Holiday

I am in Holiday mode.  For the remainder of the year, I am hoping to be laid back and enjoying time with Family and Friends.  Have a wonderful holiday season.

Holding a baby is one of my favorite things in life.
So small, so trusting, so fragile they are. Jesus came to
us in this form -as a baby.
Are you willing to hold the Christ Child in your heart?

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated.

More Stitched Gifts and Play Time

I made several embroidered towels for Christmas presents for friends.  I used this angel design set that you have seen some of previously.
The brown ones are for a co-worker who is struggling with a medical issue.

 Looking at the close-up you can see that the angel is a lovely sketched looking design.  I adore the effect that these make.

Close-up

The green ones were for a friend that we often meet at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants to have supper with on a Friday night.  Seriously, we first meet IN the restaurant. I think some things are just meant to be.

Saturday morning I did some playing with my wonky 9-patch blocks. I made a few more and then did a sample layout.

The two blocks at the bottom, while I love them, they don't speak the same language.  So they will either go in another quilt or maybe on the back of this one.  Looking at the upper left I can see how much fun this would be using one fabric in every block and many other fabrics for the secondary color. For these  blocks you start with two squares and layer them to cut. By using one fabric consistently for ONE of the colors, all of the others would appear to be scattered over the quilt top.  I will put that on my "I wanna make" list. Ha ha.  I will never finish everything on that list unless I live a very long life.
Do you have one of those lists?


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated.

Another Quilt Angel Thank You

Another Quilt Angel Thank You

This is a brief thank you from a young lady that received a quilt sent by one of the Quilt Angels.


And Ms. Jean, one of the staff -I like to call her a House Mother - also says Thank you.


You can see why I think of her as a "House Mother" - she calls them "my kids" and she truly means it.  I love seeing her firm but gentle with they kids. If I were one of them I would have no doubt that she loved me. I am sure that being with her and the rest of the staff, knowing that type of love, changes these kids for the better.
Don't you love the quilts she is holding in the video?  All of the quilts were and are amazing. I say special Thank  You to all the quilt angels and sponsors for helping to wrap these kids in a tangible expression of unconditional love.  Peace be with you!

Tomorrow, I plan to show some more presents that I worked crafty "magic" on and gave to friends and co-workers.  Be sure and stop by.

In Progress

My scarf is still on the loom.  I have had other things that I had to do - it is that time of year isn't it?

I took this from this seemingly odd angle so that you can see the cloth(scarf) wrapping around the cloth rod. That shows that I have made progress. (although not nearly enough.)

I also embroidered some towels to give as inexpensive gifts.  The simply do not photograph well.  But here are the pictures, such as they are.

The brown ones photgraphed much better.  The one on the left has "white spots" showing.  That is a bit of leftover shine from the water soluble topping I used. I didn't have the iron-away type which is best for gifts as you don't have to wet the towels.  I did not wash them, but just sponged away the leftover topping. Those white spots show that I didn't get it all.  I must say that I like these sewn out on towels that don't have a pile on the surface. The delicate stitching on the background angels is much prettier on smooth fabric.  Lesson learned.

I just got a huge surprise!  I was looking at my youtube channel and I have 525 subscribers.  WOW! That may be more than follow my blog. That has made me smile and do a happy dance.

I hope your projects are moving along or perhaps you are finished -if so, I congratulate you.


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated.

Quilt Angels - A Teen Speaks

We did a couple of videos of recipients saying why they like the quilt they received. I really thought that I had already uploaded two of these - but one of them is missing. (Sigh) So it will be next weekend before I can get it from the photographer.  Only two of them were willing to talk on camera. Again, for privacy issues there are no faces shown.

Here is one of the guys telling why he chose this quilt.
I had to edit the video to remove his face so you don't hear him say "thank you" But I think with what he says you can tell he is grateful.

There is a funny story behind this.  The executive director was telling me that the teens were asked to make a list of things they would want for Christmas.  My church had an Angel Tree where you could pick an angel and buy for them from these lists.  None of the items were extravagant.  I saw things like "a watch" "new socks" "Axe cologne" (hey, they are teenagers).  On one guy's list he put "anything to do with fishing." (I am using Joe to protect privacy, it is not his real name.)  When the quilts were put on the table, another guy saw this quilt and picked it up.  I said "Who is the fishing guy?"  He grinned and said "that is Joe.   Hey, where is Joe"  Then he handed him the quilt and said "Look at this one"  Joe took the quilt and said "This is the one I want!"
Now who would have thought that we would have had a fishing quilt, just for this guy?


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated.

Angel Quilts - Delivery and Winners

Saturday, December 14th dawned rainy and dreary. The weather forecast said that we should have sun by afternoon. That didn't happen. The weather was dreary all day long.  But, we had sunshine! It was in our hearts and on our faces, but most of all on faces of the teens at Ogden house. I wish I could share their smiles with you, but that is prohibited. So, trust me, there were smiles!

Thanks to a group of amazing quilters from many places, we had 26 quilts donated. It was a delight to unload the trunk of the car at the facility. We put the quilts on the pool table in the common are of the facility and let the teens choose the quilt that said "love" to them.
One quilt wasn't even unfolded before it was chosen.  The young lady saw it and said "I want that one" The sender had included a note to be given with the quilt.  This was priceless.  The note said that the quilt was for someone special. I heard this young lady proudly telling the others "I am special." She also showed the note to everyone.  Everyone needs a chance to be special. I hope that all of these kids know that they are special, indeed, that they are loved. Many of them checked to see "where did my quilt come from?"
One young lady chose her quilt for the backing fabric. That was a surprise to me, but I was so pleased to see that it made her happy.  (you will hear her tell why in the days to come.)
The staff at the facility that were working, Jean and Eric, are wonderful people. You will see Ms. Jean in the prize drawing video.  Several times she almost teared up looking at the quilts and talking about "her kids" at the facility.

So what did it look like around that table?  I had to crop the pictures to get rid of faces, but here is a bit to see.

Everyone was looking at the quilts, The quilts were folded, unfolded and refolded several times.

Even Mr. Eric was looking at the quilts. He commented that they are really art. You can see his arm in the picture below. 

I have a couple of videos of individual teens saying "Thank you" and telling why they love the quilt they chose. We filmed them from the neck down for privacy reasons.  Those will show up in a day or two. I still need to process that video.
So, or should I say SEW,  here are the winners:


All of the winners have been emailed and I have heard back from most of them. There are two that I am still arranging the logistics of the prize claiming.

Thanks to everyone! And Merry Christmas to you all! 
Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated.

Ooops!

Yes, that is what I said "Ooops!"

I made Christmas presents for some co-workers, but I forgot to take pictures. I thought of it as I was tying the bow on the last package. (great timing, huh?)

So I decided that I would take pictures when they opened the packages. And that would have worked, but OOPS!   I knew my niece was going to have a minor surgery, it was scheduled at 6:30 a.m.  I planned to be there then go to work. It was rescheduled to 5:30 (ugh, have to get up awfully early, but better for getting to work)  I was there at 5:30.  I had the presents in my car trunk.  Perfect, right?
OOPS!  When I left, just in time to get to work, she was still in holding and waiting to be taken back. So I told her hubby to "let me know when she goes back..." etc.  

I got to work and chaos had ensued.  The night before my boss had been called into an investigation and it had blown up into a major thing. Presents were opened quickly when we had a break - but OOPS, I was in work mode and forgot all about pictures.

So I will share it this way. I took bought kitchen towels and used my embroidery machine. As I had five gifts to give I chose the designs. But when I sewed out the first one, I decided to make at least one more of it.
That was this design

It sewed out simply lovely.  So I did another but used a variegated green and yellow thread.
Then I did this design on one, but I did two snowflakes,  I wanted three but only two would fit in the hoop..

Next up was this angel

I used a gold for the larger angel and medium blue for the smaller angel.  And I did two of them with the smaller angels facing.
Next I used this angel

I used a gray thread that looked like pencil sketching for the angel and a bright red for the dove design. I put two of them and had the doves facing.   this was my favorite.

All of the designs came from Embroidery Library.  It is my "go to" place for embroidery designs in a hurry. All of these were already purchased.  But my favorite thing is that you can sign in and see your order history and download your design again. (so great if your computer dies and you have lost your designs!)

I also made an owl potholder for one of the girls. But that is a private joke!

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated.

Sale Alert

But first another picture of a couple of my paintings. First- one for Pat, who doesn't like abstract painting.

The Old Yellow Car was a Christmas present to one of my nephews.

Then an abstract - but it isn't hard to see that it is a mountain scene.  Maybe Pat will like this one too.

This was sold to a dear friend in Tennessee. 

Now, about that sale.....

I thought that some of my faithful readers might like to know about the Craftsy Flash sale this weekend.  Whether you buy as gifts for others OR as gifts for yourself (because you are worth it) This looks promising.  Shop early for the best selection.

Still haven't found the perfect present for the crafter in your life? Stuff their stockings with fabric and yarn from Craftsy! From Friday, December 13 - Monday, December 16, designer yarn is on sale up to 80% off and designer fabric is up to 65% off. Order by 12/16 to guarantee delivery by 12/24...sorry, this is only for US residents. Hurry over to Craftsy! This sale expires on 12/16 at midnight MT.

Craftsy 80% Off Yarn Flash Sale through 12/16
Craftsy 65% Off Fabric Flash Sale through 12/16

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated.

What do you do?

I am making Christmas presents and some of the people that will get them read my blog. What do you do?
Perhaps I should share a Christmas scene I painted one year.

There, at least you know I wasn't eaten by wild hogs.

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated.

More Wonky Blocks and a New Scarf on the Loom

This time of year there is a lot going on and I don't seem to be getting a lot of creative work done. That is okay as my life is full and happy.
At least on the weekend I can get a little sewing and such done.

I worked on the Wonky 9 patch project again.  As you can see, I did two pairs of blocks. I am striving to have lots of contrast in this quilt.  I also experimented with the cutting. I did the two blocks on the bottom first.  These were using the same "pattern" of cutting that I used for the previous blocks.  Then I made the purple/yellow blocks and made the lines parallel instead of opposing.  You will notice that the opposing line blocks will join in a true mirror image of shapes.  This is not so with the parallel lines version. Perhaps one of you who studied geometry (and did better at it than I did) can explain why to me.  Actually, I see why but I can't explain it well. - Maybe it is just too early on Sunday morning!

I also put a warp on the loom to make another scarf. I just love the weaving process.  It  is also fun to create the patterns. This is a plain weave (so far ) But I just had an idea of how to incorporate a small amount of Brooks Bouquet lace into it.

When I was stringing (warping) the loom for this, I had written out the order of the colors but I decided to change something so it was a bit "scribbledy" so I didn't do what I really planned.  That led to a creative decision in the warping process.  Do you ever realize you made an oops and then just decide to punt and leave it?  Sometimes I undo and fix it, but sometimes it leads to a better idea.
Now,  let me point out an "unfixable" oops in this.  It is minor so I am leaving it. At the lower right edge of the scarf there is a wobble in my tension - the cloth juts in slightly.  In the grand scheme of things, that will not matter, so I am good with it.

One of my favorite children's books, A Wrinkle in Time, has a scene that speaks to accepting your flaws.  One of the characters, who is a cosmic helper of sorts, tells her "Meg, I give you your faults" - Meg doesn't understand at the time, but learns that her very worst faults can be channeled and used as strengths.  So, I leave you with this: "I give you your faults"

Peace be with you.


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated.

More Blocks and a Scarf

My goodness, I have gotten so involved in my life that I have forgotten to post anything lately.

In my last post I showed you a couple of blocks that I had made in a wonky 9 patch style.  Since they are stack and cut, you use two fabrics a little larger than the blocks and get two blocks.
I did two more of those before I put it aside to weave a scarf for a commission.

The top two in red and white look great.  But what happened to the bottom pair????  I know! Sigh.  After cutting and sewing the first seam, I didn't stack them back the same way. Obviously they were twisted rather than being in the same orientation.  I am calling those two ultra-wonky 9 patches. Ha ha. The will go right on into the quilt and it will be fine. If I were doing the entire quilt in two colors this would ruin the pattern, but since it is a more scrappy quilt - it will be just fine.

The scarf is still attached to the loom at one end. This is the end where the warp is tied onto the take-up rod.  Those big bow knots hold the tension evenly.

The black is a "header" to evenly space the warp
It doesn't remain in the final scarf.

This lovely yarn is Peruvian Highland Wool.  The wool comes from sheep that are a cross between Merino (with a soft fine wool) and Corriedale (with a strong long fibered wool.)  It is a great yarn to work with.

The pattern I used was of my own design. One of the "tricks" with weaving matching stripes is to measure your weaving. I kept a tape measure right with me as I was weaving.  I knew how long I planned for the warp so I sat down and planned the pattern.  I didn't want too many color changes in the weft.  But I did want the scarf to be interesting to look at.

All the measuring paid off!  The sections match. Here are some pictures to show it.

When you weave a dark and light yarn together, it produces a lovely tweed effect.  You can see that really well where the darkest and lightest threads cross.  And when the warp and weft match in color the somewhat expected result is a nice solid color.  That dark purple in the lower picture shoew this well.

I need to finish off this scarf and get it on the way to its new home.  I also have some little presents I need to make for a few co-workers.  (wink! I got a pattern for them from another blogger. )

It is rare that I don't have some project going.  I am even planning to take the small loom with me to the beach when we go to visit the Nana.


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated.