Festive Feline Friday

Pippi decided that my Christmas Village would be a great place to hang out.

 It is not a very big village yet, I just buy houses as I find them at flea markets.  For now, my penguins are the "people" in the village.

 My gingerbread village is my favorite part of my village.  I'm hoping next year, to have a separate place for the gingerbread village.
This is my newest house.  I got it at Hobby Lobby for half off.

My cats have not been too bad about messing with my village, Pippi is the only one I have caught up there.  I'm researching on how I might want to display it next year.

This is a new tradition I just started a couple of years ago.  Do you have a favorite decorating tradition?

Missy

Christmas Crafting

I have made a few Christmas gifts.  I have three snappy bags made, three more to go.  Pieces of a metal tape measure is what makes them go "snap".  I need to make three more.

I also made Christmas ornaments.  I was going to put a button in the middle, but I think I like it without.  What do you think?

 These were super easy to make, I just cut out the heart shapes with my pinking shears, sewed around the outside edge and stuffed them.  I added some pine essential oil to the stuffing, so there is a faint scent of pine to them.  I made six of them.

I won an awesome giveaway from Grey Dogwood Studio and Wyndham Fabrics.  First Blush fat quarter bundle and thread set.  I can't usually afford to buy fat quarter bundles, so I will save it for a special pattern.

Have you been busy making Christmas gifts?

Missy

Feline Friday

Yes Mommy, I know I am your 15 pound baby, but my paw is almost as big as your hand!

 I have an over sized love seat that is too big for my living room and does not match anything in my house.  I put it in my bedroom and put pillow shams from yard sales on the overstuffed cushions.  I also put a comfy blanket on it.  Oreo thinks it is his new bed.  He's still close to the bed, but does not get kicked at night.  LOL

 The cats love the "cat blanket" that gets put on the bed when it is cold.  The sisters are always cold and cuddling at night.

 Muffin has started cuddling between Chris and I on the couch.  He insists on getting under the quilt on the couch too.  He is so sweet.

I have not had any time to sew, I've been trying to put up some Christmas decorations.  No tree because of the cats though.

Missy

Finished Flimsy!

 I am so excited to finally be finished with my top, I got all of the borders on.  I think I am going to call this my birthday cakes quilt, even though it makes me think of Neapolitan ice cream with it's colors.  I love my chocolate inner border.  It will also be the binding.

 I'm trying to decide how to quilt it.  What do you think of a cross hatch over the cakes and FMQ around the cupcakes in the border, with thin lines on the chocolate border?  Or would a stitch in the ditch around all of the cakes and their layers?  I'm open to any ideas.

I sewed the sashing and borders on with my Singer 66, with Lotus decals, treadle.  I have often been asked how hard it is to control my material while I treadle, you can see how I slow down when I adjust my material.  I didn't bother pinning it together, but it probably would have made it easier.  I don't like wearing shoes when I sew, I like to be able to "feel" with my feet, althoough I'm sure it really does not matter.

One more picture of my quilt top, Oreo was inspecting it for quality control.  LOL

You can find all of the patterns here:

http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2016/09/cake-block-patterns.html

Missy

Quilt Poem

Every post needs a picture!

Making A Quilt

Pieces of fabric,

All sewn together,

It is a little magic,

As you sew the thread gather.

Color upon color,

Designs mixed and matched,

Whether two pieces or four,

Soon a quilt is hatched.

Several blocks are sewn,

Whether a pattern or scrappy,

This is how a quilt’s grown.

Quilting makes me happy!

Soon you will have a top,

Now it may need a border,

Something that will pop,

Which is why I’m a fabric hoarder!

Sandwich the top with the back,

Which means you need to baste,

Spray it, pin it, or tack,

There is no time to waste.

Quilting is another process,

Free motion or straight line,

Don’t rush, or you’ll have a mess,

It’s gonna turn out just fine!

We’re not done yet,

We still need to bind,

All the fabric has now met,

You’ve created a one of a kind!

Whether it is a gift,

Or for your home,

You crafted it bit by bit,

Just look at what you’ve sewn!

By:  Missy Shay

Have you ever had a poem that just had to be written?  This was one of those times.  I know it is kind of corny, but it was fun to write.  I made a document with quilt pictures and typed my poem on it so I can print it off and hang it up in my sewing room.  I could not figure out how to put it on my blog though.  I hope you enjoyed it!

Sew Sweet Sewing Spaces

When we moved, I was so excited to have my own sewing room!  The only thing is that when my husband is off in the evenings, we like to be in the same room.  I always have either a treadle or hand crank sewing machine set up in my living room.  Does it cause a mess in the living room?  Yes.  Do I care? Nope, it is easy to clean up when I am expecting someone, and if someone drops in, they can't expect a clean house.

 I have my Singer 66 with lotus decals set up right now.  She sews like a dream.

With the longer strips and chain stitching of putting the top together, a treadle works better than a hand-crank.   I had to put TV trays to catch my blocks as I sewed.

I still use my sewing room, we can only get CBS in that room for some reason, so we spend Tuesdays in the sewing room watching NCIS and I get a lot done on Tuesdays!

Do you have a machine set up in your living room too?

Missy

Feline Friday and Finishes (almost)

 I stayed up late last night finishing this part of the top of my quilt.  It was dark last night, so the picture did not turn out great.  I am going to be auditioning borders today.  I was just super happy that the sashing mostly lined up!

 Don't you hate when you have puckers and have to unpick?  I think it takes longer to unpick then it does to sew!

Cupcake

 Of course, my cats had to help me audition and sew together my blocks!

Oreo being cute.

Oreo and Custard holding paws.

Tiger sleeping on my Industrial machine.
You can sew anything on industrials, heavy duty items as well as clothes and quilting.

I am going to put an inch border of the brown around the inner border, then put another border four to six inches wide.  My choices are between this apron fabric or a cupcake fabric that is similar at the LQS, I'll go look at it today and decide.

I am linking up to Feline Friday at Sarah Did IT!
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Fort Worth Fabric Studios

Be sure to check out these linky parties!
Missy

Fall Table Runner

 My friend, Darlene, had a birthday a couple of weeks ago.  I finally finished her birthday present yesterday!

 I did an old fashioned, lazy, binding on it.  I just used the backing and turned it over.

 The whole thing was stitched on my handcrank, featherweight, and quilted on my treadle.

 I felt like that plaid was the perfect fall colors for the back.  Everything came from my stash.

I have my cake blocks laid out and I'm ready to sew the top together today!  Thursday is my day off and tomorrow my LQS is having 20% off their fabric and I want to take the top in and see if the fabric I want for the border matches it.

Have a great weekend ya'll!

Missy

A Royal Christmas Wedding - Book Review

BookLook Bloggers sent me the book A Royal Christmas Wedding by Rachel Hauck.  This is the first book I have read by this author.  I really enjoyed it, in fact I was up until 2:30 in the morning reading and I'm usually asleep by 10:30!  This is one of those books that you laugh out loud while reading and your husband gives you a funny look because you are making so much noise.

The book is the last in the series, I have not read the other two, however, Rachel did a good job interweaving the stories.

The book is about a Georgia volleyball girl and a Brighton prince in the Navy falling in love.  It is written like a fairy tale, but in a modern setting.  It is a very good book.

You can get the book here:
https://www.amazon.com/Royal-Christmas-Wedding/dp/0310344530/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478033725&sr=8-1&keywords=a+royal+christmas+wedding

Missy

Treadling Away!

 I should have been done with this table runner by now, however I have spent the past week unpickicking my stitches because I hated the way the inside of the leaves turned out.   I tried quilting veins in the leaves, but with the shape of the leaves, I did not like it..  I decided to just do a freestyle outline inside the leaves.  I love listening to the clickety clack of the treadle.  My industrial was born in 1891, she is 125 years old!

 I've also been playing with my nails again.  My husband always makes fun of me when I do my nails.  I probably should not be taking pictures of my nails at church.  My legs get cold at church and I keep my lap quilt on my pew to cover up with.

Do you have a vintage machine you like to use?

Missy