friday finish - christmas stockings

2 down, 2 to go . . .

These are made of wool I purchased from a quilting store.  

I'm using a tutorial from FabricWorm for  cuffed, lined stockings.   The green checked pompoms are from Joann's.

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hot pink quilts

whoop whoop

finish friday

wip

After 4 weeks of inside renovations on our house, I am starting to see some normalcy in my daily life, including some sewing.  I feel like my house has been shaken upside down, like a salt shaker, then turned back over, with everything needing to find it's place again.  It's actually really great, I've literally gone through every closet, drawer, nook, cabinet, and all those small or large abyss places and de-junked.  I've done A LOT of "letting go".

We've re-textured walls and done lots of painting, but what really shocked me was how much changing door knobs and hinges updates your house.

I'm a big promotor of the ABC organization method talked about in this post.  I realized that recently becoming empty nesters, really does change how our home is organized.  The items that not so long ago took priority in their place, no longer do.  They've been moved from an A to a C in the ABC system.   Am I making any sense?  Anyways, I have a clean house.

This week I'm working on Christmas stockings.  I've never sewn with wool before, I think they'll turn out nice.

I used a couple easy tutorials here and here for stockings with linings and cuffs.

 And look what I stumbled across at the quilt store the other day.  Moda has reprinted this highly sought after yard stick print.  It's darling on bindings, especially for children's quilts.  If you want some, better get it fast, it's disappearing!

I'm making another one of Carrie Nelson's quilts (Miss Rossie Quilts).  They're so beautiful, but the pieces are smaller than my patience allows for.  I've told this person it may take me a year to finish their quilt . . .

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needle and thread

freshly pieced

quilt story

sewing room revealed

Well, I don't exactly have a quilted finish, but after 3 long weeks of a renovation, my sewing room is back in a working state . . . FINISHED!  The walls are painted in Loggia from Sherman Williams.  

I've always wanted a design wall, which is basically batting pinned to the wall.  And that's my current project (more to come)

These spools purchased at market will go in a small antique china cabinet I just inherited (currently being repaired)

Still putting a few things away . . .

Possible curtain fabric . . .

I purchased Fig Tree's new line, Mirabelle at spree.  It's due out March 2014.

I've wanted this pattern by Swirly Girls Design for years, but you had to belong to a club to get it.  Now, it's available in a book, Sew Sweet Fun & Fresh Quilts from Swirly Girls Design . . .

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more market fun

Here are some more beautiful finds at market.  The colors in this quilt in the "Timeless Treasures" booth are magnificent.  

 When you leave the center of your quilting design open, it gives you this great texture.

I am always amazed at the skills that our grandmother's had.

Pieced by hand, with no rulers or rotary cutters.  

than, quilted by hand.  Here's a familiar design.  I love the organic look it has.

My friend Benay from Beanie Girl quilts is a designer for Willow Leaf Studio.  Aren't these beautiful quilting designs?  I will be making a stencil from this pantograph.

This adorable pattern is called "The Chicken and the Egg", available here, is by Riley Blake.

 I rounded a corner, and look who I happened to run into . . . Jenny from the Missouri Quilt Star Company . . . you know, the one with all the tutorial videos?

I will definitely be making up this pattern called "Northern Exposure" by Lunden Designs.

This mannequin reminded me of those commercials of those blue guys advertising Pentium.

Andover Fabrics offers a Downton Abbey line of fabric.

 Some quilt market excitement . . .

Camille Roskelley had a beautiful booth showing off her lovely fabrics and designs.   She and her husband posed for me.

This basket was probably my greatest find at market.  I bought 2!

 They are available from this webstite.

skyfall - Blogger's Quilt Festival

This quilt has a great story.

A little history:

I hope you got to watch Skyfall with 007  . . . 

The movie takes you back to Scotland where James Bond grew up.

Though they didn't bother to tell you that it was the ugliest time of the year there.

This is what it looks like in the summer (yip, I took this picture), after lots of rain. . .

Glencoe Scotland . . . it's gorgeous, absolutely breathtaking, a bit eery, spiritual and very historic, with some tragic stories you can read about here.

ANYWAYS . . .  That's where this quilt gets it's name from because the person whom I made it for has taken me to this beautiful part of the world twice now.

You can read about it's making here and here

 and about it's quilting here.

I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try some feathers.  I'm really pleased with how they turned out.

The pattern came from Carrie Nelson's "Spice of Life Quilts" book.  You can see the inside of those pages here.

It's for a kingsize bed.  It's not easy getting the sizing right, you have to adjust for shrinkage due to washing, and quilting. 

Thank you once again, Amy making this Blog Festival available to us.

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