Pillowcases For Sandy Hook Elementary (No longer needed!)

Check out this shop's page. They are doing a pillowcase drive for the children of Sandy Hook Elementary School.

 Quilter's Corner

Here's the address for mailing:  Quilter's Corner, 312 Danbury Rd, New Milford Ct. 06776 

I can't believe it...I don't have any kid prints in my stash!  Time to go to the store.

LaDonna 

Update:  Here's the two I sent:

Fast and Easy Baby Quilt

Need a baby quilt in a hurry?  Diana and I use the "Super-Sized Nine Patch" as our go-to pattern for fast baby quilts.  The pattern is available in a pdf for easy downloading!  Here's the link:  "Super-Sized Nine Patch".  I love this pattern because it's fast, super adorable with different prints, and best of all, you get three quilts out of it!  With a new 60mm blade in your rotary cutter, you can cut all the fabrics at once, which saves you even more time!  The hardest part of this quilt is deciding which cute prints to use!

I like to quilt these in an overall wavy grid.  The wavy lines add visual interest to a linear design and hide all kinds of wobbles and bobbles! Here's the back showing the quilting:

Here's the front showing the quilting: 

Because I like controlled wavy lines, I use this ruler to mark my lines:

It's actually a ruler for making leaves, but I bought it for marking wavy lines!  Here's the link to the designer's website:  Sue Pelland Designs

Scriptures are a nice finishing touch to a baby quilt!

Once you get started on these baby quilts, you can't stop!  They are addictive!  

LaDonna

Super Fast Stockings Done!

Just a quick note....

The one hundred stockings from my previous post (click here) turned into 125 stockings because of operator error!  I misread the email.  So much for attention to detail! 

The main thing is they are now done!  FYI, the pinking rotary blade is wonderful!  Fifteen different pink fabrics with the same pink lining/cuff and snowflake bling:

For a little extra gift, I glued ribbon to tea lights:

I am so thankful for the opportunity to make these gifts.  I hope I can make more next year!

LaDonna

How to Make a Stocking...Fast!

I don't know about y'all, but my summer has flown by!  February to October has just gone by so fast!  We have worked really hard on our yard this summer.   We have taken several pick-up truck loads to the transfer station and we aren't done yet!  We've dug up a gazillion daffodil bulbs and calla lilly bulbs!  Now that fall is here, we've moved plants and planted bulbs, putting them in a better location for us.  Here's our progress in the front yard so far:

After having the same glasses for 6 years, I finally got some new ones!  Completely different from anything I've had before!  Still working on getting used to them, but I like them and better yet, Tony likes them!  I always take him with me to pick out new glasses because as I tell him, "You're the one who has to look at my face!"

Now that Tony has retired from the Army (gosh, that's now been one year!), we are quickly putting down roots here.  Hair stylist (without having to go through even one bad haircut before I found her!), optomotrist, dentist (how nice that we won't have to change doctors in 3 years!), neighbors, friends, civic club, church, shopping, sewing machine service, car repair (I could have waited on that one!), sewing group...I'm really feeling at home here and I love it!

Now to the title of my post.  To help with a women's ministry in this area, I offered to make 100 pink stockings.  I know what you're thinking; believe me, I thought it myself!  One hundred stockings?!!  I needed a super fast method for making all these stockings.  I found this technique on another blog from a few years back  (she has lots of cute ideas, click here for her blog)  and adapted it for my stockings.

Use whatever shape stocking you want, it doesn't matter the size or the shape, to make these stockings.  Because I have so many to make, I didn't want a separate cuff to sew on.  I adapted my stocking pattern so I could turn down the top of the stocking for my cuff.  An easy way to do this is to draw your stocking pattern on a piece of paper, decide how big a cuff you want, (I used 2 inches),

fold down the cuff on your paper pattern,

fold over the edges to get the cuff close to the body of the stocking,   

unfold, and you have the angle for the cuff!

I then transferred my pattern to some sturdy plastic.

 

With right sides of your fabric together, place template.  Cut a lining fabric and an outer fabric.  I used my small rotary cutter and cut through 6 layers at a time.  Don't have time to waste...100 stockings!

Layer your fabric this way: lining fabric right sides together, pretty outside fabric right sides together on top of lining fabric.

Stitch 1/4 inch seam around the stocking, leaving the top open.

I used my pinking shears (gosh, it's been a long time since I used them!) to trim close to the seam all around the stocking.  Or you could just clip into the seam at the curves.  The main thing is to have your stocking be flat and smooth.

Now you are ready for turning.  Reach between the lining fabrics and turn the stocking.

Use a point turner to smooth out the seams.

Next, reach between the pretty outside fabric and turn.

 Use as point turner to smooth out the seams again.

Give it a good press.

Now after pressing, you may notice that the top raw edges of the stocking aren't exactly even.  That's ok!  Use your rotary cutter and ruler and trim even.  

Satin stitch around the opening.  You'll be stitching the lining fabric and the pretty outside fabric together. I used a water soluble stabilizer to make sure my satin stitches were nice and smooth.  

 Follow the manufacturer's directions to remove the stabilizer at this point.  Press cuff down.

For the hanging loop, I cut 1 1/2 inch strips.  Fold so the raw edges meet in the center, then fold again.  Stitch close to the edge.

I satin stitched the ends of the loop together and then placed it inside the stocking, about a 1/4 inch down from the edge.

Stitch close to the edge all around the folded edge of the cuff, making sure to catch the loop.

Now for some bling!  I found the cutest little snowflake button.  Dug out my glue gun and glued the button to the cuff.

 The finished stocking!

Only 99 more to go!

LaDonna

Finally another finish!

     One of the last quilts that I completed was the one for my "princess " granddaughter, so it has been a while since I have been on here.  School started and the circus really got into full swing.  With a daughter in college ( where every professor  thinks they are the only one and papers galore have to be written), a granddaughter beginning kindergarten, a four year old who just doesn't get it that he can't go with his sister, and my husband's work schedule changed, it has proved to be a hectic time here at my house. However, I have finally completed my grandson's "all things with wheels" quilt.  This child loves and I mean loves things with wheels! The bigger more rumbling the better!!  One of the adventures that LaDonna and I went on during the time she and I were together  last year, I found some fabric that just screamed to be made for the boy.  Long story short, I finally got it finished in spite of all of the interruptions.  LaDonna has been telling me that she couldn't wait to see it and since I took it out of the dryer yesterday, I can now post the pictures.
    I did have to rip out some of the quilting and switch to the wonderful Aurifil. I thought I could at least try to use up some of the other thread that I had but once again, I was proved wrong.  I have learned my lesson.  Piecing with the other thread is fine....but for quilting...Aurifil all the way!  Once again, my sister was right!!

I did different kinds of quilting on this quilt....stippling, waving lines, diagonal lines, swirling circles and attempted the pebbling ..... which turned out to be much more enjoyable that I though it would be.

    So now I am off to the next.  At this time, I am working on a baby quilt for one of my former students and then stockings for my granddaughter's class.  I really  have to get busy!.....there are 23 children in her class so far!!!


~Diana

I Hate Summer Colds

I have a cold.  First one in ages.  No more working outside until it goes away.  I just don't have the energy.  Maybe between naps I can actually get some sewing done!  Though with the fuzziness of  my head from the cold and the medicine, I should probably stay away from sharp objects! 

Since I'm confined to the house, I thought I'd show you some of what has been going on around here.  Our sun room roof is now fixed, thanks to my wonderful and talented husband.  Here's a picture of him popping up through what used to be the sky light.  No more sky light and no more moldy roof!  And best of all, no more leaks!

Because the roof is practically flat, we had to use roofing on a roll instead of shingles.  Every time we laid out the roll, Maggie had to walk on it like she was modeling!  It was the cutest thing and she did it every time!

I have loaded our pick-up truck 4 times with trash for the dump.  Concrete blocks, the old roof, junk left around from the previous owners, yard clean-up, etc.  We've sold some concrete blocks and hope to sell the sky light and some more concrete blocks too.  Here's the latest load for this weekend. 

I have been digging up old plants, trying to get the beds ready for new plants and our future garden.  The previous owners loved landscape plastic/fabric and used layers and layers of the stuff.  The old plants were so old and packed that not only the roots, but the lower branches had grown together.  They were as thick as small trees!  When I got to that part, Tony had to step in with his manly muscles and ax to get it out!  I am now on my third pair of work gloves...I keep wearing them out!

It hasn't been all work though.  We celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary September 1!  We went out to eat at a wonderful Irish pub and the food was delicious!

We have found our favorite garden center and been spending lots of time and money there.  I'm so excited...we are getting fruit trees!  Our soil has been tested, we bought the fixes for it and are just waiting for the garden center's order to come in! 

 We've been successfully shopping at some antique stores. 

Found these "antique" quilting books, 1987, 1988, and 1991!  The more things change, the more they stay the same!  Some of the pictures in these books could be in magazines today, very "modern"! However, the instructions do not include rotary cutting, of course, and every picture of the artist quilting showed her with a hoop and quilting by hand!  I'm really enjoying going through these books!

Tony has now been at his new job since retiring from the army for one year now!  Hard to believe!  I've been here for 7 months; time is just flying by!  But that also means we are coming up on the first anniversary of my mother's death on September 13.  It doesn't seem possible.  It still hits me hard sometimes but I know she is happy celebrating her first year with Jesus!

I'm hoping this cold will go away soon...there's still so much yard work to be done!  Maybe I can get some sewing done or catch up on some reading, or better yet, just watch some old movies with a cup of tea! 

Talk to y'all later!

LaDonna