Merry Christmas

This year, as we worship the king, may you and your family have a Merry Christmas!

(And here is the finished quilties I made for the grandmas in our family!)

Peace, Katie

Christmas Gifts

Here are some Christmas presents we are working on… Eden loved having her hand printed again and again. That was really helpful. Right before Christmas I will be sure to put up the final products!

Here is the one she made for me! I am going to add a Christmas like border and wrap it up as an art quiltie for me!

And then these are the stockings we made for the grandparents who are coming for Christmas morning. Santa is going to bring things for everyone who is at our house, and I just did not have enough stockings. I used a tutorial from Pleasant Home and dollar store stockings.

Still more work to do...and just a few more days to do it!

Snow Update...

I can’t post all of my projects because some are Christmas gifts…but here is my new fun idea.




In my craft space, I have a large white wall… part of it is going to be a design wall. But the other part is going to hang some quilt blocks like this one.

Once I have learned (well enough) a new traditional quilt block pattern, I am going to make a small quiltie and hang it on the wall! We will see…but that is my goal!



Snow still falling… 21 inches at my house at 7:15pm!

Let It Snow!

With Christmas presents still in my to-do pile on my dining room table… I can use a snow day! But all of this! My goodness!

I just wanted to share a couple of cute pictures of us in the snow!

Me and my daughter, Eden (age 2)

My husband, Chris, with Eden

And here are the cute wooden snow people I found at a church bazaar this winter. They are made out of 2x4s. VERY cute (and on my project list for next year!).

The little boy snowman

the little girl snow-woman

 
Well, if it is snowing where you are, enjoy! If not... I hope your day is delightful!

Quilting Bee Swap

I am part of a fantastic Quilting Swap Group, where someone sends out fabric to 11 friends across the country. A month later you receive your blocks!
I sent my fabric out early. (My month is really January, but with the holidays, I thought some people might have off between Christmas and New Year’s or might want to use new toys they receive for Christmas). I sent out pink and purple butterfly fabric and then a highlight fabric to each person. The highlight fabric was some sort of purple, but varied depending on the person. I asked people to either make me a 9 patch block or some sort of star. Each person was supposed to make 2- 6 ½ inch (unfinished) blocks.

Most of my blocks won’t return until January, but I got an early Christmas present when my friend Ellen sent them to me today!

Aren’t they amazing!

Thanks Ellen!

New Deadlines and Diapers

Here is the newest article that I write for the online version of our local paper, the Frederick News Post:
Deadlines and Diapers!

Baked Up Something Special

I “baked” these up special for a couple different ornament swaps I am a part of this Christmas season… Found the details on how to on Elise Marley’s blog.

Makes me think of the gingerbread man from the Shrek movie!

A couple of people have asked… “Katie, when do you have the time?” Working full-time, a full-time wife and mother, it is hard to find time to be crafty! But for me, it is holy time! As I create, I experience the power of the Holy Spirit and regularly use “crafting” as part of my Sabbath time! Connects me to the ultimate Creator!

Hope holiday preparations are going well for you!

Crayon Bag Holder = A Tutorial

This took me longer then I thought...but here it is!
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Have some kiddos who could use a special treat? These bags are great! With the crayons on the outside and a place for coloring books this project is sure to make you a hit. We use it every time we go out to dinner. (WAY better then the pathetic coloring pages you get from the restaurants).My sister uses them in her office as a Social Worker for kids while she talks with parents. And this Christmas, each of the younger cousins is getting one.

Best news… it is easy! The project takes one hour, cutting included.

You will need:

• 4 coordinating Fat Quarters (I used two fat quarters of 2 different patterns for the tutorial)

• Coordinating thread

• A sewing machine

• Rotary cutter and mat

• Ruler

• Erasable marker or quilting pencil

• 18 washable crayons and a coloring book

HINT: If you pre-wash the fabric, you will be sure the colors don’t bleed. Because ours is often on the table when we go out to dinner, it gets sticky. And because I know it won’t get ruined, I can just take the crayons out and toss it in the washing machine!

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Cut 4 pieces of fabric that are 10 inches by 11 inches. Choose two to be your inside fabric and two to be outside.

Lay one sheet of “inside” fabric on top of one sheet of “outside” fabric, and “quilt” together. For mine, I did not bother with a pattern. If you have a fancy machine, go for it! But I just did wavy lines!

Repeat with the other two pieces.

Chose a “top” to your panel (on the 10 inch side) and fold a small piece inside to make a clean edge. This should be about ¼ of an inch of fabric. Sew. Repeat with other panel.

Now you have the bag panels.

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Cut two pieces of fabric 10 inches by 7 inches. To make them stand out on the fabric, it is best to chose to make them out of the “inside” fabric choice.

Take one of these smaller rectangles and fold the “right” sides together to make a 10 inch by 3.5 inch rectangle. Sew a scant ¼ seam along the bottom so you have a long thin tube. Flip right side out. Iron so that the sewing line is the middle, not on either end.

Take the other smaller rectangle and fold in half “wrong sides together. Iron. Now you have your crayon panels.Note: This does not need to be sewn because it goes at the bottom of the bag and the bag seam serves as the closure.
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Take one of the quilted bag panels. With the “outside” fabric facing up, place the open ended crayon panel even with the bottom of the bag. Line up the edges and pin.

Take the sewn crayon panel and place it 1 inch above the bottom crayon panel. Pin.

Now here comes the tricky part! You will be sewing roughly a 1 inch opening for the crayons to go in. I use a quilting pencil to mark the inch lines to be sure that my sewing is straight. If the holes are much smaller, they will not hold the crayons and bigger ones will make the crayons fall out.

Because of sewing lines and full bags, the first line (on either end of the bag) should be at 1.5 inches. This leaves enough room for the sides to fill.

So, draw your first time at 1.5 inches, then the rest at 1 inch, until you run out of room for marking.

Sew up the lines. Because I used coordinating thread, I was able to start my sewing and sew right through both pouches.

The last step for the front of the bag is to sew a scant seam (1/4 inch) along the bottom of the top crayon holder, so the crayons don’t fall out. Once finished set aside.

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Using whatever fabric you have left, cut two 20 inch by 2.5 inch pieces of fabric for the handles. Make in to bias tape. Here is a good bias tape tutorial. Sew up the edge.

Taking the front panel, add handles. They should be about 3.5 inches from either edge on the side you have folded inward to make the “top”. I affixed just as I would handles for any other bag, or as I would add Velcro.

Repeat with the back quilted bag panel and the other bias tape handle.

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Place “outside” panels together and sew the bag together on three sides, leaving the side with the handles (the “top”) unsewn. Do this with a scant seam.

Fold right side out.

To put the final product together, put in your 18 crayons and coloring book.

FANTASTIC! Wrap – or not- and now you have a fantastic gift!


I would love to see any final projects!!

Olivia - the pig -- Stocking

For my Grandma, who just loves Olivia the Pig, an Andover Print

okay..okay

So no tutorial today… I am so sorry! Our camera was acting up.


BUT… I did get these pictures done.

This is a disappearing 9 patch baby doll quilt I did for my daughter Eden for Christmas.

I am still not sure how I like the reds and greens…but for my first attempt at a baby doll quilt, not so bad!

This is an oven mitt I made. Lots of these are going out for Christmas, but this one is all mine. I love the colors. So easy, once I found the insul-brite! (http://www.fabric.com/).

And finally, the subject of the tutorial – a crayon bag! It has a place for crayons and perfectly fits coloring books in the back. All of my younger family members are getting these for Christmas, but this one is going to my sister, who is a Social Worker in the Bronx. Hopefully it will help her entertain children while she talks with parents.

Oh, and my husband wanted me to post what he accomplished this week... a new back screen door. Good work honey!