A Nana's Love - Finished

Finally, after many months and years of waiting, this quilt is finished.  To recap, I started it for my Nana when she was in hospital.  I sewed strips of fabric into blocks, then sewed two blocks together at right angles (on top of each other when one set of strips going horizontal and the other going vertical).  Cut them in half diagonally and that formed a square with the stripes going in different directions from the centre.

 

Nana passed away on the 9th of May and her funeral was on the 12th, the day before Mother's Day....and the blocks were put away, out of sight.  After a few years I decided I should get them out again.  I don't know what I was sewing back when I made them, but with a bit more knowledge this time around, I realised how crooked they all were!  After squaring them up, adding some white sashing to give your eyes somewhere to rest with the busy-ness of the blocks and sewing on some borders, I finally had a quilt top!  

I sandwiched it with double layer batting and some lovely flannel on the back, took it to the quilter and voila...finished quilt....then, due to a bit more family heartache, I put it away again....out of sight, out of mind.

In April this year I decided I wanted to finish it, it wasn't fair to have this quilt sitting, alone, in the dark, unfinished.  So I chose some navy/white striped fabric for the binding, measured everything up and sewed my binding all ready to attach.  I don't know what happened exactly, but somehow I ended up with about 4 1/2 metres of spare binding!?  Crazy!! 

Now, I am so pleased and proud to say this quilt is finished.  I named it "A Nana's Love", because I want to remember her and her hugs every time I wrap myself in this quilt.  It's bright and cheerful and lovely and warm.  So, Nana, I hope you really like it, I hope you're looking down and that you're pleased with your quilt.  And, when I see you again, I can't wait to get another hug from you, I think I'll hold on forever!!

Sock Puppy!

Another thing I taught myself (through buying the pattern online) was to make Sock Puppies, instead of Sock Monkeys.  I was quite pleased how they turned out, I kept the first one I made - for future comparisons, of course....and because I thought he was cute. 

You use slightly less than two socks (and can keep the part you don't use for the mouth to use in monkeys too).  You also use a small scrap of fabric to line the ears and give a little extra colour!

Elaina's Teddy Quilt

After leaving this quilt quilted for almost a year, I decided to finally finish it in time for what would have been Elaina's first birthday.  Originally I'd intended to give it to her for her first Christmas...or perhaps her first Easter, depending on when I'd finished it.  Instead, I received the phone call that the quilting was done the day before we travelled down for her funeral.  

The only thing left to do on the quilt was to bind it and many tears were shed as I sewed the binding together, sewed it to the quilt and then hand stitched it down.  I chose red for the binding because it was a colour that appeared in the quilt in multiple places.  It also reminds me of the love I have for my first wee niece.

 

The front and back of the quilt.  The back is  flannel with Autumn leaves all over it.  The front has some cheeky teddy bears peeking from behind  flowers.

Christmas Cards!

Lately I've been on a card-making mission.  After not sending any Christmas cards for the past few years, I really want to send them to friends and family this year, but not just the multi pack cards you buy in the shops, handmade cards! 

Because I need to have a few to send, I started making them back in August.  I used the Kaisercraft Workshop magazines for inspiration as well as Pinterest.  I use scrapbooking paper, cardstock, stickers, buttons, ribbons, foam tape, little cutouts that match the paper (elephants, ornaments, etc.). 

Here are a few samples of cards I've made lately.  First I used a simple navy card, some red/white striped paper and two circles with a pattern on them.  The two circles I stuck together to create a 3D ornament, which I then stuck to a piece of card with smaller circles on it.  To finish off I used some foam tape on the back of the "Happy Holidays" quote and a piece of ribbon with mistletoe on it (the ribbon is tucked around the back of the card front).

The second card is a burgandy side opening (that is it opens lengthwise) card.  The wooden embellishments I bought on special, they have either a star cut-out or are solid.  On the solid one I used a rub-on to make it look like an ornament.  I cut a piece of gingham-style paper, used foam tape on the back of the "Seasons Greetings" saying and then finished with a sticker of bells.

 This card is blue, another side-opening one, with a piece of polka dot paper along the bottom.  Three pieces of thin white ribbon from the top down with a green and red sparkly pompom on the bottom of the longer pieces.  More foam tape on the back of a gift tag in the shape of an ornament (I received a few of these free with a magazine subscription) and finished with a little white ribbon bow at the top of the gift card.

Left is a white card with a piece of burgandy cardstock and a piece of striped paper on top.  More wooden embellishment ornaments, this time with rub-on alphabet to spell J O Y and a rub-on saying at the bottom.

The right card is an embossed card (my first time using them).  A ribbon with gingerbread men on the right, again tucked over the top and bottom and stuck to the reverse of the front of the card.  A gift ribbon glued on near the top.  A white circle of cardstock, a circle of red/white paper and then the word "Believe" rub-on on to a tag. 

Finally, red card with a piece of paper - white with green, slightly embossed, shiny Christmas trees on it.  The tag was a set I bought for scrapbooking, but repurposed onto a piece of pale green cardstock that was trimmed to 5mm larger than the tag.  The "Santa's List" was a rub-on.  A piece of pale gold ribbon tucked around the tree paper (stuck behind the paper rather than on the reverse of the card, so it's more hidden).  The J O Y are rub-on alphabet again on punched pieces of burgandy paper. 

All these cards are quite simple, but look much more hardwork.  I can't wait to go through them all again and send them out in the next few months.  I've actually now got a collection of about 18 Christmas cards and will be making more throughout the next month or so. 

Cancer Society Monkeys

Last year, I made half a dozen sock monkeys for the Cancer Society to sell during Daffodil Day.  I wasn't going to this year, however I received a phone call asking if I would make some for this year's sale as well.  Below are the 6 I made, I tried to have either yellow, blue or a combination of both since those are the colours of the Cancer Society.  

The bunch!

A lovely lady sent me two separate parcels of socks for making monkeys with - the white with pink spots and the blue with yellow nose were both made using a combination of some of the socks she sent.  It's so lovely that others donate socks for monkeys, especially considering they know I'm going to cut them up rather than wear them!! 

Monkeys for Special People

This is Picasso - he was a gift for a lovely lady's retirement, she helped me with some difficult sewing recently and, in the past, helped me hugely when I got into a tight jam and was stressing majorly with getting something finished.  Maree makes beautiful scrappy quilts, so I made her a scrappy monkey with ears, arms, tail and body all from different socks.

Next is Ocean - a gift for a lady who goes out of her way to help others when they need, to make sure people don't miss out, who just quietly goes about doing things without expecting any thanks or recognition.  I decided she needed recognition and thanks, so Ocean went to live with his new Mum, Lynn.  In her favourite colour of aqua, with white, grey and black too, and it looks like he's wearing little black socks with grey/white stripes. beausoleil  is Lynn's blog, where she has some amazing quilts she's made!!

Finally, this bright, cheerful little girl was a gift for a lady who went out of her way to retrieve a lost Teddy bear!  Our pup has had her Teddy since we first brought her home from the SPCA.  Teddy was a comfort to her when she came to her new home with us, met her big brother and sister (who she was terrified of at first) and is still a comfort to her when she's feeling a bit off or vulnerable.  Our pup sucks on her Teddy's ear, sometimes making a very high-pitched sound as she does so, she also squeaks his tummy...as if she's talking to him and he's answering.  So, naturally, she was quite lost and we were quite devastated one day to learn he was missing!  We'd been for a car ride to another town, about 35 minutes away and Teddy had gone along for the ride.  It wasn't till we got home that we realised he was no longer in the car and she was searching for him.  To cut a long story short, a plea went out on Facebook and a friend of a friend thought she might have seen Teddy on the street.  Elizabeth went out of her way to drive over to that street to see if it was indeed Teddy, she rescued him and took him home to keep him safe till we could pick him up the next day.  Not many would do that for a dog's Teddy bear, but she did, so I made her a monkey as a big thank you!  She named her Lexi, short for Aleksah, which means 'friend', which I think is a beautiful name.

Another Nana Quilt Update

I picked up the quilt I started for Nana from the quilter's about two weeks ago.  The lady has done a fantastic job on it.  I'm so pleased.  The pattern is an all-over daisy print, which picks up on the background flowers too. 

This picture shows the backing fabric, which is a flannel, so nice and snuggly warm to touch.  This quilt also has double batting - two layers of batting - sandwiched in the middle. 

      

 All that's left to do is the binding now.  I have chosen a navy/white stripe, which hopefully will just finish everything off and finish it all.  Having been sick for the past two weeks, I'm really looking forward to being able to finishing this quilt really soon.  And I'm over the moon that, what started as an idea for Mother's Day 2012, and then became a sad reminder of having lost Nana.....this will soon be able to be wrapped around me like a hug from her....