Handmade Christmas 2011

 I had planned to take a little blogging break for the holidays, but how have 3 weeks passed so quickly?  Lemme sum up...

My mother made this Christmas Lily wall hanging for my sister in the early 90s.

A sneaky mouse got into her plastic storage tote and stole some comfy bits.

I did a little applique repair, front and back with a bit of fresh batting and a few stitches of quilting to hold it all together.  Mom and Sis were pleased.

For Julia, a knitting needle roll from this tutorial.

She loves it!  How could she not love anything made with this Kate Spain print?

 Pete has been asking for a carrier for his cajon for a whole year.  He even picked out the fabric.  It's just a big tote bag with a flap to cover the top.  It's nothing fancy, but it works!

Another happy kid with his custom cajon carrier!

Julia made pasta for Christmas dinner.  YUM!

We spent Christmas Eve at my niece's lovely home.  Lily and Anna wanted Julia to play dress up with them and kept bringing dresses to her to try on.  So cute!

I made little tote bags for the girls and stuffed them with snacks, crayons and little activity books.  Anna didn't care much about the books, but was pretty happy with the juice boxes!

There was one more handmade gift, a cute little zipper pouch for my mother's hearing aid supplies, but I never took a photo of it.  It is super cute and a major improvement over the plastic baggie she was using.

In other news...

Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles sponsored a float in the Rose Parade, celebrating Girl Scouts' Centennial in 2012.  We had an opportunity to purchase flowers for the float, so I bought a dozen, one for each girl in my troop.  Their names were tied to flower stems and placed on the float.  I cried when it came into view on TV.  Such a sap!

It's so easy to not  post to the blog when you get out of the habit.  I'm back now and ready for 2012!

BFF & LOL Wall Chat

A couple of weeks ago, Peggy Ackfeld called me out of the blue and asked if I could make some little quilts to hang from the decorative wire hangers that her husband makes. Sounded like fun to me, so she shipped me some hangers.


How cute are they?! Ackfeld Wire calls this new line Wall Chat. Peggy was having a hard time finding someone to take on this challenge. The lovely people at Fons & Porter recommended me (I had a similar design published in their magazine in 2001).


The original plan was for me to make 3 quilts for a magazine ad. Since I finished these two a little earlier than expected, Peggy asked me to ship them to her hotel in Houston, so she could display them in her booth at Quilt Market. Woo Hoo! I wish I could be there in person, but I'm thrilled to have sent my little quilts.


The patterns will be in my Etsy shop as soon as I can get them together. I think I'll try a PDF pattern. The 5" blocks are paper-pieced, with a vinyl pocket pieced in. The pocket allows the flexibility of changing out photos as kids grow.


Thanks, Katie, for emailing photos of Lily and Anna last night. They are the cutest girls ever and perfect in the LOL quilt!
Thank you, Leah, for making free motion quilting look so easy.
Thank you, Peggy, for the opportunity!

A Fun-Filled Weekend

A high school band concert, a baptism and a birthday. And a blooming peony! They are my favorite flowers, but I'm not very good at growing them. I suffer from intense Peony Envy this time of year!


We traveled to upstate NY for Anna's baptism. My cousin is a priest, so he performed the baptism at his church. Tom does a Lion King thing at the end of every baptism to present the baby. She's looking down at her daddy for help!


The party afterwards was awesome, with great food, family and friends, and bocce. Lily and her Pop (my silly brother) played in her little tent. She is almost 2 and talking up a storm and she's so smart!


We also celebrated Bill's birthday. He was happy to spend some time with his parents and shoot hoops with Pete on their backyard court.


My niece asked me if I could make something out of the little hats the babies are given at the hospital when they are born. She has 2 for each girl. She also gave me a couple of onesies in case I need some extra "fabric." We're thinking about some little teddy bears, maybe with a pocket for a lost tooth. Got any other ideas?


Look what came home with us? My mother's Necchi had been living with my niece, unused for a couple of years. They ran out of room for it in their house, now I need to make room for it in mine! I'll show you the neat cabinet when I move it in from the garage.


I won a giveaway at Alderwood Quilts. Thanks, Sue! I'll add that to my list of things to make. I love the name Bella Nonna. It means Pretty Grandma!


On the list this week: a pile of charity quilts to finish by Wednesday (if I can).


I'd better get to work! Have a great week,
Tina

Two Annas, plus a Lily

I missed Two for Tuesday, so here are two Annas on Wednesday.
Baby Anna with Great-Grandma Anna (my mom). Anna is so cute and so tiny! Babies grow so quickly, it's hard to remember when ours were that small.Lily is a bundle of energy. It's hard to get a good picture of her while she is in constant motion. Elmo is her favorite! So why didn't I add some Elmo fabric to her quilt? I'll need to make an Elmo pillow, bag or pajamas for her birthday.

I need a nap.
Ciao,
Tina

We're off to meet Anna!

Anna's Quilt

Anna's quilt is done! I'll take better pics in the sun tomorrow. We'll be traveling early to go visit the girls, so I wanted to leave you with the completed quilt.I used Sulky rayon thread for the quilting. I like the sheen on a girly quilt. The back of the quilt is a whole piece of this gorgeous Kaffe Fasset fabric. No piecing required. In my spare time this weekend (ha!), I made a Black Apple Doll and covered photo album with the leftover Kaffe fabric.Hope you all have some time to relax this week.
Ciao,
Tina