Cynthia Helton sent photos of this quilt that her mom, Shirley Ray Hatley Alford, started in 1995. Shirley passed away in July, 2007. Cynthia, thank you for sharing her quilt with us, I know you all must treasure it.
I remember Shirley! She was in my North Pole class at Sharon’s Quilt Depot way back in 1995 when the book, A Sampling of Santas, was new. Shirley was a lovely woman and I have a smile on my face when I remember her.
This is excerpted from the very well-written documentation patch:
Shirley hand appliqued the blocks and machine pieced them together. As her health began to decline due to breast cancer, Shirley invited Corinne Lageose to finish the hand quilting. Carolyn MIller sewed on the outer binding by hand. And Shirley’s daughter, Cynthia Rae Alford Helton sewed on the red berry buttons and other embellishments. This quilt was lovingly finished by Cynthia while sitting at the bedside of Shirley in July, 2007. This is Shirley’s Masterpiece!
If you are interested in the pattern, A Sampling of Santas is included in our ebook, A Slice of Christmas.
I just had to share this with you. I know you will get a kick out of it!!
So to backup…tonight is our quilt club meeting and we are having a hands-on demo, how-to EPP project. We will be somehow making ❤️ Hearts!! What paper shape it is, beats me. EPP is new to me, but I picked up a little kit and made a “Dilly” bag. It’s super cute. Hexagons. I think I may be hooked. Another skill, right?
Anyway, everyone that attends the meeting will get a little packet (to make a ❤️??) and if we want to participate in a gift exchange we can, but it has to have a ❤️ on it. I want to join in but it had to be quick and easy. (Because I just got home from Florida). I also wanted it to be useful but not another mug-rug.
Enter the chicken pincushion from your last post. I love pincushions, can’t have too many of them (unlike mug-rugs😝)!! So I decided to give it a shot and put a ❤️ on her/his chest. Turned out so darn cute.
I may have to make one for myself. For sure if my friend Chris Peterson doesn’t get it tonight in the drawing. She loves chickens, has her sewing room decorated with chickens. She made a rooster quilt. And I think she has a metal nesting box outside that she displays plants/flower pots on her patio. She’s a MN farm girl just like most of us and proud of it. Lives in town, so this is next best thing.
But wait! There’s more!
Yay!! Chris got the chicken and she loved it. It will go with her menagerie of chickens 🐓. 😝
Another funny (jokes-on-me thing) that happened while I was assembling the chicken was I sewed up the wrong side 😑 (across from the beak, same side as beak 🤷♀️??). They are small, so hard to see what side is what (can I think of any more excuses🤔), mine were 3” squares. Nice size.
In any case, when I unfurled the chicken, the tail ended up under her chin (beak) and instead of a tail it looked chicken legs!!😝😂
There you go, a new twist on the pattern. Add 2 strips of wool with a knot at each end for funny legs/feet!! Could be cute or weird!! Maybe I’ll try one for real for myself. (Or my sister in Atlanta, she’s a chicken person. She wants the real chickens to feed/water clean up after!! Not me. I’m done with that; pincushions are better!!)
So that’s my chicken report.
I will make a couple more for friends Jackie & Vicky for our retreat “up Nort” as they say.
Happy stitches to you,
Joan
Many thanks to you, Joan, for sharing the story of your chicken! And may you, too, have many happy stitches!
Occasionally, a vendor sends us a sample product. I keep some and pass on others through the Wednesday Giveaway. Today, I’m letting go of a bag from Yazzii. Pretty exciting, huh!? And on Valentines Day too. Showing love to my subscribers! I love you all, but Mary Miglis is this year’s Valentine. (Don’t worry. I have a lot of other great giveaways planned for this year.)
I’ll be back with another Giveaway next Wednesday. Until then you can shop for all sorts of sewing notions, books, and other fun stuff at pieceocake.com!
Our giveaway will adorn Cherie’s Kai scissors – Scissor Charm and Sheath!
Obviously charms are decorative but they actually serve a very important function on your serrated scissors. By attaching the charm to the grip belonging to the serrated blade, you can ensure that you are cutting with the smooth blade below the fabric every time by holding the scissors with the charm dangling down. Genius! And the matching sheath should fit any of your smaller scissors.
I’ll be back with another Giveaway next Wednesday. Until then you can shop for all sorts of sewing notions, books, and other fun stuff at pieceocake.com!
They are 1 7/16″ long, a little bit flexible and come to a very sharp point. The end of the pin is ridged to make it easier to hold. The plastic is heat resistant to prevent melting during ironing. The head isn’t bulky which will make it lay flatter as you sew on the machine. All in all, our lucky winner, Lo Ann Van Hemert is going to get a set of very nice pins!
I’ll be back with another Giveaway next Wednesday. Until then you can shop for all sorts of sewing notions, books, and other fun stuff at pieceocake.com!
Our giveaway this week solves the problem of losing small tools, scissors, pins, or needles, just when you need them as you are sewing. The Perfect Spot Magnetic Tool Holder sticks to your sewing machine or other surface with a square of adhesive that is easy to remove, without leaving a residue. The magnet is strong enough to hold the EZRipNGrip tool or a small pair of scissors, pins, needles and more. It won’t harm your sewing machine. Both the RipNGrip and Perfect Spot are designed by Cindy Needham.
I’ll be back with another Giveaway next Wednesday. Until then you can shop for all sorts of sewing notions, books, and other fun stuff at pieceocake.com!
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