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Hi everyone, glad you could visit me.
marlaruthnelson@gmail.com

Wednesday 29 January 2014

W.I.P Needle and Thread Network.

Hi I am linking up with The Needle and Thread Network W.I.P. Wednesday. Last week I posted that my goal was to finished the Star Weave Christmas Tree Skirt and the Quilt as you go lap quilt and as of half hour ago I accomplished it. It took me all day to put together the lap quilt.


This has been an on going project since the first of the summer. As much as I was having trouble with the blocks I am very happy with the result. I like the quilt as you go and can see me putting another one together with different blocks of course. This will be a keeper for the back of my couch.


By looking at this picture I need to change the quilt that is there. With grand kids I like to keep it covered.
The Christmas tree skirt went together great and will be a great Christmas gift.

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Even the back is finished that it can be reversible .


Little gingerbread men. So I must say that the week went by quite well. So stop by the Needle and Thread and see what everyone else got accomplished.  Now what is my goal for next week. At least one Christmas gift and one thing for me. Sounds good. 






Saturday 25 January 2014

Sara's new doll dress


Sara thought I should make her a outfit for her doll.  I am a quilter, not sure about doll clothes but was lucky enough to have a pattern in a kids craft book that I have. Once I figured the pattern it went together nicely. She was very happy with it.  I can see that there is a few things I need to pick up if I need to make more outfits for her.

My other grand daughter Lauren was never interested in dolls to much other than taking the clothes off of them. With having just boys I never had to make to many doll clothes, but Sara is more of a girly girl where as Lauren is more of a tom boy.

I am really excited about a trip I am planning for next October with my mother, aunt and cousin to London, Scotland and Ireland. We are going to do a 11 day bus trip. We are in the process of booking it. I was talking to my cousin and aunt who lives in Ontario about it this week. We don't see each other much and it is going to be an exciting time. I haven't seen my cousin probably in six or more years. She was home for my grandmother's funeral but my grandmother died the day my husband and I arrived in Pureto Rico. So I missed them. We were very close as children but when her mother moved to Ontario we don't see each other much. This is one trip that I can't wait for. We are booking it Monday. So excited. My mother always wanted to go to England. She said when she sold her house she wanted me to take her. She is 73 and still in very good health so I better do a few trips with her while she is able. We have been on two bus trips so far and have had a great time.

My husband and I are going on a trip next month to New Orleans and than a Western cruise. Looking forward to that. It is the same trip that my son and his wife are on now. They will be home tomorrow night. The week has gone by quick. It will be quiet Monday evening when Lauren, Owen and Jake the dog goes home. Tuesday will be cleaning dog hair and putting the house back to normal, but we have had a great week. Jake will miss the walks.

 Well time to get a couple of kids to bead and I won't be to far behind.

Thursday 23 January 2014

Star Weave Tree Skirt.....Finished.


Another gift done. Love how these colour's came together. This is the same pattern I did for my mother n law before Christmas. It went together a lot quicker as I made sure I had my pieces going in the right direction. I made this with Batiks. They are such a rich colour. 


Tomorrow I have to concentrate on making a doll dress for my grand daughter. Reading the directions on making clothes are so different than making a quilt. I read it over last night and it didn't make much sense so I will make it the way I think it would go together.Sara will be down tomorrow night looking for that dress.  She picked the material out last weekend. 
We had a beautiful snow day yesterday. Love how clean everything looks.  


Tuesday 21 January 2014

W.I.P. Wednesday

I Thought I would post for W.I.P. Wednesday with The Needle and Thread Network. Where does the time go. It is already the middle of the week. I finished this little quilt this week 

Also on my board I started another Star Weave tree skirt. 




I hope to get some more done on this tomorrow unless it is a snow day and the kids are home from school. Then it will be playing cards and entertaining my grand son. We shall see but hope to finish this this week. 
I also hope to get to that Quilt as you go with Amira also this week. That is it for this week so linking up with The Needle and Thread Network




Winner of my give away....

I picked number 39, the winner of my give away and the winner is
 Sharmond17 January 2014 05:59
I really like what you did with the table runner and the mug rugs. I keep wanting to make mug rugs. Enjoyed your post.
I just sent you an email so as soon as I get your address I will get the pattern and mug rug out to you. Congratulations.
I must say there was some beautiful pieces this hop. I can see me doing more things in Kona solids and there is a couple of books that I will looking for in the near future.
Thanks to everyone that stopped by and for all your kind comments and thanks to Madame Sam and Carol for putting on another great Hop.

Sunday 19 January 2014

my little window quilt finished


Finished this last night. These are so fun to machine quilt. They only take a little over a hour to machine quilt and another half hour to put the binding on. 


I put this piece down the middle as I didn't have any binding left for this quilt and I wanted to have something to tie it into the colour's. I tried it once before and didn't have much luck with it. This one turned out so much better. You always learn from the first one. Another happy finish.


My goal this week is to finish a quilt along that I started last year with Amira from Under the mushroom cap. And last night I cut out another tree skirt that I made a while ago. So if I finish these two it will be a good week. Also my grand daughter Sara would like me to make her a doll out fit so I promised I would have an outfit done by next weekend when she came down again. So looks like another busy week.

The first weekend babysitting. A very busy time. My husband left at 7:30 yesterday to take Sara to play her violin for 8:00 to 11:00 for a pancake breakfast, then take our other grand daughter to basketball for 12:00 and then again at 4:30. They never got home until 7:45. I stayed home and kept the two boys. They both spent the night. So I am sitting here with my feet up which are sore resting. Looking forward to bed tonight. There are three kids here tonight. My son and his wife are enjoying their trip to New Orleans and left for a cruise today. They will be back a week from tomorrow.. I am also babysitting their dog Jake, a black lab. We have been going for two walks a day so I better be down on the scales this week. So have a good evening. 

Saturday 18 January 2014

Ho HO Ho and on we sew- January

I am linking up with the Ho Ho Ho and  on we sew . This might be something that will get me motivated to get a head start on some of next years Christmas gifts. 


Mud Pies and Pins are hosting this Link party this year. So I hope you hop over and see how everyone else is making out with their Christmas gifts. There is a really cute tutorial for a Christmas ornament. So I hope you will join us there.
These are the things that I have finished so far for gifts. If you just scroll down on my blog you will see all these gifts that I have posted in the last couple of weeks.  



It is a good start. I also have a lap quilt that just needed the binding that I hope to finish today. I will post for next month. Have a great sewing day.

Thursday 16 January 2014

Wake up to Kona........

When I signed up for this Hop I didn't know a thing about Kona  Solids fabric. Never thought about where I was going to get Kona fabric.Our local Quilt shop has some beautiful fabric but no Kona  . So now where do I go. The Internet of course. You can find anything on the Internet. So the first sight I found I hit the jack pot. It was even a Canadian sight and the shipping was excellent. So I called my friend Marjorie and we put an order in on Sunday evening and it was here Thursday. You got to love that. It's called Mad about Patchwork. Love this new store which is now added to my favourites. Also love the material

Now what to make. I bought this pattern before Christmas and thought it would be a good project.. I guess I missed a step and my little half triangles were to small and since I had over half of them made and only so much fabric I changed my mind on what to make.


So I had to cut my centre panel to a smaller size and dug through all the things that I have copied to find something to fit. I found this free pattern that I thought I would use some day. Well the day came.   


I had so many of these little triangles made and I hated to throw them in a box to use later because  you know what would of happened then, they would never get used. So I made these little mug rugs.



So still more triangles and decided I would make my friend a Birthday gift to go with these mug rugs.


One Birthday gift off my list to do this year.


As you can see more triangles so made myself four mug rugs for myself. As you can see I was tired of appliqueing and made mine plain.



Now I just want to tell you about my favourite tools that I bought when I got my last sewing machine. I love these, my binding foot and I am not sure what the other foot is called. I have been using my binding foot a lot and haven't sewed a binding on for quite some time. The other one I finally got the chance to use it. I love it. The mug rugs look so nice with this type of stitching. I will be using it more often.


Now if you have made it this far I have a little give away. I am giving away this pattern and hope you have better luck than I did. I will send a couple of tips with it. and another mug rug. That is the end of my triangles. So just leave a comment and a way of reaching you and I will draw at the end of the Hop.


I want to thank Madame Sam and Carol for all their hard work. They do so much. I love their blog and everything they do. Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again. 

Here is your list for today's Participants

.January 17

Have a great day.





Wednesday 15 January 2014

My Little Window Quilt....


Just finished the Little Windows Quilt. A fun little project to do. I think it is a little small, 49" square so I will take it to town with me tomorrow to see if I can find a piece to match. Then I will put a 5" boarder on it. If not it will be a lap quilt. I am not sure what size lap quilts are .
.Boys this Nexus 7 takes nice bright pictures. Love it.
  Well time to get out of the sewing room and head outdoors for a walk. It looks like a nice day out there. Won't get much more done this week, my grand kids comes tomorrow for eleven days.

Snow Buddies...


This is what I have been working on the last couple of days. This cute little quilt from Connecting Threads. Another nice kit. It is flannel and Oh so soft. Not sure weather I like taking pictures outside as I just filled my shoes with snow but they do take nicer pictures. Really like my Nexus 7 for taking pictures and it downloads them right to my blog. So much easier.

I tried something new on this . I saw this on U tube just before Christmas and decided to order it. With this tip you put a bead around the edge of your applique and then just press it with a hot iron. What's nice about it you don't have to use E Bond.. You have only one cut. I thought it might make it stiff around the edges but it doesn't. It is washable so when you wash it it will wash away.  I give it a ten.


They were $6.98 for the glue tips and I ordered them from http://www.purpledaisiesllc.com/category_s/146.htm.  The email on the card will show you how it works.


I saw this quilt on Tickle and Hide and thought it was so pretty. So I decided to go down stairs and try it. You use 5"  and a 2 1/2" charm pack. If you don't have a 2 1/2" charm, just cut the 5" charm pack up. It works up really quick. I used 1" seams and the white pieces are 2 1/2" by 5". This charm pack is called Awesome by Moda.



Well time to get off this computer and get something done. My husband is away for the day so I should make the most of it. Have a great day.

Sunday 12 January 2014

Snowmen Mini Runners

These are the snowmen mini runners that I got from Connecting threads during the Black Friday sale in November. What a fun little project to do and so quick. There was enough with a little extra binding to make three.  One for myself and two for Christmas gifts. I am getting a head start for next year. The larger one was the first one I made which I had made a mistake and made a 6" square instead of a five. I love these little kits from Connecting threads.
 
 
 
Well my computer crashed again. I was trying to find the mouse courser and locked it up. I shut it off and now have a blank screen. I used my new Nexus 7 to post the picture and now am typing this post with my husbands computer. For some reason I can't get pictures to post from his computer. The Nexus 7 seems to take good pictures as the lighting was poor. When I post my Kona projects on Friday I will play with the light more.
Its hard to believe that another week is gone. My son and his wife are leaving Thursday for their vacation so Owen and Lauren will be here for eleven days. Not sure how much I will get done as it looks like Lauren has lots of basketball games. That will keep us busy.
Going to start another Connecting threads kit tomorrow. I am anxious to see how this one will turn out. Have a great week ladies and happy sewing.
 

Tuesday 7 January 2014

Wake Up To Kona.......

The Wake up to Kona starts today. I have just finished my pieces and will be showing them on the 17th. There is already some beautiful pieces that you should not miss and there are quite a few ladies just waiting to show you their great pieces. So stop by and enjoy. Here is the schedule for the Hop.

Wake Up To Kona Blog Hop Schedule


Look who's going to be showing off their Kona's beginning
  January 7th!
+ TWO extra days!

January 7


January 9

January 10

January 13

January 14

January 15

January 16

January 17

January 20
January 21





Wednesday 1 January 2014

Happy 2014...




It is hard to believe that it is now 2014. It has been a very different year, 2013.A good year and a tuff year, but we made it through. I was going through my pictures wanting to post some of my finishes but there was to many. If I could make half the things in 2014 that I made in 2013 it will be a good year. Being a part of this blogging world really inspires me to want to make so many great things. Thanks for all the hops and turritorals that people post. What fun they are. 
It is a beautiful sunny day here in New Brunswick even with all the snow. Brought the New Year in with supper out and playing cards with friends. I think I am to old for going to bed at 1:00 in the morning. Feel like a headache coming on. Hope everyone had a great New Years Eve and hope the New Year is a great one.  







These are all gifts that I gave away to great friends and family this year. They all enjoyed them. See you all in the New year with some wonderful projects. Speaking of projects I should go down and work on the Kona hop that is coming up soon. Next week I think. I don't show my piece until the 17th, thank goodness as with trying to get Christmas gifts done I didn't get mine started until yesterday.