Christmas Cookies...

No sewing lately. But lots of baking. Recipe here.


Roll out sugar cookies. Recipe here.


Peanut Butter Cookies with Reese's Miniature Peanut Butter Cups.

My MIL's recipe for peanut butter cookies. These are the best. I promise you will love them! They melt in your mouth.

Peanut Butter Cookies

3/4 C. butter beaten soft
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. white sugar
1 C. Peanut Butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 C. flour

mix, chill, bake @ 375, Enjoy!

How Many Times...

can you use a quilt pattern?
This is really just a rhetorical question, like how much fabric is too much? How many shoes are too much? How much chocolate is too much? There's no real answer here.


In 2008 I made this quilt from the tutorial on Crazy Mom Quilts blog. I gave the quilt to one of my dearest friends.


Then I wanted to make a quilt for my husband to take with him surf fishing. So I made this one I called Land and Sea. I changed the sashing measurements on this one.

I thought I was done with the pattern. But I have used it a bunch. 2 I don't have pictures of, they were smaller one my MIL Christmas quilt last year and one was for a baby shower last year.


I'm using it for my Sweet quilt. I wanted to make sure I used a pattern to showcase my absolute favorite fabric ever, the peeps.

It's a great pattern for doing that.


My friend who I gave the first quilt to is expecting and I made a baby quilt for her this past week. Guess what quilt I made?!

Everyone loves this pattern. And since they are gifts I make what they want.

It is a great pattern. I am grateful for the tutorial. Thanks Amanda Jean, I feel like I owe you something!lol!

P.S. friends and family, I can make other kinds of quilts ;p

2 and Not Much New...

I have been pensive lately. Maybe it's the weather or time of year. Not sure. I've been debating whether or not to keep blogging and flickering and etsying. I don't know. And I am not going to be a big bummer so for now I'll show you pics of 2 small quilted goodies I made for a friend of mine.



She saw the birdies I'd been making and said her sisters thing was "love birds" so I said I'd make her one in her "country style". I used homespun, haven't worked with it for a while. I forgot how much I like it.


And as a little surprise I sent her a Christmas table runner. I hope she likes it.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving if you are in the part of the world that celebrates that.





♥

Chain Piecing...

I find that the longer I quilt, the more I like chain piecing. It saves time and thread. So do you chain piece? Do you use leaders and enders?


Inquiring minds want to know!

A Quilt, A Pattern, A Mini and a Minier...

I finished "my" Film Strip Quilt. I am really pleased with it.



It's not washed and crinkled yet. That is the best part too me. The picture is a bit yellowy from the morning sun.

I made a few improve blocks for the back and threw in an extra strip I had.


There are even some puckers in there for your viewing pleasure too. Keepin' it real!lol! So I told you in this post about my plan for this pattern. Then I got to thinking about all of the fees for Etsy and Paypal, and that by the time I got the money donated it would not amount to much. So I'm going to post the link to the PDF here and on the side bar and I'm hoping if your led to, that you make a donation to St. Jude or even your local children's hospital. This is so important to me. Thank you.


I have a long list of quilts in progress. I also have 2 custom quilt orders. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, what do i do? Start another project. Oh yeah ,I'm crazy like that. lol.

I pulled out my scraps from this bag I made last year.


I made a mug rug with some of them.


The back.



While I was at it I used some scraps of Batik I had left from making my friend a table runner last year. I had the chance to see the runner recently and loved it! I have to work with Batiks more. I also have to get a picture of that table runner.


I machine bound these, which I had not done in quite a while. It looked pretty good. I found that I definitely like sewing the binding to the back of the quilt and folding it over to the front and then top stitching it down. Still think my hand binding looks better.

What is your preferred method of binding?

Still Quilting...

I've been busy piecing and quilting. I tried sulky cotton thread. I used Sulky blendables 30 wt. in the color Natural Taupe for the quilt above. I am so in love with this! I feel like for the first time, since I began free-motion quilting, that I am actually drawing with the thread. It looks great.




I also purchased some of Sulky's 12 wt. thread which is more thick than your ordinary thread. I think this will look great with the linen that I work with. I really need something that will show up. The other threads seem to get lost in the linen.

What thread do you use?


* If you e-mailed about the PDF and did not hear back from me, it was because you were a no-reply address. Please get in touch with me if you still want the pattern while I am offering it for free. It goes on sale next Monday in my shop to benefit St. Jude. Thanks guys!♥Erin*

Film Strip Table Runner...Tutorial Info...

I made a table runner from one film strip section.


It turned out great.


I love it. It's my new favorite! And is now available in my shop.

***Okay so instead of posting a tutorial directly on the blog, I made a PDF file. It was pretty fun. Making a PDF is something I have wanted to do for quite a while. So what I'm going to do is send you the link for the tutorial if you want it. Just send me in e-mail or leave a comment and I'll get back to you. My purpose for doing it this way is, I'm only going to offer it for free for a short time. I intend on putting it in my shop and ALL of the money I make from the sale of the pattern will be given to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. A cause that is dear to me. If you are a person who gives charitable donations please consider St. Jude.***

Yesterday Vic from The Silly BooDilly and I met up for breakfast. It was so much fun. We talked, and talked, and. talked. And laughed. She is one of the sweetest persons/people I have met. She is crazy talented. She oozes inspiration and I am very blessed to be able to call her a friend. It was a great time. Can you believe they started vacuuming , Vic? I think that's hilarious. How long can you talk quilts? That's what my husband wants to know.

It's Almost Finished...

I'm so excited and completely floored by the response to my Filmstrip Quilt through the blog, e-mail and Flicker. I am proof reading everything now and am making a PDF so that it is easy to download.


I have completed one quilt. I'd like to finish the quilt from the original three filmstrip sections before I post the tutorial. Either way I'll have it ready soon. ☺

On a side note, my picture of the sketchy birdie family was on Flicker's Explore page of interesting things. Another flicker'er let me know. I wasn't familiar with this feature but apparently it's a pretty neat thing. I thought that was pretty cool. So toot, toot. That was my own horn by the way.

Love Birds

Just one more....


before the Film Strip Tutorial. I'm still drafting that and should be finished shortly. But I had to show these cute little love birds.

It's Sketchy!

I have been wanting to try sketchy free motion applique for so long now. I first saw it here. I needed to make something that I could finish the same day. So I decided to cut into some precious scraps of Flea Market Fancy that Kristine so sweetly gave to me. I made this mini with them. I got big oooh's and ahhh's and "I love it"'s, so that was good.


I then went on to make this little birdie family.


And here is case for an I Pod Touch. This is the front. It's a bit wonky, I was sewing it at 2 am with out a plan, just cutting and sewing. So that happens sometimes.


This is the back. I quilted it with swirls. Can't really see it in the picture though.


A matching sun glasses case. (front)


and back. They have been getting good use since I made them. That's why they don't look nice and crisp. I'm glad!

So go give it a try. It's loads of fun. Betcha can't make just one!


* filmstrip tutorial coming...this week I hope*

Film Strip Sections

Let me tell you how much I love these! A LOT!



I thought I was only going to make a small quilt with them. Now I think I am going to make a bigger one either with these or an entirely separate quilt.

I'll post the measurements / tutorial on these, with pics, when I make the next one.



Have a great weekend!

Reflecting Today...Flim Strip Quilt

I woke up thinking about my dad. He was an artist. A great one too! I always had beautiful pictures on my walls in my bedroom, of anything I would ask him to draw for me, done in pastels. I loved them. Some of my most prized earthly possessions are his paintings. But he was also a photographer. He was a photographer for the military in the 60's. He bought me my first SLR camera (before digital) for my high school photography class, but honestly, I learned more from him than my class. I was thinking about how we always had film in our refrigerator. I knew I'd love Ashley's blog as soon as I saw the title. I think of my dad every time I read it. It also reminded me of him recently when I was watching Bridges of Madison County and Clint Eastwood's character puts his film in Meryl Streep's character's refrigerator. In the day of digital not too many people have film in the fridge or a dark room (we had one of those too) and I think that's why I so appreciate these little things that have reminded me of this part of my dad. Quilting is something that also reminds me of him. I started quilting just before he got sick. He moved in with us and we took care of him. My husband took just as good care of him as I did, for which I am truly grateful and blessed. My husband often refers to my dad as one of his best friends, and he was. I remember hand quilting my second quilt in the wee hours of the morning, sitting with my dad, during his last precious days on this earth. It reminds me of him. He was encouraging and when I first began learning to quilt, before he was very ill, he would tell me what a wonderful sewist my great grandmother was. It gave me sense of why I felt so in my element sewing, unlike drawing or painting or crocheting or jewelry making, I enjoy all of those things, but sewing is mine.

I decided to start a film strip quilt, my own way, in memory of my dad. I'm going to use the rest of my Arcadia and Kona solids in Coal, Artichoke and Stone. I think he would have loved it! Prismacolors also remind me of him. I have his old ones put up. I remember using those as a child, breaking them and him not getting upset at all. Never did! My children used them also. Some are no more than an inch long. Yup, I remember him standing with his pencil sharpener and getting all of his pencils sharp. That sound, I love. We use that same sharpener everyday for school. I miss him and rest in the fact that we will meet again. Thank Jesus for that. My dad never had a bad word or a mean temper. I wish I were more like that. I could go on and on....thanks for listening.

♥

Finished Quilts, Lots of Blocks, Charm Talk

I finished the Honky Dory Whirlygig.


It's adorable and is already going to good use.


I was going to bind it with the same fabric in this block. Which is also my favorite block! That was my original idea, but I didn't want to order it online and then wait for it. I bought some Kona solids, Sweet Pea and Bahama Blue.


I thought the Sweet Pea would look better with the front and it did, but the Bahama Blue was perfect with the back. Since the BB looked good with the front also, I went with that.


Everyone seems to like the back better than the front. It's a "vintage" sheet from grandma's house.

If that weren't enough whirlygigs I made a small one this weekend for one of my nieces. It's just enough to snuggle with. I really need to add more purple to my stash. This was all I had. I did some straight line quilting 1/4 inch from each side of the vertical and horizontal seams. It was a nice break from the usual stipple quilting. I plan on doing more of it.


I've been making a 1 or 2 Bliss star blocks almost daily. I really love how these are looking. Yardage of Bliss is supposed to be out now. I have to visit the LQS to see if they have it yet. I know they are going to get it because when I bought the charm pack there, the girl working and I were talking about how pretty it is and that we both couldn't wait for it to come in.


I finally cut into my Sweet (Urban Chicks for Moda) Peeps. It's been well over a year since I ordered the FQ bundle and I thought it was time. You can only pull them out and talk to, don't judge:) refold them for so long.


I made a skirt last year with some of the FQ's and used a little of my light blue peeps in this quilt and few pink peeps in these. Other than that they have been waiting.


After lots of thought about what to do with them and seeing Kristine's Flea Market Fancy quilt I thought the pattern was just right. I decided to show off the little peeps in the center of each block. This will be the fourth quilt I've made using this pattern but I still really love the simplicity of it. I still have the pink and green colorways to go yet and then I'll be putting it together.


And because I can't seem to work on just one thing at a time I've been making more solid blocks here and there.

I did some destashing. I got rid of about 75% of my fabric. Yup! Gone. The closet in my sewing room is a little bare but it really frees up my mind. I have had some of the fabric since 2002. I didn't really like it anymore but it was good quality fabric. Tastes change over time. I gave it all to my SIL and Mom. I'm really trying to grow some quilters here!

Charm swappers! Charms are coming in and they are really nice. I can't wait to see them all.

I am going to have another swap after this one. I'm thinking Amy Butler charms. I'll post details and sign ups when this swap is completed!