Christmas Pouches

I have 5 great-nieces on my side of the family.

So for Christmas I made monogrammed pouches for each one.

The sixth one is for our granddaughter.

The pouches are approximately 8 x 10 inches in size.

I was able to complete all these pouches without buying a thing.

Not sure if I should be proud of that or 

embarrassed to have so many scraps.

At least I'm making good use of the scraps, right?

Each pouch is the favorite color or reflects the

personality of each girl.

The exterior cotton includes a light woven iron-on interfacing.

The diamonds and letters were applied with a fusible product

and then machine appliqued in place.

I used a variety of zippers and ribbon for the zipper pulls.

The pouches are lined with a pre-quilted cotton fabric.

I really like using this lining as it adds some structure

without having to mess with small pieces of batting.

I use this same lining in most of the bags I make.

I am so pleased with how these pouches turned out,

and as you can tell, 

I had way too much fun photographing them!

This year Christmas is extra special for our family.

Recently, some of these girlies were added

to our family through adoption. 

What a blessing!

Merry Christmas!

Carolyn

Gift Card Holders

 

Found a great tutorial on Pinterest for these

cute gift card (or cash) holders.

Made these are Christmas gifts for the great-nieces

on my husband's side of the family.

I finally got to use the CAM snaps.

Fun project, I'll be making more of these in the future.

Thanks for stopping by my little blog.

Carolyn

Flannel Rag Lap Quilt

Used leftover flannel to create this Rag Quilt.

Flannel front and back with batting in between.

Simple design, with not enough blocks to make the

design complete but close enough.

Do you see the out of place block?

The back included a variety of other flannel pieces.

This quilt was donated to our churches Christmas bazaar.

It's been years since I've made a flannel rag quilt, 

was a fun throwback project, 

but my hands were tired from all the clipping :)

Thanks for visiting my little blog.

Carolyn

Autumn Kitty Quilt

Completed this scrap quilt (60" x 72") featuring a kitty silhouette.

We love cats at our house, we used to have 3. 

But sadly, due to allergies, kitties may no longer live with us.

The quilt began as a leaders/enders project but

at some point I just decided to finish it.

Simple checkerboard design using 3.5 inch squares.

The fabrics were mostly from my stash, although

I picked up a couple little pieces at a thrift/craft store

in Lancaster, PA.

I quilted it with my home sewing machine using a walking foot.

Wasn't hard but it was time consuming, like maybe 6 hours.

The backing is an extra wide flannel fabric found at JoAnn

on the clearance rack - happy score.

It is so soft and cuddly.

And this is where the new quilt will live (or on my lap)

until I decorate for Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by my little blog.

Carolyn

 

Patchwork Bag

A friend asked me to make a brightly colored bag 

to hold her knitting projects.

The bag is roughly 8 inches tall and 12 inches wide, 

with a 5 inch boxed base.

Fun little project!

Here's a little sneak peak of the project 

that's been keeping me busy.

Thanks for stopping by my little blog.

Carolyn

 

Baby Blankets

I love seeing finished quilts hanging on a clothes line!

These are baby blankets or some would call them receiving blankets.

They could also be used as a doll or pet blanket.

I used fabric from my stash. Created simple tops and backed them with flannel.

Roughly 30 x 40 inches. No binding or batting. 

Made them pillowcase style: simply sewed around the sides left a space, turned them right side out and top stitched to close. Did some light quilting to keep the fabrics together.

I also rounded the corners so no corners to turn :)

Easy peasy!

Green tractors, not my favorite but maybe someone will want it.

Vintage toy print. The gray zigzag is showing through from the backing fabric.

Butterflies and flowers.

Raggedy Ann and Andy, this is a whole piece of fabric from many years ago.

These will be donated to a charity.

Thankful to be using up fabric and enjoying a simple project.

Thanks for stopping by my little blog.

Carolyn

 

Autumn Plaid

Completed the quilting on my Autumn Plaid quilt.

Plaid quilts seems to be popular and I couldn't resist the challenge.

The backing is a linen from my stash.

The free-motion quilting features pumpkins and oak leaves in alternating blocks.

I could tell I'm out of practice with FMQ but finished is better than perfect.

At one point I took a break from quilting, I wasn't happy with the oak leaf design, but decided it wasn't worth the time to rip it all out.

I am pleased with the outcome! 

It will make a beautiful addition to our home decor.

And one more picture to show some of the autumn color in our yard. According to the weather forecaster, leaves in our area are at full-color this weekend.

Thanks for stopping by my little blog!

Carolyn

 

Spring/Summer Bag

Continuing on my summer project list is a new bag/purse for me.

I had the tan and black fabrics in my stash and purchased the floral fabric from a local quilt shop. The tan piece is a sample from an upholstery/commercial fabric outlet shop that has been out of business for several years. The black may have been from the same shop, it's more of a sport fabric, rip-stop, jacket type. I've used it on other bags, but there are only a few small scraps remaining so maybe I can make a pouch or 2 yet.

My bags are all about pockets. 

One zipper pocket, a large divider pocket to keep things from floating around in the bag and multiple slip pockets along the one side. I have become so accustomed to having these pockets that it's nearly impossible for me to purchase a pre-made bag for myself. Guess I'm a creature of habit....LOL

The bag is machine quilted, simple lines on the tan part and a free motion meander on the floral section. I used a Pellon non-fusible foam (instead of batting) for stability and pre-quilted cotton for the lining. These are also standard features for my bags. Yes, it increases the cost but also increases the durability and style.

It's been awhile since I made a bag for myself so there were some mistakes or should I say design changes along the way but all in all I'm please with the end product.

Thanks for stopping by,

Carolyn

 

Vintage Toy Fabric Baby Quilt

The next finish for this summer is a baby quilt.

I purchased this vintage toy fabric when I was planning a baby quilt for our grandson but I later found something I liked better so this was just hanging out in my studio. The coordinating fabrics are a green shadow dot and a very light green tone on tone, although in the pictures it reads as white or cream.

I used a simple hour glass block alternated with a block of the toy fabric. I like the on-point square in a square illusion.

The quilting is a simple wavy line done with my walking foot.

The backing is the remaining "minky" from an earlier quilt and there is no batting (lesson learned).

Just a sweet, easy project that is waiting to be gifted someday.

Thanks for stopping by,

Carolyn

 

Return to the Creative World

I'm back!

Well at least for the summer or maybe just part of the summer.

In December, I retired from (aka quit) my office job to become a

"stay at home" gramma to our newborn grandson. His mother (our daughter) teaches school so I have summers free for creative/fun projects. My goal is to complete one project/week. So far I'm on target.

This throw sized quilt is a Disappearing 4 Patch pattern.

I used scraps for the tans and muslin for the solid part.

The large spiral quilting was done on my domestic Bernina machine. Not sure I'll ever do that again on this size project. I started one weekend and finished the next due to the sore muscles. I worked on this project during the spring but finished it up this summer.

I started in the center free-motion quilting (FMQ). After 2-3 rotations I switched to my walking foot, it was still a challenge but I'm glad I tried it. Love the circular effect with all the squares.

The backing is a minky type fabric. I also used a low loft polyester batting which would not have been necessary. Live and learn. It sure is a cuddly quilt!

Not sure if Blogs are still used much anymore but thought I'd document my projects.

Thanks for stopping by!

Carolyn

 

Autumn Color Placemats

Autumn has arrived in south central Pennsylvania so I 

decided to add a little color to our table.

4 placemats from scraps of fabric.

I also decided it was time to brush

up on free motion quilting skills.

Don't look too closely, I am rusty!

That means it's time for more projects.

I retire in just over a month, although I

will be babysitting our new grandson hopefully

I'll have more sewing time too.

Thanks for visiting,

Carolyn