Sew Good to Sew Again

Hello messy sewing room!  It's good to get back in my happy place among all the pins, scissors and piles of fabric.  Let's get you back in order and put away that Christmas fabric.

Hello my new IPad friend!  Hello Pandora! Thanks for keeping me company today.

Hello my Juki sewing buddy!  Let me oil your gears and dust your innards!

 Hello scrap box!  I hope we can go on a diet together and reduce some of that baggage!

 Hello pretty Retro Morocco Skinny Churn Dash blocks!  

 Hello pretty Valentine Charm Pack!  What can we make out of you?

 Hello cute fabric I bought last fall to make more pouches and bibs!

 Hello scrappy half square triangles!  Let's get back to work on that little quilt we started last October! 

 Hello pretty thread!  Let's get you organized this year so you aren't in such a jumble tossed in that drawer.

Today was my first day back in my sewing room this year!  I have been reading your blogs and seeing all the work being done on your quilts. So many of you have already finished a project or two.  I have been a little busy helping my special people get settled in new roles and new places. All good now.  But this girl has to sew. It's therapy for my creative soul.     

Happy New Year!

I see my last post was waaay back in late November. So let's catch up. A lot of happy things has happened for me and my family.  

For starters, our grandson was born.

He arrived a week earlier than we had planned. I had been on baby watch for several weeks and I was almost organized, but when the call came I dropped everything and headed out of town. I have stories about his mom and dad here  and his quilt story here.

I took along my sewing machine and a few good books.  I was away from home about three weeks. I enjoyed every minute!

Even though our Christmas was totally different this year, it was a great family time and a very wonderful Christmas holiday.  My son #2 and his family came before Christmas to meet the new baby and returned home in time to spend Christmas with their other family. Next my husband came on Christmas day to meet baby and spend a few days.  Then my son #1 and his family came after Christmas to meet the little one. They also stayed a few days and during that weekend we all went to the Holiday Show at Sea World in San Antonio. We had a big time! Such a fun holiday!

Little One dressed in his Christmas outfit for his First Christmas.

I surprised his mom with his stocking...I still need to add his name.  One of the family traditions is making all the grandchildren's stockings.  Each one is personalized and meaningful to each child.  This Little One has two dogs, a standard Poodle and a Great Dane.  Dad loves to ski.  I made a snowman with skis and poles in a sleigh being pulled by the two dogs.  I added antlers and red noses.     

I think he likes it!

Here are some other gifts I made for the grandkids...I put Kate's name on a big pink bath towel.  They live near the beach so she has her own personalized bath towel for now or a big beach towel for next summer .

I found this red tractor fleece at Hancock's.  I made three pairs of pajama pants for the three boys and I made Kate a dress.  I had just enough left over to make the Little One a tiny newborn cap. All of the grandboys are tractor crazy.  

At some of the quieter moments this holiday, I did make some of these Christmas Tree mug mats.  I followed this tutorial by Amy at Diary of a Quilter.  This is just another one of her great tutorials and the trees are so much fun to make with my collection of Christmas fabrics. I made about 20 mats of various sizes. They were perfect little gifts for some special friends. A perfect size to pop in an envelope to send off to my relatives.    

We have some work ahead in this new year.  It is time for our mom to move closer. She knows it's time but still her heart is at home. 

I feel deep down that this is going to be a great year! I have so many sewing projects to work on.  My Etsy shop is alive and doing well.  I am so thankful for all the blessings in 2014. I am energized to begin 2015. 

 Happy New Year to all of you!

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday Makings - Flannel Raggedy Edge Quilts

Last week I made a few raggedy edge flannel quilts.  I call mine raggedy edge flannel quilts because I am not so fond of the more widely popular name "rag quilts."  If you haven't made one, you should.  They are fun, fast, soft and warm. And best of all, once you've finished sewing, you are done!  I love flannel fabric. I live in my flannel shirts layered over other shirts in the winter months.  I am a fan of flannel pajamas and my kids use flannel sheets.  These quilts make a great baby quilt/gift too.  I made my edges about a 7/8 width seam allowance so the edges are extra fluffy. I stitch several lines through the center to keep everything from shifting.  I used this giant 10 inch tumbler tool.  The cute fabric prints are allowed to peek out in a big way among the fluffy edges. And sometimes, I like to frame the quilts with borders.  Every one I make is just a little different from the one I made before.  

This print is Fanfare by Rae Hoekstra.  Tiny foxes and elephants in gray, aqua and butterscotch.  Some of my favorite colors. 

Can you tell I like elephants?  I like animals of all kinds.

These are the cutest elephants paired up with some coordinating colors of flannel from my stash.

 I found this crab print flannel at my LQS (local quilt shop.)

Since I am a beach person and a cancer the crab zodiac sign, I like little crabs and had to have this little crab and the word "crabby" printed below it. I paired it with sand colored flannels with some dots that remind me of bubbles.  It is really cute. And the borders seem to add a little extra to the whole look. Don't be afraid to piece two different fabrics in the middle of the block.  It adds more fluffy edges to the mix. 

This is the back side.  All the fluffy edges are on the other side.

I could not pass on this tractor print.  It's pretty cute! It is one of my favorites.  If you have three tractor loving grandboys like I do, you cannot pass up tractor fabric.  The brown and gray prints have circles which look like wheels and I paired some primary colored flannels to match the colors of the tractors.  In this quilt, I put 100% cotton batting in between the two layers of flannel.  I stitched across twice to quilt each block. Usually the two layers of flannel are plenty but that extra layer does add some additional softness and extra warmth.  There is no back or front on this quilt because both sides have fluffy edges. I sewed every other edge seam to go either to the front or back on this one. 

And one last tractor raggedy edge flannel quilt.  This is made with 8.5 square blocks.  All ragged edges are on the front.  This one has not been washed yet.  

 Back side.  So cute in the primary colors.

 All rag quilts have to be washed a few times to fray the edges. Shake before you dry.  Before you load the wash into the dryer, take your freshly washed load outside and give everything a good shake.  You cannot imagine how many little thread clippings will shake out.  Put your load in the dryer and stay close to your dryer while they are tumbling dry. I have to empty the lint catcher many times to collect the lint.  And there will be a lot the first time you wash but after another washing or two there will be an end to all of that.

I do plan to list these in my Esty store just in case you just need to have one.  Thanks for stopping by.