The Hope Doll

I made these squishy little pillow/dolls with a breast cancer survivor theme.  Appropriately, I named them Hope. If anybody needs one, just message me and I will get you one.

Quilts for Kids - Princess Quilt

I completed this square in a square quilt for Quilts for Kids last week.  I got the fabrics from the clearance bin and I can't believe how adorable they are.  This one went together quickly; I added a small inner border and the larger outer border, used pink flannel for the backing and did some straight-line quilting on the back.  I hope whoever gets it loves it. I know I do!

Tell Me a Story Quilt

I picked up a kit from the Country Threads booth at the International Quilt Show this summer.  It was cool because it used a traditional country pattern swapped out with modern fabrics. The pattern comes from their book called Hibernation and the quilt is called Tell Me a Story. The results using the modern fabrics sure are different than the red/grey flannel version shown in the pattern book.  I completed the top a few months ago and recently had it professionally quilted. Last Thursday I sewed the binding on.  I couldn't wait to photograph the finished quilt however it's been raining for the last few days.  Today's storm is especially brutal, we have tornado warnings and lots of rain.  But between the bouts of rain, the sun will shine in brief intervals. And the temperature is nearly 60 which is so unusual for Wisconsin in November. So here is my finished quilt...

Tell Me A Story Quilt

Friendship Bags

My Little Pony Miniatures

My granddaughter has a thing for miniature My Little Pony figures. They come in little packets for cheap and when you buy them you don't know which one you're getting. Which makes them addictive at a buck ninety nine each. I think the marketing term is blind box sales.  Anyway, here is what some of them look like.

In our hunt to collect them all, of course we have some doubles.  That doesn't matter, Chloe loves them all anyway. And she knows how many she has so she knows when one is missing.  They are a pain to cart around so I thought I would whip up this little bag for her to tote them around. And her sister got one too!

Friendship Bag

Recycled Denim Stuffed with Scrap Quilt Batting

After all the time spent sewing, planning, pricing, packing up and advertising for my church's craft fair, one would think I would take photos of my booth all set up.  But no, I did not. Even with my brand new craft racks ready for the show, I still didn't take the time to snap a single photo.  My excuse is that I was busy chatting with potential customers and making sales all day long.  Not a bad problem to have, but now it's over, and I can get back to normal or my version of normal until the next show.  Whew, I'm exhausted.

With that said, I've been a little burnt out so I took a week off of sewing.  Yes, a whole week. I don't think I ever did that before. I love my sewing room and my fabrics and making stuff.  I will admit that things were in quite a disarray during that last week building up to the craft fair. While trying to do some last minute crafts to sell, I just piled up the scrap fabrics and kept going. So much so that I didn't even post photos of those newer items. Instead I just kept cranking out more. Maybe I will post them sometime but for now, I'm thinking about organizing my fabrics and putting the ones I pulled out away.  There's something about order that makes me want to start again. We shall see if it works!

For now I do have this photo of an over-sized pillow I made out of denim scraps. I love recycled denim. I also discovered that I have a use for those scrap strips of batting that I cut off of finished quilts.  Yes, I have been saving them. I find it difficult to throw away perfectly soft, long strips of scraps even though they are so narrow that I cannot even use them in a potholder. So I cut those long strips into smaller pieces and stuff them into the denim pillows, stitch up the opening and pop them into the wash machine.  After one washing, the batting scraps seem to fluff and fill in the pillow nicely. Even though it is made of denim, it is amazingly soft and cushy. I just love how they feel.

Recycled Denim Floor Pillow

I also made sure the back pocket from a pair of those recycled jeans were placed in just the right spot - I think we can store the remote for the tv in there!

Veterans' Day Tribute Table Topper

Heading to the Veterans' Day Parade

My husband is a proud Vietnam Era US Navy veteran.  As such, he is a member of the local Legion Post and a member of the Legion Riders, a motorcycle group of veterans. Both groups work to support veterans that need help. Through his involvement, I am a member of the American Legion Auxiliary and the Legion Riders as well. So together, we work at volunteer events like visiting and handing out little gifts at the VA Hospital (Zablocki Medical Center) and working to raise money for the construction of a Fisher House here in Milwaukee.  He loves everything we do when it comes to veterans' events.

One of his favorite things is riding his motorcycle in parades.  As a member of the Legion Riders, they get many requests to participate in parades throughout the year.  Meeting all the people who come out and hanging with other veterans is a lot of fun. This veterans' day we went out for lunch at the local Applebee's where veterans eat for free. The free food didn't matter, but hanging with other veterans did. He had such a great time.  So for my little part in his day, I made this cute little table topper for our coffee table.  It has Snoopy in uniform representing all the branches of the military.  I whipped it up just in time to celebrate the day.

Veterans' Day Tribute

Quilts for Kids - Whale Quilt

I finished the whale quilt for Quilts for Kids recently. In fact it's just in time for this Saturday's meeting! I just cut some fabric squares from the whale print and framed the squares out with complimentary colors and sewed them together in rows with a border of those same whales.  I bought some red polka dot fabric for the back but I didn't measure correctly so I didn't get enough.  Instead of buying more or piecing something together, I remembered the 80 yards of flannel I purchased on Black Friday a few years back.  There are still some sizable chunks of it left and I used the red flannel for the back.  It's really nice having that stash as it is perfect for these quilts when I remember that it is there! Finishing these quilts sure feels good.