Tea Pots and Cozies

If I start now, perhaps all the Christmas goodies will be packed away by the end of the year--this year.  Isn't this a gorgeous teapot?  When not in use I set it on the cutest stool with hand painted cardinals and just under the cardinal quilt on the wall.

This is one of Joan Shay's (Petal Play) kits and I was fortunate to take a class from her.  The technique is basic for making realistic flowers, birds and more. Simple quilting is all that is necessary.

The holly leaves, when warm, are easily shaped.

Here are some of my Christmas/winter tea cozies. If memory serves me right, this was the first one I made some twenty years ago. (Tutorial here)

I've yet to make one for this smaller pot. In fact, the cello wrapping remains.

Even though the fabric looks col, this is one of the warmest cozy.  It must be a heavier batting.

North Pole Quilt

Here's a stroll through the busiest place on earth--The North Pole. My goodness this had to be the most fun I've ever had. It became a cleaning project as I searched the sewing room for beads, buttons and angelina fibers. The tags on the buildings were printed on fabric on the computer and I hope they show up on this post. There is a bit of tinsel stitched to the snow for some sparkle. I added glitter paint to some of the areas as well. All of the fabric, other than some of the dark blues, are from my stash.  It's almost like a free quilt.

Warning: picture overload.

The top block gave me problems. The reindeer did not show up against the busy background. What's a quilter to do? Paint them with fabric paint and I did.

Here's Slick's Sleds and the North Pole bakery

Here's the Reindeer Barn and Marble Makers shop below it.

The building on the left is Royal Toy Works.  The center building is Candy Cane Factory and next is Hats & Mittens.

In the picture below, the brown building with a sign that says Carl's Cars & Trucks, there's a truck on the upper part and black snaps were used for the wheels.  The red striped building is Delilah's Doll Shop and the red brick building is Wang's North Pole Carryout.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus live in the house on the left.  The blue building is the Elves' Recreation Center.

Here is Sprinkles Ice Cream Shoppe next door to the Elves' Bunkhouse. That's where my husband would choose to live.

Gingerbread Boys

Somehow the camera got in my hand and I shot some photos of my gingerbread kids. I had eye surgery this week so I'm working with a disability but so wanted to share my kids with you.  Besides lots of gingerbread quilts, I've used some of my gingerbread cutters here and there for decoration.  There are still several in the box.

This pattern was a gift and when the quilt was completed my dear family said it looked like they were over baked.

This is an Eleanor Burns kit---no big deal but cute.  With a small magnet stitched inside, it easily hangs on the fridge.
















The buttons used on this one are from a can of buttons a friend gave me--lucky me.  The are marble size!




Another "lucky for me" was this pattern with kit.  A friend in my friendship group was cleaning out her sewing room and leveling off the to-do pile.

This pattern was found at a quaint quilt shop in Barrington, IL.  Most the of the gingerbread cutters on top are oldies.

I posted this last January when I was stash busting and needed a new project to work on.

Remember a post of mine in November where I had to make a new toaster oven cover when I bought a new one since the old cover didn't fit?  I made it so it'll have four sides for the front--like reversible and front to back. I just basted these fabric ginger people on for now.  With those being my favorite colors,  I am sure I'll find more goodies to add to one side or the other.

Over the River and Through the Woods...

Can you tell?  This is one of my favorites. Embroidery warms my heart and so did this pattern when I first saw it. Perhaps it should have been blue work to really set off the chill of winter.  But with all the trees and buildings, brown seemed best. (It's a Crabapple Hill pattern.)



The lettering is sort of whimsical and the words seem musical by waving through the center block.

Even though it isn't proper to quilt over embroidery, it seemed necessary given the size and width of the blocks and the weight of all the stitching. Here's where quilting isn't as important as the look of stitching so I try to keep it to a minimum.

Stack 'n' Whack Cookies

Carol over at Just Let Me Quilt is having a linky party for Christmas cookie recipes. Mmm, mmm. Sounds good, but I'm not much of a baker anymore.

A few years ago the quilting rage was "stack 'n' whack" quilts.  For this you would carefully cut and stack several--sometimes 6 but mostly more--of the same pattern from a print fabric.  Then you cut or "whack" into pie shaped pieces.  Taking all of the same "pie cuts" and creating a new block was the next step.  From the varied prints/designs and cuts you'd get a truly remarkable new design somewhat similar to a kaleidoscope.

Today was my day to do a bit of baking, and I mean a bit. Here are my "stack 'n' whack" cookies--in picture form.

You start with:

Then stack however many you will be cutting into pie shapes.  For six pie wedges use six cookies--but I used only four cookies and four pie wedges.

Then take the "stack" and put it back into a circle.

Bake.

Angel

I'm not much into angels but this pattern caught my eye.  The colors and the cute inside border did it. However, the reproduction prints are neat too.

The inner border is made from strips of homespun fabric and fringed. It's the same method as we used to do on rag quilts. I like the technique.  

Then I gathered up all of my scraps for the binding.

Here are some of my favorite gingerbread people.  I made this well over 10 years ago from a panel.  Yes, a panel.  Remember when all those cute vests used to come on panels?  Yep, it was about that time.  It fits on the wall between the cabinets.

Warm Gingerbread Cookies and Peppermint Tea

I think December crept up on everyone with Thanksgiving being so late in the month. It's time to put away the fall decorations even though the trees still have some of their fall appearance. Now we can bring out our winter and holiday decorations.

Gingerbread men have been a favorite in my family for nearly forty years. Somewhere in the closet is a box full of new and vintage gingerbread men cookie cutters. Besides those cuties, are candles, salt and pepper shakers, soaps, potholders, towels and a whole lot of quilts.

This one is hand embroidered with minimum hand quilted and fused applique.  It had to be whipped up in a short period of time and this pattern allowed for that. The binding is the same fabric as the cup. It is 18" x 28" and best used as a wall hanging but could make a nice table topper too.

Toaster Oven Cover

Last month I had to replace my toaster oven.  It had the cutest cover that does not fit on the new one. My family is coming for Thanksgiving weekend and I needed a new cover for my toaster oven.  Keep in mind, it is a WIP (work in progress).  The plans to finish were interrupted by my need to clean, shop and the rest that goes with the holiday.  Anyway, I got enough done to use as a cover.

Here's my original plan.  I want it so there are four different fronts to change at my whim.  Here are two so far.  The black with white dots is box pleated on the bottom and the black and white check is gathered.  You can still see the chalk quilting marks. Don't you just love the fabric?  It's PamKittyLove fabric and I've heard the PamKittyPicnic fabric is arriving at the shops.

Below is the other side.  The plan was to embellish the red checks with maybe cupcake appliques or something that would scream red.  It needs some side ties but haven't figured that out yet.

The picture below shows the old cover that served well for many years. I'll pass on to my neighbor. Gosh, it almost fits my sewing machine. :)