pillow for a friend

Remember that lovely lady that I told you about earlier... the one that brought me all those 100+ Kaffe prints cut into precisely the right size for a quilt pattern?

I finally found the perfect way to thank her (and give her a big surprise as well)...

A modified Bento Box pillow with - you guessed it - more Kaffe fabrics! And a big wavy sunflower quilted all over the top, because who doesn't like sunflowers??

Glad you liked it, Sharon! I hope you've found a spot for it in your home :)

Note: I've used this pattern many times before and credit for the design goes to filminthefridge and Give It a Go.

holiday memory lane

Well here it is December already, and I am still wondering what happened to October!

My family did most of our Christmas decorating last weekend. Digging out all that treasure once a year brings back such memories. I thought I would share with you some of my favorite handmade decorations...

This is a door hanging banner that I made a couple of years ago from a Patrick Lose pattern appropriately named "Merry". All the pieces are secured with fusible web and then machine blanket top-stitched. I just love this door hanging :) This was early in my "bright and bold colors" phase. I call it a phase because there are just too many colors in the world, and I am too fickle to stay in love with any one color scheme for long. You may recognize the gifts under the tree - I repeated those patterns in this Christmas block I did earlier in the year for one of my Fresh Modern Bee members, Janice.

This is a counted cross-stitch on linen piece that I made in 1995. Clearly this is from a different color/design era of mine, but I still love seeing it every year. My Aunt Karen (Elsie's daughter) was a very crafty lady who actually owned a cross-stitch and framing shop in my hometown. She taught me to cross-stitch before I had children, and I used it as a way to relax on my very long train ride to and from Chicago every work day. I have always thought of cross-stitching as a sort of grown-up version of coloring... and I LOVE coloring.

NOTE: excuse the poor lighting in these photos. It's a very dark and gloomy day here... [sigh]...

These Santa pieces are some of the very first cross-stitching I did. The patterns came from my Aunt's shop, and she framed them for me. I think I still have about six more patterns from this line that I never started... [sigh]...

And finally we have Snoopy and Woodstock. This piece is all 1970's felt and sequins. It's in remarkably great condition considering that I made it almost 35 years ago. I can still vividly remember sitting on my bedroom floor meticulously threading sequins onto my sewing needle. Back then I was much more into the whole completion thing, and didn't have more than one project going at a time, so I finished it in record time.

In retrospect it was most likely the project that began my life-long love of making handmade treasures.

Thanks Mom... for buying the kit for me, for putting up with me locking myself in my room to finish it, for keeping it safe all these many years, and for starting me on this wonderful road I'm riding on :)

What's the first thing you can remember making??

Elsie's Birthday

Today would be Elsie's 100th birthday. We'd probably be having a party this weekend where she might get her own cake for the occasion... usually she and I would share a birthday cake since my birthday is this month too.

She was a great lady who led a full life. During my childhood, she travelled to Egypt, Israel, Hawaii, and Europe with friends. She made the best lemon meringue pie you've ever tasted. She sewed nearly every day of her adult life, and she could sew ANYTHING. When she made homemade egg noodles for Thanksgiving and Christmas, her entire kitchen and basement were filled with noodles drying on wax paper sheets. She made popcorn balls to pass out to trick-or-treaters. She watched "As the World Turns" every day after lunch, and she kept every letter I ever wrote to her.

There just aren't words to tell you all the things she did for me and how I miss her. So here are a few photos of Elsie and her great-grandchildren that really make me smile...

These are all the great-grandchildren at Christmas 1999. She made matching sweatshirts with Santa and his reindeer for all seven of them with her favorite (and only) toy... her Janome New Home embroidery machine.

My daughters (standing to the left and right of the rocking chair) now use that same machine when they sew. And I think that would make her smile...

Wee Woodland Pinwheels

Another baby quilt made using the L'il Twister Tool (previously blogged about here) ...


This time I used a Wee Woodland charm pack from Moda by Keiki, some Quilters Linen for the background, Moda Crackle in brown for the flange and cornerstones, and the green alphabet Lollipop print from Moda by Sandy Gervais for the final border.

Here's my favorite pinwheel block with the little bird and the lone bit of pink in the quilt...


And I do LOVE a flange! They are so easy to add, yet they provide such a great frame for the quilt center...

I think I'll try a corded flange next time. The Wrap 'N Fuse piping seems like just the ticket to make that a simple addition.

Happy Sewing!!

Put on your sunglasses!

The kaleidoscope top is complete and my goodness, is it ever bright!


I so did NOT want the border to be purple... I tried my best to make it green, brown, or teal. But purple was the most outstanding choice no matter what else I tried to force. There is a 2" strip from a new Jinny Beyer line (Sophia, I think), a 1" strip of the original fabric (Alexander Henry "Kebede"), and another 3" finished of the same purple. Finished size is 60" x 72".

My kaleidoscope class is getting together this Saturday to show our finished products off to a new crop of OBW students... I have a hunch that mine will be the wildest.


Still no clever name... any suggestions?

applique project of the decade

My standard mode of operation is to have several projects going at once. But lately it feels like there are too many irons in the fire, even for me! Christmas gifts, pillows, new winter quilting classes... yikes! And then there is this big monster lurking in my sewing room:


I started this project earlier in the year knowing full well that it would take me YEARS to complete. The overall size is something like 50" x 60" made up of the center panel and four borders ALL needle-turn applique. But I do love those Piece o'Cake girls and their applique patterns :) This Tree of Life pattern is from their book Applique Outside the Lines.

I decided to go with a loopy floral white on white for the background - the idea of gathering fabric and piecing that background completely overwhelmed me (while hours and hours and hours of hand-sewing did not... go figure!) The most difficult part so far was enlarging the patterns. My only complaint about their patterns is that they don't print them already full size... are you listening, Piece o'Cake girls?

Here's a peek at my progress so far... red tulips, green leaves, and blue branches (see the little worm-to-be in there too?)...

Orange daisies and more blue branches...

It's a tortoise sort of project... slow and steady. But it makes me smile everytime I sit and pull it out of the bag because the bright colors and patterned fabrics are so cheerful :) So while I hope to pull off some project finishes here in the next few weeks, I know that this will not be one of them. And that's okay since it's sort of like reading a book you really enjoy - you want to keep going and find out how everything turns out, but at the same time you don't want it to end.


So Cathy, this is what I meant when I told you earlier that I was already up to my elbows in an applique project!

If you all would like to see some truly spectacular applique work, head over to the Glorious Applique website... now that's some dedication and amazing work :)

It's looking like a kaleidoscope!

We've been having the best fall weather in Northern Illinois! Sunny skies, warm temps, beautiful color... I don't remember ever having a better fall. Consequently, time has been whooshing past and not a lot of sewing has been happening.

The layout for my One Block Wonder kaleidoscope quilt was finalized at our last class session late in September. It took quite a bit of fidgeting and fussing, placing blocks on the design wall, tossing them on the floor, and repositioning them to arrive at a final decision. I haven't yet thought of a name, but I love all the movement and color!


Once all the blocks were pinned and the rows labeled, I transported it home and tacked it to the design wall. Just this week I finally got all the columns sewn together. These are a few shots of my favorite sections. That peacock color is so vibrant!


Love these "bubble" flowers...


And this shot makes me think of the tropical storm radar maps on the weather channel. The one purple/white/green block is just churning out all kinds of activity :)


Next week is supposed to be cooler, so I suspect more sewing will be happening... in between leaf-raking :)

Have a wonderful weekend! I know I will - my parents are coming for a visit!