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!