More Christmas sewing

I didn’t actually do any quilting this month, but I did do a lot of sewing.  In addition to the pillows (see previous post) I must have made 3 dozen Santa ornaments and 1 Hanukkah decoration.

I purchased this Santa from the boutique at my guild’s quilt show last year.  Not sure who made it, but I thought it was just too cute.  It was easy to figure out how it was made so I set about making one for nearly everyone – my family members in Estonia, teachers, relatives, friends!  Santa is about 5 inches long with his hat flipped over.

If anyone knows the original designer, please let me know.  I’d love to give credit where credit is due.

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My son’s 4th grade teacher is Jewish, so I had to come up with at least one item that did not have a Santa.  I have been collecting collecting Judaica fabric for a number of years to make a wedding quilt for my friend, Rayna.  She was my Maid of Honor 15 years ago and I was in her wedding 7 years ago.  Ok – so I’m a little late with the quilt – but I’m waiting for her to move from her small one bedroom apartment  so she actually has room for a quilt. (It’s a good excuse, right?!)  Anyway, I created a paper-pieced “ornament” to showcase a star from one of the fabrics.  The “ornament” is about 6″ in diameter.  I put a thin layer of batting inside and outlined the center star with silver thread on top and bobbin so on the back there is just the outline of the star in silver on a dark blue background.   

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I liked the way it turned out – maybe I’ll get cracking on that wedding quilt this year 🙂

Helle-May

Celtic Pillows finished!

Remember that Celtic knot workshop I took with Linda Hahn back in November?  I missed a birthday party for my husband’s grandmother to be there, so I vowed I would make the knots into pillows for her, my mother-in-law and aunt-in-law.  Well I actually did finish the pillows for Christmas – well at least one.  I finished the other two pillows by shipping the boys (all 3) to my in-laws to watch the Eagles game on Sunday.  (We are right in between Eagles and Giants territory and we don’t get 2 or 3 games per season.  When we moved to NJ, we agreed that instead of spending money on a cable package just to get those games – my husband and the boys could take the opportunity to spend some quality time with Grandma and Grandpop and I could spend some quality time with my sewing machine.  Seemed fair and everyone is happy!)

I had made the “knots” at the workshop.  All that needed to be done was to iron  and sew them to fabric.  It was a lot easier than I thought it would be to zig zag them down.  I used a Sulky tear-away stabilizer on the back and a smoke colored mono-filament thread.   I happened to have two 14″ pillow forms.  I purchased the third one from my local Wal-Mart.  All of the pillows came out nice – but I hate to admit it that made the Wal-Mart form made the nicest shaped pillow.

So here they are:

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Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday! 

We are in a bit of a lull after all of the presents were opened (in record time! – it’s amazing how fast 2 boys can open presents!) and just relaxing until it’s time to go to Gandma and Grandpop’s house. 

I have had several things I’ve wanted to blog about this month, but the days just flew by.  So expect some catching up in the days to come!

Helle-May

Quilts go to school

During parent-teacher conferences, my son, Stephen’s math teacher asked if I would be interested in sharing my quilts with the class when they study tessellations.  Of course!  So this morning I brought a few quilts along as well as a few quilt books.  The children are required to design a tessellation and then create a full colored “poster.”   The kids were very receptive and enjoyed looking at the various ways a block could be colored to fool the eye and create different illusions.  They are also looking at Escher’s works.  I can’t wait to see the designs that may be inspired by the quilts and books!  With permission, perhaps I can post a few when they are complete!

This is the third time my quilts have gone to school.  My boys are always very interested in creating new designs at home – because that’s what Mom does.  But, it’s always amazing to me how most kids get excited when they see the different pattens and colors and get an opportunity to create their own.  The first time was when Stephen was in pre-Kindergarten and I read “The Quiltmaker’s Gift” to the class.  It’s a beautiful  story about a king who learns the joy of giving, but it’s the illustrations that captivate.  In that class, even at the tender age of four, the children had fun replicating the beautiful quilt patterns from the book using crayons and large scale graph paper.   Last year, as you may recall, Andrew’s Kindergarten class made quilt blocks from squares of fabric glued to card stock, which were then taped to the corridor wall in the form of a quilt.  It was the most popular wall display of the year. 

Our guild has an “exhibit” that travels to the various schools in the area.  It is a collection of books and quilts that were made by members based on the quilts that are featured in the books.  It is also very popular with the kids. 

I really enjoyed sharing my quilts with the kids this morning.  Perhaps there may even be a few future quilters among them!

Helle-May

Winter is here!

Last Sunday, with a little prodding, my husband sacrificed watching his beloved Eagles’ game (not to worry – he taped it)to put the Christmas lights on the roof.  After all it was 65 degrees out!  Didn’t think we were going to get another opportunity like that!

Sure enough!  Here’s what it looked like yesterday afternoon!  It’s cold enough that it will be white for a few days!

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And here are those pretty Christmas lights!

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Ironically, yesterday was also our planned day to put up our “Snow Village.”  How pretty it looked with a backdrop of real snow in the window behind it!       Helle-May

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Do you EQ? I do!

Woke up this morning to find that the folks at EQ had posted a blog about Dandelion Wine.  How cool!  They had contacted me back in September when the magazine first came out – guess it was my turn!   http://www.doyoueq.com/blog/?p=980

For those of you who EQ,  you already know that their website has a wealth of information.  Just in case you didn’t – check it out:  http://www.electricquilt.com/    For those of you don’t EQ – you really should – just be forewarned, it’s addicting!!! 🙂

 Just like a weed, Dandelion Wine, keeps popping up everywhere!  The kind people at Island Batik also have it posted at the gate of their Gallery on their website.   http://www.islandbatik.com/index.php/gallery.html

 Dandelion Wine is now happily hanging in my family room against a backdrop of freshly painted green wall.  The color is Sherwin Williams “Burlap” and despite the name is a very pretty shade of mossy/olive green. 

 Wonder where it’s going to pop up next?   I know….

Helle-May