Needles and Pens

I almost forgot to blog my to-dos for the week, so before it's too late, here goes. First, I WAS going to put finishing this pillow on my to-do list: But I already finished it before the list was made, so that would sorta be cheating. (The fun stuff always seems to get done first.) Where was I? Oh, yes. The list... well, I've had a little trouble today deciding what most needs doing, and I never actually MADE a list. It's just been one of those days. So I guess I'll just throw a few things out here that have been bugging me and see what happens: Clear off the kitchen catch-all counter. In the sewing room, since I've completely demolished the organization of my flannels, I need to sort through them all again, and maybe come up with another flannel project for the shop. And... (dare I say it?) I've been REALLY thinking about working on that upstairs bathroom that never got touched during last year's "Better Home Challenge." I...

It's been a busy couple of weeks around here (and I have a camera now!) so there's lots to share on this Sew & Tell Friday . Late last Friday, I finished binding the quilt for the guest bed. (I blogged more about this on Monday, if you'd like to see all the details and pics .) And if you remember the cradle from last week's Sew & Tell , you know there had to be a matching cradle quilt, too: But the majority of this week has been all about pillows, pillows, pillows. First, the quilted pillow shams for the bed. I was down to the tail end of my green Fairy Frost, so I had to make it stretch for two shams -- thus the (maybe a little TOO busy) checkerboard pattern: Yeah, I definitely would have preferred solid green for the shams. Something was needed to break up all those squares... So I went on a throw pillow kick. I can't say enough great things about this zippered pillow tutorial from The House on Hill Road . It's super quick and easy, an...

A lot was accomplished this weekend, but part of it has to wait a bit, so as not to ruin a surprise. I did, however, finish my December "Get 'er Done" project, the Starlight Angels panel, and that I can share. ;o) Here's the panel before: And after borders, quilting and binding: I also discovered I had a matching pillow panel (where was that when I took my "before" picture?) so I made those up, too. There was an extra Santa pillow, too, which I gave to my grandson. I had to steal pillow forms from other pillows, so I'll have to watch for the next sale on those and replenish my supply. They look so cute on the couch here in my office/family room space. It's nice to have a little touch of Christmas in this room! Lots yet to do this week, but first priority is to finish my mom's birthday quilt. I discovered last week that I won't be able to quilt it without destroying some of the decorative blocks, so my sister and I will be...

Now that December is here, I'm getting seriously antsy about the number of things I need to finish in the next few weeks. Thinking about it can make a few small finishes feel like a drop in the bucket, quickly set aside in order to move on to the next thing. This is one reason Sew & Tell Friday is so great. It's nice to be able to take a moment to celebrate even the smallest finishes, especially at this time of year, before plunging back into the mountain of must-dos. I've already blogged on two of my finishes this week, so feel free to click on the title if you'd like to see all the particulars and fun stuff. Both of these were catching-up projects for my 2011 challenges. If things keep clicking along like they have been, there may be a chance I'll get them all done by the end of the year! (Though the Christmas must-dos must come first.) First, the "Santa's Teddy Bear" pillow, finished last weekend for the "Get 'er Done" Challe...

Sometime in 2006, I came across Heart to Heart Folk Art, the website of artist, Jackie Neitzke, offering quilting patterns that included her original art printed on fabric panels. I fell in love with one titled, "Watch the Lamb," which depicted a little girl looking adoringly at the nativity scene beneath the Christmas tree. It brought back childhood memories of setting up our nativity, and the many photos my mom took of similar scenes through the years. I just had to buy that art panel for my mom, and this little 12" mini was her Christmas gift that year: At the same time, I bought this panel for myself, titled "Santa's Teddy Bear." Mine, of course, languished in a box in my sewing room until I was finally challenged to finish it for the "Get 'er Done" Challenge this year. It should have been my August project, and I nearly let it slip by me again, but this weekend I pulled it out to work on "just for fun." Like so many oth...

I'm running a little late today for Amylouwho's Sew & Tell Friday , having slept in this morning and recuperated from all the Thanksgiving festivities yesterday. I'm SO not a Black Friday shopper, but as one friend said on Facebook this morning, I'm glad they're out there helping to boost the economy today! :o) Here's a photo of the crowd we had at our house yesterday. There's my mom and dad, my two sisters and their families, plus our own. Thirty-one of us in all. Missing are my two brothers and their families (which would have given us 19 more!) and one sister's daughter-in-law, who wasn't able to come. I don't think we could fit in one house anymore if we all got together at once. And this is only one side of the family! We are very thankful indeed, to be so generously blessed with loving families. :o) Sewing-wise, it was not a super-productive week. I did have one finish, only because it was nearly done last week and all I had lef...

Made lots of progress on my sewing "to-do's" for this week: Finish shoe blocks for UFO challenge (and the top is ready to quilt!) Add borders, layer and pin my mom's birthday quilt Plan two baby quilts that I need to start on soon! (hopefully cutting/sewing this weekend!) Get started on my November "Get 'er Done" pillow project (Started yesterday and finished today, just in time for Sew & Tell Friday at Amylouwho's!) My November "Get 'er Done Challenge" project was four throw pillows made from this Psalm 23 panel: I was given this panel by a friend who was clearing out some of her stash, and she also gave me some coordinating fabric for the pillow backs. I was particularly happy to see this panel among the rest, because it had special significance to me... but more on that in a bit. On past pillow projects, I sort of muddled my way through on the zippers. This time around, I found a really nice tutorial by Erin at t...