Two more gifts done!!-Boxes

Aren't these the cutest???!!! They are for my two sons' girlfriends,
Angela and Hannah. The boxes turned out better than I expected.
They were very easy, so much fun to make and the directions were
very clear. I would like to buy more of these kits (fabric not
included) but I bought them last year so I don't know if I can get
them again. I will be on the look out. I know I could probably find
them online but for now, I need to concentrate on Christmas.

And by the way, my daughter loved the Christmas wallhanging.
(See First Gift... post) She is constantly surprising me because
she said she wanted to hang it on the wall as opposed to using
it as a table topper. So I kept it this weekend and sewed a sleeve
on the top and the bottom to insert dowels. I sew sleeves on the
bottom, too sometimes to help the wallhanging hang better.
I was also surprised that neither she nor her husband knew
what a dowel was. Ah these twenty-somethings live in a
different world sometimes huh?

And I had said she wasn't the wallhanging type!!!
Who knew???

Until next time...
Susie

Pin Cushions

Every year, at our guild retreat, my friend Georgia demonstrates
a pin cushion for us to make. It started with the chicken (center).
Then the cathedral window square came next. Last year was the
strawberry, then the year before that was the crab. The mouse
was the hardest one to do, mainly because of the tail. The puffy
pillow wasn't made at our retreat but I bought it from our guild
table at our quilt show. It was made by Pam B. The only pin
cushion that is not included here is the turtle. I made it but
never stuffed it and now I can't find it!!! And I really want to
find it and finish it since I am a Terp alumni. (University of
Maryland for anyone like me who doesn't know college mascots
except for their own!)

And that segues into my messy sewing room. I have been working
on Christmas gifts and as of Friday at 6am I will be in my mad
Christmas panic so I don't forsee any organizing going on in my
sewing room until after the holidays. I just hope I don't lose
anything too important. I mean it is bad. I have a path from the
sewing machine to the ironing board. I will be cleaning off the
sewing table after the gifts are done to use as a wrapping station.
Maybe I can find a few stolen minutes to at least get started.
EEEK where do I start??!!

Until next time...
Susie

Nine-patch Pizzaz

Ta-da!!! I think I like it! It was a long road but I think it is
worthy to give to my son's wonderful girlfriend, Angela.
The borders made it I think. I had it all put together and
decided to add another row. So I took off the bottom border
and added the row at the bottom. I hope she likes it. I know
she will appreciate it. She is such a special person. (Shhh
don't tell anyone but I hope my son asks her to marry him!!!)

Here is a pic of the back. I had these nine-patch blocks
leftover. I didn't want to use this color combination on
the front.
I will baste it before our guild meeting on Wednesday
and start quilting it. I think I am just going to stipple
all over.

Until next time...
Susie

Lucy's doll quilt

A few years ago, my two cousins and I cleaned out my Aunt's house.
She was going into a nursing home with Alzheimer's and since she didn't
have any children, the task fell to us. We discovered lots of old family
treasures. Luckily a few years back we spent an afternoon with Aunt
Marcia going through old family photos and she identified them and
we created a rough family tree. It goes back to the early 1800s.


There is a little piece of paper pinned to the back of this sweet
treasure that says "Lucy's quilt." It is made of satin and taffeta.
And since it is only 15" square we figured it was a doll quilt.
Aunt Marcia told us that Lucy died when she was nine-years-old.
Her Great Uncle Carl Loy was my Aunt's cousin. That would put
her somewhere in the late 1800s. They lived in New Castle, PA,
(near Pittsburgh)

I had it appraised and I was amazed at how much it was worth.

I have more antique quilts from the same closet, I'll save for
another post.

Until next time...
Susie

First Gift of the Season, done!

For my daughter who just celebrated her first wedding anniversary.
She is hard to read when it comes to quilts but I think she will like
this as a table topper. (She isn't the wallhanging type)

I made it at a Square -in-a-square class I took last weekend. I am
proud to say that I actually got all the fabrics from my stash.
The center was finished at the class and the applique finished
on Sunday. Got the borders put on during the week and quilted
it at a sew-all-night on Friday sponsored by my LQS, Tomorrow's
Treasures. I like it so much I think I will make one for myself
with a cardinal in the middle. (Maybe not for this Christmas though)

I liked the square-in-a-square technique but didn't like all the
bias edges. And I do mean ALL!

Next gift to finish is the pesky nine patch pizzaz for Angela.
(did I mention that she is my son's wonderful girlfriend)
(see previous post.) I got the top put together (started all over
from the book and I like it better now but I still don't love it)
and had to order more fabric for the border. When that
comes in I will decide if it is worthy to give to her. If not
I have a plan B. It's funny because my bee always jokes
about giving quilts to "quilt-worthy" people. This time
I am worried that the quilt itself is not "worthy"!

Until next time...
Susie