Tag: Gifts

College Pillowcase Tally

Since I did the Christmas Pillowcase Tally the other day, I thought I had better keep myself honest by putting some notes down about the pillowcases I want to make the Young Man for college. I may need help, but we will see.

I want them to be punny, if possible
September

  • Theme: soft
  • Fabric: Minkee and flannel

I was tempted by a “School Daze” theme, but I don’t want to send him something that will embarrass him. I also want him to use the pillowcases. I decided to make him a really soft pillowcase so I bought some Minkee to try. I am about half done with it.

October – Done

  • Theme: Halloween
  • Fabric: skeleton fabric by Timeless Treasures

November

  • Theme: Thanksgiving
  • Fabric: timeless Treasures Golden Harvest

I was disappointed I couldn’t find a cornucopia fabric, but I did find another fabric that looks very Thanksgiving-y.

December

  • Theme: Christmas
  • Fabric: not purchased

January

  •  Theme: snow, winter?
  • Fabric: ?

February

  • Theme: ?
  • Fabric: ?

March

  • Theme: ?
  • Fabric: ?

April

  • Theme: Easter?
  • Fabric: ?

May

  • Theme: Cinco de Mayo?
  • Fabric: ?

I’d be tempted to make a pillowcase from Philip Jacobs fabric, but I don’t think that would be popular.

Food is always a good fill in theme for months where there is no apparent theme. I think I have some Pokemon and Star Trek fabric that can become pillowcases as well.

 

Pillowcase Tally

After one of my recent posts on pillowcases, I thought I had better do a tally regarding the Christmas pillowcases I am planning on making. The last tally I did was May 4 and I have made some progress, so I thought I had better crow a little bit.

Here is the grand total of what I still need:

  • SIL#1: 4 kids, 2 spouses/SOs
    • 3rd oldest nephew + SO
    • Oldest niece + Fiance (yes, this has changed since the last update) (DONE for fiance)
    • Nephew (not sure where he falls in the order)
    • Youngest niece (DONE)
  • SIL#2: 3 kids, 1 spouse, 2 great niece-phews
    • Oldest nephew + spouse + 2 kids (Nephew + spouse: 2 done, 1 kid: done)
    • 2d oldest nephew
    • middle of the pack nephew
  • BIL #1: 1 kid
    • 3rd youngest nephew (DONE)
  • SIL#3: 2 kids
    • Middle niece (DONE)
    • middle of the pack nephew – 4th youngest (??)
  • BIL #2: 2 kids
    • 2d youngest nephew (DONE)
    • Youngest nephew (DONE)

I am off the fence about my 3 youngest nephews. Even though I made them pillowcases last year for Christmas, they are each getting a pillowcase. My YM is also not on the list, but I will probably just send him one before the school year ends.

 

TOTAL COMPLETED: 9

I am pleased with the progress I have made.

Food Quilt #2 Back

Food Quilt #2 Back
Food Quilt #2 Back

The next project I worked on over the weekend was the back for the Food Quilt #2. I am pleased to say that I also finished it. Once I got the applique’ done, it really was just a matter of finding large pieces of fabric and pushing them through the sewing machine. It is a hassle, but I use up fabric I already have, some of which is languishing and it has to be done. Boys don’t like flimsies.

Like the Box Full of Letters quilt project, I also did the binding and got this piece all ready to take to the quilter. I want to finish one more project before I head over there.

I also want to show this quilt and back to the family of the recipient and we are having dinner with them next weekend, so I am thinking of doing it then. I am a little scared to show the YM’s friend in case he says “Meh”. I know his mom will like it, so I may just go for it.

Food Quilt #2 Top - June 2015
Food Quilt #2 Top – June 2015

Pillowcases

I needed some leaders and enders s I worked on the backs for the Food Quilt #2 and the Box Full of Letters quilt. I still have several Christmas pillowcases to make AND college care package pillowcases to make for the Young Man so I decided that pillowcases would be my leaders and enders.It is much easier to use mindless squares, but I didn’t have any prepared (make a to do list note) so it had to be pillowcase. I did a bit of putting together the Field Day quilt, but not much.

I finished three pillowcases, which doesn’t seem like a lot, but it is progress.

Gingerbread House Pillowcase
Gingerbread House Pillowcase

First, I have finished one of the Christmas pillowcases with fabric that I bought at a shop in the South Bay (forgot the name, sorry!) which I really like. The colors are cheerful and one take on the modern Christmas palette. I really like the way designers are using pink and aqua and turquoise for Christmas now. Yes, it will look dated in 10 years (remember mauve?), but I still like it. Choosing fabrics for the cuffs is always a problem for me. Not sure why. I thought this dot worked with the brown in the gingerbread houses and added a little fun fun.

Next, I made one of the college care package pillowcases. This one will be for Halloween. I don’t plan on sending giant care packages every month, but a little something every month or so will be fun. Hallowe’en is good time to fill a box with rubber spiders, mini-Snickers, spider webs and plastic ants.

Halloween Pillowcase for YM
Halloween Pillowcase for YM

I found this skeleton fabric at the Fabricworm and knew the YM would appreciate the Halloween fun. The cuff is made from an old Jennifer Sampou print from her Art Nouveau line. It has been laying around much too long and I think it works fine with the skeletons. It isn’t perfect, but it is ok and the YM won’t care.

I am feeling a lot better about my pillowcases now. They are a uniform size and I can make them quickly.

Olaf Pillowcase
Olaf Pillowcase

The last pillowcase is another for the Christmas series. I found some Frozen fabric and decided to use it to make a fun case for one of the littlest nephews. I think the orange I picked for the cuff makes for one of the best cuffs ever. Hopefully, this will delight a little boy.

I still have to make a pillowcase for his sister and she will get one from the Frozen fabric line, too. Once hers is done I can get the family’s ready to send off.

Throwback Thursday: Hen and Chicks (#TBT)

I made this quilt in 1999 and just realized that I never posted a picture of it. I actually have pictures and needed content so here we are.

Kieran's Hen & Chicks - Front
Kieran’s Hen & Chicks – Front

As you know, I don’t normally make baby quilts for people, so this is one of the few I have made. I made it for one of my nephews when he was born. I am pretty close to his mother and father, so I must have been inspired.

There are a couple of other notable things about this quilt. It is one of the few that I finished in 1999.

I also had a ~2 year old at the time, so getting this quilt together was a major achievement.

Other than those few things, I have no memory of making this quilt. I feel sad about that, actually. I don’t even remember if I quilted it! I do think it came out pretty well and it is bright and cheerful.

Kieran's Hen & Chicks - Back
Kieran’s Hen & Chicks – Back

As you can see, the back has the same font as the Food Quilt #2. This means that I must have had that pattern since at least 1999. The stripe of fabric on the right is Marimekko fabric.

I haven’t seen Jenny posting in a while, but I am linking up anyway.

Quiltin Jenny

Food Quilt #2 Top

I had the class and so much stuff to catch up on over the weekend that I didn’t have a lot of time to sew. I decided that I wanted to make progress on something. Not just a few blocks, but some real progress.

Food Quilt.

I knew I could make progress on it because I was pretty close to having the top done after the retreat.

Food Quilt #2 Top - June 2015
Food Quilt #2 Top – June 2015

I got on it and the top is together with borders, though it took me a few hours on Monday to get the whole top done, but next stop: Food Quilt back.

The holdup at the retreat was that I forgot black to use for borders. I had plenty of black at home, so I waited until this week to do it.

After putting on the black inner border and the piano key food border, I decided I wanted a black border on the outside to contain all that food. I am pleased with the way it came out.

Food Quilt Holders
Food Quilt Holders

I caught a quick glimpse of the boys as they prepared to be quilt holders for me. This is what it looks like when they are acting as my quilt holders. I have learned just to wait for them to play around. It is fun to watch. I mean, you have to have fun in normal life, right?

You might remember that  made a Food Quilt for the Young Man. This is a graduation gift for the Young Man’s friend. I kind of like the idea of them having similar quilts. It is like there will be a connection through these quilts. Sentimental, I know. It won’t be finished for his graduation, but I can send it to him at college and he can see the top.

Food Quilt #2 – Major Progress

Food Quilt #2 top without borders
Food Quilt #2 top without borders

I spent the first part of the quilt retreat (will write about the retreat in general, but want to talk about the projects first!) working on the Food quilt that will go to a friend of the Young Man’s.

We are friends with the parents also, and they are very interested in my quilts. It seems reasonable to make a graduation gift for their son.

I bought plenty of fabric when I purchased for the Young Man’s Food Quilt, so I have plenty of fabric. The fabric is hard to find near where I live, but I bought most of it in Lancaster County when I was there with my SIL. Food themed quilts are good for boys as they are sort of neutral, but not too girly for boys. Quilts can easily be kind of girly, especially for someone like me who loves pink. 😉

I did the same pattern, a Disappearing Nine Patch, though I arranged the blocks in a different way.

I wasn’t able to finish the top, because I forgot the black I want to use as an inner border. I did make 4 piano key borders to add once I put the black border on the piece.

This project has been hanging over my head so I am glad I have made significant progress on it. Hooray for retreats!

Christmas Pillowcases

7 Christmas Pillowcases
7 Christmas Pillowcases

Last year, I thought about making pillowcases for all of the nieces and nephews. It didn’t get done. I didn’t do it. I made an effort, though. I pressed a bunch of Christmas fabric at some point and it has been hanging over a piece of furniture for months. For some reason, I decided to get those pieces of fabric out of my life. Well, not out of my life quite yet, but into a form where I can get them out of my life in December.

I made 7 pillowcases on Sunday. I don’t really like making pillowcases, but making them in batches is much better than one at a time. I get a feel for the cutting and once I deal with the cutting issues, the sewing is much, much easier. The sewing is actually really easy – 5 seams and the pillowcase is finished.

Gift Ideas

I was thinking of the pseudo-set of gifts I made after Christmas. We all have friends who are also makers and we know that they can make their own sewing related items. The reality is that they often don’t.  It is fun to have a coordinating set of things to take along to retreats so others can admire them.

I thought you might find it useful to know the patterns I, either, use or would consider using. The point is not to use the patterns I use, but to make the gifts in whatever pattern YOU like. This is a gift idea.

Pincushion – Fig Tree Quilts Petit Gateau pincushion pattern. I like this pattern, because it makes sense and looks like a pincushion. I have made several and they go together very quickly. I use wool roving I buy at Beverly’s and some of the Beanie Baby plastic pellets to fill it. The pellets give the pincushion some heft. I don’t use walnut shells, because of food allergies. The only issue I ever have with this pattern is to find an appropriate button to put on top and bottom. Often I make these and don’t think ahead and then find myself wanting to finish, but have no appropriate buttons.

Needle case – many people don’t do handwork and so this is an inappropriate gift, but it is so cute! I got the pattern from the Spring 2013 issue of Modern Patchwork. It was designed by Rashida Coleman-Hale of IHeartLinen. I wasn’t able to find a pattern for it on her blog or the web. The pattern is in RCH’s book, Zakka Style, according to Frances Newcombe from Belly Buttons Boutique. You may be able to find I copy of that magazine on Etsy or eBay. I am sure there are other needlecase patterns out there.

Tissue case – This isn’t something that I would really use, though that might change. It is a nice stocking stuffer or small hostess gift. I got the idea to make them from Valerie over at Evening in the Garden blog. I made a few, which you can see in December gift posts. I used the YouTube tutorial that Valerie used.

Lanyard – these are great for guild meetings, but also for hanging scissor sheaths, keys, pens, etc. Think of a chatelaine’s key ring.

Scissor Sheath – as mentioned above, a scissor sheath can be added to the gift pile and adding a ribbon or fabric hanging loop on it enables the owner to hang it from a lanyard.

Project bag – Jeni Baker Drawstring bag (pattern to purchase). The pattern has multiple sizes. This is good to keep project supplies together. She also has a tutorial for one size – Example

Tote bag – There are lots of different tote bags that I have made. I really like the Jane Market Tote (pattern to purchase). I also like the Eco Market Tote from Favorite things (pattern to purchase). I haven’t made that bag in awhile, but I might make one again soon. Including a tote bag in your gift selection is a nice way to package all the gifts. You can choose a pattern that you like.

Journal/Sketchbook Cover – you can adjust the pattern to accommodate a number of sizes of journals. This pattern, as you have seen many times on this blog, is for a 6.5″x8″ Miquelrius journal.

Pencil roll – I love this pattern by Pink Chalk! It is so fun even if you are not pen hog like I am. I have made, perhaps, a dozen of them and I want everyone to love them. I always put a few pens in to give people an idea of what they are for. I reported on one of my pencil roll posts that this project took me about 3 hours to make.

An Alternative to the pencil roll is a tool holder. I haven’t actually made one of these yet, but I do like the pattern.

You could also add a Sidekick from Jinny Beyer’s store. It is good for handwork and I could have used it on my trip this past weekend. I have the pattern, but haven’t made it yet.

You can also think up themes and find patterns that fit the theme. For example:

  • Kitchen: apron, potholders, kitchen towels, casserole carrier
  • Bath: makeup bag (zipper pouch), towels, tissue cover, stiff holder for TP and such

I think this is a fun idea and hope to make at least one set of gifts for Christmas this year. Stay tuned to see if it happens.

Birthday Fabrics etc

Birthday Fabric
Birthday Fabric

Yes, new fabric.

I received two, yes TWO, Fat Quarter Shop gift certificates for my birthday. I spent about two weeks looking at all the stuff I could buy and ended up with these options.

The color card is a color card of American Made Brands solids. You just never know when you will need to buy some. 😉

The striped fabric below it is actually not a striped fabric, but a carefully folded fat quarter pack of American Made Brands solids. This goes well with the ones my mom gave me for Christmas.

The flannels on the bottom are for some receiving blankets for a friend who is having a baby in May. Plenty of time, right? (HA! Famous last words!)

The rest are stash fabrics. I am starting to contemplate a quilt for my aunt. She loves purple and those violets would be nice for her. I’ll use the dots for the EPP Stars.

Thanks to my sis and TFQ for providing such great gifts!

Gift Post #5: More Bags

Kelly's Bag
Kelly’s Bag

As I said the other day, it is the practice of the group to make bags as thank yous for the BAMQG officers. I made all, but one of the bags for the main officers.

I really enjoyed last year at BAMQG. I thought Kelly started off strong and had some good challenges. Remember the Kelly Bag? I want to do that practice again and her technique of making a bag out of the practice really makes me want to do it. There is nothing like having a bunch of ugly muslin 12″ squares laying around to put the best of us off FMQ practice.

I got some Cotton + Steel and thought I would use some of it for her back along with the egg fabric I don’t remember the name of and some Bonnie and Camille on the inside and for the tie.

Claire's Bag
Claire’s Bag

Claire’s bag is much more lively. She is such a little dynamo that I wanted some cheerful fabric. Making her bag coincided with me rummaging through my multicolor fabric bin.

I really should do a review of the pattern. I made these from the Jeni Baker Drawstring Bag pattern, which is so popular now. They are relatively fast to make. We’ll see if I do a review.

This is a good project for other guilds as thank yous, because if you can get people to make the bags everyone else only had to bring a few small gifts. I never liked the idea of getting blocks as a thank you. Yes, you get a little of each person, but you have to deal with another UFO and their foibles in sewing. JMO YMMV, of course.

 

Gift Post #4

2015 Bag for Peggy
2015 Bag for Peggy

As you may remember, it is the practice of the BAMQG members to make bags for the officers. This year I made two bags for two of the officers and two for the Charity Girls. The Charity Girls are not on the list, but Michelle and Peggy did such a fantastic job this year that I couldn’t resist.

“Fantastic Job” does not even begin to describe how inspired I have been to make donation quilts. I have been contemplating how I felt in 2014 about making donation quilts, which you can read all about if you want to go back through the year, but I can’t really wrap my head around it. Yes, it was an opportunity to sew. Yes, it was an opportunity to work with others either like Gerre and I did or by handing in a quilt top and having someone else quilt it. Those descriptions sound so selfish. Clearly making these quilts was not about me. It was about making something for someone who needed a bit of comfort. Sadly, I think, if I am honest, the why goes back to me. I enjoy making the donation quilts. I enjoy working with others. I enjoy handing off tops for someone else to quilt. I  I  I.

2015 Bag for Michelle
2015 Bag for Michelle

Regardless of my selfishness in doing good, I thought the Charity Girls did an awesome job and I wanted them to feel the love, thus the bags.

I hope they like them.

Gift Post #3

Circa 1934 Tissue Cover
Circa 1934 Tissue Cover

One of the things I made, as I mentioned were tissue covers. I took some of the Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 fabric I had leftover from the first Stepping Stones quilt and made some small things out of it. I just got a bug in my ear to use that fabric again. Not sure why.

I have a few more packs of tissues to fill some covers, so I may make a few more. We’ll see.

Gift Post #3: Receiving Blankets

Receiving Blankets for Ruth & Luke
Receiving Blankets for Ruth & Luke

I really cannot help spreading the usefulness that these receiving blankets bring with them. Also, I feel a bit for Ruth and her family. Her baby was born a month early, The Y.M. was born 3.5 weeks early with jaundice and little under weight, so I understand a bit of what she is going through. Of course, every mother’s experience is different and every child is an individual.

I like giving these as gifts, as I may have said as they are extremely useful as:

  • playmats
  • layering for warmth
  • sunshade
  • Superman cape
  • Sheik headress
  • sarong/skirt

I just did a decorative stitch; I didn’t do any stitch lettering this time. By the time you read this I will have already sent them off.

Gift Post #2: Purple Gifts

Tissue Holder
Tissue Holder

I didn’t make a lot of gifts this year despite my best intentions, but I did make a few things for Friend Julie. I bought some purple chair fabric and just started making a set of things for her. I didn’t really plan to, it just happened. it was fun to try and figure out how place the fabric on the projects so the chairs stood out.

First, I made the tissue holder. Actually, I made two others as tests before I made this one, but it was the first gift that I made for her. I took a look at the tutorial that Valerie uses and tried it myself. Easy peasy! Bonus: I had some tissue packs with which to fill it.

Purple Chair Needlecase
Purple Chair Needlecase

Next was a needle case. I *think* Julie does some hand work, but I don’t really know, I am embarrassed to say. Now she is encouraged to do so because she has a needle case. 😉 If she is not a handworker, then perhaps I should start a campaign of buying Perl Cotton for her? 😉 With my luck, she will couch it to something on the machine.

Before she opened it, she didn’t know what it was. I think she was confused because I re-used some Recchiuti ribbon. I was pleased with the way the case looks tied up with the ribbon.

I made some changes to the pattern. Are you surprised? Instead of sewing two pieces of quilting cotton together to make the needle portion of the needlecase, I cut and sewed one square of felt to hold the needles.

Purple Chair Needlecase - open
Purple Chair Needlecase – open

I also used felt for one side of the baby pincushion. I can’t quite seem to get the pincushion to finish straight, but I’ll keep working on that.

Awhile ago I bought the Jeni Baker drawstring bag pattern that has been so popular among the modern quilters. On her blog, In Color Order (I wish I had thought of that name!!!), is a tutorial for one size of the bag. Anyway, I made several over the holidays and I decided at the very last minute, e.g. two hours before we were meeting (sigh!), to make her one to hold all of the goodies. When I say last minute, I mean last minute. DH had to lace the string into the holes while we drove. I didn’t even have a chance to take a phone, but Julie was kind enough to send me a couple.

Purple Chair Bag - closed
Purple Chair Bag – closed
Purple Chair Bag - open
Purple Chair Bag – open

The inside is grey.

I have a few other ideas for purple chair (and purple Pearl bracelets) fabrics accessories.