Small blog meeting

Lily's Quilts has a monthly Blogmeet, Isn't that just nice! We small bloggers can go meet and join others in this Wonderful Blogworld. Thank you Lynne! 

Now, if you are a small blogger you may join in the fun too. Just grab her badge, then submit your link on her blog.  Post on your blog about this nifty meeting. I've got a badge to the right there too.

Sewing room Christmas tree

My mom sent me a picture on Pinterest of a Sewing room Christmas tree. When I brought the tree into the room my sewing girls went crazy decorating it. I showed them the pinned picture and away they went~ There are bobbins and buttons, thread spools and thimbles. A tape measure is draped around for garland and even little sewing elves!

In the background is a cross stitch that I did a long time ago. Cross stitch is the first craft that I learned how to do around 30 years ago. I still enjoy it very much.  

The little sewing machine and table is a music box that was gifted to me by one of my girls.  It's really precious to me, and I love winding it up and listening to it all the time.  The thimble ladies are pretty cute too.....

Well of course I have more up and coming sewing girls to try their hand at decorating this little sewing corner, so hopefully we'll get lots more decorations to show you and enjoy. 

Inspiration for my sewing girls

Well this was super easy from Willow Bend Creations.  I think I can print this right onto my steam a seam....I traced this one onto it and then ironed it onto my batik fabric and cut it out......Im hoping the girls might think they would like to try something like this...You don't have to stitch it down if you dont want to. I think next time I'll hand applique it onto my background fabric after I iron it on.  The people at Willow Bend Creations were really nice to deal with. Give it a try, they have all different kinds, western, fairies, mountains, fishing, you name it.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

The sewing girls created these Turkey Crayon Holders

this week.  Aren't they adorable? You can get the pattern from here. They were quite easy and the girls were so happy to get to coloring.

 We had Pudding cups that day to gobble. 

 I wish I could be at all the girls' Thanksgiving tables to color and eat with them. Being with the ones we love and giving thanks to the Lord for all of our Blessings is the best! 

My first Quilter's Retreat!

I worked on my Circles of Life quilt at my first Quilter's Retreat! I didnt get it done but I learned so much....I heard about 505 spray to baste my quilt, and I watched my friend glue baste her quilt with Elmer's glue! Visit Sara at Sarasquiltingcorner,  her free motion quilting is done on her domestic machine and it is beautiful.

 

I saw Jelly Roll Race 2 quilts being made too. They were just darling.

We saw the quilt that would teach us about the Elenor burns flying geese ruler.

And there was lots of food to be had.

I was surrounded by the Best people, they welcomed me with open arms, and still wanted to be my friend even after 3 constant days of listening to my sighing, because I must hold my breath when I quilt.  Busting out in song when a phrase reminded  me of the song It's all about that Bass, all about that Bass.  I was also known to be seen draped over my machine in exhaustion.  We had a blast!

There was so much more beauty being created that I didn't get pictures of, but they were certainly a part of making wonderful memories for me that I will never forget!

Weighted Blanket

I made this weighted blanket for an 8 year old to help him sleep at night. It was made with steel BB's and had to be 10% of his weight. It was a workout but was totally doable.  I sewed the front and back right sides together on 3 sides turned it right side out and turned the 4th side under and basted it down.  I proceeded to sew vertical lines every 4 inches. The math of how many bb's in each square depend on how much it needs to weigh and how many squares you end up with....I had 187 squares to fill with bb's and a little bit of batting or polyfil. My hubby cut me the perfect sized pvc pipe to stuff the stuffing in, then you sew horizontally after each row is filled, and so on.  I really hope this little guy is completely Blessed with sweet dreams and rested days in his future endeavors. 

Stitched Along

Here is my finish for a stitch along on Jenny of Elefantz that she hosted...Her tutorials were great and I enjoyed the pace of her 5 day stitch along.  I couldn't quit after this one so I started and finished a pillow also, of a butterfly.

I got the pattern for the butterfly on pinterest and I already had the black butterfly fabric. I just love incorporating my two loves of stitching and quilting together in one project.

Pillowcases and felt

 My 7 and 8 year old sewing girls made pillowcases last week for their project. It depended on how much fabric we had as to what technique I had them use. We used the tube pillowcase tutorial and then my favorite pattern from Quilt Taffy. Arent the monkey's cute?

My projects for the week were to get some things ready to send off in a box for my Granddaughter's Birthday. So I made her and her brother capes out of felt. The batman pattern came from here. The lady bug was just felt strips stacked just right and sewed together with binding. I satin stitched the dots on. Felt is so soft and easy to sew up.





Kiwi's crown was the funnest of all. She loved everything. Her crown is the first thing she puts on in the morning and the last thing she takes off. She calles herself Queen Kiwi Ladybug. So cute.
   








So without further ado:  Presenting Queen Kiwi

Little cuties

These are some cuties that I've been working on for quite some time now, I finished all of them and put them together with their sashings, ordered the border fabric and now I impatiently wait. This pattern from Jenny of elefantz is adorable and fun!

 I can't wait to see this all done and cuddly. I super enjoy micro-meandering stitches in and around the embroideries so I'm excited to get started. The back has yet to be decided on for the shop that I ordered the fabric from didnt have enough.

 These pajama pants were fun to make and only took me an hour. No modeling for you here. Not my thing. I am considering having my sewing girls make themselves a pair since they were so easy.

Here we have a Thank you card that I made for my sewing girls to sign and give to my local Quilt Shop for donating two beautiful, wonderful sewing machines to our sewing group.....Her generosity and hard work is so endearing to me, for to see the looks on these girls' faces when they hear the whir of a new machine, and find out that is was given to them is utterly priceless. You can just see the appreciation in their eyes.

Today we girls get together and I plan on talking over new goals and all of the things that they saw at the fair. We'll write them down and start a new year by ordering some fabric or kits online that they can do in class to fulfill their sewing dreams and goals for the next year.

The Big Haul

 The Fair of the Heart big county fair was here once again. All of my sewing girls entered their stuff, from sunhats to backpacks and quilts of course.  They earned oodles of ribbons, and sewwww much information to learn from. I am so proud of them for all of their hard work and for representing their parents and sewing class and theirselves so well.

This table is full of all of the girls' sewing projects.  Almost every one of them is theirs.

 This is a homemade doll made by a 7 year old student of mine. Don't you just love those lips? Well the judges did too. She got first place and Champion.

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 Here is a beautiful mug rug made by an 8 year old. She drew it on paper first and made it come to life in fabric.

To the left here is a flower pot pincushion that is very adorable made by a teen student, and a backpack that was certainly challenging and conquered by a 17 year old student.  The judges loved both and it was such a joy to see them on display!

This is a jean dress made by a 6 year old student too.  Her choice of embellishment is wonderful.   We had a fashion show when we made these and the girls got to add whatever they wanted to make their dresses beautiful.                                                                                      

 This was thread painted by my 17 year old student, and it is exquisite. If you can enlarge this you might get to see how pretty her painting is on fabric.

 These are pocket pillow quilts made by students.  They quilted them and enjoyed the satisfaction of making a quilt quick with this pattern.

This folks is an original quilt pieced and quilted by hand by my 12 year old student. She put a big red button in the middle and that just made the whole thing even more darling. I am so proud of her for designing her own pattern and making it all by hand.

a Six year old of ours got Best of Show, Champion and a first place ribbon for her water bottle carrier, Her picks of color and design were perfect.  If you knew the story of this little girl in this past week and her winning these, your heart would melt.

Helping these girls keep sewing and quilting alive with their talents and original art is one of  the most rewarding things I've ever done. I am honored to be a part of their lives in this way, giving them the opportunity to experiment, try a little of this and that, because how else will they know. How will they know what they love and what they want to pursue. Soar my girls, have fun, and thank you for letting me come with you in your dreams.

Getting Ready for the County Fair

Well these girls are rockin' it! Getting their fair entries ready for the County Fair...They're finishing up their last minute stitches, refining their closures, making sure everything is clean and ready for judging. Our first picture here, is a Pocket Pillow Quilt on the machine getting quilted.  Below is some thread painting getting done on a little Lamb that will be stuffed.
Aren't they just special?

This is such a wonderful time of year where the children get to show their crafty loves and be proud of themselves! Intent on furthering their craft by seeing the judges remarks and making things better next year. Because as I tell them, "It's not all about winning." It's to help learn and improve ourselves for better tomorrows.

I like to think that the judges' remarks are just their opinions, but as we choose our future projects, we ultimately decide what our craft is and how our art turns out, with the judges opinions just a wee part in the back of our head, of which I'm so thankful for.

We hope that Everyone is enjoying their local County Fairs as much as we are!