Ho, Ho Ho!

Ok, so I have had these done for awhile now. . . 

. . . and have been waiting till my daughter in law got her mantel finished and decorated before I posted any photos. She wanted a a homespun look for her stockings. While they are not "primitive" they are made with homespun fabrics and each has a simple basic applique--perfect for their rustic fireplace.

I ironed a yard of off-white flannel and traced the pattern for the cuff 5 times onto the yardage. Then, with my purple air-dry fabric marker, I free-handed all the names in primitive stitchery letters. With black pearl cotton, I used giant stitches to make all the names.  When the stitching was done, I cut out the cuffs, and attached them to the rest of the stocking.

Each applique has a few simple 3-dimensional embellishments.

Dad's gingerbread man has his buttons and is holding a candy cane button.

These stars have snowflake buttons . . . 

My 6 year old grandson, Cam, was here the day I finished stitching on the appliques.  I was going to give him the gingerbread man stocking, but he said, "I call the tree!"

I said, "don't you want the gingerbread man?"  He replied, "No, It looks more like Dad, he can have the gingerbread man."  Of course, he also wanted lots more decorations on his tree.

Another snowflake button for a star and little ornament buttons.  JoAnn's had the cutest button assortment.

This wooden snowflake was the perfect touch for Mom's mitten.

It gently dangles from a loop of nubby yarn.

The pine cone is actually a button; the branch is not, but is sewn on by hand.

As you can see, the cuffs are also 3D and the back of each stocking matches the fabric on the front.

The stockings are hung from a rustic cedar mantel that our son made for their new house.  He also installed recessed LED lights under the mantel and electrical outlets on the top. 

~Merry Christmas~

Santa's Workshop

Here is a sneak peek of what is going on in Santa's workshop this week. 

My son and his wife moved into their new house this summer and I promised her new stockings for her new rustic mantel.

Yesterday I cut them out, appliqued them, and got them quilted--ready for the embellishments today.  Good thing I save small strips of batting.   I just cut up some chunks and mounted all the stockings on a piece of muslin to quilt them all at the same time.

Ho, Ho, Ho!....stay tuned, more photos to come when they are done!

The "Dirty Teams"

It's all about the fabric . . .

My little grandson (age 6) is fascinated with construction equipment and has been practically since he was born.  When he started to talk, he called all of his trucks, loaders, backhoes, etc. his "Dirty Teams." 

His room has recently been painted and trimmed with a "Dirty Teams" border. Finally, Granny is getting his matching quilt done.

I cut up a panel of fabric that was meant for a soft fabric story book.

 As for the quilting, it's open to let this become a comforter-like quilt.  The panels are just quilted around the main vehicle in the picture.

Construction pipes, and the grey and red bricks.  Every time he would look in my drawer to see if I had his quilt finished, he would remind me not to forget his pipes!

I had fun with the back too!  I found all this construction fabric on a road trip in Montana last spring.  I didn't have enough of one fabric for the backing, so I pieced some orange that I didn't end up using on the top.  When I decided to piece in his name, I was short on the green, so I put the rest of the blue from the top border into the green. 

Like I said . . . it's all about the fabric. . .  

Paradigm Shift

All Done!  I am lovin' this quilt I just finished for my 15 year old granddaughter.  She painted her room in 2 shades of blue and accessorized with black and white.  Then she requested a black and white quilt with a pop of blue.

The center is patterned from a lap quilt, "Paradigm Shift" by Janelle Cedusky.

I made the center the exact size of a her double mattress.  The borders will make a 10 inch drop.  Quilters Dream Puff batting to make it more like a comforter than a quilt.  The blue centers are also an assortment of shades.

By keeping the quilting open and simple it will be lofty and soft.

Fun wide quilt back, no seams  Yay!

She will get to have it after school tonight.  Can't wait to see it in her room.  

    

November Wall Hanging

Whoot!  I was quilting at 6am yesterday morning to get this done along with everything else.  It went up on my Mom's door today.  It is my new favorite...each month is my favorite ...until the next month!

This was a fun quilt to make.  

Just a fun assortment of textures on this piece.

Cute Baby Quilt

This was such a bright and cheerful quilt to have on the frame. This was made by a client for her sister's first grand baby due in March.  Love all the sunny yellow accenting the black and white~

Light custom with some simple line dancing in each block to keep it very soft and cuddly.

I love how easily you can work your way back and forth across the quilt with this simple yet effective motif.

Bright yellow minky on the back.  You get a couple of secondary patterns here that you can see on the front.

Yummy quilt for a little girl.

October Wall Hanging

Well, I just realized I had not posted photos of my October wall hanging.  I finished it up the last week in September and have been so busy remodeling the house and painting I forgot.

This was another fun wall hanging for my Mom. She laughed when I showed her this scruffy, long legged cat.  I'll be the first to admit that he is strange one, but makes this a fun, fantasy folk art piece.  I would not use wool strips for the "whiskers" again, but it was part of the kit.

When I showed the top to my daughter, she suggested I do ghosts, webs, etc in the sky.  Dang, I never thought of that....I had already done a quick blowin' in the wind background.

Here is is hanging on the background on her door. 

Have a Spooky Halloween!