A little Pause...

No I didn't fall off the edge of blog land!  However since my machine is in dire need of a trip to the sewing machine "doctor" I have been taking a little breather/pause,before jumping into 2014 with both feet.

Recently I had a request for a custom order of napkins like the set I made way back in 2011!  The above set is the same except that the fabric on the back sides are different prints.  My customer,also requested a set 13 x 13.

After several different test napkins,Wendy chose to have solids that coordinate with the center colors.

I am happy with how they turned out,and glad that Wendy is really happy with them too!

For the back sides I used a print to coordinate with the colors on the front.

Right before Christmas I finished up my Big Stitch pillow project started at Fabric Fest!  It was a gift to a friend at work.  Her favorite color is purple,and although this is not truly a purple,she loved it anyway!

Hope you all had a Wonderful Christmas with family and friends,and Wishing you a Happy and Prosperous New Year :)

(my machine is scheduled to be serviced on New Years day,so I will be back shortly thereafter)

Dizzying Diamonds Pattern Review

Today is the Big Day!  Melissa over at  Sew BitterSweet Designs is releasing her third pattern today!  Congrats to you  my friend :)

                                                      (photo borrowed from Melissa's blog)

The photo above is the smaller(60x72)version that Melissa made,I just love the fabrics she chose for this quilt.

You might remember that I posted a sneak peak(above photo) a while back.  When Melissa asked if I would be interested in testing this pattern,you know I could not say no!  Especially since triangles are one of my favorites :)

This pattern is designed to use a layer cake,since I did not have one in my stash I used a bundle of The Red Thread by Andover Fabrics for the print and Marble Swirls by Moda,in green for my "solid".  I wanted a quilt that would not only read as Christmas but,could also work for everyday.

Melissa has such a talent for writing a pattern that is a little challenging yet,at the same time being easy to follow!  This is a great pattern for working on in between other projects,which is how I personally pieced this top.  It was easy to do in stages,and also easy to pick up from the last step completed and continue on to the next step.

Thank You Melissa for asking me to test this pattern,it was super fun to sew/piece together!  Want to purchase this pattern and make a Dizzying Diamonds quilt of your very own?  Visit Sew BitterSweet Designs at Craftsy for the pattern!

Giveaway Winner Announcement

Hi everyone,just a quick post to let you know who the lucky Winner of Giveaway Day is!  Firstly though,A Big Thank You to all of you for sharing your favorite Holiday Traditions with me :)

The Lucky Winner is...

Kathy the 120h commenter,Congratulations again Kathy!  Your prize package will be heading out to you this next week(check your email for the exact day)

Since this Giveaway has put the patch followers readers over the 200 mark (Thank You for that :)  We will be having a Reader appreciation giveaway in the near future!!!

Time for a Giveaway (Day)!

Welcome everyone,new and patch followers alike!  It is that time again,hope you are enjoying entering all of the giveaways!  I know Giveaway Day is a busy time of hopping around and commenting on lots of blogs,but if you have a minute check out some of my tutorials and recipes.  Of course I would love to make a few new friends during the Giveway too :)

For a chance to win the items in the above photo,just tell me what your favorite Holiday Tradition is.  I will try to reply to all comments,but it might take a while!  So if you have not heard from me in a few days you are probably a NO REPLY Blogger,if you think you might be,make sure to leave your email in your comment.

Good Luck to all ;)  Giveaway ends Friday December 13,Winner announced by Sunday the 15th.

Be sure to visit Sew Mama Sew for  the Linkys to all the giveaways!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

Finally back

I know it has been a long time,but I have been very busy.

Last month my friend Melissa posted a tutorial for Christmas Diamonds,the table runner in the photo above.  I love triangle blocks,so could not resist making one for myself!  The tutorial is easy to follow and in short order this one was done :)

Remember my Nutcracker blocks late this summer?  Well,they finally came up in my pile of things to get finished up!  I am really happy with how this runner turned out,mostly because I Love Nutcrackers :)

See you tomorrow evening with my contribution to the December Edition of

Novembers,Lovely Finish (ALYOF)

November is fast coming to a close,which means Thanksgiving is almost here!  I have so much to be Thankful for.  On that long list,is the ability to sew and create beautiful things from fabric,speaking of that...

This is what my goal(charm bag in progress) looked like at the beginning of the month.

This is what it looks like now,finished!  Yeah,another goal finish for the year :)

Sorry about the washed out color,but since it was already dark when I returned home from work this evening...the inside print is a purple all over paisley print purchased at Joann's.

If you like very large bags this is a bag to consider.  To give you an idea of the size here is my Janome 8077 in front of the bag,of course the bag is slouched,as it only has fusible fleece to add structure.

Lil miss Janome fits inside with plenty of room to add fabric,notions or whatever else you might need.  There is a full 6 inches of room on one end,or center the machine and have 3 inches on each end.  Although I do not plan on using this to carry my machine with me,it would easily work nicely for that!  My plan is to use it for trips to the fabric store,plenty of room to hold Lots of New Fabric ;)

Sadly,if I were to review the pattern,it would not get a thumbs up :(  The only photo,was not a photo at all,but a sketch of the charms laid out to form one side of the bag,that is it!  Luckily for me this was not my first bag,and so after reading and re-reading I was able to figure things out,or improvise to make the bag turn out.  If you are new to making bags,I would recommend waiting on this bag until you have a few makes under your belt.   One thing I did really like is the unique way in which the handle is attached,instead of attaching it to the tote it is threaded/looped through the tabs and then the ends sewn together.
This pattern is called,Charm Tote,and is by a local FiberArtist by the name of Susan Regan.  Her business name is Creekside Stitches.

Thanks for stopping by to checkout my finish,I hope you were able to complete your sewing goals this month as well!  Linking up with Melissa for the Finish Party!

Also linking up to Anything Goes Monday & Sew Darn Crafty

Back in the sewing room...

The two weeks of being "unplugged"has turned into more like three and some days,sorry about that.  Our visit with Gil and his buddy was way to short,but Sweet at the same time :)))!  The guys headed back to Cali with a car loaded with all kinds of goodies raided from "mom's"pantry :)

Although they have been back home for a week and a half,my computer hiatus continued so that I might get caught up on a few craft fair projects.  This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland setting.  Tonight you can barely see the tops of the solar lights on the patio table,and it is still coming down.  Nothing like a little snow to get you in the mood to sew up some Christmas projects!

First though,one of the few sewing projects I worked on while Gil was here.  This trio of bubble gum themed baskets landed at his sisters house recently as her birthday was this month.  Of course stuffed inside the baskets were jars of homemade jam.

Since Jolene's baskets were so much fun,I decided to make up a bunch for the upcoming craft fair.  Here are the thirteen that are done so far.

Next on the agenda,some Christmas themed mini gift bags(15).  These mini gift bags were a good seller this summer at the FM.

These cocktail napkins started out as a panel of squares,the original plan (when the fabric was purchased)was to make potholders,but they were not large enough for that.

You can not tell from this photo,but I used a decorative stitch that looks like a snowflake,near the center of each napkin to secure the two layers of fabric together.

The next project,a few car seat blankets...

The strings/ties on the sides are for securing the blanket to the car seat,so that it does not slip or get kicked off!

This one is still in progress,the grey bits are little elephants.

A little pink monkey love for the last one ;)

This is an idea that has been running around my head for awhile,I took a dish drying mat and added some binding made from a scrap of Christmas fabric.

These would make a great last minute gift!  Even if you have a dishwasher,you could still use it for pots and pans,or other items to large for the dishwasher.

So far I have only 10 of these little yoyo trees made,but will have more soon.  The thread is just to show the size.  I also plan on painting the little ribbon spools brown for the trunks.

These Christmas Tree napkins have been on my list for some time,they are for Mr. P and I  :)  Tutorial Here

Lastly,this is going to be a set of fabric ornaments,the 12 days of Christmas,from the Partridge in a Pear tree to the twelve lads a leaping.  Okay,so now you know what I have been up to,what have you been sewing for the Holidays?

Cone Zone,For The Boys

Hello and Welcome to Day 5 of the For the boys blog hop!  A very special Thank You to Madam Samm,the brains behind this hop as well as Amy,our CheerLeader for this hop!  Without the two of you,we would not be sew inspired by all the creativeness we have seen so far :)))

This is the sneak peak,I showed my regular followers recently!  Did any of you guess what I had in the works??

Since this hop is about boys of all sizes and ages,I wanted to show you the container that stores my basting pins.  This belonged to my grandpa,he loved to have a smoke after dinner every night.  When he passed on,I requested and received a few of these containers to remember him by.  So now I think of him when basing my quilts :)  Yes my project for this hop is a quilt!

When thinking about what fabric to use for my project the construction print at the top,center,and bottom of the quilt came to mind.  It has been in my stash for about 14 years! High time it was used don't you think,me too ;)

The quilt kept slipping off of the equipment,so I finally had to fold it on the bucket in order to get a shot of the top row with the prairie points.  The pattern is called Fantasy Row,by Holly Draney for Sandra Workman of Pine Mountain Designs.

The name of this quilt is Cone Zone,it measures 45 x 54 and has brown Minky fabric on the back.  Which makes it a perfect nap time quilt!  Thank you for hopping by today to check out my boy project,now go visit all the other wonderfully creative bloggers who are sharing the day with me :)

November 12^th

 

 

Pig Tales and Quilts

                     CeLynn's Sunflower Patch  (you are here)

rainbows.bunnies.cupcakes

Devoted Quilter

Desertsky Quilting

Sew Fresh Quilts

Red Letter Quilts

Craft Nurse Quilt

Miss Priss Quilts

November ALYOF Goal

Just checking in to post my goal for this month,before time is up!  Remember my in progress,charm square bag?

Finishing this will be my goal for this month,wish me luck :)  Linking up over at Sew BitterSweet Designs

A Whale of a Hat

Hey all,just a quick post,thought you might like to see what I have been up to while the guys were out hunting...

Melissa,posted about a couple of hats she had made for herself and her daughter,she also included the link to the fleecefun.com where you can find lots of different free patterns,all featuring fleece.  This hat is my own version of the basic hat.

I included the little fringe tassels on top,and after several attempts,was able to figure out how to make the edge come out scalloped!  They look like baby doll hats to me,love them!  I made up a bunch of these in different sizes for the upcoming Christmas craft fair.  Of course,the ones for the guys are just plane,without the frilly bottom edge.

Also,For the boys Blog Hop started today be sure to go check out all the inspiration for the boys in your life :)