JoAnn Jackson sent me this photo of her lovely Lorna’s Vine quilt…
JoAnn used water soluble stabilizer in her applique and washed it to remove the stiffness. She thinks the colors are a little less vibrant but I think they look wonderful!
Thank you, JoAnn, for sharing your quilt with us and congratulations on a great finish :-).
This Christmas our family is going for quality over quantity. And spending time over spending lots of money. Thoughtfulness. We chose these children’s gifts because they are simple, beautiful, and don’t break the bank.
We’ve waited months for some of these, and with the supply and trucking shortages, it was not a surprise. We kept calm and waited, and now here is a Tour of Toys currently at Piece O’ Cake.
Let’s start with Sew Spectacular – Adorable Animals!
Stitch, embellish, and display 12 adorable paper animals. Everything you need to sew them comes in these kits. It’s a wonderful new take on sewing cards, makes you happy just thinking about it! Perfect for 8y and up.
Magnets are life!
Below are magnet scenes and figures, sort of like paper dolls, but BETTER! Easy to travel with, just tucked into a backpack or purse, to pull out at the right moment. Pirates or Dinosaurs or Eric Carl’s Very Hungry Caterpillar!
Magnetic Puzzles for the win! So smart for in the car, or on the living room floor. Working those fine motor skills, and problem solving. Butterflies & Birds and On The Move, below.
Also for littles, these “spotting” games are fast paced learning fun (and fun for the olders playing with them)! Below on the left, ABC Spot Me Game has 60 icon tiles and 26 abc cards; spot and grab the icon that matches the letter drawn. Simple, right? It’s pretty, sturdy, and easy to cleanup and travel with.
Below on the right, in Spottington by eeBoo take turns flipping over clue cards, and race to find the most the quickest to become the Mayor!
I spy… a pogo spring! a propulsion spiral! a happy coupler! Below, is a puzzle with extra entertainment: Upcycled Robots Puzzle!
Only a few left of Fancy Pachisi and the Solar System Puzzle.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the tour, have fun shopping at Piece O’ Cake!
Jim the Pillow is finished! I hope you all have enjoyed seeing how to start with a photo, make a pattern, applique the shape, and add embroidery to bring your pet to life.
Watch this video to see how I embroidered the flowers—plus how to sew the chain and detached chain stitches!
It’s subtle, but the lines of stitching below Jim anchor him in place :-). I finished the bottom of the pillow with a zipper to make it easy to clean as needed.
Lisa Dobberke emailed a little while back asking if I had ideas for quilting the Magical Unicorn quilt that she made for her granddaughter—and I did! One thing I suggested was quilting in words and phrases inside the background fill.
Lisa said: I included her name, some “grandma style” words in English and Spanish (she is in Spanish immersion Kindergarten) using a general meandering pattern with some flowers, hearts, and butterflies mixed in. This was my first appliqué quilt–sure was fun!
She also used a “wiggly eye” to go with the big eyelashes… very cute!
Thank you, Lisa, for sharing your quilt with us! I know your granddaughter is going to treasure it—and have many sweet dreams under it :-).
Click here to find The Magical Unicorn pattern. It is a fun pattern that can be made into a small or large quilt!
Years ago, Chris and Lorna lost the Christmas stockings I had made for Lorna, Elanor, and Jack—and the one my mom had made for Chris when he was a baby. They were very sad. I was very sad, but what are you going to do?
If you are me, you begin again! I made new personalized whimsical stockings for each of them, and they are in Quilt a New Christmas eBook (the pattern is quick and easy). Everyone was happy!
But then, 4 years later, they found the original stockings!!! So now they have two stockings for everyone (except Bear who was born after the great stocking loss). Last year, Lorna decided to give her mom her original stocking that I appliquéd. Lorna planned to stitch her name on it, but she didn’t sew fast enough.
Judy loves her stocking and decided this week to take matters into her own hands. She stitched “Ganny” (what the grandkids call her) in green 5mm sequins, added white sequins for “snow”, and gave the birds eyes!
And while the sequins were out, Judy and Lorna added more embellishments to the stocking they made for their friend last year. Re-purposed scissor charms represent Tasha’s actual cat and dog —so cute!
Stockings (and stuffing them!) are a big tradition for our whole family. If you have an extra stocking, think about passing it on. Or make new ones to share with those people in your life that you treasure. Sharing the love will make you smile—a lot.
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