Happy New Year!

That's me....playing catch up before the new year arrives......  I made this cute owl pincushion as a Christmas gift for my daughter.....she loves anything with owls. Aren't they just so adorable sitting together.

The snowman wallhanging is quilted and binding sewn. I'm keeping a few snowmen decorations out for Jan. The tree and all other decorations are put away for another year.....my how it went by so fast....again!

I wish you Health, Happiness and even more Creativity for 2013. 

Pincushion Finished

Last week was incredibly busy, didn't have time for much sewing. It seemed I was doing more driving than anything else. And to top it all off, I've started priming the living room with the help of my daughter,  I picked up the yellow paint yesterday. It's going to be a big job. I did manage to finish this little pincushion from Kaaren's free patterns.

This is before washing away the Sulky Fabri-Solvy, I love how this product saves on all the work of  tracing the design and is easy to stitch through.  Does anyone else use this product? I love it!

And Speck is quilted and ready to enjoy for the fall.  There was a few squares leftover from the charm pack and I had enough for a small mat, it's not quilted yet, hopefully soon if this week turns out to be less busy.

Happy Quilting and Stitching.

UFO

A UFO closer to becoming a quilt, I showed this a few months back and only the star blocks were complete, now the alternate blocks are done as well...yippee.

All 90 blocks are pieced and ready to become a completed quilt top. This quilt will be a queen size and it's definitely going to be for my bed.

I forget to show this bird pincushion I made my daughter as a Christmas gift.

Happy Quilting.

Making Layer Cakes

Wow...2 posts in 2 days, that's a record for me. I made this layer cake pincushion yesterday. It's so cute and sweet, look girls you can have cake and not worry about the calories. I had plans to make the cupcake pincushion in the book but when I read the directions and there was a margarine container in the supply list and then I kept reading about easing the fabric to fit the container...yuck, I quickly decided it wasn't going to happen...way too fussy for me. I'll pick something that I know will be fun and easy.

You can find the pattern in this book. Have fun making "cake". I think I'll make more cake today.

Basket of Pincushions

Just a few pincushions I decided I needed to make for gifts. These are made using 2-5" circles. Stuffed with polyester filling and embroidery floss used to divide the sections. I thought they needed something a little extra so I made yo-yo's to go under the buttons. If you are interested in making some of your own, visit Whipup for instructions.

Update on Chocolate Swap; I'm still waiting for my chocolates to arrive in the mail...boohoo My partner Annie received the goodies I sent to her. I hope mine from her will arrive soon...yum...yum.

Here's another pincushion using different fabrics.

My DH has given me a new computer this week. He carefully copied over all my files and got everything set up for me. What a sweetie he is to me. When I tried to connect the camera this morning....nothing. I've tried to play around and figure it out on my own but it seems I'll have to wait until he gets home to have it fixed. I'm sure it's not something he did, I'm just not doing something right. So no quilting progress pictures to show.

I sent off my Chocolate Swap to my partner in Australia yesterday. I hope Anne will like the chocolate and goodies I sent along.

Have you seen the pincushions Abyquilt has made? She made 8 of these so far. I've made only one so far and I hope to have time to make a bunch more. Here where you'll find the instructions for the pincushion.

Have you checked your Quilter's Horoscope. Darlene posted this and it's really is a hoot.

Aquarius - January 21 to February 18
Aquarius is very gifted and produce exceptionally original quilts. I don't know about this "monkey see monkey do" that's me. But, I do make changes to a project if I don't like what the pattern designer has done.

They are known to invent new techniques that enhance the art form. I don't think so.

They are friendly but their independent nature leads them to prefer to spend time quilting by themselves. Although you can find them in a quilting class, they are the most likely of all signs to choose to learn from books or a video. I've learned everything about quilting from doing. Making mistakes and learning from each one. I take classes only to be around fellow quilters.

However if you ever have a patchwork or quilting dilemma they are the kind of person that you can turn to for help and advice. They are nice and will be thoughtful when making a quilt for friends or family. They will create the quilt with careful consideration of what the individual would like. I like to teach what I know about quilting and it's really exciting to me when a student goes away with learning something new. I will always try and answer a question. Every project I make I think about the person that will receive it and try and personalize the gift.