"Santa" and "Frosty's Winter Frolic" Wall Hangings Finished Today.

I worked at it, and got two of them finished today.
Santa is ready to hang on my door tonite.

This guy is small, but suits his purpose.  Santa measures 11.5 Inches Wide by 12 inches Long finished.  His eyes, though they look a bit off-color, are fine.  Its the lighting when I took the photo.

Frosty's Winter Frolic I made in bright background so he would show up clearly.   White snow flakes for winter, on a red background, fits my idea of bright.  He measures 13.5 inches Wide by 11.5 inches Long.

A quilter friend of mine suggested I add ornaments for Christmas Time to make him a bit different and only for the Holidays.  I agreed.  Thank you dear friend.

I bought these Christmas balls, shown above, which I can add during December only, and remove for after Christmas.  Frosty's Winter Frolic is now a Two-Fer.  I love it when I can get more use from a seasonal item.

My next project, dear to my heart, is a Christmas Mouse hanging onto a tree ornament.  I have all the fabric chosen and the background.  I just need time to start it.

I have a Christmas Party to go to tomorrow afternoon.  A catered affair by the apartment's owners and managers.  We have a Yankee Gift Swap, too, so I have a gift ready for that but not yet wrapped.   Our resident Christmas Party doesn't take place until Dec. 21st so there is time to get another gift for the Yankee Gift Swap with that one.  Its a Pot Luck so I'm bringing homemade candy and fudge.  There's also a 50/50 which is a money gift, the amount depending on how many buy how many tickets for the drawing.

We (the residents in our senior building) have a special gift box for our local volunteer Firemen and Women who are always there when they are needed, from a smoke alarm going off, to a resident falling ill.  In minutes they are here to help us.  They include EMTs and an ambulance so we are well taken care of in this small town.  This year 'the box' consists of 3 large shopping  bags which are nearly full already.  I like to add something sweet, something sugarless, and something salt-free as well, and a non-food item, so my items are all packed and ready to go to the Fire Barn along with all the rest of the gifts on Dec. 15th.

I hear snow is arriving again tonite.  We had 3-4" of the white stuff  this week and no power outages, which is always a good thing.  We can expect snow all thru the winter here in Southwestern Maine, so its something we all prepare ourselves for ahead of time.

Have a Good Day.  Hugs, S

I Have 2 Wall Hangings Pinned and Ready to Quilt

I did a bit of sewing today and got two winter wall hangings stitched and pinned so they are ready for the next step.....quilting.  Decisions, decisions, how shall I quilt them.  That will happen on another day.

This one is Frosty's Winter Frolic which I can use for Xmas and winter, too, because I bought some small ornaments I will pin to the tree so it will look more like Christmas for those few weeks, but remove the ornaments for after Christmas passes.  This was an idea floated to me by one of my quilter buddies.  Thank you very much.  Its a great idea.

Santa's Face naturally, can only be hung during the Christmas season so I'd better get this one finished first so I can exchange Pengilly on my front door for Santa.

I hear they are having snow in the south, like Texas and Florida and the Carolinas.  This snow is unexpected during this early in the season for them.
For ourselves, here in Maine, our 2nd snow will be arriving tomorrow they predict.  Its early for us as well, but we are more used to it, having driven on snowy and icy roads every winter.  We also have enough plows and sand trucks to alleviate dangerous driving.

Have a good day.

I Started Sant's Face Wall Hanging Today

I have a Santa Face that I added fuzzies to all the appropriate places; mustache, beard, eyebrows and tassel on his hat.

It won't be very big when its done, but it will work fine for my front door.

If I'm lucky I will have both this one and Frosty's Winter Frolic finished this weekend.

A lovely day today as it turned out.  This morning was gray and overcast after pouring rain last nite, but as the day wore on, the sun came out and though a stiff breeze kept the nip in the air, it has been a nice day.

Have a good evening.

"Penguin with Gifts" is Finished.

I adore him.  I named him Pengilly because it just seems to fit.
He's 15.5 inches wide and 18 inches long with a festive border and the binding is from the backing.
I have posted pictures and directions for doing both the cross hatching with painter's tape and folding the backing to the front to use as the binding.  Easy Peasy is my middle name.

Here he is, my Pengilly....  Penguin with Gifts

Pengilly is there on my front door ready to receive my friends and neighbors.  He's festive enough for greeting them and bringing a smile.

Have a good day.

Easy Binding from Backing

When I make a big quilt that will be used and washed over and over, I make the usual double binding to go around the whole thing.  I want the edges to last and not wear out with time and use.

But when making small things, like wall hangings, I find that making my binding from the backing piece is easier and quicker.

Two things have to be pretty accurate:  The size of your batting and the size of your backing, with each being larger than the front of your quilt piece.

When you are pinning your batting and backing to the front piece, you need the batting to be at least 1 inch larger all around and the backing needs to be at least 2 1/2 inches all around.

First you have to trim your batting.  Be sure you have a cutting mat between your quilt's edge and the backing fabric beneath.  You don't want to be cutting off your backing.
Measure and trim your batting to 1/2 inch from the edge of your front piece.

Be sure to trim all four sides the same.

The next step is trimming the backing to 2 inches from the edge of the front piece.  These measurements will give you a 3/4" binding when finished or you can tighten it up to make a narrower binding.

If you want an accurate quarter inch binding, trim your batting to a quarter inch and your backing to just shy over an an inch to allow for folding.

Fold two opposite sides down first and sew them so you can get a good mitered angle on the other 2 sides.

I use a blind hem stitch all around and I Miter my corners and pin them in place to hold them til I get there.  Sometimes you need to fudge a bit to get it right but its not difficult.

I even blind hem stitch right up to the very end of the mitered points as seen above.

I find doing the backing for binding method is quicker and easier than going the double binding route.  And its fine for things like wall hangings which are not tossed in the washer like quilts are to get them clean.
So don't make things any harder for yourself than needed.   Go the easier route.

Have a Good Day.

Easy Cross Hatch Quilting

I found a simple way to add cross hatching to my quilts.  I've used the disappearing ink method and the guide on my walking foot without success.  There's always a wobble here and there and with the chalk method, the chalk marks are wider than I like so the size of the cross hatches differs across the piece.
I love Painter's Tape.  Yup, the blue tape you have in your tool chest when you touch up something with a bit of paint in the house.

Its sticky enuf to stick to a piece of fabric, but not gluey enuf to make a mess when you remove it.  In fact it can be lifted and reused over and over.

First you want to get the first 2 or 3 accurate, so measure with your ruler to get a 45-degree angle for the first few.  Next, measure the distance you want between your stitches and stick the next 2 tape pieces on your quilt.

I found that once I did the first 3, I could just take a small ruler (My piece is a small wall hanging so it works just fine), and then reuse the tapes to align them across the whole piece.  In this case I set mine up for 1 1/2 inches apart on the stitching.  You know you are accurate when the stitching line before the one you are doing, is at double the distance.

When you begin the opposite direction, be sure to measure at your 45-degree angle for the first 2 tapes, then you can use the small ruler for the rest.

A closer look at the cross hatching.

Pengilly is finished and hanging on my door.

Have a good day.

Two Wall Hangings are in the Works Today.

I am trying to finish up Penguin with Gifts and happily I got to the point where I have to decide how to quilt it next.  So this is a good stopping point.

I removed his eyes so they would not get banged around with the quilting process.  Now, should I echo quilt or cross hatch quilt.  Its decisions like these that halt my work.  I'm sure I will make a decision by tomorrow.

In the meantime I thought I'd work on a snowman wall hanging I named Frosty's Winter Frolic.

This one is smaller and I changed my mind about decorating the tree.  I would like to use this one thru the winter season and not just for Christmas time.   Without the decorations, I can do that.  So far I have it tacked in place but that's the extent of the work on this one.

My next one I think will be a mouse hanging on a tree ornament.  I found some gray fabric that will work just great for Xmas Mouse.  I'll post pics of him in the next few days.

Have a good day.