Saying goodbye to 2013.....

 

I am sorry that I have not been able to post the last installment of the Advent Quilt. My laptop has died and I have lost my latest information. I will be getting a new one later this week and hope to post the last patterns very soon after. 

One of the reasons I have not been online has been due to our dear cat Dagi who had to be put to sleep yesterday. He had just turned 16 and took a turn for the worse. We had to take him to the vet yesterday. He is now buried in our garden in a place my online friend calls Susan´s Corner. I am missing him terribly and Jos and I are heartbroken!

Master Mind´s Adagio 

Born December 21, 1997

Died December 30, 2013

Christmas bowl this year.....

Each season, I decorate my dough bowl. It is a great way to give an instant feeling of a season or holiday. This year, I put in springs of holly berries with pinecones around the collection of little pillows and pinkeeps. 

The quilt is one I made about 17 years ago. 

Heidi

Keeping those I love warm (part two).....

When I took Enny and Mary up to Cranberry Cottage in November, I realized that Enny had a hard time keeping warm even if it was not so cold outside. So when we got home I grabbed some tweedy, chunky yarn and made her some long wrist warmers to hopefully keep her warm. I wanted to make them in beige so she could use them with any color she was wearing. 

Then of course, I had to make some for Mary too. She wears black a great deal so I thought making the same wrist warmers in a finer yarn would be just right for her. How fun to see the exact same pattern influenced by which type of yarn you use. Both of them were very happy to have these to keep them warm. 

I myself have a number of pairs of wrist warmers and decided to make myself a blue pair to add to my collection of colors. I wanted a nice long top to fall well over my knuckles. I tried just making up a pattern as I went along. I was really pleased with how they turned out. 

Heidi

The Mystery of Christmas advent quilt - mini quilt hangers day 15 to 21

The third week of advent brings another 7 mini quilt hangers to add to your advent quilt. 

Here is another example of one of the advent quilts made in my quilt group. This is Wilma's quilt with all her numbers hanging and then her other side with all the patterns choose by the group. 

I just had to share one more photo she sent me as her sweet kitty decided he wanted to pose with her quilt. 

Here is Elly's quilt numbers...

...and her patterns on the other side. 

Heidi

Quilt group's annual Christmas party

Last night was the annual Christmas party for my quilt group. It was preceded by an incident that really tore into the core of the group. Words can be uplifting and encouraging but can also be used to be hurtful and hateful. We made it through the riff with all but the two members in question and it put a new light on our Christmas party. A couple of the ladies expressed how rich they feel from our group's time and friendships together.

The ladies trickled in and placed a gift under the tree. We sat down to a table set for an Italian style Christmas. Three courses were made by half of the ladies in the group. This meant the other half could sit back, relax and enjoy. We opened a few gifts after each course that was served giving lots of time to admire all the beautiful creations. Our theme for this year's gifts was "A Tisket, A Tasket". 

Elly found the pickle in the Christmas tree again this year. I give a gift to the person who finds it each year. This year, the gift was a winter themed key fob. I found the ice skate charm at a German Christmas market. 

And just look at the many beautiful gifts given and received!

I had MiekeV's name to make a gift for. I wanted to make something special for her and when I saw this sweet chart on Cathy's blog I knew it was perfect for her. Mieke loves her garden which is a thing we share in common. 

I also made her a pincushion. It is large at 8 inches square but you will see why I made it large. One the one side is a patchwork block which is called Cake Stand or Amish Basket. 

One the back, I stitched a triangle of fabric which I lined with lace and embellished with a button and bow. A piece of satin ribbon was sewn just above the triangle so that when a pair of scissors is in the holder, they are secure. A safety pin keeps the fob for the scissors also secure. I handquilted the pillow front and back before assembling it. 

My gift received was a **beautiful** quilted wallhanging by MiekeW. She made me a basket in all the pretty warm tones I so love. Even the bottom of the quilt has tiny baskets across it. Her husband made the wire hanger which says "yellow basket". How wonderful is that! And she "wrapped" my gift in a big burlap stocking with white yo-yo's on it. Humm....I think Jos might need to fill this stocking for Chrismtas...what do you think? *wink*

Heidi

The Mystery of Christmas advent quilt - mini quilt hangers day 8 to 14

The second Sunday of advent has come so quickly and we are now ready for the next 7 mini quilt hangers for our advent quilts.

Part of the fun of this project for me was using the many beautiful trims and laces available. When you want to sew a piece of lace onto the square, you can choose to either sew it separately alongside another piece of trim as with the 10th hanger or sewn along just under the edge of a piece of trim as with the 13th hanger. 

I am stitching my ornaments with an overdyed red thread but you can use any color you like with matching ribbons and laces. 

Each design has placement lines included to ribbons, laces, trims, ric-rac and buttons. Stitch the number and then sew your trim in place. Added buttons are also shown on the charts. Right click the charts to print them. 

When finished, stitch or sew a design for the reverse side. Cut both front and back to 4-1/2 inches in size and sew with right sides together leaving an opening to turn the quilt hanger. Be sure to place a piece of thin ribbon in the center of the quilt for the hanger. I used two inches of satin ribbon folded in half. Trim the corners, turn and sew the opening shut. 

For some inspiration, look at my Pinterest board for links to some patterns for the back of your hangers.

Be sure to look at this post for the quilt instuctions and this page for hangers 1 to 7.

The Mystery of Christmas Advent quilt - mini quilt hangers day 1 to 7

The first Sunday of advent has arrived. Here are the first week's little quilts to hang on your advent quilt. These little quilts measure 4-inches square when they are finished. The numbers hang from the buttons on the advent quilt and as each day of December arrives, simply turn the little quilt to reveal a pretty picture on the other side. 

Each design has placement lines included to ribbons, laces, trims, ric-rac and buttons. Stitch the number and then sew your trim in place. Added buttons are also shown on the charts. Right click the charts to print them. 

When finished, stitch or sew a design for the reverse side. Cut both front and back to 4-1/2 inches in size and sew with right sides together leaving an opening to turn the quilt hanger. Be sure to place a piece of thin ribbon in the center of the quilt for the hanger. I used two inches of satin ribbon folded in half. Trim the corners, turn and sew the opening shut. 

On the reverse side, it is your chance to make your advent calendar very personal. I am showing you my own quilts for ideas. These are designs I have found in books, magazines or free charts on blogs. Choose designs that speak to you. If you prefer not to do as much cross stitching, why not try creating all applique patterns, patchwork or redwork. 

My first two blocks shown above include a portion of an IsaV design and a little freebie that I cannot unfortunately tell you who created as I did not save it after I stitched it. If anyone knows who's design it is, I would like to add it to the post?

I will be featuring some of the quilts from my friends in my quilt group as part of this S&QAL. When I gave the ladies the pattern last year, I provided some applique numbers for those who preferred to do this instead of stitching them. Sonja choose to applique her numbers and this is her finished quilt. 

 Her quilts include designs chosen by all the members of the group as well as a few she choose herself. As you see, she used a combination of patchwork, applique, stitchery, cross stitch and bobbinlace. 

Wednesday I will share a few more designs of my little quilts with some links to freebies. 

Advent Quilt - The Christmas Mystery S&QAL

Over the years, I have shared many of my ideas with my friends in my quilt group. I thought it would be fun to share one with all of you in a S&QAL (Stitch and Quilt ALong).

I am calling this quilt 'The Mystery of Christmas'. This is a wonderful time of year but I find myself feeling more nostalgic each year for the Christmasses of my childhood. It seemed then that there was a magic in the air. For me, Christmas is not the commercial but the personal side which appeals. I love making things and find a true gift no matter how small is handmade. Old traditions like advent calendars bring a childlike magic to the season.

A couple of years ago, my blogging friend Marsha sent me an advent calendar which I still use each year. I found her a miniature one in Germany and sent it to her. Oh those windows were so tiny! Our shared love of this Christmas fun inspired this quilt. It was the theme project for my quilt group last year. As the S&QAL progresses, I will share some of the beautiful versions the ladies in my group made.

So I hope you will join me and make yourself and family your own version of my advent quilt which I will show you how to make very personal. You could even get your children/grandchildren involved.

The first part is the quilt itself...

My quilt is created using the pattern called 'Attic Window'. If you find this pattern to challenging, you can change it to a half 'Log Cabin' following the cutting instructions and dotted line on the diagram. The finished quilt measures 38-1/2 inches square.

You will need about
3/4 yard of your two main fabrics - one lighter for squares and one darker color for windows
1/2 yard of second darker color
1/3 yard of accent color
fat quarter or scraps of third color for coin borders only

Here is the pattern in two parts for you to print.

Advent Quilt part one
Advent Quilt part two

When the patchwork is completed, quilt as desired and sew a button on the top of each block. Placement for the buttons are shown on the pattern.

Each Advent Sunday, I will share some of the blocks which hang on the quilt. I had shared glimpses of this project previously on my blog. Here is a peek of what is to come....

This project is for quilters and stitchers alike. So many do both but I will show you how you can adapt things along the way to your own preference for stitching, applique, stitchery or patchwork.

I hope you willl join me this advent to work on a special heirloom for yourself and your family. It will give you the creative space among all the bustle to discover 'The Mystery of Christmas'!

Let's get started......

Heidi

Keeping those I love warm (part one).....

Inspired by this tutorial, I bought a hot water bottle and crocheted a cover for my mother as a gift. There had to be adjustments made for the size of my hot water bottle but I love how it turned out. I added a snowman and white lacy edge as my mother is a snowman collector. Jos had to travel to California last week and found it was cheaper for his ticket to stopover in Ohio. He played Santa early and delivered it for me as a little "just because" gift. 

Heidi