Pots and Pins

Zipper Pouch...

Happy 4th Day of Christmas Everyone!  We're still celebrating - or trying to - I did a finger wave this morning when I got up, does that count?  Christmas just isn't the same without little kids - no chaos or mess or noise or pure joy.  I missed it all so very much!!  Still, we did manage to have a very nice Christmas, it was just noise-less and mess-less and very different.  The mister thought it was perfect, no surprise there.  On Christmas Eve, the mister was so pleased there wasn't a creature stirring he even offered to help me wrap a few gifts!  Never, ever has he done that before!  He passed the tape and scissors and put on the tags - a right jolly ol' elf was he!  Then he watched as I filled the stockings for the boy and his bride...and I made him turn his head as I filled his.  We grabbed the gifts and the stockings and as we were loading up I asked the mister to make sure to grab my stocking, which was still on my work table - empty - so very empty.  I didn't have to point out the obvious but I did, because that's the kind of elf I am...not once in all of our Christmases has there ever been anything in my stocking because I do the stockings and what's the point in filling my own?  Cut to Christmas day - the boy and his bride come over - we light the fire, pass around the gifts, hand out the stockings and the mister pipes up, tells the boy to hand me my stocking - which looks every bit as empty and sad as ever.  I feel the stocking, very funny I say, but the mister assures me there is something inside - so I reach my hand in and pull out one $20 bill.  One.  The mister was proud as punch - started laughing - then coughing - then hacking - he about killed himself with glee.  Who knew $20 could provide so much joy?!  Now, as the mister pointed out, because that's the kind of elf he is, I cannot say I've never had anything in my stocking ever again...after this post.

Making something hand-made is part of the fun of Christmas for me and every year I drive myself crazy trying to make something last minute.  This year was no exception.  Five days before Christmas I decided my sisters needed zipper pouches so I headed into the nerve center, my work room, and got busy.  I made these five zipper pouches in ONE HOUR.  Not kidding.  They are SO easy to make - sew up super fast - and, if I do say so myself, look pretty darn cute! 

Mixing up the outside fabrics with the lining was the fun part - and if I'd had more time I might have added a few more embellishments to the outside of the pouch - but they really didn't need it.

Lipsticks were wrapped up with a pouch and sent off that day...so easy and fast and I thought they made such a cute gift that I made several for myself!

If you want to sew some up for yourself or your sisters, Dana over at  Dana Made It has a great tutorial.  Dana has a lot of great sewing tutorials - I love everything she comes up with and so will you. 

I'll leave you this morning with the parting words the mister had for me as he left for Global Headquarters today, "Geeze Nan, can you get any more crap on that cabinet?"  The crap on the cabinet has been there since the day before Thanksgiving...and he said that now?!?  He just noticed?  Should I be worried about his mental health...or mine?  Of course, the answer to his question is yes...yes I can get more crap on and in that cabinet...do you think that was a dare?  I said in reply, as sweetly as I could, "Happy 4th Day of Christmas ya filthy animal - now go to work!" 

Be the first one to name the movie that line (paraphrased) is from and I'll send you a zipper pouch!

Merry Christmas!

In the eight years I've been writing this crap, I've been pretty good about posting on a regular basis...probably a bit excessive...but lately I've been MIA and for a good reason...

We went to Hawaii for a week to celebrate our big birthdays...the mister thought it was a grand idea and who am I to question?  The day after Thanksgiving we hopped on a plane and off we went...sun, fun and not a thought about decorating the tree...

Rather Grinchy of me, I'll admit, but then I was slapped back to reality when we left Honolulu and it was 92 degrees and landed in Seattle and it was 37!!  We threw on extra layers, put away the shorts and flip-flops and for FIVE days we worked like crazy, putting up the trees and the lights and making every little corner of the abode as festive as could be...then we hopped back on a plane and flew to Salt Lake City to see the kiddies - who informed us they will not be joining us for Christmas this year...please, someone play a violin for me and pass the tissues...

Elsa helped with decorations - she is Little Miss Christmas!  And Max, well, his latest obsession is trailers - pop-ups, campers, travel trailers, motor-homes...so we took him to some dealerships and you've never seen a happier child.  He is standing inside his favorite pop-up, with a "dinette" and two "bunks"...if only I could fit one inside his stocking!

After 5 short days we were back on a plane and leaving for home...and still not one gift purchased.  When you leave town for two of the four weeks needed to "do" Christmas right...nothing gets done...so my friends, I am running at full speed, playing catch-up, failing miserably but still, I want to wish you the Merriest of Christmases from our home to yours...it's the thought that counts, right?

I'll be back soon - just need to shop, bake, wrap and get some nog into my egg, then all will be right with my world!

Summer Star Quilt...

It's the dead of Winter and I'm obsessing over my Summer Star Quilt...because it's finally finished!  It's been in the works for over a year - possibly two, who can remember?!?  What started as one pattern became two because making the same thing over and over is just not my bag babeeee.  (I asked the bag-boy at the store how he was and he said, "I'm hating the rain, it's just not my bag babeeeee!"  I might have added an extra eee or threeeee but he dragged out the baby part just a tad too long...and it struck me as funny, because he's like 12 and I'm not, and then it got stuck in my head, so there you go!)

In quilting, points are supposed to match.  I don't know who made up that rule but I dislike them and the rule.  My points never match - so why would I ever make a quilt that required them to?!?  I don't have an answer to that - except to say I just like the "star" block in this quilt...which was a buggar to make!  Rounded pieces that had to be pinned 50 times - I was possessed!

After making several star blocks I knew I would never live long enough to make enough for an entire quilt - so I added a circle block - which I machine appliqued onto the fabric...don't judge, it saved what was left of my sanity!

My friend Lori went to a great fabric sale several months ago and sent me a text asking me if I wanted  fabric for backing at 50% off...duh!  I asked her to get me four different fabrics of 4 yards each of cream colored backing - neutrals if possible.  She picked out some beauties for me - three were just what I hoped for but one was a bit different and when I saw it my first thought was, "What was she thinking?!?!"  I didn't know what I would do with it...but apparently Lori did!  It worked perfectly with this quilt - turquoise, light gray and a citron yellow - could not have been a better choice!  So thank you Lori for seeing the possibilities!!  You are an expert at that!

This is a happy quilt - it's bright and colorful and a great lap size.  It doesn't match any room in my house but that's what I love about it - wherever it is - it stands out and demands to be seen!  So glad it is finished!

Go ahead and look at those points - they make me smile!  Some line up perfectly and others, well, they have an independent spirit about them! 

You know, there are two kinds of quilters - those who are left brained - they measure and line things up and follow patterns and do math.  God bless them!  Then there are those, like me, who are all right brained...we just like to create and don't much care about precision - it's not about perfection for us, it's about having fun with the process!  Maybe there are some quilters out there who use both their left and right brain equally when they quilt...if so, I've yet to meet them!

One more quilt to show you...Rachel is my neighbor's daughter and I helped her with her senior project a few years back; she made a quilt.  Rachel is all left brained...she's a CPA so that should tell you something, she likes things to add up, including quilt blocks!  When Rachel's grandmother asked Rachel if she could do anything with some blocks that her mother had made, Rachel wasn't sure at first.  She came over and we looked at them - they were all hand stitched and very stretched out.  Each block, by itself, was nothing much to look at - they were probably stitched together from clothing and nothing really matched or even looked that great together.  Rachel and I went round and round over what to do with them - and in the end Rachel decided she would finish what her great-grandmother started - she would hand stitch the blocks together and then make new blocks to finish the top...talk about a labor of love!  And she did all this while studying to take her CPA exams!

When the top was pieced it was pretty wonky - wouldn't lay flat and I had my doubts about quilting it - it is FULL of bubbles and puckers - but I think that just adds to the charm of this quilt.  (This picture was taken before the binding was hand-sewn down.)

Someone told Rachel that since the blocks were hand-pieced it needed to be hand-quilted...I disagreed 100%.  Old fabric that is stitched by hand is not durable - and Rachel wanted this quilt to be gently used - so machine quilting added the strength it needed.  This isn't a museum-quality quilt - and hand-quilting, while nice, wouldn't have added anything except hours and hours of time - and then it would still have been a quilt that wouldn't have been able to take any use or abuse! This picture makes it look rather small but it's a great lap size and I think it turned out so cute - it was definitely worth finishing!  Rachel gave it to her grandmother over Thanksgiving and her Grandma cried - she was so happy to see her mother's work finished and able to be used!  It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but to Rachel, her mom Linda and her grandmother - it's a work of art!