July NewFO

This is my Let Me See Your Jelly Roll Challenge quilt.  I used Bungle Jungle - very cute line and this was such a quick and easy quilt to put together.  Just took almost a week of flipping the pieces around on the floor until everyone was happy with the color and animal placement!

I tried to catch the quilting in this photo - just some wavy lines using a lime green thread - I like to quilt with color thread.

LIST

Oh, my - thought I had a slow month but once I went back thru my posts, yikes! 

All the feather tree blocks for the Think Christmas Blog Hop
X-mas Festive Mysery Quilt finished
started the Tetris Quilt Along
started the Christmas Village Quilt Along
Free Motion Quilting challenge done
Crafter's Campfire - Bandana Crafts
Bonnie Hunter's Shirttails - half the blocks done for quilt
Patriotic Doll Quilt for Monthly Group
Sliced Apples quilt finished
Bird House Block Tutorial
Convergence/Color Challenge piece
6 Doll quilts for Mrs. Claus charity
R/W/B blocks for July Blog Hop - Eagle Block tutorial
string blocks and leaf blocks
more postage stamp blocks
And the July Schnibble

Phew!!!!!!

Sewingly Yours

Sharon

linking up with:



Traveling Stash Winner

 Linda is the winner of the box and I will send her a personal e-mail for mailing information.

There seems to be a lot of new bloggers to the traveling stash as well as since I gave up the updating, some of you have expressed losing track of the boxes.  For Your Information - - -

The traveling stash updates have been turned over to Cherise at Sewingly Along and I advise you to either follower her site or sign up for e-mail subscription.  Then you can get updates once a week on the status of all the boxes - there are now 8 boxes, so your chances are increased.  At the present there are a few open to comments, so pop over and get yourself entered.

Sewingly Yours,
Sharon

Christmas in July

I have followed the Christmas in July Blog Hop hosted by Rebecca of   Sew Festive Handmade.  Today is the link-up of projects you made during all the lovely inspiration. 

 I entered one on my mini feather trees from the Think Christmas Blog Hop in the mini catagory.  Fun rick-rack, stitchery and buttons for a whimsical tree for my 12" table topper hanger.

This is my finished quilt made during the monthly installments of  Festive Mystery by Sue Aubry of QuiltTimes.  I opted to have one less row than her pattern - but had the blocks made, so used them to make a matching pillow.  The quilt is 44" x 52" and the pillow is 18".

I used a green thread for one direction of the cross-hatch quilting.  And then a red thread for the opposite direction of the cross-hatch.

I love this red on red floral wide backing on the quilt.  The pillow is an over-lap design - using the berry print - so the casing can be removed for cleaning.  I will probaly use this set on my day bed during the holiday season.

Please visit Rebecca to see all the entries.  There are three catagories:   Quilt/Tree Skirt, Home Decor, Small Project.

Sewingly Yours,
Sharon

Think Christmas

Today marks the beginning of another wonderful Blog Hop. Our gracious hostess of this event is Lesley of The Cuddle Quilter and Madam Samm will be posting the top 2 blocks for the day at Sew We Quilt as well as keeping a Pinterest Board. Be sure to visit them and give them a big thank you.

I share the day with these lovely ladies:

Cotton Addiction

Moose Stash Quilting

Kris Loves Fabric

Paws for Stitching

Threading My Needles

Just Let Me Quilt

Living4Quilting

Doodling in My Mind

Quilt Doodle Designs

As our dear hostess loves her Santas, I have a close bond to the Feather Tree.  A family heritage back to the beginning of the feather tree and it's 'transplanting' to the USA.  I have three of my great grandmother's feather trees - two from Germany and one she made for her first Christmas in America.

Feather Trees from Germany in the 1880s or 1890s and are regarded as one of the first types of artificial Christmas trees. These first artificial trees were, in part, a response to growing environmental concerns in the late 19th century concerning deforestation associated with the harvest of Christmas trees in Germany. The tradition of feather Christmas trees was brought to the United States by German immigrants.

Feather trees were initially made of green-dyed goose feathers which were attached to wire branches. The feathers were split and then secured with wire to form the branches. These wire branches were then wrapped around a central dowel which acted as the trunk. The branches were widely spaced to keep the candles from starting a fire, which allowed ample space for ornaments.

These trees appeared in the U.S. in 1913, when they were offered through the Sears-Roebuck catalog. These little trees are highly valued by antiques collectors today.

The Addis Brush Company developed an artificial tree in the 1930s, using the same machinery used to produce toilet brushes. These trees had branches made from twisted wires with needles of pig bristles dyed green. These small branches were twisted together to make larger branches, which were inserted into a center pole. The branches were color-coded for easy assembly

I hope you have enjoyed my 'feather tree' blocks.  As a thank you for visiting, I have a give away in honor of our hostess.........

A yard of cute Santas - yes, I sent one of these to Lesley - now you can have a try at owning some.  I would love to know what your favorite decor of the season is.  Comments will be open until Aug 5th - midnight (EST) and every effort will be made to contact the winner - so be sure you are not a 'no-reply' or 'anon' responder.  I will ship international

Thank you for stopping in and be sure to visit all the participants today and for the next 6 days.

Sewingly Yours,
Sharon

Pass It On Box -Traveling Stash

The box arrived today from Jen http://quilteddaughter.blogspot.com/ - she was very fast in passing this on and I want to do the same as some of these boxes are sitting 6-8weeks with a needed wake-up call.  This is some of the fabrics.......

And more fabric & bit of thread

Books and Patterns to chose from

This is what I chose from the box - fabric equals to 5.5 yards

These are my replacements ---- Some books and patterns, several fat quarters and half yard cuts( tried to make them in groups to work with a couple of those books), two charm packs, a few zippers of various lengths, pins, snaps and container of fashion buttons (love my buttons).  When I re-pack the box and there are little spaces to tuck more - more will get tucked.

Note with the box:
"The object of this box is to feed it a few things fefore passing it on to the next blogger.  Take what you want, but with every item removed, something must replace it.  No need to be new - just gently used, orphan blocks, patterns and  books that no longer appeal, and especially fabric ."

There is a sheet that is to be filled, documenting where the box has traveled - so update, please.

You must be an active blogger, promise to do a blog post what is in the box when it arrives, show what you are taking and what you are replacing it with.  AND pass the box on quickly to the next person! 
Due to the weight of the box - shipping only within the USA.

I will leave the comments open until Monday, July 30th (midnight EST) and announce promptly with every effort to personnally contact the winner - so this box can quickly go on it's way.  

Sewingly Yours,
Sharon

Tetris #2 & X-Mas Village

Week # 2 block for the Tetris Quilt Along with Melissa at http://happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com/2012/07/tetris-quilt-long-week-2.html

I am using 2.5" squares and if a 'dropped block' doesn't fit, I just eliminate it so I have some nice white squares in the mix. I think I will sash these - either a black or black/white tiny pin-dot and colored corner stones.  This will make a cute baby quilt.

I am playing with the Christmas Village Quilt Along over at Judy's http://www.patchworktimes.com/.  You have to note that there are 4 designers involved and each is contributing a block (or more) each month - so you have to visit each designer, save or print instructions.  Once the month is up, those patterns are NO LONGER available!  So big girl panties - keep track of your BOM.

I haven't posted anything about the work with the http://www.freespiritfabric.blogspot.com/ Christmas in July Quilt Along - some of you have been commenting on my flicker account posts.  I have enough seasonal quilts going, so chose to do this one in black and white with a touch of red.  I am anxious to be able to put this one together, but there is still a few more blocks to come - you won't see this one again until it is a quilt top. 

The Think Christmas Blog Hop is around the corner - I will be posting on July 30th.  And the Pets on Quilts is coming up fast too.  I still can't get my furries to get near a quilt - they know they aren't allowed!  I may need to borrow someone's pet.

AND we finally got some rain with some horrible lightening!   I won Jen's traveling stash box - so as soon as it arrives, I will be posting quickly and quickly passing on - I am heading into vending season, so don't want the box to sit.

CLOSING THOUGHT

"The Summer looks out from her brazen tower,
Through the flashing bars of July."
- Francis Thompson

Sewingly Yours,
Sharon

Holiday Medley

I have been working in my next Schnibbles.  We can use any pattern we would like this month.  So I pulled my stack of patterns and books - then chose 'Schnibbles Times Two' for the pattern 'Short Story'.  I have been working on blocks for the Think Christmas Blog Hop , so very in the Holiday mood.  I am using a Jelly Roll of Holiday Medley by Kansas Troubles.  

I pulled just the deep moss green and maroon strips to make the blocks.  The lights/browns  and few blacks will be used in another project.  All the sections are pieced and I have the greens done - need a good pressing and trim.  Today I will get the maroon blocks done and hopefully have this all together by night. ** will link up with  http://www.patchworktimes.com/ for Design Wall Monday**

Yes, I quilt on that small throat machine!  Although it is not loving FMQ right now and I can only use my walking foot for straight line quilting.  I have a quilt ready for my granddaughter for Christmas, this year's Festive Mystery Quilt for the Christmas Quilt Along done, and half way thru last year's Mystery Christmas Quilt Along .  You will see these up close in the near future.  I am pricing and trying out longarm machines - an early Christmas present for myself I hope.

I have been playing with the July FMQ Challenge.  My little machine just is not loving me lately, so using my 'old girl' for this.  Angela Walters was our expert for July and the challenge was 'tiles' using a filler of our choice.  This is really time consuming and I can see it on a more modern, solid color quilt for adding texture.  You can see some of the other's works HERE at SewCalGal.

CLOSING THOUGHT

"Live in each season as it passes: breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit."
– Henry David Thoreau

Sewingly Yours,
Sharon

Crafter's Campfire Today

MARSHMALLOWS UP!  I will be UPDATING on this post all day.  I have two crafts and two 'fireside' foods to share with you thru-out the day.  So you will want to come back to catch the update as well as blogger's who will be linking up with us thru the day ** bottom of this page.

BANDANA CRAFT # ONE

Supplies:  Bandanas, pony beads, marbles, scissors (I am camping inside today - so rotary and mat)

**I was able to get my supplies from the Dollar Store

Step #1 - fold your bandana in half - point to point - so you have a triangle.  ** not all bandanas are perfectly square so concentrate on getting your fold on the long edge , corner to corner.

Now  fold your bandana in half again - point to point.  Cut on the fold side - 1.5" - this gives you a 3" wide strip approximately 32" long.  **again, not all bandanas are the same

Step #2 - fold your 3" strip in half the long edge.  Fold in half again bringing the previous fold edge to the two raw edges.  Easy Peasy!

Step #3 - slide two pony beads to the center of your strip - seperate enough to be able to open your folds.  Insert a marble into the strip and re-double fold, slide beads up tight.  Add a bead to each side, slip your marble in and tighten.  Test the look for number of marbles needed - 10 to 12 marbles works well. 

Step #4 - Leave enough non-bead/marble ends so the necklace can be tied around the neck. Add one or two simple overhand knots to keep the strip from raveling.  You can even make a matching bracelet with the same method.

You can cut the remainder of the triangle pieces - now you will simply cut the 3" strip with no folding.  Depending on the size of your bandana, you can get 2-3 strips for necklaces and 1-2 strips for bracelets.  **You could use one of those UGLY fabrics in your stash and cut 3" strips - A WOF cut will give you one necklace and one bracelet**  With everything cut and packaged up - great kids' craft for when they're 'bored' or a rainy day at camp.

MARSHMALLOW THOUGHTS

                                                         BANDANA CRAFT # 2

Step #1 - Fold your bandana in thirds being sure the points are into the folds.

Step #2 - Stitch a square around the center just along the inside of the bandana edges - you can feel that under edge because they have a roll seam edge.  This is to give some stability to the bottom as well as form pockets - yes, we are making a bag.

Step #3- Fold you bandana in half - you can opt to have the pockets on the outside (shown in photo) or fold it the other way so the pockets are on the inside.  Pin sides and start stitching 2" down from top to the bottom - back stitch start and end so seam won't seperate.

Step #4 - fold your flaps down and mark/pin 1 inch from edge - stitch all the way around to form casing for cording.

Step # 5 - Cut two lengths of cording (option of just using one cord) and run one cord thru one direction and the second cord going the opposite direction - run both cord ends thru a bead and knot around bead. (or just knot end)

This could be done at a camp - hand stitched - or as a pre-camp project to make 'ditty bags'  for camp.  Initial could be embroidered on those flap ends or a decal - anything to personalize - have fun with it.


                                                  IT'S DINNER TIME

Many years of camping with Cub and Boy Scouts, you learn to keep it simple and make it fast!  Now at camp we would have the boys  mix up Bisquick batter for dough, but we are camping inside and my furries are useless at helping - eating - yes.  So I am using crescent rolls for my 'dogs in a blanket'.

At camp we would put those dogs on a stick to cook over low coals, but today we are using the oven - so on a baking sheet (I use my pizza pan for everything) cover with foil and some oil to coat.  Wrap those dogs in a cresent roll and place on pan.  Follow roll baking directions for temp. and time.

In 12-15 minutes you got your 'dogs in a blanket'.  Now if my boys were here, that wouldn't be fast enough!  A kid friendly make,bake,eat meal. 

Be sure to come back for desert!

MARSHMALLOW THOUGHT

DESERT

Long ago we would have made our own bisquits for this, but simple is better - and you don't want me to bake!  Little sponge cakes, frozen fruit (our berries went bad with the heat/drought) of choice and whip cream.

And so I didn't miss out on the Marshmallows, I made a mallow flower with candy center to add to my little yummy cake.

I hope you have enjoyed the campfire - thank you Sallie for providing that - and I will update tomorrow with the  winner of the Layer Cake.  Thank you ladies for playing along.

**the marshmallow thoughts - our hay bales in their plastic wraps to protect them from the weather - and one of our 'buffalo tanks' for collecting rain water - thank heavens for them as they have been our source of outside watering** 


Sewingly Yours,
Sharon

Thank you to everyone who participated and for those that stopped in to visit and/or comment on the various blogs. I used Mr Random to pull our winner and for the life of me cannot get that on the blog - SO..... our winner of the Berenstain Bears Layer Cake is Quilter Kathy who offered up some camping photos along with her Beach Bean Dip recipe. I will send her an e-mail for mailing information. Again, thank you ladies and wee gent for playing with us today.