A Christmas Gift

Here is a quilt I made for my oldest niece Nicole for Christmas. This was a kit from Connecting Threads called "Check out the Stars". I just got it back from the quilter last week. She did orange peels in the squares, it turned out really nice. Now to put the binding on...

This is one of the more difficult quilts I've made only because color placement is paramount in being able to see the stars. I think I did OK. I can see them, but then I know they are there! LOL

It's been a long time....

Wow! I can't believe it's been almost a year since I have posted. I guess I had better get my behind on the wagon again. Here is a Christmas Wall Hanging I just finished. I used a tutorial video on YouTube, and of course I can't find it now! The blocks are made using jelly rolls in the video, although I used honey buns. The fabric line is Figgy Pudding by Basic Grey. I've had these honey buns hanging around my sewing room for a few years now. I originally bought them to make placemats but I love the fabric so much I couldn't bring myself to cut it! I think I will enjoy the fabric hanging on the wall much more. Besides, we don't use placemats in the Clouse house.

An early Christmas gift

Well, according to my last post I should have my cupcake totes done. I have them all cut out but I only had enough PFF for half of the pieces, so need to make another trip to Jo Anns, after this weekend of course! It's going to crazy in there this weekend!

I moved on to other pending projects. My sister recently moved so I made her some curtains for her kitchen, they match the place-mats that my Grandmother gave her, which I made a few years back using the same pattern below. According to Gram, everyone needs place-mats! LOL I thought my sis could use some cheering up and made her these reversible ones, I stuck with a winter theme so she could use them longer. Emma, my 11 year old, made her some ornaments, and a penguin Christmas wreath, and my son, Jacob, he is 14 is making her a few throw pillows.

This is all a complete surprise of course. My Aunt and Uncle will be here today from Michigan, for the Thanksgiving holiday, and they will be taking this little surprise box home with them.

The pattern for this is called Table Graces. Very easy!

I also finished a Doll sized quilt for a swap on About.com. It is blue and white, and uses 10 different fabrics, as was the challenge. I will not post that pic until after Christmas, as I made 2 and one is a special present for a special someone! :)

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Bali Pops and another Row

This is a quilt I am making for my sister, Kelly in Michigan for Christmas. I used a package of Bali Pops for this. In case your unfamiliar with Bali Pops, they are 2 1/2 strips of Bali Batiks, and they are all coordinating colors. I used the Autumn package as that is what I had on hand. This is a simple Boxed Square block from www.maryquilts.com. Mary makes quite a bit of charity quilts and she has a lot of instructions for simple, easy quilts. This one went together very fast. I think she will like it.

Another finish today was my last Row Robin. This Row is for Colene in Idaho. Colene's theme was "In My Garden". I chose ladybugs and butterflies because I always see a lot of them in my garden. I chose the daisy because they are my favorite flower, and the watering can, because, well you can't have a garden without a watering can! :)

I had a lot of fun doing the Row Robin with the Arizona Retreat ladies. Not sure I will do it again, as it did take up a lot of my time this year.

Hello Cupcake!

I am getting started on Christmas gifts earlier than normal this year! I am very impressed with myself! Anywho, I decided to make a few of these Little Cupcake Totes for my nieces and for Emma and her Best Friend, Hannah in Texas. I got 2 done today, they are for Emma & Hannah. I think they turned out so cute! And they are smallish so they can fit a few things in there and it will not be to heavy. I have 2 more to make in different fabrics, lets see if I can get them done before the kids get home from school tomorrow! They do have a half day, wish me luck!

Meet our new family member!

Meet Zeus. He is a Shetland Sheepdog, or Sheltie/mini-collie. He is just going on 3 months old now. He loves to sleep on Tadd's slippers, or his sandals, pretty much anything of his. Spike is just over 6 years old now, and let me say, puppy hood was a distant memory. Now that we have Zeus it's like we are learning all over again. Not fun.

The kids love him. Spike doesn't much care for him, but he does play with him sometimes. Anyhow, he has been keeping me quite busy, potty breaks, cleaning up after him etc.

I am working on one more lantern for the Halloween lantern wall hanging. I've decided that since I do not have any wall hangings for the holidays I am going to remedy that fact. Good luck to me!

Halloween Lanterns and a Row

Here is the latest Row I've finished. This one belongs to Misha in WA. Her theme was blue and white snowflakes.

I have spent the past 2 days have been spent in my sewing room. I have the Block of the Month for my Perry Piecemakers Guild so I made the chinese lanterns from about.com/quilting. I got out my very small stash of Halloween fabrics and made 3 lanterns. These are so easy!

I am going to sew them up into a small wall hanging and have it done hopefully before October 1st!