Nurse Tote Bag

For Christmas, I made my favorite RN a tote bag.  My niece, Kristin, is a hospice nurse.    I used a panel with nurse saying in the patchwork. 

 

 

The front of the back has a pocket with a magnetic snap.

 

 

This is the back.

 

 

 The inside of the bag has multiple pockets and a zippered section.

 

 

Mug Rugs with Crayon Embroidery

For Christmas, I made my daughters rug mugs with crayon embroidery. Jenny's has a hedgehog holding flowers.

 

Angela's mug rug has a bunny sledding in a teacup.

 

Penguin Mug Rugs and Hot Pads

I used some of the penguin fabric in my last post to make mug rugs for Christmas presents for my friends.

I also made penguin hot pads for a Secret Pal at TOPS and myself.

 

 

We exchanged 12.5 Christmas blocks at the Millington Quilt Club Christmas party yesterday.  I received two beautiful blocks.

Faith made this one with cardinals in the center block. 

Tammy made this pretty block.

 

The blocks are signed and dated.  I usually make an extra block each year....I have 15 blocks.  Eventually, I will have enough blocks to make a Christmas quilt.

 

Penguin Table Runner

I found some cute penguin fabric on Equilter and have been using it in projects.  I made myself a table runner for the holidays.

The trees in the center were paper pieced.

 

 

Candy cane fabric was used for the backing.

 

I made a trivet to coordinate with the table runner.  My peppermint candies didn't turn out as round as I would have liked, better luck next time :)

  

More of the penguin fabric was used in the trivet backing.

 

 

Ribbon Christmas Tree Pins

I purchased a Ribbon Christmas Tree Pin at a Craft Show in Frankemuth and used it as a pattern to make a few for small Christmas gifts and package decorations.

 

I only had two sizes of ribbon.  The pin I purchased had three sizes, if I make these again next year I will look for another size ribbon to make the tree fuller.

Hexagons and Fordite

I have been working on some hexagon projects lately.  Earlier this month, I made Jenny some hot pads for her birthday .

At the Millington Quilt Club, we exchange 12.5inch Christmas blocks.  I made two for the exchange and one for myself.

The stitching was done by hand, the center hexagon was fussy cut and embellished.  I added red rhinestones for the berries, black for the snowman's eyes and buttons and AB clear rhinestones for some of the snowflakes.

My birthday was earlier this month and my daughters gave me this beautiful fordite ring.  Fordite is a Michigan gem :)   According to Wikipedia "Fordite, also known as Detroit agate, is old automobile paint which has hardened sufficiently to be cut and polished.^[1] It was formed from the build up of layers of enamel paint slag on tracks and skids on which cars were hand spray-painted (a now automated process), which have been baked numerous times."

Pumpkin Door Hanging

When I saw this pattern, I knew I had to make a fall door hanging.

 

Looking at the pattern in a catalog, I didn't realize there wouldn't be a binding and the door hanging would have a unfinished edge.  This is my finished project.

 

Instead of fabric berries, I used red rhinestones and red cabochons.

I used a variety of markers and crayons to draw veins and shade the leaves.

 

This is our front door with it's new quilt.

Hugs & Kisses Quilt

I saw the Hugs and Kisses quilt made up at the Front Porch Quilt Shop in Frankenmuth last winter. It was pieced with batiks and I really like it. I bought the special ruler and fabric and finally 8 months later, I have a completed throw.

I also used batiks in my quilt, perhaps a little brighter than the stores choices.

 

My daughter Angela and her husband Austin are going to be getting the quilt.  Angela requested a blue back.  I used a variety of scraps to bind the throw.  The quilter and I decided on a modern design since Angela and Austin are both artists.

Gazpacho

When I was in Grand Rapids, I had some wonderful gazpacho for lunch.  My daughter, Angela, gave me her recipe for gazpacho.  She had lived in Spain for over a year.  Angela is very precise in her recipes (NOT), for example her recipe calls for a generous glug of olive oil :)  For lunch today, I made some gazpacho sort of following her recipe.

 

I used tomatoes, cucumber and peppers from our garden.  Added onion, red pepper, garlic, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper and a generous glug of olive oil.  Topped the soup with dill from the flower bed and homemade croutons.  No exact measurements so like the song says, "I'll never have that recipe again."

Window Challenge Quilt

We had a challenge at the Millington Quilt Club to make a small window quilt. 

This was my attempt.

 

 

I used a panel for the scene in the window.  The window frame is all the same fabric; the lightest was bleached and the medium is the back of the fabric.  I used fabric markers and fabric crayon to darken other parts of the window frame.

 

The best part of the project was being able to embellish the panel.  The scarf's pompoms are wool felt, the smile on the snowman is made up of beads and tiny black buttons represent the coal down his front. 

 

The berries are embellished with a variety of different sizes of rhinestones.  The clumps of snow were painted with fabric glitter.

Flower PIn

I have a black jacket and wanted to dress it up. So I made a flower pin. The center was made using a Clover Kanzshi Flower Maker. The black and blue outer layers were made of tulle using a candle flame to curl and finish the edges.

 I found the following vintage Trapunto Mushroom kit at our church's Mission Store. 

 

I liked the print but decided against doing the trapunto. 

Instead I made a trivet.

 

 

The back fabric seems very vintage and picks up the colors in the picture.

AQS Grand Rapids Quilts

Last week I went to the ASQ Quilt Show in Grand Rapids.  I had a great time shopping and admiring the gorgeous quilts.  After looking at the booklet we received at the show, I think I can post photos of the quilts as long as I give credit to the maker.  Below are some of my favorites, hopefully with the correct artist's name below the quilts.

Little Girl and Dog by Hiroko Miyama

 

 

Bailey by Cheryl Lynch

 

 

Willy Nilly by Pamela M. Peck

 

 

 

 

Capturing Brittany by Lenore Crawford

A Garden Path Perspective by Deb Sweemer

Zucchini Glut by Laura Fogg

Chartreuse, Celadon, Kelly, Fern by Pamela Zave

 

 

 

Escuchame by Beth Markel

 

 

Six Fifteen by Tina McCann

 

 

 

 Piece and Quiet by Cynthia England

 

 

 

 

 

Wings and Feathers by Mark Sherman

Notice the quilting and use of rhinestones.  A lot of the quilts in the show used rhinestones as accents :)