Summer Breeze table runner

 Made this table rummer today out of Summer Breeze II by Sentimental Studios for a friend as a birthday gift.  It's about 51 1/2" by 20".  The strips are 2 1/4 " and the back strip is 4 3/8" and is 10 1/4" in from the edge.  I used a zigzag stitch to quilt between the strips (yellow thread) and to attach the binding (blue thread).  I was a little hesitant to attatch the binding by machine, but gave it a whirl, and I'm so glad I did.  I'm pretty picky, but it all lined up nicely on both the front and the back and only took like 15 minutes. Yippee!!  Hand stitching the binding to the back would have taken me over an hour at least. 

The colors & prints are just so fresh and happy.  There are also some greens in the line, I just didn't use them for this.  I love the blue print I used for the binding.  I might use it and the white print with little blue flowers to make a dress or shirt for K*. 

I totally ran out of yellow thread when I was about 2/3 done with the machine quilting, so I had to stop and run to the fabric store.  When I was almost done attatching the binding, I ran out of blue thread with about two inches left.  Luckily, I had enough on the bobbin left to wind some back onto the spool and finish it up.  I also broke two needles while attatching the binding.  One time the tip totally bent sideways and the next time the tip snapped off.  I put the denim needle in after that.

It was cloudy yesterday and today, but about 10 minutes after I took the pictures, the clouds cleared out and the sun is a shining as it gets ready to set. So refreshing after it's been so rainy, cloudy and drab the last few days.
I made another table runner as a Christmas gift, a top of a table runner and have enoguh scraps for another one out of Sweetwater's Hometown that I'll post about all in one post when I'm done with all three.

Christmas Blocks

J* made these blocks last week and I think they are so fun & cute!

{so I'm posting them so you can see them too}

Pajamas for Christmas

Put the finishing touches on these pajamas tonight (hence the not so great lighting for pictures).  I've never made pajamas for the kids before.   I hope they aren't way too big when they open them up tomorrow night(Christmas Eve) as their new Christmas pajamas. 

Pajama pants are very easy to make.  I seriously don't know why I haven't ever made any before.  The kimono top was fairly easy too.  And the button up top wasn't too hard, but it required taking my time and patience.  The flannel for K*'s pajamas is so soft.  And I'm loving the stripes for S*'s.  I have the same stripe pattern in red & blue for another pair of pj pants.

Fabric: Ruby by Bonnie & Camille; Cream Quirky flannel and Sherbet dot for trim

Pattern: Bedtime story by Oliver + S

I used snaps with a decorative bow instead of the ties called for in the pattern after reading some ideas online

Fabric: Green Racer Stripe from Children at Play by Sarah Jane for Michael Miller

Pattern: New Look 6746

Got the idea after looking at Sarah Jane's blog

Pencil Rolls

I decided to make pencil rolls for some of my neices and nephew this Christmas.  It's a fairly easy sewing project to finish several in a couple of hours. 

I had to get this one in the mail, so I finished it up first.

Fabrics are: Amelia for the two pink and purple florals & stripes w/turquoise by Me & My Sister Designs.  Hoo's in the forest by Riley Blake (made with the leftover pieces from making K* one for her birthday).  And Boys at work multi stripe by Northcott with Beatle Boy.

Framed Crayon Monograms

K* and I made these for her and S*'s teachers as a Christmas gift this year.  We used hot glue instead of the tacky glue I used last time.  Don't know which is better, but this time the glue was dry.  I used the font Leftovers for their names.

See my first crayon monogram post here.

Pintucked Corduroy

Whipped this up last night after the kids were in bed.  I saw a post on probably actually with a corduroy skirt a few weeks ago and started thinking I'd like to make one for K*.  Then, I saw this post on Craftiness is not Optional this week with pintucks and knew that's what I wanted to do.  So, 21" of fabric later, this is what I have.  I had a cute polar bear shirt from last year that still fits this year (yeah!) in mind when making it, but I can see it working for V-day and July and all sorts of other times too.  This is the easiest skirt I've made yet.  No gathering.  Not that I mind gathering, it seems most things I make for K* involve gathering though.  Sewing some seams and inserting elastic is just quicker.  I think I'll have to make some more in the near future. I also have some other things nearly finished, oliver +s bedtime story pj's for K* and  pj pants for S*.

Framed Christmas Countdown

I made this based on a framed countdown I saw in a JoAnn holiday flyer.  I happened to already have the super cute Christmas paper and embellishments from last year (I believe by My Minds Eye).  I came across them while organizing my craft "mess" a few weeks ago.  And this was major organizing, like pull everything out, dejunk, sort, reorganize.  We don't have any spare rooms not even an office, so it all lives in our bedroom or closet and it had reached a point where things were scattered in various areas making it hard to stay on top of what was where and what I really had and I needed to get rid of a few things.  I actually didn't remember I had the cute embellishments, just the paper.  There is subtle glitter on some of the red on the paper and the embellishments.  So all I needed was a black frame on sale.  I used a square 10"x10" frame from Michaels.  Once I sat down to make it, it was fast & easy.  I wasn't sure whether to use red or white vinyl for the "days til Christmas" wording.  Still not sure.  I guess I can always change it, I did cut the white out too while I was cutting the red.  I think the font is leftovers.  I finally got to use some of the chalkboard vinyl I bought earlier this year for the circle.  So far, it seems to erase nicely each day. The paper is under the glass and everything else is on top of the glass.

Merry & Bright block

I made four of these Merry & Bright blocks at our church craft night in the beginning of November.  Two red (alizarin crimson) and two green (forest green).  I gave the green away already before snapping a shot of one.  It was hard to decide what color to keep for myself.   I also can't decided if I want to sand the edges of mine, but I think I will then I won't care if it gets dings in it in the future.
Used Silhouette to design and cut it out of white vinyl.  The font is century.  The tree is a silhouette shape artsy_christmas_tree_pyramid box_C01085_19210. It measures 5 1/4"h by 6"w.
I was excited we made this as a craft at our craft night, because I had already started designing it to make my own, but by making it at the craft night, I actually didn't have to cut out the wood or the vinyl, pick out paint colors, or run around buying anything, the sweet friend in charge did all the hard work.
I originally saw the idea at The House of Smith Designs.

Jovial Table Runner

Wednesday night (Nov. 30) I decided it was time I started & finished this table runner.  I bought the fabric in like September intending to make a table runner for Christmas and just couldn't figure out for sure what I wanted to do with it.  I think I'm also one of those people who has a hard time working on a project for a holiday when it's not that holiday season yet.  My favorite by far is the white print used for the wide border.  The fabric is all from the Jovial line by Basic Grey.  I didn't have enough of the white print left for the backing, so Thursday I ran to the fabric store to get what I needed to finish (backing & binding).  They were out of my favorite print, so I picked out another nice poinsettia print.  I do have enough of the white print left to make another different table runner though, so I bought backing & binding for that future project too (might be next year though).  I'm even tempted to make a tree skirt out of a white dot print not seen here.....

It's about 43" x 23" and the strips are 3 1/2" with 5 1/4" border.

It makes me happy when I go in the kitchen and see it on my table.

Someday I'll learn how to do some simple machine quilting, for now I have to stick with straight lines.