A Quilting Swap

This is not a swap I am doing but one,

one of my swapping friends is doing.

Her name is Josie and though I have never met her in person

I am sure she would be a blast to hang out with.

She is hosting a swap with a friend on hers.

Her friends blog is Mrs. Pickle's so I am sure she is going to be fun too.

It is a quilt along swap, and sounds like fun.

I am going to be to busy this year to join but if you would like to,

and you are going to be a good swapper,

Go check it out, and happy quilting. 

Memory Quilt

I have been thinking about how to tell this story,

Do I tell you all the details?

Do I tell you names and dates?

Do I just show you the pictures, and let you know what I did?

I have decided to tell you the story without names, and not too many details.

This September Good Looking had a neighborhood reunion.

Like a high school reunion but with the kids he grew up with.

While we were there everyone was telling me how much they liked my quilt.

I had asked Good looking's facebook friends to vote for it,

and so they all knew me because of it.

Fast forward two weeks.

I was downstairs sewing, and the girls came downstairs

 to tell me that an army man was at the door.

It was one of his friends from the party.

He had googled our house

and was standing in my living room asking for a favor. 

You see I learned at the party that his son had died this summer.

He was just fifteen, he had died a month before his sixteenth birthday.

He was now in my house asking if I could make his wife a quilt

 out of his son's clothes for her Christmas present.

With out hesitation (which I think surprised him) I said yes.

Here is the finished quilt.

Like most teenage boys he liked his graphic tees, and super hero's.

His jeans, I tried to use the ones that were the most worn out.

He was a rugby player,

It just happened that the piece that was on his sleeve

ended up next to the one on his shirt.

I don't think that if I had planned it that way, it would have worked out. 

This is the shirt that he never got to wear,

it still had the tags on it.

My quilter put his name and his dates on it.

The inside boarder is his robe, and the outside his jeans.

That black square is his rugby shorts.

I bound the quilt with his flannel shirts.

Good Looking's friend insist that I put his rugby bag on the back,

and that it still be functional.

His son like most teenager's left his stuff everywhere, especially his dirty socks.

He wanted to keep the bag working, so he could keep a pair of dirty socks in this bag.

I feel so honored that I was the one with the opportunity

to keep the memories alive in such a special way.

I know it must have been so hard this Christmas, the first one with out
buying boy toys, video games, and making his favorite holiday treats.

He was their only son.

In their tragedy they were able to help three teenage boys grow to men,

with the donation of his heart, and kidney's.

Also this Christmas a father of seven was able to be at home

 with no more health worries, thanks to his liver.

I hope I did this story justice, and that you go squeeze your kids

and let them know that the world would not be the same with out them.

Patchy Stockings

What did you do with your Christmas swap fabrics?

Here is what my sister did.

Aren't those just about the cutest stockings you have seen?

Did you want to make some yourself?

Here is how you do it, or at least how we did it.

Take all your squares and separate them by color, we did bright red, dark red,

 greens, blues, etc.

We then went to the store and bought 5/8 yard for the lining, backing, and such.

Match light and darks, we wanted to tie the backing into the front so we matched

three with the backing fabric.

Lights and darks.

You need twelve blocks or 24 squares total.

match together and mark a diagonal line down the center of each block.

With your quarter inch foot stitch on one side of the line.

Flip it over and do the other side.

Please save you life and sanity by chaining them all together.

Now cut on the line you drew.

 Two triangles, press first then open, and press toward the dark side.

lay on top of each other, opposite of each other.

Draw another line.

Repeat.

You end up with this super cute hourglass.

Easy peezy lemon squeezy.

Are you ready for step two.

Lay out your squares the way you want them to be layed out.

We liked the dark fabrics alternating.

Sew them together in rows, and then the rows to each other.

Then take your stocking pattern.

We made up ours.

I like to have a big toe and and big opening.

I made my pattern on poster board so I could easily trace it onto the fabric.

Trace pattern on three layers of fabric.

It is important that you lay your fabric out this way,

with wrong side up and then right sides together.

Sew with right sides together the patch fabric, and the backing.

Then with right sides together, sew the lining pieces

leaving an opening on one of the sides.

We put prairie points on the cuff, so we didn't cover up the piecing we did,

Here is how it goes.

Five inch square (we made five per stocking)

Press in half

Press in half again.

Line them up along the opening of the stocking, interlocking the points together.

Baste them in place. 

Sorry I did not get a picture of this step,

feel free to kick me in the shin the next time you see me.

Turn the stocking inside out and press, slip it into the lining, right sides together.

Don't forget the hanger. I made them five inches by two and a half.

(fold in half, sew together, turn inside out)

Now sew them together.

Remember that opening we left in the side?

pull the stocking inside out using that opening.

It will look like this.

Close the opening.

You can hand stitch it closed, but I figured it is a stocking,

 and who is going to be looking on the inside to see how it is sewn closed.

Stuff the lining to the inside, press it and you are done.

And just like that you have the cutest stockings on the block.

Have you used your squares yet?

Now are you sad that you didn't get in on the swap.

I will be doing it again I promise.

Until then I hope you have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Rectangel Reverie Palooza

Lat year I found out about Monica of The Happy Zombie.

I love her, her posts are so funny, and she knows her stuff.

Not to mention how CUTE her fabrics are.

Last year she posted her quilt called Rectangle Reverie.

I fell in love with it, I had been buying red and white Christmas fabric for years.

Every year I would go the Joann's and get whatever red and white fabric they had.

When I saw Monica's quilt I knew that I was finally going to put my collection to good use.

At this same time Grandma Kath wanted to make quilts for her daughter's.

She has never made a quilt and wanted to learn how.

I figured that this would be an easy one, with no corner's to match.

Since the pattern calls for ten fat quarters, and I had ten half yard pieces,

we made two red ones. Then headed down to our friendly neighborhood Joann's.

When we got there we found all the Christmas fabrics on sale 90% off,

and with Kath's teacher discount, are you kidding me!!!  

Kath liked the Debbie Mum's best, so that is what we got for the other two.

Did you want to see?

This one is mine, how cute is it!

Here is the back

My little back patch with all the fabrics from the front.

I love it and can't wait to make some more.

Here is the quilting, Picnik didn't like my pictures this morning, so I couldn't highlight it.

The red ones got snow flakes.

The Debbie Mum's got holly berries and stuff.

I am so happy with how they turned out.

How many quilts did you make for Christmas?

Curse the Small Children

I have so much to show you,

just the things I finished this last week are amazing.

I made a baptism dress out of a friends wedding dress.

Then I made her a dunking dress using the lace from said wedding dress.

I have another friend who every year for Christmas has a chocolate party.

Yes you heard me right, a chocolate party.

She invites all her friends over makes all the fondant centers and lets you go to town.

I of course had to make the girls skirts for this occasion.

I found the cutest Christmas fabric at the Joann's of Christmas chocolates,

They are adorable, with jumbo Chocolate rick rack.

Also a week ago today,

 I was binding four quilts, they are Christmas quilts,

once again adorable.

If you wondering well lady where are your pictures of these lovelies,

especially pictures of the chocolate.

This is where the title of this post comes into play. 

Lala and Baby Sister were playing with my camera and now, 

it is no where to be seen.

They were having so much fun taking pictures of themselves,

 and sneaking in to take pictures of me.

Of course they can not remember for the life of them where it is now.

 That is why I am saying

 "Curse the small children!!!"

I am now offering money to who ever finds it.

It is hard to tell a story on the world wide web with out a picture.

When it is found I will be posting the pictures I promise.

If it is not found my sweetie is getting me a new camera for Christmas.

Although that makes for a very boring blog for the next month.

Have fun, hope to be back soon with pictures to show.