Giving back

This past week I worked on sewing projects for three different organizations. Beads of courage, Heads at ease and a local Hospice.

Beads of Courage is a national program that is also expanding to other countries. It is a program that gives support and strength to children with a serious illness. Each bead they receive represents a milestone in their treatment. Beads of courage bags are given to each participant to store their beads in. If you would like to help sew bags, check out their website www.beadsofcourage.org or check with your local quilt shop.

Here is what it looks like closed

The next project was a pillowcase for an organization called Heads at ease. This program was started by a Navy mom who was sending her deployed son and his friends a hug from home in the form of a pillow case. This is a great way to support are military troops. For more information, here is the website www.headsatease.net  . I made my pillow case using some fabric I picked up while I was visiting the great city of Seattle. 

My last project this week is for a local Hospice House called Peppi's House. It's a home-like inpatient hospice facility. Each patient gets a quilt to help them feel more comfortable and more at home. Check with your local quilt shop or hospice house in your area for more information on donating a quilt. I used bright cheery colors in this quilt.

It's been a busy and rewarding week! That's it for this post. Have a great day!

Western pincushions! Yee haw!

Every year I go to a sewing camp held by the Quilters Market at the famous Tanque Verde Ranch here in Tucson, Az. I enjoy presenting our camp counselors with a new pincushion every year. This year I decided to use wool in my project. I wanted it to be a memento of camp this year and used some icons typical to the southwest and ranch living. I also added some decorative stitching and made a crazy quilt layout on the pincushions.

 



Since I was making two, I changed the second one up just a little bit by adding a flower instead of the horseshoe.

I filled them with crushed walnut shells that I bought from the local pet store. I love the added weight it gives them and the texture from the walnut shells help keep needles clean. I am currently working on another wool pincushion, I will post that as soon as I am done with it. But if you haven't figured me out yet, I like to work on multiple projects at once so in time it will be done. Have a great day!!

A resting spot

Hi all!!

I saw these neat phone / tablet holders on Pinterest. Ooooo I want one!! So I looked into purchasing one and after seeing the price I thought "I can make that!". So I scoured the internet for a pattern and after seeing how much that cost I thought hmmmm "do I really want to spend that much on a pattern". I'm sure we have all been there. After more searching I found a free pattern. Yay!! I got to work on it right away. I wanted to use it with my phone, but it came out much bigger than I thought it would. It works great with my mini iPad though.

I'm not crazy about the large pillow in front but you can still view the screen just fine. Back to the drawing board. This time I measured my phone and figured out how big I wanted my phone stand to be and came of with this version.

Much better huh?! I also filled it with crushed walnut shells and a bit of polyester stuffing to keep the shape of the point. I do like this version much better, in fact, I have had a few request for some, so I will whip up a few more. That's it for today. Have a happy day!

It's Halloween!

Disney has declared it Halloween season with the start of their Mickey's scary Halloween parties. Sooo... I thought it would be fun to make some Halloween themed pillow cases! My Daughter is currently in the Disney College Program Internship and is working at the Magic Kingdom. She absolutely loves it! I made these for her and her friends. I'm sending them now so they can enjoy them before Halloween is over. Hmmmm Christmas pillow cases next?

Making these pillow cases were actually quite easy. Just google "pillow case pattern" and you will get many to choose from. There are also handy videos also if you are more of a visual person like me. Here are some pictures of the ones I made.

 

I love the orange and black fabric, here is a closer look of the detail...

See the skull and cross bones? It's neat how they put those in there. I have to honestly tell you I did not notice it when I bought it.  The next picture is of some cute ones that I think are so fun!

I have been working on a few other projects so I well post those when I get further along on them. In the meantime, have a great day!

Grin and "bear" it

Okay okay I couldn't resist! My daughter wanted me to create a bear pattern for her. I searched through all of my patterns and couldn't come up with anything close to what she had in mind, so I had her draw up the initial bear shape she wanted and I did the rest. This is the second version, the first prototype was disassembled for pattern modifications. I used wool in this version, the ears and tail were glued on. The eyes are French knots and the nose is a satin stitch.

 

Side view of bear

Looking head on

The bear is only about 3 inches by 4 inches. Hope you like it! 

Finished!

Hi all! Hope your having a good day. We have reached 100 degrees in our temperatures so the days of hot steering wheels are here. Over the weekend I was able to FINALLY get the binding sewn on. I have been putting this off for quite sometime. Only because I was not sure on what color I wanted to use. I think it turned out quite nice!

And here is the back, looks a bit like sherbert ice cream to me, which would be perfect for a hot day!

Here is a close up of the quilting. I have to say I didn't do the quilting. A wonderful  quilter named Linda Powell did it for me. I love the flower pattern she used. Makes it perfect for a little girl.

 

The pattern I used for this quilt is called Yellow Brick road by Atkinson Designs. It uses fat quarters and stitches up pretty fast.

This finished quilt is on it's way to its new home. Until next time, eat some ice cream!

Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day here in the U.S. Wishing everyone who nurtures a child, friend, pet etc.. A happy day. I received a new charm for my bracelet and a wonderful 3D laser art piece. My daughter Amber cut it with the laser machine and little sis Ashley helped assemble it. I took some pictures, but they no where do it justice as seeing it in real life.

Amazing isn't it?? See below for some close ups.

 

The view below shows how it was assembled in layers, 13 layers in all.

For my friend Renee, Mom and MIL I made some cards with stamps from "Stamps of life". The design came from a fellow stamp club member from the Stamps of life Gallery. 

Until next time, have a great day and keep sewing!!