A Dozen Quilters Christmas Stocking

My blog friend Hollie recently asked for volunteers to join A Dozen Quilters, a charity bee much like do. Good Stitches but instead of quilt blocks they pick a quilted project each month to do together to benefit a charity organization.

In November we were tasked to make a stocking to benefit the St. Pj's Children's Home in San Antonio. I made mine from pre-quilted Amy Butler fabric from her love collection, some super soft fleece for the cuff, and stuffed it with a gift card to Walmart.

If I could do it all over again I would have done a French seam for the inside of the stocking but who looks in the inside of the stocking anyways??

Happy Quilting!

I'm back!

A little bird reminded me that it has been awhile since my last post. I agree! 

The past few weeks have been quite eventful but unfortunately they've also been very time consuming and I haven't had many spare moments to write a post. Let's see, I interviewed for and started a new job, I went on a quilting retreat, we started painting our basement, I hit a deer (I'm ok and after some repairs and some paint my car is too), went to the NOVA Modern Quilt Guild sew in, moved my crafting stuff back downstairs into my new nook, my niece was born and we hosted my parents at our house when they came up to meet her, we moved our computers and desks back downstairs, went to Roanoke for Thanksgiving, bought a dinning room table and buffet, and painted the dining room. Whew!

What little spare time I did have was mostly spent eating, cleaning, or sleeping. I did manage to make a few sales from my Etsy shop and send those out but absolutely no sewing has been done since the retreat on the 5th-7th with the Cabin Branch Quilt Guild and the sew in on the 13th. I'm so behind! Hopefully I can catch up tonight after we finish the second coat on the dining room walls. 

My blocks are due for the do.Good Stitches {A Charity Bee}. This month we were asked to make yellow and white blocks in any style we wanted. This is a tough one for me because I don't actually have a lot of yellow. Hopefully I can scrounge something up and finish those up tonight. Since I don't have anything to show you, you should go check out the blogs of the other ladies in my bee: 

Krista of Spotted Stones

Emily of This Little Life of Mine

Jeni of In Color Order

Corey of Little Miss Shabby

Anna of The Joy Cottage

Muriël of Hopfaldera

Robyn of Coffee and Cotton

Hollie of The Undercover Crafter 

Hopefully the next time I post I will have some great pictures to show you!!!

Happy Quilting!

Batting Scrap Challenge Failure

I was avoiding this post hoping that there would be some late Batting Scrap Challenge participants, but sadly there were none. Part of me feels silly for trying and part of me just hopes that people were really busy and that's why no one wanted to join. The other part of me just wonders if people use batting scraps all the time and didn't even see it as a challenge. I'm sure you're wondering how many parts I have at this point...

Instead of focusing on the fact that no one joined me in the fun I am going to focus on the fact that I had a lot of fun using batting scraps for different projects!

What did I make?

This book cover:

And this book cover:

This pin cushion and a square version with the same fabrics:

This onesie (that I ended up taking apart and re-making) to pad the star a little and give it dimension:

This pincushion as filling:

This pincushion as filling:

I also made some projects after the October deadline using batting scraps like this car seat quilt for baby Asa. I made one very similar for my nephew but didn't get a chance to take a picture before I gave it to him at his baptism:

And these tic tac toe on the go mats:

I had so much fun making these trash-to-treasure' projects! I hope you enjoyed following along and that you will be inspired to transform your batting scraps too!

Happy Quilting!

do. Good Stitches {a Charity Bee} Quilters Needed

If you've been keeping up with my blog or read my previous post you know that I am part of a flickr group called do. Good Stitches {a Charity Bee}. I have had so much fun participating in the last 2 months' bees: 

October 'Hope' Blocks

September 'Hope' Blocks

Currently the group has three circles: Love, Hope, and Faith. Each circle benefits a charity and each month the members of the bee make two blocks from their stash (or fabric provided by the quilter) under the direction of that month's Quilter. Everyone sends their blocks to the Quilter by the end of the month and then the Quilter has one more month to piece, quilt, bind and send the quilt off to the charity. Sewers commit to making two blocks a month. Quilters also make two blocks a month but rotate months with the other Quilters to finish the project for the circle.  

I am one of the Quilters in the Hope group so for the past two months I have made blocks for the quilts other Quilters have designed. In January I will design a quilt, communicate the details to the other ladies in the group, collect the blocks from everyone, combine all of the blocks together to make a quilt, and send it off to its new home where it will be loved and cherished. This has been a wonderful way for me to meet new people, try new patterns,  and also give back to the community. 

Two new circles will be opening up soon but they are looking for more quilters!. If you're interested in joining us please head on over to our Flickr group and sign up today! I hope to see you over there!

do. Good Stitches {a Charity Bee} October Blocks

Just a few pictures of the October Blocks I made for the do. Good Stitches {a Charity Bee} flickr group:

Uploaded to flickr here

Uploaded to flickr here

Uploaded to flickr here

You can read more about this stash buster block at Little Miss Shabby. There are two great versions of this block for you to try. I hope mine don't stand out too much from everyone else's blocks. I didn't have many matching scraps on hand so I went with what I had to work with. Most of these are leftover from the nursing cover I made for my sister last Christmas.

Happy Quilting!