Here I am with two of my favorite

People




The above pictures were take during our annual Christmas Tree Hunt. It's been our tradition since sweet Amy joined our family.


This is the first Christmas tree we've ever put colored lights on since we've been married. We all like the change.

Avalon finished

Now don't look too carefully at it, but I finally got the binding on the Avalon. It's now on Amy's bed, although it doesn't fit it since the quilt is more of a large twin and Amy's bed is a double, but she wanted it and I said she could have it.

If I had it to do over again I'd cut the sashing and binding with the grain or maybe I'd have used a solid. There are parts of both the sashing and binding that look crooked because the print was printed crooked or I cut it that way. However, I'm pleased with it overall. And I'm very glad to have it off my list of things to do.

Christmas craft show

I found a sweet pair of earrings today. AND my dh was wonderful enough to let me get them. :)

In the shop

Been busy sewing. They can be found in the shop.

Pinwheel project

This summer while on our girls' getaway with our friends I bought a couple store-made charm packs (5 inch squares). There were only 20 squares in each one, usually they come with 40 or 42, thus the reason for buying two. Since I wanted to practice my half-square triangles I decided to make pinwheels. I used white Kona cotton for the contrast.


Here's the layout. I like the colors together. My pinwheels turned about pretty well, but I had to do a few of them over again. Part of the issue was that the shop that cut the charm squares didn't make them exactly 5 inches.

I'm in the process of sewing all the squares together. I think I'll do a pink inner border and a white outer border and bind it with a pink. It'll be baby quilt size.

Half-square triangles

I had a request for how I squared my half-square triangles, so I took a few pictures of the process.

1.

First step in making a half-square triangle is to take one square of fabric fold it in half diagonally, press.

2.

With right sides together pin to a second square and sew 1/4 inch on either side of fold. Having a 1/4 inch foot is helpful, but it can be marked with a ruler.

3.

Cut through squares along fold.



4.

Press seam to the dark side.

5.

Take a square ruler...


... that has a line running diagonally across.

6.

Put that line on the seam line where the two fabrics meet. This square is supposed to be 2 inches, so I've got the bottom and the left side at 2 inches. Be sure to keep the diagonals lined up. (Note the yellow is on the bottom right.)

7.

With a rotary trimmer trim the excess off the right side. Don't move anything yet.

8.

Trim off the top.

9.

Turn the square so that the other color is on the right and bottom. Line everything up again.

10.

Trim right side. Then trim the top.

Once you have a bunch of these half-square triangles you can make pinwheels or other designs.







I chose to sew these together in the pinwheel.




The points should all match up in the center. Sometimes this works better than other times, but when I wasn't squaring them up properly they didn't match at all. Before I wasn't lining up the diagonal line on the ruler with the diagonal seam on the square I was putting the line of the ruler perpendicular to the seam line. While I still have some trouble getting them perfect, they're a whole lot better than they were.

Quilt blocks

There's only one quilt block left to make this coming Friday, then on Dec. 3 we all get together to finish our quilts by putting all the blocks together with sashing. Then we'll add borders. The quilt size will be 68 inches square unless we add more borders. I want mine to be a large throw size, so I'm planning to add more.

This is the layout minus the last block.


I finally figured out what I'm going to do with it. But I can't tell you right now.

There are lots of half square triangles in this quilt and mine rarely match at the points like they should. I couldn't figure out why until yesterday, now that it's almost done. But I do understand now what I was doing wrong (it has to do with how I was sqaring them up) and from now on I should be able to make them better. :)

On the health front, the beginning of last week was lousy, but I've had almost four good days in a row. :) I'm so thankful. I found a homeopathic remedy specifically for dizziness and nausea and it seems to be helping. Whenever I go through something I do not like, after all my whining and crying, I try to find the positive in it. Two things I've thought about this week are how thankful I am that I don't have to go to work everyday. I'm so thankful to God the DH has a good job and is able to provide for us. There's no way I could go off to work feeling how I've felt. The other thing is that I am (and all of us) are utterly dependent on God for everything. It's by His grace that I can do or be anything. It's by His grace that I live regardless of how well I take care of myself.

AG Fans Board Fall Swap

It seems like every year AG Fans Board has a fall swap. This year I made this dress and knitted the hat and shawl. And then I didn't take any pictures of it before I sent if off. Amy snagged this one that the recipient took.



Here's what I received. I love the colors! Teal is one of my favorite.

Latest sewing projects

Get ready for a long post full of pictures.

The first two pics are the latest coats to go in the shop.





The next pics are of things I've been wanting to make, but hadn't had time.
This is a Bunny Bear pattern. The bodice doesn't quite fit right, but I think I know why and if I make it again I can fix it.





This one is a pattern from Heritage Doll Fashions. It was pretty easy to make. My only complaint is that it's a little snug, so adding a little to the side seams would help.



This next one in a bubble trench coat by Doll Duds over at Liberty Jane. It's absolutely adorable, but it was somewhat of a pain to sew.







Here are two little treat bags found here.



One more, for now. This dress had been done for a while, it just need the rickrack.



The reason for so many sewing projects is that I have felt lousy for the last couple weeks and haven't been able to get out much. Quite frankly, I'd much rather feel better than have to stay in, but since that's not the case, I've been sewing and watching lots of Netflix instant watch (so not like me). Anyway, I don't have an official diagnosis, but I do have a self-diagnosis, which I may share at some point. I will say that I'm dealing with dizziness, nausea and vomiting. Sometimes they're all at once, sometimes not. And I cannot tell you how grateful I'd be for prayer and healing! I've, definitely, been wrestling with God lately.

Apron swap

I was part of an apron swap recently. My partner lives in Nebraska of all places! :) She's a transplant from Minnesota and needed a little help becoming a Husker fan. So I made her one of my Husker aprons. Her's didn't have the pom-poms on the bottom. I didn't take a picture of hers, but here's a similar one.



Here's what I received from her. Fall patchwork on tan linen, it's wonderful!.

Currently for sale

These jackets are in the Etsy shop now. I've got about eight more coming soon. I've been shopping. ;-)






Amy cut out the polar bear fabric for me. She did a great job of fussy cutting it to get the bears in just the right spots. :) She's such a big help!



I've got four coming in this line by Sandy Gervais. Yesterday I found this line by Basic Grey. I hope to get two more coats from the four fabrics I got.