Show and Tell

Last night was the Nimble Thimbles Christmas Party, with a wonderful dinner.

At the end of the evening, many guild member's brought Show and Tell.

This bright, happy quilt was from a block exchange.

The pinwheels are 3-D with pockets

More 3-D effects, with the flower borders.

There were a lot of Christmas quilts that combined quilting and embroidery.

Fun fabrics that sparkled under the lights.

Snowmen were a predominant theme.

Hey, don't we live in the Phoenix area where it doesn't snow?

A nice way to showcase Christmas fabrics.

Another 3-D quilt, this time with using bows for the presents.

I've seen a lot of Christmas quilts, but I especially liked this one.

Simple and yet unique.

This pattern would also look nice in birthday fabrics.

One member brought this quilt because she wanted to share the story behind the making.

Her 72 year old father had never quilted before, but saw a picture of this Lone Star in a magazine. Being self taught, he gathered fabrics, complete with tricot backing and lime green borders. (oh my)

The center star really had some great color combinations, and we applauded his efforts for matching bias edges, especially on his first attempt to quilt.

We asked if he's made any more quilts and her answer brought laughs.

"No, this is his first AND HIS LAST!"

Lynn taught applique classes in Tucson using this Christmas quilt as her model.

This would make a great Block of the Month quilt, too.

Sorry the picture is a little blurry, but the snow man made me laugh:)

Child's Apron

Are you like me and can't show most of what you are sewing for Christmas because your children and family read your blog?
I can give you a sneak peak of the latest project because my granddaughter is still too little to read.

Child's Apron size 2
We are a family of foodies.
Kayla is often held, or hovering within inches as her mother cooks.
I thought she might like her own apron she observes Amy's delicious culinary creations.

When my children were little we purchased a stove and food set that were placed in the kitchen so they could pretend to cook as I cooked.
Hours were spent playing "restaurant".
They even created hand written menus.
With a large family of 5 children, who often invited friends to our meals, we spent long hours together in the kitchen.
It's so fun to see that tradition being carried on to the second generation.
Kayla received her own kitchen set for her 2nd birthday, which is now placed conveniently nearby as her mommy cooks.

I wanted to add a little special embellishment to the pocket.
Remember when I did the posts on crocheting your own ric rac?
See post 2/18/11

A little bit of homemade charm.

I found the child's apron pattern with free tutorial on Tipnut, one of my most favorite sites to peruse.
Have you heard about Tipnut?
Tipnut is like an online filing box, full of links to creative homemaking, tips, crafts and projects collected over the years.
Each Wednesday they they send an e-mail with the latest finds.
This time I put "child's apron" in the search box, and they led me to several blogs with free tutorials.
How is your Christmas sewing coming along?

Jelly Roll Races

Let the Races begin!
The Nimble Thimbles Quilt Guild recently hosted a Jelly Roll Race/ Sew-In For Charity.
The goal was to make as many charity quilts as possible in a few short hours.

Each guild member was asked to pre-sew 40 (2 1/2" WOF strips) end to end before the start of the race.
*approximately 1600- inches in length.
Most of the fabric strips were scrappy and donated for the cause.

Ready, set, go!
The clock was set, and the races began.
Who would be the first to complete the quilt?

You know how competitive quilters can be!
Machines began humming away.

Matching ends, the first two rows were sewn together creating large piles.

Some served as pit crew, helping untangle the long rows of fabric.

And some, like Barbara brought her son as a personal attendant.

Matthew really did a great job and made quite a difference in helping his mom get ahead in the race.

Others nearby began bribing Matthew with candy and food if he would jump ship and move over to help with their untangling.

Pit crew members helped with the ironing.

Soon we had a winner.
Nancy finished in 1 hour 17 minutes.
Many others came in close behind.

This technique can also be called a "lasagna quilt".
Finished size around 48" X 60"

I loved seeing how each quilt turned out differently using a variety of fabrics.

A great way to go through your stash and use up a certain color.

This really is a win-win competition.
A great way to use up all those old scraps of fabrics you no longer want, and provide charity quilts for your community.
Plus we had a lot of fun.

If you want to know more about how to host a Jelly Roll Race for your guild or church group, there is a great video available on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EomX7t7to_o

Split Star

Split Star, block #3 in the Blogger's Block of the Month is now available.
I was so excited to see that the very talented Stephanie Dunphy (Loft Creations) was the designer this month!
I love everything Stephanie makes, and have followed every post for years.
She has the cutest dog Abby, who's personality captures the heart. Abby is the perfect model, helping us see the latest Loft Creation.
You can also run over to Stephanie's blog to see her well done tutorial for Block #3.

I like the positive/negative effect of the star.

And of course, it's always so fun to pull out the Kaffe's and play away.

Block #3 lines up well with September and October.

This process is somewhat like making a mystery quilt, as each month a new designer and block are introduced.
I'm curious to see how all 12 blocks will be placed in a setting.
My thanks to Jackie (Canton Village Works) for bringing us all together.

Quilt Camp/ Part 2

I have a few more pictures to show you from Quilt Camp.
The group sponsors a Small Quilt Auction, with proceeds going back into next years Quilt Camp.
Each person who attended was asked (always optional) to donate a small quilt to be auctioned off.
The handiwork is beautiful and the bidding became quite competitive, accompanied by a lot of laughter among friends.

Kim made an original Christmas wall hanging.

Decorated with bling.

The walls were lined with quilts, wall hangings, pillows, aprons and home decor.

Lee Anna's small quilt had 168 pieces.

Cynthia donated an original art piece, a self portrait sketch of her hand quilting.
The ladies were very generous in their bidding and the auction brought over $500, with everyone feeling like they went home the winner.