Elephantastic!

My sister and I were talking about Christmas a few months ago, and we thought it would be fun for all the sisters/sister-in-laws/mother (there are seven of us) to exchange handmade Christmas gifts.  Something small and simple.  Everyone agreed and we have all been working merrily away on our cute little gifts.  I chose to make elephants (like the one I made my daughter a while back.  Seen here.)  I know we have an owl,  an angry bird, a strawberry, and a needle book.  I can’t wait to see what else is in the mix.   Meanwhile,  here is a picture of my little cuties waiting to be handed out during the family Christmas party.

I used Heather Bailey’s pattern, Effie & Ollie.  Too cute.  I’ll have a hard time giving these cuties away.

Stormy

My finished afghan

It’s warm, it’s cozy, it’s my new favorite blanket (my daughter’s too)!  I’m so in love with it, I want to start another one.  Whenever I use it my two year steals it from me.  I think we both need one. 

Remember my inspiration piece?

It didn’t really turn out the same, because I couldn’t find the gigantic yarn.  But, I believe mine to be much much cuddlier.

It also looks fabulous on my new couch!

Stormy

Ruffled Tree Skirt

Yes, ruffled tree skirts are everywhere this year.  But, it’s because they are so amazingly cute!  I saw this one on HGTV.com and had to make it.  The only big problem was everything had a raw edge.  I could just imagine the shredded mess it would be after two or three years of use.  So, I used my 1/8 inch hemming foot and hemmed 4 yards of 3 inch strips.  It took hours.  But, it was totally worth it.  I zigzagged all the edges of the canvas fabric that the strips are sewn on AND when it was all finished, used a bottle of NO  FRAY on all the ribbon and zigzagged edges.  (Just to be on the safe side!)   I also changed the size of the 2 inch strips to 3 inches.  I really like how it turned out.  It does look a bit different from the original, but I’m pretty sure it’ll last for years to come.

Love, love, love it.

Stormy

Christmas Bulb Wreath

I’ve seen MANY of these beautiful Christmas bulb wreaths popping up all over the place.  They are so beautiful, I had to give it try.  I think it took as much time picking the colors of the bulbs out as it did making the wreath.  But, I’m very happy with the result.

I made it using a coat hanger, bulbs, ribbon, a beaded garland and hot glue!  It is a bit smaller than some I’ve seen, simply because I didn’t want to spend all the extra money on 80 bulbs!!  I used about 60 and cut down the size of my hanger wire.  I’m quite fond of my adorable new Christmas wreath.

Stormy

My New French Bag

In the latest issue of "Quilts and More", I found a great tote bag pattern.  I desperately needed to make another bag to hold my large array of items necessary to get through church meetings with 5 children!  What really caught my eye was the color option.  I love the French fabric!  And….. I had strikingly similar fabric sitting in my stash pile!  Wahoo!  I didn’t have to buy anything!  I decided I needed pockets on the inside (which the pattern did not have).  So, added one long piece of fabric on one side then sewed divider lines spaced at different widths. (Perfect sizes for diapers and wipes, keys and sunglasses, and pens.)  Then on the other side, I used my last square of polka dot fabric for a smaller pocket for my phone.  I now wish I would have added a pocket to the outside of the bag too, but oh well, maybe next time.  Once the bag was finished, it looked huge!  Much bigger than I had imagined.   So, I sewed up some cute little polka dot strips added them to the sides and tied bows to create tucks at the top.  (I hope that makes sense.) 

So, here it is!  What do you think??

Stormy

Oh Christmas tree…

I’ve been busy!  Pictures of what I’ve been working on are coming soon.  Meanwhile, enjoy a picture of my new Christmas tree!

Stormy

Why I haven’t been sewing

I’ve been busy.  Really, truly busy.  And boy, do I feel accomplished!

This is what happens when I get a big ‘ol box of apples from my parents apple orchard.  We hadn’t eaten fresh off the tree apples in years.  We sure enjoyed them.  Yum Yum Yum.  We also got our frozen berry order in. 

So, Once I was bottling, I found it hard to stop. There is:

Blueberry Pie Filling, Raspberry Pie Filling, Cinnamon Apples, Sliced Apples

Apple Jelly, Apple Mint Jelly, Pepper Jelly and Apple Butter

I’m not done yet either!  I still have a box of frozen blueberries in the freezer and I would really like to add salsa and bread and butter pickles.  (Can I just tell you that in two days we have already eaten through our first jars of apple butter, apple jelly and pepper jelly!  My kids LOVE it all.)

Did I mention that I’m feeling all kinds of accomplished?

Stormy

Happy Halloween!

We had a great (busy/crazy) Halloween.  Hope you all did too!

Stormy

Nicey Jane is finished!

Have you ever gone fabric shopping in a funky mood and bought fabric that is totally unlike anything you’ve bought before?  You loved it for awhile, then later on couldn’t figure out why you loved it so much?  That’s what happened here.  Don’t get me wrong, the “Nicey Jane” fabric line is super cute.  It’s just not so much me.  The quilt was a nightmare to cut out.  There were so many fabrics and so many pieces.  I can’t even remember what the pattern is called.  (It’s from an old quilt magazine.)  I made the top two years ago and put it away until….  four months ago my teenage daughter saw it in my pile of unfinished quilts and fell in love.  It makes sense.  She is super artsy loves these colors.  She begged me to finish it, so she could use it as a bedspread.  She also wanted  words like “artist” “read” and “imagine” quilted on it.  It was pretty fun to quilt and turned out very “Savvy”.  So, here it is. Nicey Jane.

(Yes, my second daughter is a big ham and tries to look ridiculous in most of her pictures.)

Stormy

Weekend Craft

I love General Conference weekend.  Eight full (no guilt) hours sitting in front of the television watching the fabulous talks of our church's leaders.  It’s family time, wearing jammies all day time, and crafting time!  This year, after looking at all the gorgeous crochet projects on pinterest, one project really stood out.

Gorgeous.  So, I ran to Hobby Lobby to find some yarn to begin the first afghan I have started in years.  I couldn’t find anything near this thick, but it was an inspiration piece for this…

I can only show you super close up pictures now, cuz it’s not the big yet.  But, assuming I’ll still be this much in love with it when I finish, you will definitely be seeing more pictures.

Stormy

Baby Quilts

Over the years I’ve made a few baby quilts.  Everything about baby quilts are fun to make. Picking out the fabric, choosing the pattern, and then how quickly it all comes together.  But, the best part is seeing all those cute little babies cuddled up in them.  So, since I haven’t done much sewing to speak of, I visited some of my (not so great) photos of  baby quilts I’ve made over the years.  And, I thought I’d share a few.

Makes me want to go make some more.  So cute.

Stormy

Stormy’s Stars

Have you ever made a quilt that you just LOVED?  Every time I finish a quilt it is “my favorite” until the next quilt is finished.  Not this one.  I believe this quilt will hold the favorite position for a long, long time.  I love it so much, I even named it after myself.  (Silly, I know.) I fell in love with the pattern from Moda Bake Shop called “Starry Eyed”.  I just happened to be looking for a pattern that required a layer cake and two charm packs.  And, I love stars.   The quilt is made from the “Fresh Cottons” fabric by Fig Tree Quilts (one of my favorite designers).

So, here it is, “Stormy’s Stars”.

I even love to sit here and look at pictures of it.

Stormy

Sewing Room Shelf

I am sloooooowly designing and organizing my sewing room.  One of the main wants NEEDS of my room are shelves.  Almost everything is stored in totes stacked up on the floor.  So, I had this idea for a shelf over the window that adds a little character to the room along with a little functional space.  Luckily, my husband was willing to throw it together for me.  What a sweetie.

I still have to figure out what I’m going to do for a window treatment, but I’m getting there…

Stormy

Fall Door Frame

It’s hard to get in the mind set for Fall decorating because we are still hitting 95 degrees here.  But, there are so many great Fall/Halloween decorating ideas this year, I couldn’t help but come up with my own.  I loved the idea of a frame instead of a traditional wreath on the front door.  This Christmas frame was my inspiration.  Along with this and this.  I put all the ideas together and came up with this!

The black frame blends a bit too much into my dark door, but other than that, I love the way it turned out.

Stormy

Rendezvous II

Remember my quilt I finished this summer called Rendezvous?  I actually started making a table cover first.  I liked it so well, I made a quilt just like it.  But, I never finished the table cover.  Until now.  My sister, Shellie, did such an awesome job taking our family pictures this year and since her favorite color combination is blue and brown……  Yes, you guessed it.  I finished it for her. 

Thanks Shell!  You’ll be getting a package in the mail soon….

Stormy

My Scrappy Star Surprise

Recently, I have started loving scrap quilts.  Precuts had barely been introduced when I first started quilting.  They were so easy to sew with and all the fabrics matched.  It was fabulous!  Most of the quilts I have made have been from one fabric line.  I still get all excited when I see charm packs and jelly rolls.  But, as I was browsing quilt blogs a few months ago, I came across this blog.  There on the computer screen was the exact same quilt my mom had made in the early ‘80’s!  I fell in love with it then and it is still one of my favorite quilts. My grandma and mom started cutting out hundreds of little diamonds to make scrappy star quilts.  Every star was made from a different fabric.  Many of the fabrics had been used in pillows, dresses, doll clothes etc.  It took them years to trace, cut out, trace 1/4 inch sewing lines, hand sew the stars, piece together, then hand quilt the quilt. Not many people do that anymore!.  Anyway….  after seeing that someone else was making a scrappy star quilt the same way as my mom and grandma, I remembered something.

Yes!  My mom gave me all of the leftover scraps from their quilts years ago, and I had totally forgotten!   I pulled them out and found I have diamonds, already cut out, for about 80 stars!!!!!  I found fabric from dresses I wore as a kid, a pillow my grandma made me, scraps from my mom’s clothing, and many more I recognized, but could not place.  It’s all so very nostalgic.   Guess, what I’m going to start making?!  I don’t have a picture of my mom’s quilt. (Will have to get one soon.)  But here is a link to Crazy Mom Quilts so you can see what I’m talking typing about.

One day I’ll have my own scrappy stars quilt.

Stormy

Summer is officially over

Yes, school started today.  My monkeys were excited, nervous, scared, happy, anxious….. you get the idea.  It’s such a big day.  I think it’s as hard on me as it is on the kids.  They might disagree though. 

We had a fabulous summer.  I thought I’d recap a few of our favorite summer past times.

 

We swam and swam and swam and also did a little playing in the rain.  Yes, our family likes water.

Of course we watched fireworks.  Twice.  We had a great cousin sleepover with fireworks and camping in grandparents back yard.  Then we had an awesome breakfast and our annual marshmallow war!  The next day we went to the city fireworks in the rain.  It was great fun!

We went to the zoo.  We walked the trail up to Bridal Veil Falls, then played in the icy cold water.

We visited old family homes in Midway, UT and stayed in a condo at Park City where we took family pictures.  (Thanks Shellie and Matt!)

And, the best part of summer was staying up late watching movies, sleeping in and taking naps whenever and wherever we wanted.  It was wonderful…..

Stormy