New Years Eve Challenge

I did it! I met the challenge of finishing 7 projects by New Years Eve! I signed up over at Finn's blog in August. Time sure does fly by fast because it doesn't seem like August when I told her I would complete 7 projects.

So, here's the projects that I finished. Some of them are just tops that are done, and some of them are quilts that have been completed (binding). There are 24 items!!! Wow! I'm on a roll!!!

Here's a baby quilt I made for my nephew that lives in Savannah.

I hand delivered it to him myself when I went for a visit during fall break.
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The next one is a fall quilt. I was on a misson to finish fall quilts this year, and this is the only one I completed!


The next one is a shirt that I made for my next door neighbor for her to wear to the Sadie Hawkins dance at the High School.

Her mother had it cut out, bless her heart. She did a great job cutting it out, but she doesn't know much about sewing. She works full time at a gynecolgist/obstretrian office and is the nursing manager. She called me one night and said her sewing machine was messing up. All it needed was a new needle, but she didn't know that. I looked at her frazzled self and said, "I'm sitting here looking at a mother who works full time, has a stressful job, is trying to be a good mom and make her daughter a shirt. I need to take this home and finish it for you." She gave me a hug and a kiss, and the rest is history. I think it turned out cute.

The next quilt is my Christmas tablecloth. I love this tablecloth.

It's made from a combination of Robyn Pandolf's "Holly Go Lightly" and someone's "Gentle Graces". I bought them at Tennessee Quilts.

There is something about looking into my dining room and seeing this on my table that just makes me happy!!! If I got nothing else for Christmas, that would be okay with me because I love this so much!

I've had so much fun decorating my dining room table this year. My Christmas plates, the red chargers, and the green place mats look like I bought everything together when I made the quilt, but I didn't. See, if you buy the things you love (you don't have to have a reason to buy them; just set a price limit and go from there.) one day it all comes together. My plates I got about 9 years ago. They were buy 8 place settings get 8 place settings free, so I jumped on it! The clear glass jars I found in the floral department on sale half price. The cranberries, Monica hand picked, sorted, and shipped them to me. (Just kidding. I just like the think that. Look at her blog about her day at the cranberry farm. It's almost like a documentary on the process of cranberries.) I stuck some silk roses and berry stems (half off, too), and put some candles in my silver candle holders, and talk about gorgeous!!!

Here's Seymore! Isn't he adorable??

Pat Sloan designed him when she was designing for Indygo Junction.

These little trees were so fun to make.

I had so much fun making them I almost feel guilty about including them in on my finished projects for the challenge. Notice I said almost. I did make them for my sewing friends as little gifts for our Christmas Fat Quarter Exchange Party, so I guess they count!

The next three quilts I have made for my grand sons for Christmas. They're not quilted, yet, but the boys will understand.



The one with the panel was from a Fons and Porter magazine. I had planned to make all three boys the same quilt, but I had some problems on the panel not being straight. I had them cut out and partially sewn together when I made an executive decision, tore everything apart and started over with a totally different pattern. Talk about a freeing experience. The pattern is "Just Can't Cut It" by All Washed Up! It's perfect for large prints that you don't want to cut up. It's fast, too.

Here's three pillowcases that I made to go with their quilts.

They'll have their pillowcases to cuddle with until Terry finishes quilting them for me.

The next four photos are the Christmas pillowcases I made for my grand kids as goodie bag treats for our Christmas Cookie Baking Party we had last Sunday.






The boys kept calling them little quilts.




Alexis was impressed. She's 7.

We're in the middle of mixing cookie dough and we have this conversation:


Alexis: Mom-Mom. You made those pillow cases?

Mom-Mom (me): Yes, I made them.

Alexis: You mean you made them from your fabric in your sewing room?

Mom-Mom: Yes, sweetie, I made them from the fabrics in my Christmas stash.

Alexis: I want to learn how to make those!

Mom-Mom: I would love to teach you!

Okay. So that finally! does it for my meeting my New Years Eve Challenge. Thank you Finn! It was fun! And, good luck to the rest of the group on completing your challenge!

Amanda

Quilted Santas and Snowmen

Hi, everyone! I know you're all busy, just like me. You don't have time to read long posts, so I'll try my best, but don't hold me to it make this one quick.

Belinda at Brown Dirt Cottage posted a photo of the quilted Santa that she has. I was sitting at the table with my new laptop looking at Belinda's beautiful Santa, when I looked over and saw three of mine. I guess I take them for granted because I have never shown them to you. I haven't shown my quilted Snowmen, either. Well, now is the perfect time.

Here is my display of my quilted Santas sitting on a side bar in my kitchen nook. (The tree wallhanging was in a Quilter's World magazine a few years ago.)


My friend, Ruth, makes dolls out of old worn out quilts or chenille bed spreads. My favorite ones are the Santas.

Santa #1 likes to sit and let his legs dangle. He is made from an old red and white quilt. I'm not sure if he's been tea dyed, and I'm know nothing about dating fabrics, so I 'm not sure when this quilt was made.

It does look like Santa was once on a Drunkard's Path.

Santa #2 stands tall showing his beautiful coat.


Santa #3 loves to hang out and let his legs dangle, too.

He is made from a chenile bedspread that Ruth has cut and dyed.
My son, Wade, was kind enough to help hold him so I could show you him a little better.


The next set of photos are of my handmade snowmen. My best friend, Terry, made these. Every year she mades a snowman for everyone in her family. Every once in a while I get one, too!



I think my snowmen need a little more snow! And the snowman ornaments on their tree are looking the other way! I guess they're camera shy. It looks like I need to spruce up my decorating on that little table! Oh well. They are sitting underneath my Thimbleberries, "Frosty Lights". I tried to find the pattern on her website,but it isn't there. It must be in a book, now.


This snowman just sits calmly with his arms crossed watching me running around decorating for Christmas like a crazy woman, or a woman with too much coffee! See his little coffee bean eyes and his coffee bean smile? I love those!

I love this one, too.


He is made from one of Terry's old blue jeans. I love the little wooden "Snow" set that our friend, Jean, handmade and gave us for Christmas one year.

Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to see my quilted Santas and Snowmen.
Thanks, too, Belinda, for inspiring me to share mine!

Amanda

Virtual Cookie Exchange

Angela has invited us to a virtual cookie exchange/giveaway. Go here to find out more. You'll see links to not only her recipe for peanut butter kisses, but to other bloggers that have joined in on the fun. We'll be sharing recipes and getting great ideas for cookie exchanges or for making cookies for our friends and neighbors.

My recipe for the virtual cookie exchange is Butterscotch Haystacks.

These are a no bake cookie that are fast and easy to make. I've been making cookie platters for my neighbors for many years, and these,besides my chocolate chip cookies, are their favorite.

Here's the recipe.

You'll need two ingredients: Butterscotch morsels and Chow Mein noodles. Peanuts are optional. You will also need a large piece of wax paper set out to give your little haystacks a place to dry and become crunchy.

**You can use any kind of melting chocolate for this. I would think that almond bark or a milk chocolate would taste great, as well.

 

Pour the 12 oz bag of butterscotch morsels into a microwave save bowl. Place into microwave. Turn on for 1 minute. Remove the bowl of morsels and stir. If they aren't completely melted, then heat again for 30 seconds and stir. Keep reheating for 30 seconds and stiring until all of the morsels are melted.

Pour chow mein noodles 1 cup at a time into the bowl of melted morsels. Keep adding chow mein noodles until all the noodles are covered in butterscotch. When I see that almost all of the melted butterscotch is covering chow mein noodles, I keep adding the noodles a little bit at a time.

Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. Let the little haystacks sit there for a little while until the butterscotch is no longer shiny.

 

Place them on a pretty Christmas plate, pour a cup of coffee, and enjoy!

 

This post has been edited to answer the questions of the first two commentors. Thanks!

Elfing Myself

I saw this on Jane's blog. I couldn't help myself. Go elf yourself (and your family), too.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Seven Ladies Dancing

Make that 8 ladies dancing; 9 if you include me. I was giddy while making these beauties.


I saw these over at Nanette's blog when I went to celebrate her 1 year blog-aversary with her and her daughters. She posted the link on where we could find the pattern to make our own, and I was giddy the rest of the day! I quickly ran upstairs to my sewing room and started digging through my mountain of Christmas scraps and fabrics.

The pattern uses templates, but don't let that scare you. I used Freezer Paper. Freezer paper has a paper side and a shiny side. The paper side is for tracing your design; the shiny side can be ironed on to fabrics making it easier to use than template plastic or using a light box to trace the designs. I'm all for an "easier way"!

Here's how I made mine.

1. I chose 4 different Christmas fabrics. They don't have to be Christmas, but that's what I wanted.
2. Trace the templates on the paper side of freezer paper. Cut out the templates on the drawn line.
3. Iron fusibile interfacing on the back of each of your fabrics.
4. Iron each of the little freezer paper templates (shiny side down) on the right side of the fabrics. Don't throw away your little freezer paper templates. They can be used again! I was able to use mine 9 times! I must have had super duper freezer paper because I've never been able to do that!
5. Cut out along the edges of the template. Now you should have 4 semi-circles, and you are ready to put your little tree together!

Small Object has great instructions on how to put these together. I used metalic thread to zig-zag along the edges. I used white thread in the bobbin, loosened my upper tension, and I didn't have problems with thread breakage. Since I was making 8 of these at one time, I did all the zig-zagging at one time; much like what we do when we're chain piecing. It made things go faster that way. I used hot glue to secure the edges and to glue the tiers together.

Since they are going to a party they need jewlery. Will it be pearls or gold?

Gold it is!

Perfect!

Since they are going to a party, they need dates!

Perfect little gifties for my sewing friends for our Christmas Fat Quarter Exchange.

Be sure to go and visit Nanette's blog today to wish her and her girls Happy Blog-aversary and for another adorable craft idea. Tell her I sent you!

Amanda

**Edited. I was having problems with blogger today not letting me post comments on blogs or upload photos. I thought I had uploaded photos because they were in my post as I was editing. Little did I know that the boxes posted, but the photo's didn't. I'm glad I came back to check! I turned off the computer, turned it back on a little later, and everything was back to normal. Go figure!

Edited again! One more little tip. Zig Zag sew around all of the edges because they show on all sides.

Monday, Monday

I didn't know what to name this post, but it's Monday.

It's going to be a busy week this week, but it should be fun. Today I am going to the hairdresser cleaning my sewing room, doing laundry, cleaning house for hopefully a new "do". Tomorrow I am coordinating a Christmas party for my daughter's home room class. Wednesday I am baking an Italian Cream Cake and my corn pudding for my sewing groups "Christmas Fat Quarter Exchange" Christmas party on Thursday. I'm also getting ready for a little Christmas party with my kids and grandkids on Sunday. We'll be baking cookies, eating, maybe doing a craft. Who knows! It all depends on if everyone (the grandkids; ok. me, too!) has had a nap!

I blogged about the groups "Christmas Fat Quarter Exchange" party here. I love cookie exchanges, but this is even better. Instead of making your hips get bigger, your Christmas stash gets larger!

This year we are going to Terry's house. Ahhh. That sounds so good; going to someone elses house for a party. In the past, when one of the girls was a host, not only did she clean house for everyone, but she also served all of the food; breakfast and lunch! I suggested that we start bringing food to the hostesses home; she can do whatever she wants. So far, everyone is enjoying this idea.

My dear blogging friend, Nanette, is celebrating her 1 year blog-aversary. She's even having a party over there with lots of giveaways! Congratulations, Nanette and daughters! In case you don't remember, Nanette is the one who desinged and hosted the Christmas Block Exchange. She's always desinging something, and sells her patterns in her Etsy shop. She's one creative lady! She even has a pattern in one of the latest magazines! Congratulations, again! She's not only creative, but she's sweet, too. She always leaves me such nice comments. I look forward to many more years blogging with you Nanette!

Okay, so I better get busy! It's Monday, afterall!

Quiltathon Sewing Still Going On

Hi! I decided to take a break for a little while. Steve made a huge pot of chili and some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins with pecans. It was Wade's idea to add the chocolate chips, and Steve thought pecans would be good, too. I couldn't tell what they were, but it sure smelled good up in my sewing room! They tasted great.

I'm still sewing. I was able to finish one the race car quilts that I am making the three grandsons. One is already finished, the second one is done, and I'm hoping to get the third one well on it's way to being finished before I go to bed. I would show you a photo, but the guys are watching a movie and I'm sure neither one of them are interested in shooting a picture of me holding up my quilt. I would sling it over the fence, but it's too dark and too cold. :)

I better get back up to the messy sewing room. I'll be glad to get these done!

Amanda

**Edited
The guys finished watching the movie just as I was ending my post. Wade shot it's picture, so, instead of making a new post, I posted it here. The pattern is "Just Can't Cut It" by All Washed Up. It's great for using large prints that you don't want to cut up into smaller pieces. All together you need 1 focus print and 4 coordinates. It's easy to put together, and makes a beautiful, fast, fun quilt in sizes from bunk/youth to king.

Little Things to Pass Along

Okay, so no sewing got done yesterday, but I'm hoping to today. Lots of Christmas decorating got done, though. All of my Christmas quilts are hung and placed around the house. Maybe Judy will count that as part of the quiltathon!

I'm about to head up to the sewing room to do some marathon sewing, but before I do I wanted to pass some little things along to you just in case you need some last minute Christmas present ideas.

You could make Monica's Pennie Pockets and a heart shaped pin cushion that Pam was envying of Elizabeth's and remembered that she saw it at Kimberly Jolly's Fat Quater Shop. Just click on "free projects" and you'll see the pincushion, as well as other ideas, too. Mary Ann designed a fleece scarf for a Last Minute Countdown to Christmas Gift Giving over at Cotton Spice. Click on the months of November and December to see the patterns and instructions that other bloggers shared, including Mary Ann's scarf.

Pink Penguin has some really nice tutorials such as the fabric baskets that you see popping up on other people's blogs. Look on her sidebar for her tutorials. There are several.

Becky also has some great tutorials and Christmas decorating ideas. Her tutorials are also listed on her sidebar.

Lots of people know Amanda Jean better known as Crazy Mom Quilts, and boy does she ever! She has lots of tutorials also listed on her sidebar, such as doll bedding for that special little girl in your life, checkbook cover, Christmas tree skirt, an inspiration board, and lots more.

So, if you're not marathon sewing like I am today, maybe you will after looking at all of these ideas. Oh,and if you have a tutorial on your blog you would like me to share with others, let me know! I'll post them on my list under Tutorials on my sidebar.

Have a great Sunday!

Amanda

Quiltathon Sewing Weekend

Judy is hosting the last quiltathon for 2008. It's earlier in the month this time, which is good for me since I have some last minute Christmas gifts to finish.

Terry quilted my Christmas tablecloth that I made during my Christmas Present Sewing Retreat I was getting ready for during the last Quiltathon.

I guess you could say I made myself a Christmas present. I was able to cut the quilt out in time for my retreat. I didn't bring anything for Show and Tell for my guild's Christmas party, but because Terry surprised me by having my quilt finished, I was able to show it to everyone. I plan to sew the binding on my tablecloth and maybe hand sew it tonight while watching a Christmas movie. I don't know. It's kinda big. I may machine sew it down so I can get my table set for decorating. I'll let you know.

I have lots and lots to blog about. Maybe I need a blogathon weekend where, instead of like a quiltathon catching up on unfinshed sewing, I could blog and catch up on some unfinished blogging. I've had a lot of goodies sent to me by bloggy friends, and I was even nominated for a blog award. I haven't even told you about my Christmas Present Sewing Retreat, and my Guild's Christmas Party, or the Thanksgiving dinner for my family and the cookies that my kids love. I may have to have blog posts without words. I talk a lot. Can you tell?:)

So, what are you all doing this weekend?

Have fun!

Amanda

Christmas Fashion

In the "about me" section on my blog I write that you can join me in my little corner of the web and we'll talk about quilting, our families, decorating, and gardening. I guess now I can add "fashion" to that list because afer all, we quilters like to look great, too!

Yesterday Kim posted that she was trying to find denim. She said "quilters denim", so I'm assuming she's talking about denim jumpers, denim dresses, and denim skirts. She also said that she is having a hard time finding Christmas sweaters. Commenters to her post said they were having a hard time, too, and hadn't seen many in the stores. One commenter suggested that maybe it's because Clinton and Stacy on TLC's "What Not To Wear" scream at people for having them in their wardrobes.

Let me just say that I love "What Not To Wear", and I have learned a lot from what clothes to wear for my body type, make-up ideas, and hair styles, although I can only have one style with my thick and naturally "full of body" hair. The stuff bounces like I don't know what! It's big, and gets bigger when it's wet or humid. Oops! I got off subject there for a minute; back to Christmas sweaters. I say if you want to wear a Christmas sweater, then wear a Christmas sweater! They're cute, they help us get in the spirit of things. It puts an extra little "spring" in your step especially when you're shopping and there's Christmas music playing loudly. I have enough Christmas sweaters I could wear one every day. (See how I have to tell you that I love the show before I blast them?)

So, what do you wear if:
A. You don't have a Christmas sweater
B. You can't find a Christmas sweater in the stores.
C. You are afraid that Clinton and Stacy are going to come up from behind you and scare you to death as they attack you for wearing a Christmas sweater.
D. Other people have seen the show and they snicker behind your back.
E. You're afraid the fashion police will come up to you and say, "Excuse me, mam...I'm the fashion police. Please put your hands behind your back. I'm arresting you for enjoying the Christmas season and allowing people to see the joy that you feel in your heart this time of year. Wearing that Christmas sweater made you have that extra little spring in your step which tripped a woman wearing jeans so low you could see her crack. We're going to have to take you down to the station and get this resolved."

Well, here's what I wore today when I went to my guild's 25th Anniversary Christmas party. No, I wasn't afraid of Clinton and Stacy, nor was I afraid of the fashion police. I felt the need to show my fellow bloggers that you can still look Christmasy without wearing a Christmas sweater.

Here's a cute red cardigan that I bought 50% off at Christopher and Banks, a basic long sleeved white t-shirt and a pair of Levi jeans that I bought at Walmart. It looks kind of patriotic here. Hmmm. What to do!


Okay. So I scrounge around in my closet. Hmm. There's a Santa purse I made three years ago that I forgot about, some cute little red shoes I bought on sale last year, and some Christmas jewelry that I bought at Sears when I was passing through that department a couple of weeks ago.

 

Cute, yet Christmasy, huh?

But, you know what? You could do this with a black, green, or white sweater. The pants could be jeans, white pants, khakis, or dressy/casual black pants. It's the accessories that add that little bit of Christmas spirit that makes us feel good inside. You don't have to spend a fortune, and you can use clothes you already have. If you don't have a Christmas purse, go make you one! Here's a free pattern! Leave it the size it is, or make it a little larger. Add some fringe, pom-pom fringe, or beads, and you're set to go!

The most important thing to remember though is to always be yourself. Each of us have little ways that help us to keep this season special to us. If wearing Christmas sweaters makes you happy, then by all means, go ahead.

I've got great photos of my guild's Christmas party. I didn't win any stocking blocks, but I'm so happy that you all are enjoying the tutorial!

Amanda

Christmas Stocking Tutorial

Tomorrow is my quilt guild's 25th anniversary Christmas party. It's potluck, so I've got to decide what to bring. I don't want to bring bread or dessert, although dessert seems to be my specialty. Too bad we can't live on chocolate chip cookies and Italian Cream Cake. I bake lots of those during the Christmas season, so we'll be living on it if there are any left overs! Instead, I think I'll flip through my Sandra Lee recipe books and she if she's got one that's quick, easy, and tastes great. I'm sure there's one that will be perfect to take to a party!

Every year at the guild Christmas party, someone comes up with a quilt block idea for every one to make. Last year it was a snowman. Years before that it was an ornament block. This year it is a stocking block. For each block you make, you get your name put in the hat. If your name is drawn you win a stack of blocks. Usually people make lots of blocks, so there are about 9 stacks of blocks given away; enough for each winner to make a full size quilt. Notice I didn't show you a stack of snowmen or ornament blocks. That's because I didn't win any. That's okay, though. They were still fun to make.

This year one of the ladies came up with the stocking block idea. Because I have been busy Christmas decorating, here I am making the blocks as always the day before. I thought you should join in on the fun, too, so I decided to do my first (I think) tutorial. I have lots to learn about tutorials, one being that I need dark backgrounds for explaining light fabric items. My flannel board worked great for showing darker items. A stool also helped because I stood on it so I could shoot better pictures. The back of a Christmas wall hanging worked great for helping to show up the light fabrics. I must have looked funny standing on a stool while shooting pictures of a flannel board on an ironing board because my husband walked in and started laughing. This tutorial stuff is technical!

Here's what you'll need:

For the body of the stocking (Christmas): 1, 5x8 rectangle, and 1 4x4 square

 

For the cuff of the stocking: 1, 3x5 rectangle in a coordinating Christmas print

 

White background: 1 4x7 rectangle, and (3) 1 3/4" squares.

 

Step 1: Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of each 1 3/4" square

 

Step 2: Place two of the squares in the upper left hand and lower left hand corner of the 4" square. Place one square in the lower right hand corner of the 5x8 rectangle.


Sew on the diagonal lines.

Press the top part of the square back.


Trim the seam to 1/4 inch. It should look like this on the wrong side.


This is what it should look like on the right side.


Step 3. Sew the 4x4" square to the 4x7" background rectangle. Sew the 5x8" rectangle to the 3x5" cuff rectangle.



Step 4. Sew the cuff/boot rectangle section to the background/toe of boot sections together. Press. Block should be 8 1/2 x 10 1/2.


These would be so cute as a wall hanging or a table runner. You could embroider names on the cuffs, and embellish them to your heart's content!

As you can see, I made three of these, so my name will go in the hat three times.

It would be fun to win! Wish me luck!!

Wish me luck, too, in finding a recipe. Do you have a favorite one you like to take to parties?

Amanda