Zipper Critter

Before Christmas, I saw a picture of a pillow decorated with a zipper. I used the idea to make a dog pillow for Jenny.



I left the middle section of the ears without interfacing, so they would droop and look like a terrier's ears.

Pins and Needles

I used some paper piecing scraps to decorate Altoid-like tins for Christmas presents.



I used a layer Mod Podge to glue the fabric to the tins and then applied a few more layers of Mod Podge, similar to decoupage. I sprayed the tops with sealer after they dried.



On the inside, I put a pin cushion on the top and a magnet on the bottom, to hold straight pins from falling out. Since the tins were too small to hold spools of thread, I included two bobbins with thread. I thought the tins would be useful when we do hand sewing at quilt club.



I labeled the tin bottoms with my friends' names and a graphic.

Merry Christmas Angela & Austin

My daughter and her husband have moved to Spain and won't be home for Christmas. I wanted them to have something homemade for Christmas. I made them a small wall hanging. Other parents have grandchildren or grandpuppies, I have a grandfrog. Killer, Ang and Austin's frog, is in foster care while they live in Spain. Since they like frogs I made a frog wall hanging.



One of the frogs is wearing a Santa hat and the other a necklace of holly trimmed with red buttons. Since Ang and Austin are newlyweds, I have the frogs holding hands.



I mailed a package to them last week but have no idea if they will get it in time for Christmas so I'm going ahead and posting pictures...Hoppy Holidays, Ang and Austin!

December Millington Quilt Club Show and Tell

We had a short Show and Tell at our quilt club meeting on Wednesday. This is Faith showing us some of the 10 Minute Table Runners she made for Christmas gifts.



Viola shared numerous items she made for gifts. This is a pillowcase for her daughter to use when she has chemo treatments.



This is a pair of wall hangings Viola made for Christmas.



This is one of many table runners Viola made for gifts.



Nancy shared her snowman quilt which is still a work in progress.



Jan shared two quilts she had made and quilted.



This Dresden Plate quilt is the second one Jan shared.



Jan showed us numerous bags she made for the Underground Railroad (a group which helps battered and abused women).



Jeanann made this beautiful quilt for her grandson, Elliot. Mary Lou did the quilting.



Sydney entertained us as she showed off the snowman sweatshirt she made



This is Jan with place mats she made to match her mauve dining room.



Jan used a twin needles to quilt her snowman purse.



Julie share a tote bag she made.



Thanks to Linda for taking notes, while I snapped pictures.

Christmas Block Exchange Part 2

We exchanged our Christmas blocks at our Quilt Club meeting. I received blocks from two of my good friends.

Amy made this 9 patch block.



Dena made this block. She included the pattern but it didn't have the block name listed. The construction looks a little tricky around the center square.



The center square has a good saying to live by.



In a few more years when I've collected more squares, it will be very special to have blocks from my good friends in a Christmas quilt.

Christmas Exchange Block

Tomorrow at our quilt club meeting, we will be exchanging Christmas quilt blocks. We each bring two 12.5 in. X 12.5 in. blocks and will receive two block in exchange. We put our names and the year on the blocks. I decided to make a Christmas Sunbonnet Sue. (I didn't trim my blocks to size, I figure it's better if they are too large rather than too small)



I made the bonnet using vintage green velour, the kind of fabric robes were to made of. I added a purchased flower on the back of the hat band.



I made a poinsettia using red ultra suede with beads for the center.



The background fabric is Fairy Frost. The bottom of the skirt is trimmed with a ruffled lace.

Please Excuse My Venting

Our church had a booth at the city's Craft Show last week. I donated some hot pads.






I also made a table runner for the sale.

We were asked to price our items. I had priced my hot pads at $3 each, that's the same price Meijers (local grocery/department store) charges for plain hot pads. I priced the table runner at $10. The table runner and 4 hot pads sold. It was sad to see all the hand crafted items that didn't sell. There were beautiful hand knit stocking hats for $3 and knit scarves for $3 to $5 which didn't sell. My friend made a pretty baby quilt and had it professionally quilted. She priced it at $25 and it didn't sell. She paid more than that to have it quilted. I believe people have gotten used to Dollar Store pricing and items made in China so they don't appreciate hand made items. I don't know how crafters can make any profit when their supplies cost more than what stores charge for the imported items.

Happy Thanksgiving

I finished my turkey wall hanging a few days ago, just in time for Thanksgiving.



I enjoyed finding fall colored batiks for the outside halves of the log cabin squares.



I found jewel tones for the turkey in my stash.



Hope everyone has an enjoyable Thanksgiving.

Fall in the Carolinas

Last week we went to South Carolina to visit my brother-in-law. He is building a new home in North Carolina near Hendersonville. These are photos from the top of a mountain in NC. The true colors don't show up in the pictures. There were a lot more golds, greens and some reds.






This is what the mountains looked like at ground level. The steep, curvy roads almost did our brakes in.



We also visited the Clemson Botanical Gardens. I had a hard time not taking hundreds of photos. The colors were gorgeous.

We came across this fellow during our walk in the gardens. We think he may be a marbled orb weaver. He was huge, the orange part of his body was the size of a nickel.

Celebrating with Quilting Friends

My quilting friends took me out to lunch on Wednesday. Linda gave each of us a tin of Altoids Smalls which she had decorated.



My friends are very generous, I'm going to share only a few of the gifts they gave me.
Linda added to my collection of sewing Charming Tails, the cute mice are sitting on a table runner she made for me.



Elaine decorated a kitchen towel with cardinal print fabric and gave me a coordinating decorative bell.



Dena knitted me this colorful scarf. It will look great with a couple of my jackets. I think I will be able to wear it soon, we had a weather forcast of snow flurries today.



Cheryl gave me a quilt journal to plan future projects, it has plain page in the front and graph paper in the back. I like to draw out my plans on graph paper so the journal will be useful.



Amy gave me beauty supplies and a kit to make a table runner. The fabrics are batik with silver paint, very pretty combination for winter.




Pat made me a colorful sewing machine mat to use when I take my machine to quilt club or classes. She filled the pockets with neat sewing supplies.




The gifts were all thoughtful and well appreciated but the best part of the day was spending time with great friends.

Enlightening Present

I've been using the windows in the family room to trace patterns for years and had decided I should buy a light box. Almost bought one about a week ago but the box looked damaged. The next day, Tom showed me the project he'd been working on in the basement. He made me a beautiful light box for my birthday.



He made it using plywood, stained it to match our woodwork and even used veneer so the plywood wouldn't show. The box is screwed together so it will be easy to change the lights if they burn out. A very neat present, especially since Tom hates working with wood.



Yesterday a package arrived in the mail. It look like someone had stomped on it. Luckily only the pumpkin Peeps were squashed. Jenny sent me two pieces of Polish pottery as part of my birthday present. My sister-in-law, Pam had given me a Polish pottery mug earlier this fall for my birthday. I've been collecting Polish pottery and these pieces will work well with my other pieces.