Pillow Talk

Goodness! I had even more comments on the snowman pillow than on the Santa wallhanging! I'm totally amazed--Thanks for commenting!

I have another pillow idea to share. I put Hubby to work the other day, looking through a few Christmas books for possible baked treats, and he came across an idea for a pillow shaped like a mitten that appealed to him. I knew I had a couple felted wool sweaters tucked away, so I pulled them out tonight and started experimenting a little. I ended up with this smallish mitten pillow:

First I started with a felted wool sweater with a wintery print--I found the wool sweaters at Goodwill.

I drew out something that looked like a mitten shape on a piece of freezer paper and ironed it on the front of the sweater. (I drew a pencil line on the paper so I could keep the pattern lines on the sweater straight and lined up.)

I cut around the freezer paper shape, leaving enough excess for a seam allowance. Then I cut the same shape from the back of the sweater, lining up the design and remembering to reverse the position of the mitten so I didn't end up with one thumb going one way and the other thumb going another. (To do this, I ironed the same pattern onto the INSIDE of the sweater.) I sewed the seam carefully around, using my walking foot, and left an opening in the "wrist" of the mitten for stuffing. Once it was stuffed, I hand stitched the opening closed.

After that, I found some interesting yarn and threaded it around the wrist, using three strands. I tightened the yarn a bit and knotted it; then I braided the ends and fluffed out the tassels.

I do wish I had made the mitten a little larger, and if I get time to make the second pillow, I WILL make that one larger. Hubby thinks the pillow is great, so I know these have "guy appeal," and I think a couple mitten pillows decorating a boy's bed for winter would be great!

Frosty

WOW! I guess you all liked my little Santa project! 31 comments and I wasn't even giving anything away--that has to be a record! I feel the way I imagine the most popular girl in the 6th grade felt! Thanks so much for leaving me your comments.

Tonight I made another little project that used a similar method. Probably not quite as cute as Santa, but I'm pleased with it, so I thought I'd share again.

I started with two quilted placemats I found at Goodwill awhile back.

Using the snowman block pattern from the Christmas List quilt, I cut all the pieces from wool to build a snowman and pinned them into place on one of the placemats.

I sewed the wool along the edges, just like I did with Santa, and then I added a little quilted detail.

When that was done, I called in my quality control assistant to check to make sure everything was correct. She paid particularly close attention to the quilting--of course! Everyone's a critic!

Using a blanket stitch with some black perle cotton, I sewed the front (snowman) placemat to the plain placemat back and stuffed it. Voila! A Christmas snowman pillow!

A couple drawbacks I wanted to mention. These pre-quilted placemats are seriously difficult to needle. The Juki didn't like sewing through the layers at all, but the Bernina came through for me just fine. Then later, trying to get the needle through the two placemats to blanket stitch them together was a bear! I suspect my fingers are going to feel a little bruised tomorrow, but I'm pleased with the result, and that's all that matters right?! All in all, this project took probably around four hours or so and would have gone much faster if the placemats had been easier to sew.

I hope these two projects--the Santa wallhanging and the Snowman pillow--give you a few ideas for some quick Christmas gifts!

He's Making a List, He's Checking it Twice . . .

I had an "ah ha!" moment over the weekend when I figured out how I could make a quick little Christmas wallhanging to hang at my desk at work. I thought I'd share with you the steps to make this little guy or something similar in case you'd like to adapt it for a project of your own.

Santa was a little quilt-as-you-go project using wool. I don't do much fusible applique, but I'm sure you could do the same thing with fusible or a combination of both--I like the dimension the wool gives it.

First, I picked one block pattern from a larger applique pattern I liked. I figured out how large the applique block would be and then I added 6" to the length and width of the block to allow room for a 3" border. I then cut my backing and batting to that finished size or a little larger so it could be trimmed later.

I cut the background for the applique block to the correct size and centered it on the batting/backing. I used quilt pins to secure the layers.

I cut the wool pieces and laid them out to check placement.

Once I liked where everything was, I repinned the layers with the wool. (Note--for the face, I used regular cotton and fused it in the correct position before pinning the rest.)

Next, I sewed down all the wool pieces, using thread to match the wool so the stitching didn't stand out.

And here's the basic Santa with the pieces all sewn in place.

Next, I needed to add the borders. Because I couldn't trim up the piece since it was already layered, I drew pencil lines where I'd normally have cut. I could then use the pencil line to line up with the raw edge of the border strips. I know the photo's a little "fuzzy" but I wanted to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

The first set of borders were cut 3" by the width of the center block. With "good" side of the fabric down, I lined the edge of the border strip up with the pencil line and sewed the seam, sewing through all layers. I did the same with the opposite border, and I pressed them "open."

I then measured the new length of the block with the borders added and cut the next two border strips. I sewed them as I did the others and pressed them back. Now I had my wallhanging--the center block with borders all around.

Here's what the quilting on the back looked like at that point.

Next, I decided to add a little extra quilting for texture.

After that, I just trimmed up the borders and bound the quilt. After the addition of a couple holly leaves in the corner and some buttons for berries and eyes, the project was done!

I hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as I did mine! Thanks for stopping in to visit.

ADDENDUM--NOVEMBER 30, 2011: The pattern I used for this applique is a Country Faces pattern called Christmas Sampler. You can find it HERE--really a cute design.

Quilting, Quilting, and More Quilting

That's all I've been doing today. Oh, yeah--I stopped and made some baked potato soup. Then I quilted some more. Sadly I have nothing interesting to write about tonight. About the only thing on my mind right now is the pain in my shoulders and neck from all that quilting and the idea that maybe I should take some Tylenol PM and go to bed! LOL!

I've added some photos of the quilt I've been working on today. I just need to quilt the border tomorrow, and the quilting will be done--yippeee!

Just Call Me Tacky

Today I pondered a bit about tacky Christmas stuff, and I had an epiphany, a flash of insight and understanding. It occured to me that quite a lot of Christmas-related stuff is essentially tacky. So is a lot of stuff that's homemade, and as quilters, we're always making things that are probably considered tacky by somebody. So, yep, I think tacky is alive and well and living in my head, because I really enjoy Christmas and making things. It's who I am. Ms. Tacky!

Have you ever participated in a white elephant gift exchange? The "game" has other names, but basically white elephant gifts, according to Wikipedia, are "typically inexpensive, humorous items or used items from home; the term 'white elephant' refers to a gift whose cost exceeds its usefulness." Today we had our staff Christmas lunch, and this year we had a white elephant gift exchange.

To start, we all drew numbers and then we took turns, either picking a wrapped gift or stealing someone's opened gift. I brought my camera along and took photos of some of the tackier, more goofy "gifts" so I could share the fun with you.

We had opened a few gifts and our copy guy, Chris, was bemoaning the fact that so many of them were girly gifts. When his turn came, he selected what appeared to be a manly-looking package wrapped in newspaper comics with a black ribbon. Here's what he got:

"Vintage" Cabbage Patch dolls! I'm reminded of the year we attended a Christmas party at the home of Hubby's boss, the owner of an automotive repair shop. That party also involved a white elephant gift exchange, and Hubby used the head of a Cabbage Patch doll to make a hood ornament! Anyway, doesn't Chris look happy with those Cabbage Patch dolls?!

More "vintage" stuff. Do you remember these old salt and pepper shakers made by Tupperware? Then there are the jello shot trays--at least that's what someone said they are. Most of us never really bothered with the jello. Oh, and something else she's holding--looks like candy but I thought someone said something about shoe polish. Treasures, indeed!

Cheryl got some lovely red floral lights. She was kind of wearing them for a little bit, but she soon settled on setting them up at her desk as sort of a mini red light district.

Our copy guy Chris contributed these handmade wonders. And someone actually stole them from the person who originally opened them. You just never can tell what's going to be a popular item!

Then there was this--I'm not sure what you'd call it. Kind of a sign but much more three-dimensional with the snail and mushrooms and things. The proud recipient of this gift set it up so it was flanked on either end by these delightful Christmas dolls. No, they weren't white elephant gifts--the woman is an Avon distributor and apparently you can purchase these for Christmas this year. Hey, it could be an investment for a future white elephant gift exchange!

Remember the "slippers" I showed on my blog a few weeks ago? The ones made from women's sanitary pads? Yeah, that's what those are. No, I didn't make them!

Sadly, I missed getting a photo of the squirrel that sang "I ain't gettin' nuttin for Christmas." Darn! That was a real gem! Well, you kinda had to HEAR it, really--much more impressive than simply seeing a photo.

And what did I bring? Nothing very original. Just a set of snowman tabletop accessories and a large matching snowman bowl. I used them once some years back and I figured Hubby would be delighted if he didn't have to pack them away again! Each year he gets them out, asks me if I'm going to use them, and then puts them back in the box.

And what did I bring home? A game--Taboo. For a little while, I "owned" a nice--seriously!--Christmas apron made by my friend (and fellow quilter) Teri that came with a matching drawstring bag, but our computer gal, Susan, stole it from me. Susan won't think it was such a good idea, though, when the computers at work start crashing, that's for sure!

The weekend is here and I have big quilting plans. In the next couple weeks, I need to get the quilts finished for the classes I'll be teaching in January, and I think I'm going to have to give up on trying to get some of my planned handmade Christmas gifts done on time. Maybe it's just as well since "Christmas" and "handmade" have such a high tacky probability factor. I hope you have some fun planned for your weekend!

Uh Oh! Call the Fashion Police!

You might as well turn me in so they can lock me up and throw away the key! Tomorrow (Friday) is our office staff Christmas lunch and gift exchange and I'm planning to wear a Christmas top. I gather from the comments left the other day that the What Not to Wear people are completely and totally appalled by things like Christmas sweaters. Guilty as charged, Officer! Stage an intervention! I unearthed it from the closet tonight and pressed it.

Okay, so maybe I do have my tacky moments, but I'm nowhere near as bad as this--am I?

This is a quick photo I got this a.m. of the yard with the inflatables that I mentioned. Of course, that's just the front row--there are more behind it, but my angle wasn't right and I was on my way to work. Oh look! I think they have room for one more right next to that snowman on the end! And I really like the motor home or trailer or whatever it is parked there on the left side. At least it acts to block the light at night from shining in the neighbors' windows! LOL!

By the way, Beth left a comment about a website called Tacky Christmas Yards--kind of a fun site if you enjoy a lot of lights and a lot of Christmas figurines.

And, since I like to make fun of myself as well as others, let's take a look at the ornaments on the tree in the Sweat Shop.

Can you see them very well? It's a barnyard tree! Here's a close up of a couple ornaments. And I KNOW Red Geranium Sharon is going to LOVE this one:

Moooooo! I just might make her a whole herd of cow ornaments! But there are a lot more of these on the tree:

Ba-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a! Mostly white but a few black ones sprinked in, because everyone needs a black sheep or two in the family! I made these guys about 15 years ago, and I take them out every now and then. This year they're out because my renegade missing Santa apparently took off with the ornaments for the tree in the Sweat Shop! If he doesn't turn up soon, you may see him on the back of milk cartons.

And, while we're on the subject of animals, if you're a cat owner, you probably already know you can't put anything soft down for a few moments without the cat finding it--and claiming it for its own.

I was in the middle of putting the cushions on the kitchen chairs and had one left. I went to put something away at the back of the house and when I returned, there was Spike, up on the kitchen counter, laying on the remaining chair cushion.

Cats are goofy, aren't they? I'll leave you with this cartoon--which seriously looks like something that could really happen in our house! We can thank Anna for sending me some funny pictures including this one!

Have You Seen This Man?

One of the fun things about having a blog--or a journal for that matter--is being able to look back and see what was going on in your life just a year before. If you click HERE, you can see my post for LAST December 4th. And you know what? Sometimes things don't change much in a year. One family who had QUITE the display of inflatables last year now has two rows that extend from one side of the yard to the other. The only way you can view the back row is by looking across the driveway. But then, I suspect if those people looked in the Sweat Shop, they'd probably have serious thoughts about the sanity of a person who collects so much fabric. To each his own. Maybe I've mellowed just a little this past year.

And speaking of my sanity, I took a mental health day off work today and finished up the Christmas decorating--sort of. I seem to be missing some of my decorations. Our son has been up in the garage rafters twice, so I was reasonably certain he'd gotten everything down, but Hubby spotted a box up there that--as it turned out--contained our missing wreath stand. So at least that's been found. Now this guy is missing--

Santa. I can't figure out where he could be. I also had a flicker candle that's missing--it's probably with Santa, lighting his way to the North Pole. Hubby thought Santa was packed away with the elves in the photo above, but the elves turned up early on. Terribly annoying. After all, what's Christmas without Santa?!

Tonight our Jo's Little Women's Club had its last meeting of the year at Bearpaws & Hollyhocks and shared a potluck dinner and a lot of chat. There's not a lot that's more fun than hanging out with a bunch of quilters, is there?! After that, I hit the grocery store. I'd tell you my cupboards were bare, but that's not exactly true--my cupboards are jam packed with stuff, but none of it really makes a meal without the fresh things to go with it. Last week at this time, we had so much food it barely fit in the refrigerator; suddenly it seemed we were out of just about everything. Last night I was trying to make grilled cheese sandwiches and had to use what was left of two different kinds of bread and two different types of cheeses. We were out of milk, and--maybe worst of all--ice cream! Yikes! Seriously, though, I didn't care about the ice cream--it's kind of cold for it anyway--but Hubby was disturbed.

So, I was wandering the aisles of Safeway tonight, thinking about what I might want to cook over the course of the next week, and I realized I don't want to cook anything. I think Thanksgiving burned me out. I ended up settling on a few convenience-type foods and I think I might make a pot of soup this weekend--that's always good for a quick dinner. Yum!

Time now for bed--the push to get everything done today really wore me out and I'm looking forward to an early evening--early for me, anyway! And now that we have milk in the refrigerator again, I may just need to fix myself a cup of hot chocolate and settle in with a good book. Over the next few days, I'll post some photos of our Christmas decorations so you can see what I was up to today. Thanks for stopping by to visit, and if you've seen our Santa anywhere, tell him to come home--he's needed here!

Shopping Season

December is well and truly here, which means it's time to get out the Christmas sweaters and hit the stores to do some shopping, right?

Do you like to shop? I mean besides fabric shopping, because I already know the answer to that question--that's a little like asking if you like to breathe! Most of the time, I'm not much of a shopper. I could go clothes shopping once, maybe twice, a year and be perfectly happy. And it sort of annoys me sometimes that we quilters can't just keep wearing denim for the rest of our lives, because that seemed kind of simple. Judging by the fact that it's a lot harder to find denim--other than pants--in stores these days, I guess it's kind of gone out of fashion.

I like shopping for stuff for the house better, but there's a limit to that. And thrift store shopping doesn't count--that's not shopping; that's treasure hunting! Usually, though, I get pretty excited about shopping for Christmas decorations, but for some reason, this year I'm just not feeling it. Maybe I have enough stuff. Maybe somewhere in the back of my mind, I'm thinking about the shaky economy. Maybe it just hasn't hit me yet. But for the last couple days, I've been thinking I needed a few new candles. And I had in my mind the kind of candles I wanted--two large round ball candles for the mantle; a couple "root candles" for the tall candlesticks on the mantle (I finally figured out what the candles I wanted were called at least!); and maybe one or two of those nubby textured candles.

So, after work I headed to William Glen. Once I got there, I decided to scope out the William Glen Christmas Store and Clearance Center first, which is located in a separate building across the parking lot. As I got to the door, I saw the the store would be closing in 10 minutes. Humm. Not good timing. And what's up with stores closing that early during this time of the year, anyway?

Seriously, I don't think I've ever been able to go into the William Glen Christmas Store and not buy something, but tonight that's exactly what happened. And, of course, there was no time left to go over to the "big" William Glen store. So, instead, I headed over to the 100 Dollar Store (aka Target) to see what they might have.

And for once, I was terribly disappointed at Target. Very few things were on sale, and what WAS on sale wasn't discounted much. The selection wasn't what I've been used to seeing in the past either. I left Target with only some candy (for the jar I keep at my desk for the girl boss and a little supply to keep the energy flowing in the Sweat Shop--the essentials!) and a pair of slippers (because my old ones aren't far from falling apart).

On I drove to Kohl's, still in search of candles. Kohl's was better--at least I found the round candles I wanted. The root candles--well, maybe I'll just order those on line. The nubby candle? Probably not going to turn up this year. I also came away from Kohl's with a new top for work, a new nightgown, and yet another pair of slippers (because I liked THIS pair better than the first pair I found). Oh, and this kind of fun candle that I thought was well suited for the Sweat Shop--

You know what, though? Kohl's also didn't have the selection they had last year. And on top of that, I didn't think the quality of the merchandize at either Kohl's or Target was what it's been in the past--which isn't exactly top of the line but is normally just fine for the price. At least Kohl's had better sale prices. I keep hearing on the news about merchants offering deep discounts and doing whatever they can to entice consumers, but I sure wasn't feeling very enticed tonight. And you know what else I didn't see? Christmas sweaters! Have they gone the way of denim?!

How about you? Have you hit the stores this season? Noticed any difference? I wonder whether it might just be my mood this year that's coloring my opinions, so I'm wondering what you think.

Questions Answered

Tonight I thought I'd answer a few of the questions some of you have asked.

I believe it was Yvonne who asked whether the quilt I showed yesterday but didn't mention was for her. Answer: No! (Is it just me or has anyone else noticed how much she sounds like Darlene sometimes?!) Someone else asked me about that quilt too, so I'll tell you about it.

The quilt is from a Thimbleberries pattern called Starlight Pines. I modified the pattern a bit from the original--yeah, shocking, I know! A few years ago, I attended one of the Thimbleberries retreats that used to be put on each year by Main Street Cotton Shop in Hutchinson, MN, which is just downstairs from the Thimbleberries Design Studio. One of the Thimbleberries designers, Marilyn Ginsburg, taught the class. Well, I didn't want to haul my sewing machine across country, so I made the quilt ahead of time and brought it to sew on the binding during class.

If you click on the link, you can see the original pattern, which is 68" x 84". I decided to make the quilt half sized and then I added another star and leaf border to make it just a little larger. I also substituted the flying geese for a jagged-looking border in the original.

Where I've hung it is the spot where I plan to hang the Christmas List quilt--if/when I get it finished. But for now, I enjoy looking at this one, and will probably put it back up in that spot after Christmas.

Ila asked me how I hung the tree quilt on the door. What I've found works rather nicely is to push three thumb tacks into the top edge of the door--as long as you have clearance between the door and the door frame. I then sew clear fishing line through the binding in three places and knot the line around the thumb tacks. I seriously don't know what I'd do without a spool of fishing line in my "junk" drawer--I use it for everything!

See the greenery on the mantle? Secured by fishing line and thumb tacks. (I'm not quite done decorating the mantle--and there's my naked tree on the right, waiting for me to pick up the strings of lights by the "male" end and lovingly wrap them around and around and around, making sure not to mistake Hubby's neck for a tree.)

Jana in Finland asked about the letters on the tree wallhanging. Those are done with felted wool, so the edges don't ravel. I just placed the letters where I wanted them, pinned them on with straight pins, and sewed them on the sewing machine (set up for free motion) with matching thread--fast and easy!

And finally, I'm pretty sure you're all asking whose name I picked for the last pattern giveaway. My random number generator (aka Hubby) came up with number 30 tonight, and that would be Sara. Sara said, "Please enter me in your drawing. I have wanted that braided runner pattern forever. I love your blog. I check it every morning at work before I get started slaving away. (I work for an attorney!) Have a good day."

Of course, Sara, I'm happy to pass these patterns on to a fellow law firm slave! Please email me your address, and I'll get them in the mail to you promptly.

Thank you all for entering the drawings and expressing an interest--by way of your questions and comments--in the stuff I do here at Casa de Kim! I enjoy hearing from each and every one of you!

I've Seen the Light

. . . Unfortunately, it was in the middle of the night, and I didn't much like it! I really love having Christmas trees all over the house, but I've slept--or tried to sleep--with the one in my bedroom the past two nights, and I haven't had a very restful sleep. I keep feeling like someone's shining a spotlight on me. Tonight it's getting unplugged!

No decorating occurred today. It should have--it would have been nice to go back to work tomorrow and have it all done--but I decided to spend the last day of my vacation playing with fabric instead. Want to see what the wool from four men's suit coats looks like after it's cut up and felted in the washer and dryer?

Not too bad a result for about $14! That stack is maybe about a foot high or more. What else did I play with? Well, now that I think about it, I guess this DOES fall into the decorating category, so I'll have to take that back. I finished and hung the trees wallhanging.

Still, the only tree I've actually gotten decorated thus far is the one in my bedroom that's been causing all the wee hours angst. So, over the next couple nights, I'll have to get the trees decorated. Hubby spent much of the day watching football and getting the big tree assembled, so I have to decorate that one too. He used to put the lights on for me, but it's gotten harder for him to move around, so now that's my job--and it's one I don't enjoy a whole lot, so I'll probably procrastinate and hope the tree light fairies pay me a visit. In the meantime, though, he's gotten five strings of lights coiled all over the living room so it's handy for me--he's also given me detailed instructions on how the strings won't tangle as long as I pick them up by the "male end." Why are men such freaks?

Gosh, do I sound a little grumpy tonight? Well, let me tell you a little story.

Some months back, a representative from Dish Network came to our door--they wanted to do an upgrade to our system. I was somewhere in another part of the house, so Hubby talked to the woman. Later, I asked him about it, and he said they just wanted to sell us something extra and charge him more every month. Hummm. Okay.

Fast forward to the present. Hubby got me a new TV with a DVD player through a promotion at his work--it will go in the Sweat Shop and provide me endless hours of entertainment. I DO have a TV in there, but no DVD player. The other day, the new TV arrived. Well, being in the middle of a frenzy of decorating, I was disinclined to stop and open the box and set it up right then. Last night Hubby decided he should open the box and get it out. It then sat in the living room until this afternoon when he decided it was in his way, and he moved it to the kitchen table. This evening I decided it was in MY way, so I figured I'd set it up.

Remember how I reorganized the Sweat Shop the other day? So today I had to crawl under my sewing table and move all the "stuff" I'd stored under there to try to find where the old TV was plugged in. Turned out I didn't need to get under the table after all--the extension cord ran up pretty close to the TV shelf. So all the stuff had to be put back. I took out the old TV, put in the new TV, hooked it up, turned it on, and pretty much had a blank screen. Oh, the power was on--the TV was working--but where were my TV channels? I called Hubby in to do the set up, but after reading the instructions and pushing random buttons on the remote, it was clear he was pretty clueless, and he soon got bored and wandered back out to watch more football.

At that point, I too read through the instructions and found very little about set up that was at all comprehensible to me, so I also started pushing buttons. Unlike Hubby, though, I didn't wander off. FINALLY I found the channel set up. Ah ha! Success!

Well, no. Turns out the TV couldn't detect any digital cable channels. About then the light dawned and I realized that's probably what that upgrade was all about--the one Hubby deemed unnecessary and simply an attempt to weasel more money out of him each month. So, no new TV. Of course, I then had to disconnect the whole shebang and bring the old TV back in and set it up again. ARGH!

Just before I killed him, I asked Hubby to pick a number for the winner of the Santa stitchery pattern, and he picked 9. Comment number 9 was from Lori Genovario--congratulations, Lori! I think I have your address, but just in case, email it to me anyway, and I'll get the pattern in the mail to you!

And don't forget--if you haven't already entered, I have one more giveaway tomorrow night for three patterns. If you'd like to enter the drawing, please post a comment on yesterday's blog entry.

Thanks for dropping in to listen to me whine!