3 days of intermittent power outages and internet failure...

But kudos to our service people - they are awesome!

We didn't really suffer - we heat our house with wood...

But the light went out on the chicks, so they had to live in a box by the fire...

But as you can see, they are no worse for the wear.

I pieced some blocks for our guild's donation quilt...

Of course had a Thanksgiving feast with family...(sorry no "real" photos!)

And very best of all...spending tons of time with Gracen...

She was a little upset with "Nene". I had told her that we were going outside "in a minute". So she went into the mud room. I NEVER go outside for chores with out my cap and gloves, and this day they were setting on the bench we have in the mudroom - she was Ready to Go - she had donned them herself!!! What a little sweetie!!

I'm furiously stitching away on Christmas gifts - I won't share until after Christmas.

Hope this finds each of you filled with joy and experiencing abundant blessings!

What's on your bed?!!!

Really, I would love to see what is on your bed - so email me a photo and if you want - I'll include it in a post about the title subject - if not I'll just enjoy it and be inspired!!! I decided not to do a linky thing.

I have a new quilt on my bed for the first time in 13 years!!! Yep, I finished a queen size just for "me"!!! It is the CWR quilt that was my first blog land SAL and my second bed size (though this one is the biggest yet!) quilt to machine quilt myself. I must say, I had a little trouble at first and got very discouraged and set it aside for a couple of weeks while I worked on pumpkins and doll quilts. Then I figured out my problem (not basted well enough), fixed it and away I went!! So without further ado I present to you - Civil War Remembrance in fall colors!

For the quilting motif for the blocks, I chose fleur-de-lis radiating from the center. What was an "accident" was the secondary design of the four hearts!  Loved stitching this up. I did mark them, they are not "free hand".  The sashing motif is one that I found in a book for the CW era and the cornerstone motif - just an fun easy loopy flower that matched the loops on the sashing motif. Both of these were "free hand" so a "little" variation (character!!! LOL).

For the border I chose a simple lattice/diamond design. I hummed and hawed about what to do as I was quilting the blocks, and decided feathers were too much - it was a big border, and I didn't want to stitch in each strip, as I thought it would overwhelm the center. What do you think? Did I choose okay? I'm very happy with it, but always, always love your input, as I want to get better at my craft.

Again - I'd love to have a photo of what's on your bed - so email it to me!! (My email is enabled on my profile).

Doll Quilts and a New Apron!

A few more "small" finishes - though every finish is a "BIG" deal - don't you think!!! Finishing things, accomplishing things is good for the morale!!! So I like to have a few "small" things going - therefore I get a "FINISH"!!! LOL

For the girl's booth at their next craft show, I made 4 doll quilts - fun traditional blocks and settings - perfect for a 20" doll like the American Dolls that are a rage right now. All of these were made from remnants and scraps - even the batting. I mostly just straight line cross hatched, but on the setting blocks for a couple of the quilts I did do some fmq - fun simple designs that added a little to the quilt.

Now to the apron. A couple of Christmases ago, I made aprons and potholders for all the girls for their gifts. I bought ducking fabric in several different colors/designs, so I had extra. I finally got around to making me one - I really needed it - my other was looking rather "natty"!!! But I do have a disclaimer - I don't wear an apron to keep my clothes clean - I wear and apron so my "dirty clothes" don't get the food dirty!!! LOL!! Mike says that he has never seen someone that can get as dirty as me!! But when you feed baby goats and handle baby calves and ride horse and train dogs - well a girl just gets dirty!!!!

I really like the bold fall colors and the striped fabric - makes working in the kitchen fun!!

There is much sad news in the world - but be of good cheer - God is still on the Throne!!