Penguins for Viv

My cousin has a 2 year old granddaughter that sleeps with a crib full of penguins....her favorite animal. So, I just HAD to make her a penguin quilt. I don't usually fold the back to the front for a binding, but I did this time. It makes the edges a bit wobbly so I sewed it twice..on both sides of the binding.

The blocks are machine embroidery

The panto was a swirly, that looks kind of like water.

I found this flannel blanket at the thrift store and knew i had to use it for Viv.

I also made a little toy for her...with a squeaker inside. haha

I used Glide Hawaiian Blue for top and bobbin thread.  It's about 40x50. I'll bet she will like it.

The Velour Quilt

My friend, Myra's, grandma.....who made the parachute wedding quilt.....also made this velour quilt. I thought it would be a lot of trouble, but it really wasn't.

It is 68" "square".  notice the word square is in quotes. haha

I first used black thread and stitched on each side of all the seams. Grandma had pressed the seams open.....and some things were coming apart....so, first i made sure i stabilized everything.

I did some feathers in the middle...and some lines.

And some ruler work in the squares around that.

And some good old meander in the red and green sections surrounding the middle.

Setting triangles got lines....kind of an inch apart....just eye balled it.  need cataract surgery, so the 'eye balling' is off. hahahahaha

and some simple cross hatching in the corner squares. White spots are where I marked with chalk.

The back is a muslin. it looks a bit 'dirty'...but that is because there is a black batting.

And...there is a black batting because the top has several moth holes in it and i tried to hide those.

I matched thread colors....Glide Ruby, Cobalt, Black, Jade, and Highlights Purple. Bobbin was Bottom Line Cream.

I used black for the binding.

All in all....I rather like it.

Fishing Game

There might not be any quilting going on around here....but that doesn't mean i'm not sewing stuff.

I saw something like this on Pinterest a couple weeks ago and figured I could make that.

I am sending this fishing game to my cousin's grandkids. 

Just lay out your 'lake'.... it's about 18" square. made of flannel...plain aqua color on the back.

Grab your fishing poles...complete with worm.  I covered a dowel rod.

And go fishing and see what you can catch. The worm and the fish all have magnets in them. If you lay your worm just right on the fish, it will pick it up. sometimes you can pick up more than one at a time.

The fish are just pieces of felt with the magnet in the middle.

The kids are 3 years old....this might keep them amused for a day or two. hahaha

I always seem to send things with many pieces.....sigh!!    Sorry, moms everywhere. 

Leather work

I have some of my Uncle Johnny's leather goodies and found these cute little kits in the boxes. I put these together last night.

Leather pouch with fringe. I hate that the shoulder straps are all crinkly, but that leather was probably in that little bag for years.

The puppy coin purse is just the cutest thing.

..And check out this little wrist pouch. not sure it is large enough for a child's wrist, but it will fit a doll.

I have many more things to try.

Machine Embroidered Western Leather Applique Quilt

I finally finished piecing this top. The blocks have leather applique pieces in the blocks. There was a LOT of embroidery on the blocks.

The red and black plaid sashing is sort of eye jarring, since it doesn't line up properly, but it is what it is. that stuff raveled like crazy.

Each block took over an hour to embroider. It put in little small stitches all over the piece before putting in the outline.

The black frame was a part of the embroidery process.

I like the designs, but these were time consuming. I am making it again...without the interior stitching ....and without the frame. just applique the piece and do the outline stitching. will show it when finished.

Batik Squares

I found this pattern on MQR. Cathy (cat-on-a-mac) showed it back in May, 2016. I got it pieced by February, 2017 and finally quilted it up.

It is 58x70

It used a lot of my batik scraps. 

To make it a bit longer, I added batiks leftovers to the top and bottom.

Just winged it on the quilting, so it is a bit wonky, but you can't really tell from the front.

I put feathers in the top and bottom pieces.

Two different greens for the binding and Glide Light Olive for the top thread and So Fine off white for the bobbin.

Columns of Blue Selvages

I was scrolling through Pinterest back in August and saw this quilt that caught my interest. You can find hers for sale on Etsy at Kristin Blandford Designs.

I used a lot of blue selvages...cut at 6 1/2".  Sashing columns were cut at 3 1/2". It came out about 57x80".

Here's a close up

And closer yet

No matter how many selvages I use, there are always plenty left.

BooTacular Halloween top

I don't remember how I got to her site, but Sindy Rodenmayer is the designer of this quilt. You can find her .... and her patterns.... at fatcatpatterns.com  She has some really cool stuff.

It is 53x65".  I am going to add some crystals in the eyes after quilting. My cousin Mary will love this, she is a big Halloween junkie.

The eyeball sashing is from Mary's Halloween stash.

Who knew there was an eyeball plant. haha

The ghost is too cute to be very scary

Sindy calls these monsters Snot Goblins. no idea why. haha

Strange little mice after the candy corn.

A trio of owls. That middle one looks like he could use some mental help. haha

I love the spider. I gave him the red mouth...her pattern mouth was black. 

Three fat cats

I seem to be in the Halloween mood these days. Usually i ignore that holiday.