Lap Quilt for Mom

I finished this lap quilt a few months ago (I don't use a sewing machine when I quilt so it takes longer to finish a quilt). I worked on it at every Tuesday sew day, at home in the evenings, and at our twice yearly craft retreats.  It was for my mom for Christmas this year. Except, she died unexpectedly May 2nd so she never got to see it. Every time she asked me what I was working on I told her it was a surprise.

I've decided to keep it and used it last night for the first time while watching TV. It's a bit warm for summer but we had the A/C down to 72º and were eating ice cream!

I had already started a second matching lap quilt for myself so will go ahead and finish it. Jim and I can match while we're watching TV, or napping!

Aprons and Irons

During one of our sewing sessions this past summer, one of the ladies was making these aprons for her daughters and granddaughters. What an awesome idea. The pattern and green dish towels came from Craft Warehouse. Unfortunately they didn't carry the blue grosgrain ribbon but I found it at Joann Fabrics. I made four aprons keeping one for myself!

With some of my Christmas money, I bought myself a portable travel iron. Since we have sewing day once a week, these small irons are so easy to bring along. However, I needed a little carry bag for it. One of the ladies in my sewing group gave me the pattern and this is what I came up with. I used the same material as if I was making hot pads so I can put it away while it's still hot.

Gifts (Crocheted and Sewed and Quilted)

The girls I sew with every Tuesday had Christmas lunch and gift exchange last week. I made frig towels as my gift. Shopko's holiday towels were so cute I couldn't resist.

I've finished two rows on my Seattle Seahawks quilt. It's slow go since I quilt by hand and also have other projects going on at the same time.

I've been working on these Prism Windmill quilt blocks. I haven't decided how I'm going to quilt it yet, but I will be doing the "quilt-as-you-go" method.

We have a group that we cruise with every year, sometimes every other year. Over the summer I made the little wallet "Getting Carded by Erin Erickson of Dog Under My Desk" for my cruising buddies. Of course I kept the one made with Seahawks fabric for myself and gave the one made with kitty fabric to my daughter-in-law.

I added Tyvek to these little wallets making them RFID. They are so handy since they fit so nicely in my front pants pocket out of sight. I never wear jewelry or take a purse when I leave the ship. You can never be too careful and I try and be as careful as I can. 

Getting Carded by Erin Erickson of Dog Under My Desk

At a recent crafting retreat, this little gem was being made by one of my friends as Christmas gifts. I thought this would be the perfect little wallet to use when you didn't want to carry a purse - like when you're traveling. From personal experience (we just spent Christmas week in New Orleans), it fit perfectly in the front pocket of my jeans!

The pattern and directions were 35 pages long! Crazy, huh?! Actually, 12 of the pages are the patterns themselves. Erin is very detailed in her directions and I really appreciated it especially since there were 21 pieces (including interfacing) along with the zipper and hardware to make the strap. I didn't have the right Velcro so I ended up using a snap instead. The snap worked fine but I can see where the Velcro would be better in keeping it closed up tight.

I also think I'll make a change to the pattern. I didn't use the clear vinyl outside pocket for my I.D. since I didn't really want my I.D. showing. Plus, there was no way to keep anything in that pocket since there was nothing to keep it closed. I think on the next ones I make (yes, that's plural since apparently I'm going to be making 5 more) is make the binding on the pocket a bit bigger and add Velcro to keep what's in it secure. It would be good for a hotel key card, or transportation card.

A zipper pouch for money

Vinyl pocket



3 pockets on one side, 2 pockets on the other

A Knitted Christmas Gift

What do you get a parent that has everything she wants and/or needs? I saw this pattern last year and decided it would be the perfect gift for her. The pattern is a version of the Magic Cake Ruffle Shawl found on Ravelry. It called for 2 skeins of yarn but since I wanted to make it more of a shawl than a scarf so she could wear it to church, I used almost 3 skeins of Cascade Yarns' Sunseeker Multis Color #101 with a touch of metallic out of Seattle. It was a tedious pattern and after having to rip out several rows, several times, I ended up making a chart and checking off each row.

Finished shawl

Ruffle

"Back bone"

Folded in half

Quilted Christmas Table Runner

After my MIL died in 1998, my FIL not only gave me several large boxes of yarn, but miscellaneous other items, including these squares of Christmas scenes. I started this table runner the winter of 2013 when we were wintering in Lake Pleasant, AZ. After working on it off and on, I finally finished it the first of December, 2014. My MIL believed that anything quilted was always to be done by hand, from start to finish. She would be proud because that's exactly what I did - all by hand!