Noflike Krystdagen!

Over the years, I have received several beautiful handmade Christmas cards from my good friend Renske. They usually take the form of a quilted postcard, and each one is so unique and lovely that I've kept them all, displaying them every year at Christmastime as part of our holiday decorations.

I enjoy every card and letter I receive during the holidays, but it's extra special to receive such a personal token of friendship. And this year, I decided it was about time that I made one to give to her in return!

Renske was born in Friesland, and she has had a lifelong love of Frisian horses. I chose to make her a card that depicted a Frisian horse, its mane and tail represented by black beads, with some green and red beads added in for a Christmassy touch.

The body of the card is Pellon, which is stiff and fusible on both sides. I fused the light coloured fabric to one side, then cut out the horse shape and zig-zagged it on to the centre of the field. My nine-year-old daughter has a vast collection of beads, and I borrowed a few to create the mane and tail. (The red and green beads don't show up as well in the photo as they do in real life!) Then I fused on the backing fabric, covering all the stitches. I created a contrasting edge by zig-zagging around the whole card with black thread. Really, it was a pretty simple project: handsewing the beads was the most time consuming part of it all.

Then I decided to Google the Frisian words for 'Merry Christmas', and thanks to a translation site, I found the phrase: "Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier." I understood it to mean, "Merry Christmas, and good luck and health for the New Year." I wrote it on the back of the card and added my name, hoping that it was right, or close enough that she would understand the sentiment.

Although it's theoretically possible to send a quilted postcard through the mail by simply putting a stamp on the back, I was afraid of the beads getting stuck in a letter-sorting machine, so I wrapped the card in tissue paper and put it in an envelope before mailing it.

Today, Renske emailed to say that she'd received it, and was delighted to have gotten Christmas wishes in her native tongue. It was very fulfilling to send her a personal card! I loved the warm and fuzzy feeling I got as I read her 'thank you' message -- I will definitely be making more homemade cards in the future!

Wrath of the Creeper

I don't even want to tell you the story of this quilt: it's so convoluted. And such a terrible comment on my self-discipline up until the present moment (I've recently discovered that self-discipline is simply a matter of setting a time to do something, then doing it. Works amazingly well.).

The fact is, I bought this fabric to make a quilt for my oldest son when he was about 5. This year he turned 16. Yeah. Pathetic, I know. It was just about my first quilt, and although my cuts were pretty accurate, my early blocks were sewn with inexact seam allowances, and sometimes I pressed the seams open instead of to the side. And my blocks were joined a bit haphazardly, too. I had no concept of following a pressing direction for blocks and rows, so the seams went all over the place at the back. But over the years, as my quilting knowledge improved, so did my technique. I also changed machines twice, and used a total of four different presser feet as I sewed.

Consequently, as I happily sewed on my last row and pronounced the quilt finish for the first time (a couple years ago), I little suspected that I would later measure it to discover that the quilt was several inches narrower at the top than at the bottom. Grrr.

In frustration, I hid the completed quilt top in my sewing cupboard. I was unhappy with it, but wasn't sure what to do to fix its problems. In the end, I plucked up the courage to start picking it apart... I had the idea that I would resew the squares together in 6x6 blocks (about 24" across), and the use a quilt-as-you-go method to join the sections.

In the meantime, with Connor growing older, I began itching to make him a video game-related quilt -- something that reflected his current interests. Then I saw this picture on his computer screen one day:

Hmm. The monster whose face is depicted above is called a "creeper" and it appears in the game Minecraft. You can see how easily he would translate into quilt squares. And since I already had numerous squares in shades of green (okay, and blue and orange and purple), I could easily imagine myself adding in some black squares to make creeper faces, and voila! The quilt was reinvented as a teenage boy's video game quilt. The photo below shows the completed quilt top on my queen-size bed.

It has since gone off to be machine quilted -- I let Connor pick the backing, thread and quilting pattern, and he has chosen to call the quilt "Wrath of the Creeper". He is eager to get it back and put it on his bed. I am happy to finally have this project off my sewing table!

Monstrous patch

I saw something like this on Pinterest, and couldn't resist trying the idea on a pair of Barry's jeans that needed mending. I zig-zagged around the hole, but fused the eyes and teeth using Steam-A-Seam, so I hope they hold up! I would have sewn them all, but I quickly discovered how awkward it is to feed a pant leg onto my machine, let alone trying to do any stitching once it's there!

I guess I could have taken the leg seam out, fixed the hole, and sewn the leg back up again, but that was way more work than I wanted to go to for a pair of pants he wears in the garage. If I were going to do any special embellishment on a pair of good jeans, I would definitely take out the leg seam first.

So fun! I hope I wear out a knee on my own jeans soon!

A quilted wedding gift

A friend of mine in England recently got married. I couldn't make it to her wedding, but I wanted to give her a personal gift, so I decided to make her a quilt.

I saw the pattern and suggested fabrics for this quilt in my local quilt store, and the moment I clapped eyes on it, I knew it was the quilt I wanted to make for her. Pretty, but not too feminine, highlighted with some of the lovely greens and teals I've seen her pin on her Pinterest board.

As it turns out, the quilt quite coincidentally is a perfect match for her livingroom -- the picture shows the quilt on her couch! It was machine quilted by Brenda Wiles of Creative Sisters Quilt Studio, and when I mentioned it was a wedding gift, Brenda suggested quilting a floating hearts pattern into it, which looks fantastic.

I'm really happy with how it turned out, and it was enthusiastically received by my friend. I have to tell you, though, it's hugely expensive to mail a quilt overseas! So I don't think I'll be shipping quilts around the world on a regular basis. Still, I like knowing that I was able to give her something personal that I made myself. I hope she and her hubby will be happily snuggling under it for a long time!

It's finally hanging!

My husband kindly hung my Moon in the Window quilt on the brick wall beside our staircase.

The bottom isn't hanging quite straight -- I might add some weights or a second pocket and rod along the bottom edge... Still thinking about that.

But I'm happy with how the moons turned out, and the quilting by Linda Weinstein of Creative Sisters is fabulous! I will have to take some close up shots!

1000 Pyramids in action

Here's a slice of life -- my Thousand Pyramids quilt on our bed at the cottage... being napped on by both the cat and the dog.

The quilt has a scrappy selection of fabrics for the pyramids, and a golden brown flannel on the back. I'll have to take a picture of the whole thing, once the pets have finished with their beauty sleep!

Quilted Postcards

Margaret and I decided to attend a class on making quilted postcards. Basically, you fuse fabric of your choice onto one side of a rectangle of Peltex, quilt as desired, then fuse a piece of plain muslin to the other side of the rectangle. Surge around the edges, and you have a postcard!

 Here is one of the postcards I made -- I used a fabric marker to write a Thank You message on one side, and on the other, I wrote a message to Margaret's teacher at the end of the school year.

You might notice that there's not much quilting happening on this card. That's because, part way into the class, my sewing machine broke! Most frustratingly, the bobbin casing came out of alignment, and I couldn't sew. I'd had it serviced just before the class, and the repair person hadn't reassembled it properly! I had to make do for the rest of the class, cutting and fusing, but not quilting or sewing.

Here's another postcard I made that day -- I actually got some stitching in on this one before my machine went kaput.

Making postcards was a lot of fun, and Margaret really enjoyed the class. The postcards were a good, small project, easy to do for a sewer with not very much experience.

Now, if I'm organized, I will keep the momentum going, and use the rest of my peltex to create some fabric Christmas cards this year! I have a friend who has given me a fabric card every year for the last several years. They are a delight to get, and I keep them and use them in subsequent years as part of my holiday decorating!

Grandpa's Best

Here's another quilt in line to be finished: the pattern is called "Grandpa's Best" and I made it at a class at Creative Sisters Quilt Studio. The blocks are completed and pieced together -- all I need to do is add borders and get it quilted! The colours would be nice for Christmas... can I be that organized?

Felted friends

Sometimes, your kids will ask you for things that are impossible (or hugely expensive) to buy. Case in point, when son #3 asked for more Pokemon plush friends. He had very specific Pokemon he wanted, and since there are now hundreds of different Pokemon, you can imagine that it's difficult to find a store that carries them all. In fact, we were lucky to find a dozen different ones at our local Toys R Us. And none were the one he wanted: his favourite, Metagross.

Thus, as a good mom, I was left with no choice but to try to make him the desired Poke-friend.

Okay, not an exact match, but close enough to snuggle with and satisfy my son.

Now, cuddle toys for boys are rather different than those for girls. While my daughter loves stuffed cats and bears, son #3 prefers things like tarantulas and Pokemon. Oh, and dead ducks. What???

Yeah, this little fellow came out of a Zombie Feltie book I found at the craft store (have to check its name), that was filled with things like undead creatures, vampires, classic zombies, and so on. Son #3 chose Dead Duckie -- modelled on your classic bathtub duck, this little guy sports bleeding wounds and evidence that a hunter had found his mark. There are even some zombie fangs on his beak! For maximum reality, son #3 insisted that the duck be double-sided -- it's just not accurate to embellish only one side of a plush friend, even when it's an undead plush friend.

Pyramids under construction

 This year, my husband suggested I make a new quilt for the cottage during my spring quilting retreat. I decided on a Thousand Pyramids quilt -- I like the scrappy, cozy look you can create with simple rows of triangles.

I already had some of the fabrics I wanted to use, and then I picked up a bundle of sale fabrics at the quilt shop we stopped at in Exeter, on our way to Lake Huron for the retreat.

A 60 triangle template made the cutting a lot easier!

Cut, cut, cut. Sew, sew, sew! Here is a picture of the work in progress, on my friend Megan's portable design wall.

Can I get it finished and quilted in time for summer? That will be the next challenge!

Machine quilting experiments

I took a machine quilting class recently, and let me tell you, it's not quite as easy as it looks!

I have been struggling ever since to get some good stitching out of my domestic machine at home. I think my timing isn't right. But at least I've finally figure out how to get my presser foot in the right position -- on my Pfaff, there's an "in-between" spot you have to find, that allows the foot to be down, but not all the way down. This gives you the ability to sew without having the foot drag on the fabric.

After watching me play with it for a while, Margaret decided that she had to have a go. Here she is trying to quilt on one of her own panels of kitty-cat fabric. She was an instant addict, singing out, "This is so fun, Mommy! I love machine quilting!"