Christmas is a' Comin'

 Merry Christmas, everyone!

Here's some Christmas presents getting finished. I felt like I was visiting old friends with these two projects. The floral table runner is made with some leftover pieces from a large half hexagon quilt...see my header on the blog? Yep, that's the one ~

 I love the pieced back, if I were keeping it, this side would be showing the most ~

 

This one is a 'Christmas prints only' Ticker Tape project.

 One piece of muslin, grid drawn it to mark 15 'mug rugs', and glue stick the little pieces down.

 Quilt, wash, cut apart and bind.

  Voila! 15 mini gifts ~

I've been giving them away about as soon as they are bound, 

sorry there are no pictures of a finished one ~

Merry Christmas, everyone!

"Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. " Isaiah 9:6

Hats for the School Christmas Musical!

 Sewing is always occurring, but projects are in various stages. Is that normal? Well, it seems to be for me!

 

These sweet hats were a project for the K, first, and second graders at my school. They are part of a penguin costume. Can you believe that 70 hats were made in one week?

Caught solid color fleece on a one day sale, great deal at $2.49 a yard! 
The "accent" prints were $6 bucks. After I figured out the first 2 hat measurements, there was two days of cutting the pieces.

These would be a quick and easy gift! I worked with 3 or 4 you tube videos, and then made my hats using these guides:

Main body of hat was cut 11 inches by 24 inches, the 24 inches are the stretch.  I was able to make 6 hats from one yard. 

Accent/brim piece is 6 inches by 24, again the long side being the stretchy side.

 

I took them to my Monday night quilting class, and did a quick demo for the class. Then my friend Debbie helped to sew the pieces into "tubes", both the body and the accent/brim parts...

 

 (we left about 2 1/2 inch opening on one end for the fringe, 

I liked that better so there wasn't a stiff piece of the pom pom)

and Kathy cut the threads and stacked the pieces so I could get it all back home. "I get by with a little help from my friends ~" sing along...

 It was fun to put the colors together! The mix I was going for was bold contrasts...made me think of Dr. Seuss....

  Here is the assembly. Fold the 6 inch accent in half, with the seam on the inside. Pin it to the wrong side -seam side- of the body part. Sew around to attach.

  This shows the accent flipped up, but not turned to the right side yet.

  This shows the accent/brim turned up, and now the seam you just made is hidden! I gave them a little steam at this point, half heat, the fleece will melt on cotton setting!

The fringe is cut at 2 to 3 inches, a little wider than 1/4 inch. Nothing like quilting, fleece is so forgiving!

I didn't take a picture from this point, but you need to take a big gathering stitch -1 inch stitches- just below the cut fringe. If you use a big needle and double thread, you can draw it up and tie it tight. 

The last step is to take 2 pieces of the front fringe, cross them over and then tie them in the back, bundling the fringe into the pom pom. This is where you might be glad you you cut the fringe more toward the 3 inches, cuz' those shorter fringe pieces barely reach around ~


Hey, let me know if you try these. I hope it is easy enough to understand!

These are some of my kiddos with their hat of choice. 
I usually take their picture and frame it for a Christmas gift to their folks. Some of the pictures didn't show the pom pom top, so this is just a few of the photos ~

Thank you to my praying friends. Larry came through the surgery well, and is on the mend. His Papa is coming for Christmas! We are hoping he feels great by then ~


I'll leave you with a picture and a link of what we had around here this past week, mm-mm, Sour Cream Cranberry Coffee Cake ~

"Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all."
 II Thessalonians 3 : 16

What's on the Frame, Etc.

 the latest fiddling project: messing around with one inch (finished) squares

On the quilt frame now:

This pattern is makin' the rounds in our quilt class. The above quilt on the frame is Debbie's, a friend in class, and it is the second time for her to use the pattern ~




since Ginny's was finished in September! (This one is Ginny's)

Debbie's quilt is a Christmas present for her sister, and since I have a three day weekend, I'm finding time to quilt it!








These little guys are blocks that have me fiddling with the small stuff again...what can I say? It's been fun to be able to sit for a few minutes at the end of a long workday and put one together. What will they become? I'm not sure yet . . . probably a table runner....



Find some time to create this weekend. Give thanks for all we have, and hug a Veteran! 

"Trust in the LORD, and do good; Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass."   Psalm 37:3-5

Life's Little, Scrappy Distractions ~

I've been messin' around with little sewing bits--tiny, actually--just for the challenge. Oh yes, I have been way busy with school and cannot believe I'm
working on the first quarter grades! But, I've been trying to reintroduce 

~ B a l a n c E ~

which somehow evaporates with life demands. 

I'm gonna share some photos, it's up to you 

if you want to read the messages in between ~

 



These spools were my summer project from Bonnie Hunter, 3"finished, and all from scraps. I used a spool fabric print for sashing, but my favorite print is the top view of spools that are in the cornerstones. Needs to be quilted.
   
That thin turquoise flange was a chore for some reason, but I'm happy with the results.
Edited to add: Miss P. had a good idea for this to be linked to the challenge on Jo's Country Junction; maybe I'll up the game to get this one quilted! Thank you, P!

 

From each spool block was 4 bonus, or what I prefer to call "redeemed" hst's.
 



They were tiny, but I thought, "Why not?," and would get a tiny pinwheel with each spool.


 


This pinwheel Irish chain block is the result of those redeemed blocks! Set together in a 12 inch finished block, the math is 335 pieces per 12 inches! 

 

I have 4 completed blocks to make a 24" table topper. I've run out of my pretty confetti background, so it is sitting for the next fabric selection....

From there, I've moved to these 1 1/2 inch half square trianges...jus' cuz'... no real plans.....
 

This are the final photos from the quilt I made from Leanna's embroidered blocks. It was finished this summer, but she let me borrow it to share at quilt class and get photos taken.

~ Love this quilt ~

In the other "household" news,  Larry is not feeling well, and is facing another surgery, bless his heart. He is also unemployed, but working constantly with anything he can. It is wearing, as you can imagine.... We have been doing our Bible studies on the Sovereignty of God. Amazing blessings to be had...!

My second grade students are adorable, but quite a challenge this year. Over half of the class has diagnosed learning disabilities on various levels, and its hard work trying to bring them up to the mark. These are the years you question your own capabilities! Hopefully, we will get through with some growth in each of us, student and teacher, lol

Lastly, I just am not happy with bloglovin'. More times than not I cannot leave a comment on a friend's blog, without pulling the blog up on a separate window. It has caused me to slow down on my connections, and mostly I just connect though my own bloglist. Sorry for the grumbles, but one more reason I've felt a little lost from blogland.

 So, all that to say hello, and we are still kicking. Hope to get the posts coming a little better than one a month. Happy Saturday!


Happy Quilting, 

"Thus says the LORD: 'Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength… Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but her leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.'" Jeremiah 17:5a, 7-8