Color It Red Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to my day to share with you my project for the Color It Red Blog Hop hosted by Carol of Just Let Me Quilt.  Thank you, Carol, for hosting this hop and letting me join in the fun.  

When Carol told us the theme of this hop would be Color It Red, I thought that sounds easy enough -- make something with red in it.  So I thought and thought and thought some more.  I was getting pretty nervous about what I was going to do for my project, when I thought of Redwork.  

Years ago I bought an embroidery pattern with a Mrs. Kitty doing housework accompanied by her Mousey friend.  This pattern was originally McCall 9524 Comical Kittens for Days of the Week.   I meant to embroider the design on tea towels, but that never happened.  

Removing the days of the week from the pattern, I embroidered Kitty doing her chores on white cotton using 2 strands of red embroidery floss #666.  I made quick and easy 9-patch accompanying blocks from some red fabric I had on hand.  

I am not very good at embroidering but I like to make a stab at it while watching hubby's programs (car repairs, fishing, poker, sports, etc.).  I wish I was better at it because I really like the look of embroidery on quilts.  Some of my favorite quilt patterns are by Anni Downs of Hatched & Patched, Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse, and Bronwyn Hayes of Red Brolly.  

My husband laughed when I showed him my quilt.  Whether or not it was the comical cat or the sentiment, I'm not sure.  Hmmmm 


I hope you're having a great time seeing all the lovely creations by everyone.  Continue on your way and prepare to be inspired:

February 19^th

MooseStash Quilting

Quilted Delights

Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Storied Quilts

Just Sew Quilter

Kathy’s Quilts

Just Because Quilts (you are here)

Words & Stitches

Scrapdash

Another Fun Blog Hop

Color It Red

Mark your calendars!  

It's almost time for another great blog hop!  

The fun starts Monday, February 17!

Below is a list of all the fabulous participants who are sure to inspire you:

February 17^th

Creatin' in the Sticks You are here!!

Websterquilt

Vroomans Quilts

Hill Valley Quilter

Selina Quilts

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Samelia's Mum

February 18^th

Ms P Designs USA

Podunk Pretties

DayBrook Designs

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Bumbleberry Stitches

Sew Many Yarns

Karen's Korner

Stitchin At Home

February 19^th

MooseStash Quilting

Quilted Delights

Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Storied Quilts

Just Sew Quilter

Kathy’s Quilts

Just Because Quilts

Words & Stitches

Scrapdash

February 20^th

Life in the Scrapatch

Songbird Designs

High Road Quilter

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Patchwork Breeze

Lynn's Blog

DesertSky Quilting

Seams To Be Sew

February 21^st

Just Let Me Quilt

Quilt Fabrication

Beaquilter

All Thingz Sewn

Karrin’s Crazy World

Den syende himmel

Daughters of Dorinda

Quilt to the Edge

Becky’s Adventures in Quilting and Travel

The Winter Blues Blog Hop

Brrrr -- Baby, it's cold outside!

It's time for the Winter Blues Blog Hop!  What a great way to chase away the winter blues!  A big THANK YOU to Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks (https://createinthesticks.blogspot.com) for putting together and hosting yet another wonderful blog hop for all of us.  I don't know about you, but the days after Christmas are always a let down to me because all that is left to be done is clear out the mess from making all those holiday projects and gifts.  Thank you, Carla, for hosting this fun hop for all of us get back to sewing room and share cozy inspiration during this chilly January.  

So what did I make?  It doesn't snow where I live, but it can get pretty cold!  For my project I made a lap quilt to snuggle under while watching television in the evenings.  After dinner, nothing is more relaxing than to sit by a cozy fire and watch a tv program or movie.  

For this project, I raided my scrap stash and chose all blue fabrics.  This quilt is approximately 52" x 68" and is made up of 6" snowballs and 9-patches.  Super easy to make but it makes a stunning design when finished.  

  

Jack thinks this is the perfect size quilt for him.   

That's it for me!  I'm going to sit here and sip my hot cocoa and check out what everyone else has been doing this month.  You should, too.  Sit back, relax, grab yourself a cuppa, and visit the rest of the quilters who have contributed their talents for this fun hop.

Monday, January 20th

Just Let Me Quilt

Bumbleberry Stitches

QuiltFabrication

Mary Mack Made Mine
VROOMANS QUILTS
Just Because Quilts
Kathleen McMusing

Den syende himmel
Beaquilter

Tuesday, January 21st

Quilted Delights

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Farm Quilter

Homespun Hannah's Blog
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs
Quilting & Learning: What a Combo
Life in the Scrapatch
PamelaQuilts
Home Sewn By Us

Wednesday, January 22nd

Little Bunny Quilts

For the love of geese

The Joyful Quilter

Ms P Designs USA
Quilt Schmilt
Karen's Korner
Made By Marney
Podunk Pretties
Sunshine in the Attic

Thursday, January 23rd

Websterquilt

Songbird Designs

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Storied Quilts
Patchwork Breeze
Seams To Be Sew
HeARTsCreations
***Becky’s quilts and adventures
DesertSky Quilting

Friday, January 24th

MooseStashQuilting
Selina Quilts
LimeLeaves Design
Karrin's Crazy World
Sew Many Yarns
Domestic Felicity
DayBrook Designs

Creatin' in the Sticks

    

Christmas Virtual Cookie Exchange Blog Hop

Welcome to the Christmas Virtual Cookie Exchange & Blog Hop hosted by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt.  Thank you, Carol, for putting together yet another great blog hop where we can swap stories, recipes, inspiration, and loads of fun!!

Today is my day to share with you what is going on at my house in preparation for the coming holiday.  Of course my sewing room is the normal disaster, so I won't be showing you that.  But for this hop I did put together a little quilt I thought fit the theme.

I bought this kit for a small quilt on a shop hop last year.  The fabric is called Sugar and Spice by Karen Tye Bentley for Northcott.  

The center is a panel featuring 12 different Christmas recipes.  The 9-patches that help make up the border are also from this fabric line and features holly, gingerbread men, snowflakes, and gingham.  The dark green plaid that borders the panel and binds the quilt is a nice contrast to the subtle colors.  

    

My only thought about this quilt is that it looks somewhat unfinished between the recipes.  I thought about placing buttons or ribbons inbetween each recipe, but finally just left it blank.  What do you think?  Any ideas?

The finished quilt is approximately 38" x 58", the perfect size quilt for Jack and me to snuggle under while watching tv.

But WAIT, there's more.

And now to the sweet part of this post.  I love the taste of sweet and salty, and what better than white chocolate and pretzels?  I found round pretzels at my local store and they made the cutest snowmen.  These are super simple to make.


Ingredients:

White chocolate, melted
Pretzel rings
Mini M&M's (I used orange ones only)
Black food coloring paste
Toothpicks
Spoon

Preparations:  (Chocolate dries fast)

1.  Line a cookie pan with parchment or waxed paper and spread retzels in rows on pan.
2.  Remove orange M&M's from package.
3.  Pour out a small amount of black food coloring paste.
4.  Melt white chocolate in microwave per directions.

Assembly:
1.  Use a spoon to fill each pretzel ring with white chocolate.
2.  Working quickly, drop an orange M&M in center of pretzel ring.
3.  Dip toothpick into black food coloring paste and dot eyes and mouth of snowman.  You may need to dot several times to get the size you want.
4.  Let dry overnight before packaging

Each snowman will be unique but all will be delicious.  When completely dry, scoop them into a decorative jar or bag and tie with a colorful ribbon.  Perfect for gift giving, or a sweet snack while watching your favorite Christmas movie.

Don't forget to visit the other participants on today's list:

December 2^nd

Creatin' in the Sticks

Ms P Designs USA

Home Sewn By Us

Vroomans Quilts

Cathie's Craftworks

Sew Many Yarns

Just Because Quilts

Thanksgiving Memories Tablecloth

Have you ever had a holiday tablecloth ruined by stains?  What do you do with them?

This year I decided to display my past Thanksgiving photos on a tablecloth for the dessert table.  Every year I take tons of photos of everyone enjoying our family get-together.  It's amazing to me how much the grandchildren grow from year to year.

Although I actually bought this round tablecloth, I could have cut up and used any of the stained tablecloths I currently have in my linen closet.  (I must clean out that closet.)  To transfer the photos from digital to cloth, I use the June Tailor Sew-In Fabric Sheets I buy at Joann's.  With just a few clicks on my computer, I had several photos printed out that I could then use in quilts or sewing projects.  In this case, embellishing a tablecloth.

I chose to print my photos in black and white.  The tablecloth was such a dull color, I sewed the photos to a nice harvest gold fabric scrap I had to showcase the pictures.

I then ironed the fabric scrap to some fusible web and cut the photos out, giving them a generous 1/2" border.  I arranged the photos on the tablecloth and pinned them when I was satisfied with the design.  I adhered the photos to the tablecloth by ironing them and then did a quick stitch around the border using matching thread.

Of course you don't have to sew down your photos to showcase your memories.  You could just scatter them around the table.  If you're worried they might become stained, clear vinyl will protect them.

I'm really pleased with the result.  It's sure to be a conversation starter as we help ourselves to a piece or two of pie.

Happy Thanksgiving!