Christmas Aprons

These are the Christmas aprons that I made for Erlisa, Ben, Adina and Eva. Eva is twenty months old and refused to wear her apron. The pictures are of Erlisa, Ben and Adina. I traced aprons that Ben and Adina had and used those as patterns and traced an apron that I had to make Erlisa's apron. I lined the aprons with the same fabric as on the fronts. I bought five yards of fabric and only had a little bit left over. On the red strip at the top of each apron, I embroidered the children's names and on Erlisa's apron, I embroidered "Mom

Ruffle Scarf

My daughter-inlaw, Erlisa, came home from work about a week ago all excited about a scarf made from Katia Triana yarn. We looked at a video about making this scarf and then tried to find the yarn near her house which turned out to be impossible.
When I went home, I found similar yarn at JoAnn's, bought a skein, and knitted the scarf that Erlisa is wearing in this picture. The yarn is a mesh and it knits up very quickly because you only cast on six stitches and then knit until you have about a yard of yarn left. Then bind off and sew the ends using a needle and thread. This is a fun project. I already bought more yarn so that I can make my daughter a scarf and yarn so Erlisa can knit herself a scarf.

Needlebook

Several weeks ago, I decided to make a needlebook as a gift for my friend who runs our sit and sew group. I made it from the needlebook instructions from I kit that I purchased from Beverley Sheldrick. This needlebook is something that I use almost daily and enjoy. I changed the front cover from the original as well as the rest of the ribbon work but the size is the same. Also, I purchased a pair of embroidery scissors and a needle threader kit it to make this gift complete.

Turkey Centerpiece

At the November meeting of our quilting group, one of the members showed a stuffed turkey that she made from a panel. When I remarked that I loved it and wanted to know where to buy a panel like this one, she took out her scissors and cut a panel for me and gave it to me. The turkey was easy to sew until I got to the circular tail feather. After I few tries, I got the tail feather on and was able to complete the job. It took me about three hours to make Mr. Turkey. My daughter loved him and made him the centerpiece on her buffet. Thank you again, Loretta.

Quilt Camp Weekend

Last weekend was spent at quilt camp in Johnsonburg, NJ until our time was interupted by a freak snow storm that caused the electricity to go out in the entire area. Most of us left camp because there was no light, heat, or water. The drive home took hours longer than it should have because of downed trees that cause detours. After five hours of roaming around looking for ways to get home safely, Ceil, my friend and courageous driver, drove up my driveway. Pictured is what I did manage to accomplish sewing on Thursday evening, part of Friday and part of Saturday. On Friday a group of us went to Stroudsburg, PA for some fabric and trim shopping. Even though we had to cut our weekend short, I'm looking forward to next year's camp weekend, hopefully without snow.

The Ladybug Dress

A while back, I posted about making a ladybug dress for a gift. My daughter's friend just loves ladybugs and I promised her that if she had a little girl, I'd make her a smocked dress with ladybugs on it. Well, Cici was born and I kept my promise. Yesterday, I received this picture of Cici wearing the ladybug dress. I'm thrilled with the results and had to share the picture with you. Cici looks so cute in her dress and it fits her well.

Another Block for my Calendar Quilt

I worked on this block while dog sitting during the summer and then again when I took care of the dogs for the weekend. It felt like it took me a very long time to complete this block. Getting the pieces cut out and then appliqueing them in the correct places was a challenge. The end of the ribbon on the left side will be sewn down to the connecting two and a half inch squares. I have six more blocks to applique and one more pieced block to make before I start the process of cutting out over five hundred two and a half inch squares to connect all of the quilt blocks.