March's Package...

My hope this year was to put together a 'quilting' package for my mom each month.  Sort of like the secret sister program I participated in last year on the HGTV Quilting & Needlework Forum.  She always been a sewer and made a log cabin quilt probably 20 years ago, but recently she's started to become more interested in quilting (and I'm encouraging that interest).  I hand delivered her March package to her on Thursday (April 1st). 

And now that she's seen it, I can share it with you.  Included in this month's package was block #3 of JoAnn's Imperial Splendor BOM and 2 magazines - The Quilt Life and Threads.

And this month I wanted to teach her how to make HST's (Half-Square Triangles).  It's a very basic quilt block and is used in so many quilt patterns.  To help her, I printed out instructions for making these units and included some tools that make things simpler.  First is the 'Quarter Inch Seam Marker' by Fon's and Porter which is a tool for marking your sewing lines.  Then there's a 4.5" square ruler by Omnigrid which is the perfect size for squaring up HSt's made from 5" charm squares.  And finally, there's the 'Summer Thyme' quilt pattern by This & That.  This pattern uses a lot of HST's so it'll be good practice and the finished quilt is small enough to make pretty quickly.

And what good is a pattern without the fabric?  So I included all the fabric to make the quilt - 80 5" charm squares from Indigo by Timeless Treasures, 2 yards of Navy and 3 yards of Snow Kona Cotton.  And she should have enough left over to use for another project!

And I think no package is complete without something handmade.  I finished 2 small quilts - both with a winter theme.  Here Mom is looking at Mr. Snowman and I also included Snowflakes.

I'm away from home this week - pet sitting while my family travels to Disney World.  (Who has the better end of that deal?)  Actually, I'm glad to do it.  I think my days of amusement parks are long over and pet sitting is more my pace. 

I'm watching 3 dogs and 2 cats while I'm here.  They're all older pets so mostly they just eat and sleep.  But like all animals, they have their quirks.  My sister's dog, Abby, is an American Dingo.  She's 12 or 13 years old but looks much younger.  She's missing my sister and her kids pretty badly and is crying a lot.  She also woke me at 5:30 this morning howling.  Every so often she breaks out in this mournful song.  I wish I could just explain to her that eventually they're coming back.

And then there's my parents cat, Cricket.  She is actually the mom to my Jack and Sam.  She refuses to drink out of a water bowl and has my dad trained to pick her up and put her in the sink whenever she's thirsty.  (I'm so glad mine haven't inherited this trait.)

She lets the water drip down her face before drinking...

She gets all nice and wet by the time she's done...

We repeat this scenario about 3 times a day.

The other 3 pets are fairly camera shy so I don't know that I'll get any pictures of them.

Until later...

'But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us!' Romans 5:8

February's Package

Last weekend I hand delivered my mom's February package.  (For an explanation of these packages see here).  She'd gotten a couple of things earlier in the month, but this was the bulk of it.  And now that she has it, I can finally share some pictures with you.

First of all are the flannel pillowcases for her bed.  I pre-washed the fabric in very hot water and it made them so soft.  And of course she loves snowmen.

And I also gave her both March and April's mini wall hangings.  I posted a tutorial on how to make them here.  (I wish I'd learned how to make a photo collage before doing the tutorial though...)

I've also already shared with you the stack of fabric's I split with her to make Barbie doll clothes.  Last weekend, we each managed to complete an outfit using this fabric.  I made a special occasion silk dress that took almost 2.5 hours to sew!  Shouldn't such small items be quick?  My mom completed a skirt and top outfit.

I also gave her a bunch of patterns for clothes for both Barbie dolls and 18" dolls.  (I think we'll end up making  more of the 18" clothes because the bigger scale is easier to sew.)  And of course you need a model to try clothes on, so I included this beach barbie.  She came in very handy when sewing.

Finally, I included block #2 of the Imperial Splendor BOM, another spool of Aurifil thread, a quilt magazine, the instructions for making the pillowcases and a pair of hemostats.

I've already got lots of ideas for March's package.  I'd really like to include more hand-made items and I have a bunch of quilt tops already made for her.  But it's always the quilting of the tops that seems to take me so long.

Until later...

January's Package

Now that my mom has received and opened her package, I can post some pictures of what I included. 

(In case you didn't know, I'm planning to send my mom a quilting package each month of the year.  It's sort of like the secret sister swap I was in in 2009, but obviously not a secret.  I want her to know how much I love her - and to enjoy quilting as much as I do!)

First, I sent her two calendar wall-hangings featuring her favorite - Snowmen!  These stitcheries are part of the Camelot Snowman series.  Here are January and February.  I made each one to hang individually and bought the small snowflake hanger to display them.

I always tell my mom when I find tools or notions that make sewing easier.  Two of these indispensable items are glass head silk pins and Aurafil thread.  I love the silk pins because you can iron over them and they won't melt.  Plus they're strong, but slide into fabric easily.  They're also thin so they don't leave holes even in delicate fabrics.

Jan introduced me to the Aurafil thread.  The initial cost (around $9) seems rather expensive until you realize how much thread is actually on it.  I'm still on my first two spools - they seem to last forever.  Plus they produce almost no lint.  Definitely less than any other thread I've tried.  And if you should ever need to tear out some sewing (as if!), it comes out more smoothly.

And finally I found this really cute "Snow Days" fabric line at Connecting Threads that made me think of her.  There are 15 FQ's which are enough to make a nice sized throw.  The fabric came with a free pattern for making small Christmas stockings that she could use as well if she likes.

That concludes her first package.  I'd now better get busy on Februrary's - plus all my UFO's!

Until next time...

Settling in...

I haven't been doing much sewing lately. I've been trying to get David settled in and everyone adjusted to his presence. He had surgery yesterday to get fixed and for his claws, but you couldn't guess it from looking at him. He has no bandages and appears to be in no pain. Actually, our greatest issue is getting him to be less active. I've prayed about it and the whole transition is going easier (so far) than I had hoped for!

I promised this post would have something other than pets in it, so let's move on. I realized looking at old posts that I forgot to show you the last Ladies of the Sea ship I finished. She's called the Elissa. She's the last ship I'll be working on until I get some other things finished up.


I read on a blog some time ago a post asking quilters to show the first quilt they ever made and the latest. I show you all of my latest projects but I didn't have a picture of my first until now. I made this quilt for my mom about 5 years ago. Two weeks before Christmas I decided that I wanted to get my mom something else as a gift, but I didn't have any idea what. I saw this BOM (block of the month) at JoAnn's on clearance. The colors and the pattern were perfect for my mom. Having never made a quilt before, I figured it would be easy. The pieces in the kits were all pre-cut and I think I'm pretty good at following directions. And the store had all 12 kits plus the setting kit.

Working furiously, I managed to finish the quilt top in time for Christmas. I think my mom was both surprised and I believe pleased when she opened it on Christmas Day. I thought this would be a one time thing - making a quilt. But I so enjoyed making it, that I was hooked. It took another year for me to turn the top into a quilt. I tried to hand-quilt it, but was discouraged by my stitches and took them out. Finally, I just tied it.


My mom used it for a long time and washed it almost every week. It's now a bit faded and some of the seams are starting to open, but I still like to sleep under it whenever I visit. It's far from perfect, but I still love it.


I've made about 25 quilts since then and given most of them away. Of the completed quilts I've made (not just tops), I have 3 wall hangings hanging in our house. They're in the living room, the half-bath and the laundry room. It seems a little weird to have 2 of the 3 hanging in utility rooms, but one day I hope every room will have one.

To end this post, I'd like to share a couple more pictures from this past weekend. The first is a picture of my niece, Gracie. Her personality is just as sweet as she is pretty. She's also very much a girlie girl.


And finally, here's one more picture of David down at the farm.


Until later...

Back to normal...

The weekend's over and so is my sewing marathon. The closest I made it to my sewing room yesterday was buying some fabric. I needed a backing for the JoAnn's BOM and found some wide backing at JoAnn's. It's washed and ready to use.

I also stopped by another LQS (Carolina Sew n Vac) and bought some more 30's fabrics. I recently got my last issue of Fons and Porter Love of Quilting magazine in the mail and I LOVED the quilt on the cover. I immediately pulled out the necessary fat quarters from my stash to set aside for this project. This yardage should give me the rest of what I need. Of course, I have no plans to start this quilt in the forseeable future, but when I'm ready it will be too.

I also bought some fabric to make something for my little secret sister from the HGTV Quilting & Needlework Forum but obviously I can't show it here. Finally, I thought I'd show you what my cat Moses considers part of her stash. She steals this bag of scraps almost every night and I thoughtfully return it to my sewing room the next day. This is probably the 5th or 6th plastic bag I've put it in and it looks ready for a new one, don't you think?

I hope to get some time to sew today but I need to get ready for my trip. I leave tomorrow to house/pet sit for my parents. They have 2 cats and 2 dogs of their own, but they recently rescued 5 kittens and their momma from outside. Luckily they have a separate garage to keep them in. In any case, that's a lot of critters. Oh, and I'm bringing my dog Gabriel with me. She'll probably be the most challenging of them all. But I've hired my nephew to play ball with her each day to hopefully tire her out. We'll see...