Stocking for Selena

 

Christmas owls for Selena

     A few years ago my sister asked me to make a Christmas stocking for her new granddaughter, Tegan, and she wanted owls on it.  I found them at Designs by JuJu. This year my sister needed another stocking for her newest granddaughter, the little sister of Tegan.  She wanted them to be similar so I used the owl designs again but some different ones. 

Design placement

     I chose the designs I wanted to use and printed out full size templates of them  I then arranged them on the cut stocking pattern and used blue painters' tape to hold them in place.  I marked the crosshairs with pins and then placed the fabric on sticky paper in the hoop and stitched out the designs.  

Stitching out the first owl

     The pattern I used for the stocking is from Embroidery Library.  When I bought some Christmas stocking designs for my grandkids, this pattern was part of the pdf instructions.  

Adding the lining

     I line my Christmas stockings because I like how they look better.  After stitching right sides together of the outer pieces and the lining pieces, I place the lining inside the stocking, wrong sides together and baste around the top opening.  

Cuff all stitched

     I stitch the name onto the cuff fabric and then sew it into a tube and then sew it together with the stocking, making sure I add in the loop hanger.

Finished

Breensgiving 2022

 

     This past Sunday was our Thanksgiving.  We call it 'Breensgiving' as it is the Sunday our family gets together to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.  I used to make all the food but several years ago I decided to let the other family members help.  I send out an Evite a few weeks prior and provide a list of possible things to bring.  I do provide the meat course.  This year I made Crockpot Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin.  It was nice because I didn't need oven space for it.  I also made a turkey breast for those turkey lovers.

Table in the dining room

     I also needed to provide an appetizer and one side dish.  I made Baked Bacon Cheese Dip.  It was really yummy.  The recipe more than filled the bread I had so I used a small casserole dish to bake the extra.  Maybe if I make it again I would have two loaves of bread.  I prepped everything the night before so I just had to bake it before the guests arrived.

Appetizer

     After finding out my daughter was making mashed potatoes and my daughter-in-law was making honey glazed carrots, I chose to make Twice Baked Butternut Squash as the third side dish.  Again, another yummy recipe.  I did bake the squash the night before and make the filling.  I refilled the shells and then refrigerated everything overnight.  I pulled them out in the morning to warm up and then baked them the second time just before eating.

Squash

 

          I do set the table with china, silver and crystal.  It does mean a bunch of dish washing but everyone helps and it looks so pretty.  As usual there were a lot of leftovers, I sent everyone home with some so we don't have to eat them for weeks on end.

Pork tenderloin

     Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone.

Lavender Stepping Stones Quilt

 

Finished quilt

     I found this pretty lavender floral print at Mill House Quilts while on my way to quilt retreat in October 2021.  I bought the two coordinating prints so I could do a three yard quilt, adding an extra half yard for the binding.  This time I chose the Stepping Stones pattern.  This is a nice quick pattern that still looks great.

The two different blocks

Border

     I cut the fabric at home, pieced it at the March 2022 retreat and then added the borders at home.

Backing and quilting detail

     Found a great piece for the back in my stash from Joni.  I then took it all to her to quilt with a fun swirly pattern.  

Info label

Quilt name label

     I designed and stitched out my labels and put on the binding.  Now a have a pretty green and lavender quilt to use.  

Sweater Pillow

Sweater pillow

 

     A client brought me her mom's sweater and wanted it made into a pillow.  She wanted to preserve the pockets if possible.

Puckered front

     In evaluating the sweater, I found the grosgrain ribbon on the front edges had shrunk and/or the sweater stretched out.  The only way to get the fronts to lie flat was to snip the ribbon.  I couldn't remove it because the buttonholes were sewn through it.

Snipping the grosgrain ribbon

     Snipping the ribbon din't totally alleviate the problem so I used steam to block the sweater and 'shrink' it up some.  Then I ironed on a fusible backing to stabilize the pieces before cutting them to size.  I also stitched the front closed so it wouldn't gape between the buttons.

Blocked sweater front

    As it was quite a lightweight sweater I added a napped lining to give it more body.  I cut off the corners to prevent 'dog ears' and serged the lining to the stabilized sweater.  I did cut the front slightly off center to allow for one full pocket and the other was a partial pocket.

Pocket detail

     The back was just a full piece with fused stabilizer and lining.  I did hand sew it closed, no zipper.  I do think a nicer pillow form would have made a nicer pillow but I went with what I was given.

Back of the pillow

Star of the Week Backpack

 

Star of the week backpack

     Many years ago I made a special backpack for my daughter to use for her kindergarten students.  That backpack finally wore out and she needed a new one.  I couldn't find the pattern I had used before so I searched on Pinterest and found one.

Embroidery on the front

      I wanted to use sturdy fabric but didn't have any canvas fabric in my stash.  Instead I turned to old jeans.  I cut apart a couple of pairs to get the pieces I needed.  I then embroidered the front of the backpack.  For the lining I used some flannel I had in my stash.  

Using Wonder Clips

     The directions for the size of pieces needed weren't accurate but I figured out what I needed to cut.  I used Wonder Clips instead of pins because of the thickness of the fabric.  

Using a hump jumper

     Where the straps were inserted into the bag, it was very thick.  I used a hump jumper to level out the foot so it would sew properly plus I also used a large denim needle.

Inside

    I do like how there are no raw edges anywhere, nice and neat inside.  I hope this one lasts for years like the last one.

Top of the bag