Holiday Crafting

Every year there are a few crafting magazines that have great ideas for ornaments and other decorations for the holidays.  This is one of my favorites.  The ideas are always both fresh and classic. They can be done by anyone who is willing to spend the time to create a special item and/or gift.



This photo came from the Better Homes and Gardens website http://www.bhgsip-mediakit.com/r5/showkiosk.asp?listing_id=2069148&category_id=55204

Down in the Valley Update

Here is the Halloween wall hanging that I have been working on.  All three blocks are complete -- the borders will be really fast since it is so small.  The finished size will be approximately 18" x 31.5".



These are the buttons from the  pack that will be used to embellish the little quilt.  Just Another Button Company makes such cute buttons and when they are coordinated into a fun pack like this it is hard to refuse!

Knit & Crochet and Football

Football season is a great time to work on simple knit or crochet projects.  All three cotton washcloths use Sugar 'n Cream cotton.   It seemed like time for a little variety and  the washcloth in progress is from the Lion Brand website of free patterns.

Down in the Valley

Down in the Valley is my latest project.  There will be three blocks that will be used to create a Halloween wall hanging.  This is the top block -- I started it a couple days ago -- all pieces are complete and ready to assemble.  I used EQ's Town & Country Patchwork to print the patterns - this is paper pieced.

Vintage Apples Needlepoint -- Melissa Shirley

Melissa Shirley designs are wonderful.  When visiting her website www.melissashirleydesigns.com  this is what pops up on the home page -- fabulous!!  Another canvas for my wish list!

Photo from Melissa Shirley Designs

Yellow Brick Road Quilt

Every quilter I know has made at least one Yellow Brick Road quilt. 







This quilt had been finished and waiting for the binding for over two years.  All of the fabrics used to piece the top plus the backing and binding are Marble Dots from Moda. It was quilted on a longarm (by me) using the Double Rose Vine pantograph designed by Norma Counce. I finished the binding today.

Yellow Brick Road is by Atkinson Designs, you can find this pattern and other great patterns on their website: http://www.atkinsondesigns.com/

Galaxy by Needle Delights

Galaxy is a counted thread project designed by Needle Delights in Florida.  It took several days -- and a couple of field trips -- to make color choices.  This is the Tahiti color selection with a few changes (starting with changing Tahiti to Cantolupe and more).  I was planning to post a weekly update on my progress but only managed to take these two pics.

Just getting started:



My completed piece:





You can see the original piece with several color variations at http://www.needledelights.com/index.php/photos/3.html

Quilted Floor Pillow

If you found this blog...wow!!

This has been a great summer for finishing projects.  This is my latest project:

The pattern I used is from DuAnn's Designs called  "Flannel Floor Pillows".  I made a couple of super simple changes to the pattern and used a 24" pillow form.  This was my first project where I used my Elna to do the actual quilting.  I'm pretty happy with the end result.