Fabric Snowflakes Are Simply Magical

An easy-to-follow tutorial for a beautiful Christmas project!
http://quiltingdigest.com/fabric-snowflakes-are-simply-magical/


Many more quilting tips, sewing projects, and crafts can be found here:

Quilted Flag Wall Hanging

This is a beautiful quilted wall hanging of the American flag, crafted by my good friend, Sharon Clontz.  She said the blue is a navy field with stars.  She found the pattern in Phoenix and got a kit from Three Dudes Quilt Shop.  It only took an afternoon to sew and quilt. I love it, and it's now on my list of projects to make!

The Quilt Holes

Author unknown - Thanks to Annamarie Kresge in Virginia for sending this!

As I faced my Maker at the last judgment, I knelt before the Lord along with all the  other souls.

Before each of us laid our lives like the squares of a quilt in many piles; an angel sat before each of us sewing our quilt squares together into a tapestry that is our life.

But as my angel took each piece of cloth off the pile, I noticed how ragged and empty each of my squares was.  They were filled with giant holes. 

Each square was labeled with a part of my life that had been difficult, the challenges and temptations I was faced with in everyday life.  I saw hardships that I endured, which were the largest holes of all.

I glanced around me.  Nobody else had such squares.  Other than a tiny hole here and there, the other tapestries were filled with rich color and the bright hues of worldly fortune.  I gazed upon my own life and was disheartened.

My angel was sewing the ragged pieces of cloth together, threadbare and empty, like binding air.

Finally, the time came when each life was to be displayed, held up to the light, the scrutiny of truth.  The others rose; each in turn, holding up their tapestries.  So filled their lives had been.  My angel looked upon me and nodded for me to rise.

My gaze dropped to the ground in shame.  I hadn't had all the earthly fortunes.  I had love in my life and laughter.  But there had also been trials of illness and wealth, and false accusations that took from me my world, as I knew it.  I had to start over many times.  I often struggled with the temptation to quit, only to somehow muster the strength to pick up and begin again. 

I spent many nights on my knees in prayer, asking for help and guidance in my life.  I had often been held up to ridicule, which I endured painfully, each time offering it up to the Father in hopes that I would not melt within my skin beneath the judgmental gaze of those who unfairly judged me.

And now, I had to face the truth.  My life was what it was, and I had to accept it for what it was.  I rose and slowly lifted the combined squares of my life to the light.  An awe-filled gasp filled the air.  I gazed around at the others who stared at me with wide eyes.

Then, I looked upon the tapestry before me. Light flooded the many holes, creating an image, the face of Christ.  Then our Lord stood before me, with warmth and love in His eyes.  He said, "Every time you gave over your life to Me, it became My life, My hardships, and My struggles.

Each point of light in your life is when you stepped aside and let Me shine through until there was more of Me than there was of you."

May all our quilts be threadbare and worn, allowing Christ to shine through!

Learn How to Quilt

This is a great opportunity to watch these basic quilting lessons and learn at your own pace at no cost to you!

Watch Free Sew Easy Lessons  from Fons and Porter
http://www.fonsandporter.com/sew_easy_lessons.html?utm_source=LOQI&utm_medium=email&am p;utm_campaign=Newsletter20130910
 

Sewing with Young Children

by Lois Breneman - 2013 - Heart to Heart

(Photos included)

Sewing is becoming a lost art, but there is much on the internet that it would be easy enough to learn on your own by watching you tube videos.  Pinterest has also presented many opportunities for learning how to sew, and I hope many of you will take advantage of learning and passing on those skills to the next generations.

When our grandchildren were much younger, we made small pillows together.  I'd sew a machine embroidery design of their choice on their pillow front with the child on my lap, letting them push the buttons. They'd also sit on my lap as I sewed the seams.  They would turn the pillow right-side out, punch out the corners, and stuff it with fiberfill, and I taught them how to sew the opening shut.

It's a "dream-come-true" for me that my young granddaughter wants to learn how to sew and is so enthusiastic about it!  I usually take my sewing machine when we visit our long-distant children's families, so I can do their mending and other projects in my spare time.  When we visited our daughter's family last winter, as we were coming in the house for hugs, I bent down to give Ryan Elizabeth a hug, and she yelled with excitement, "Are we going to SEW, Grammie?"  Of course, I loved her enthusiasm in wanting to learn how to sew!

That week I taught Ryan at the age of five how to make beanbags, and she learned how to do a very neat whip stitch by hand, reinforcing the stitches with knots now and then.  She made two more pillows, helped me to make burp pads for baby gifts, and loved sewing buttons on a piece of fabric by hand. 

           
Sewing projects done with Ryan sitting on my lap:

Stuffing black beans into beanbags with a spoon

  Ryan turning a burp pad right-side-out

 Pillow with pink, purple & blue varigated circles

Ryan stuffing a heart-shaped pillow that we made together

She was so proud of her finished heart-shaped pillow!

Before we drove a long distance to visit our daughter's family at the end of July, Ryan had already gathered some mending for me that needed done - doll clothes, a huge Scooby Doo whose backside seam was coming apart, and a few other items.

During our week's visit, I taught our two oldest grandchildren how to make their own pillowcases that will match the quilts I'm making for them.  Justin, 10, already has his quilt, and Ryan Elizabeth, who just turned 6, will have hers later this year.  They did a great job on their pillowcases, doing all the sewing themselves.  There were only a few times we had to back up and redo a seam that got wavy.  I cut, pressed and gave them instructions, and I was so proud of them for the work they each did!

Ryan (just turned 6) sewing her pillowcase with the foot pedal raised up on a 15" high box

This is the pillowcase Ryan Elizabeth (6) sewed to match the quilt I'm making for her.  She sewed a pretty decorative stitch in pink, using a thick decorative thread.  The main part of her pillowcase is green, and the other colors were added to the open end.  The mint green butterfly print matches a dress I made for her 6th birthday (shown at the end of this article).

                      
Justin (10), posing with the quilt I finished for him in June.  I plan to make an heirloom quilt for each of the grandchildren.  He loves it, and keeps it hanging down (folded) from his upper bunk.

Justin sewed this pillowcase to match his quilt. I chose the fabric, cut, and pressed it, while Justin did all the sewing.  The main part is orange, and the yellow, green, and blue fabrics form a decoration at the open end.

Ryan Elizabeth and Justin's pillowcases in which they each did all the sewing!

This is a link with an excellent tutorial on sewing pillowcases: http://www.nancyzieman.com/blog/quick-sewing-projects/sewing-with-kidssew-an-easy-pillowcase/

Ryan is still too small to reach the foot pedal of a sewing machine, so I raised it up off the floor about 15 inches with a box, and she had the time of her life sewing with me for a week in August.  It was such fun to see her concentration and enthusiasm as she learned how to sew straight seams by herself, while I cut, pressed, or did something else nearby.   

She also helped me sew 45 drawstring bags - some for her birthday party guests later in the week, some for her teachers, and lots for her to keep.  She learned how to guide the edge of the presser foot along the edge of the fabric for straight seams.  She inserted drawstrings around the top of the bags using a large safety pin as well.  It took us two days of sticking with the job to get so many bags sewn, but I never had to ask her to keep on working.  She's a determined little girl and as we worked hard with me on the second day, even though she was getting tired, she told me, "I'm going to stick with this until it's done!"  And she did!

Here are most of the drawstring totebags that Ryan and I made.  We also made several more using the pink fabric with cats that was leftover from the sides of her mini quilt (shown below).

                
She's sewing the hem at the top of a bag where the drawstring will be inserted.

                              
Foot pedal raised up on a 15" tall box so she could reach it to sew by herself!

                                     
Closeup of her sewing the top hem

Such concentration!

I love the look of wonder on her face as she sews ...

  
... and such concentration!

She has such a desire to learn how to sew, and you can be sure her grandma just loves it!

My daughter shared with me today how one of Ryan's teachers said that she just loves the drawstring totebag that Ryan gave her and my daughter told her Ryan had made it herself with her grandma!

After cutting the fabric for Ryan's large quilt at home, I had lots of skinny strips left over, so she and I made a mini quilt (about the size of a lap quilt) with some cute "kitty" fabric sewn on the sides.  She sewed together more than half of the strips by herself!  I was surprised she would stick with it that long!  But that was a much bigger project than a six year old can handle, along with all of our other projects, so I finished the rest of the quilt for her.  The quilt back has a darling whimsical frog print to go with the colors of the quilt top.  I brought it home to sew on a purple binding, and will give it to her soon - the next time we see each other.

Ryan did an excellent job of sewing most of the skinny quilt strips together; then I finished it.

The back of Ryan's mini quilt with such adorable and colorful whimsical frogs

While together we made this cupcake and strawberry eclair from felt, and stuffed them both.   The cupcake, frosting and strawberry topping were glued on, while the pom pom cherry was sewn on so it would stay more secure.

In the future I'd like to help Ryan Elizabeth put various hand sewing samples into a "Sewing Notebook," to help her remember each sewing technique, and to be able to use them throughout life.  The blind stitch for hemming will be one of those hand sewing stitches, so she can hem her own clothes when needed.  I'd love to add photos of all her sewing projects to the notebook as well.   We also did yo-yo's and flower hair bands at the beach in June. 

Ryan and I have lots more plans of sewing together!  This is definitely one of the joys the Lord has given to me in being a Grammie!

Below are three dresses I made for Ryan's birthday, using the same pattern, with the purple dress having cap sleeves and buttons on the front.  Both of these fabrics will be in her large quilt that I'm making for her.  The dresses are both fully lined, with a zipper in the back, but very easy to make.  She has room in them to grow.  We all know how little girls love to twirl in these full skirts, and Ryan is no exception!  Some day I can imagine she will be sewing some of her own clothes!

I bought the dress pattern at JoAnn Fabrics - a "See and Sew" pattern from the rotating pattern racks - B5443 which includes sizes 2-3-4-5.  It has two different views - a two-tiered dress and a three-tiered dress.  Over a year ago I made the two-tiered dress in size 5 for Ryan, so when I made the two new dresses shown below (with three layers in the skirt), I added on to the pattern to make a size 7.
 

 A year later, I made her these two new dresses, enlarging the pattern as I cut them out.

This is the quilt I made for Ryan Elizabeth in her favorite colors (mine too).  It a bargello quilt design like I used for her brother's quilt (above), but rather than positioning the blocks diagonally, I used a zig-zag design, which I really like.  If you look very carefully, you might be able to see fabric from her green and purple butterfly dresses in her quilt.  Since there are at least four butterfly fabrics in her quilt, I named the quilt, "Butterfly Kisses."

The quilting was done by machine.  I stitched-in-the-ditch down each row between the blocks and borders.  Freehand quilting was done on the wide purple border, after I drew the swirly design with a water soluble ink pen, made for sewing.

In the summer of 2014, as I presented this gift to her, Ryan Elizabeth's big brother, Justin, led her, blindfolded, into the guest bedroom where I had her new quilt laid out on the bed.  This is Ryan's face when she first saw it finished!  Very happy indeed!

 The quilt backing is made from a beautiful watercolor print, comprising of all the colors in the top of the quilt.  It was perfect for this quilt top!  Last of all I cut the dark purple binding on the bias (2 1/2"), sewed it together, ironed it in half, and sewed it on the quilt by machine, folded it to the back, then finished it off all around the quilt by hand.  A label was sewn onto the back by hand, displaying the name of the quilt, Ryan Elizabeth's name, my name, and the date.

                                     

Ryan posing happily with her new queen-size heirloom quilt,
truly a labor of love for my precious granddaughter!

5 Sisters and Memory Quilts

Note from Lois: This is an inspiring story of five sisters continuing to show honor to their mother after her battle with Alzheimer's, and having great fun in the process!

by Donna Wilson in Virginia

My wonderful mother Frances Linville was struck with the dreadful Alzheimer's disease and went through all the stages including constantly repeating herself, being paranoid, and finally just mellowing out. My sister Effie and I live out of town, so the bulk of the caring for Mother fell to my other three sisters and my sister-in-law. After several years of dealing with Alzheimer's, Mother's little body finally wore out and she went to be with her Lord on November 21, 2010.

When we were going through her clothes and deciding what to do with them, Effie (the quilting sister) said we should cut them up and make quilts out of them. So, she took Mother's clothes to her house and made quilting squares out of the ones that would work for a quilt.

We then planned a " Quilting Party Weekend" at my sister Betty's house in Chesapeake. We each picked the squares that meant the most to us, and with a lot of help from my sister Effie, we started piecing them together. Over a period of several months we each had completed most of our quilts, but on all of them, there were still parts needing some machine sewing and hand stitching. My sister Effie said that we should go someplace fun to finish them. She found a farmhouse in Staunton, Virginia, for the weekend of December 2-4. She and I decided to pay for renting it as a gift to show our gratitude to the other sisters who did most of the work caring for Mother while she was going through the trials of Alzheimer's.

All five of the sisters met at the farmhouse on the afternoon of Friday December 2, 2011. We brought food, music, sewing machines, and our unfinished quilts. My sister Effie brought her pumpkin soup for lunch (she is also the cook in the family). We sewed until almost 2 a.m.--talking and sharing stories about our childhood and Mother. We only stopped for dinner. Effie hung stockings on the mantel that she made out of an old 1930's quilt that belonged to Mother. She also decorated a small Christmas tree with ornaments that Mother had made.

On Saturday December 3, we got up early and ate a special breakfast made by Effie.   We sewed a little and then headed to town for shopping.

We started our tour of the town by going to the Visitor Center. A lovely volunteer gave us great suggestions as to where to go while we were staying in historic Staunton (sorry we weren't able to visit them all).

We went to Sunspots Studios where we had our very first glass-blowing experience! As a Christmas gift, my sister Brenda paid for us all to blow our own glass ornament. We loved this place!

We also visited the Cranberry's Grocery & Eatery where we watched as the woman cut handmade frankincense & myrrh scented soaps. She offered to let us cut our own. What a great smell for the holidays!

At Rachel's Quilt Patch we bought trendy yarn to make scarves. The owner was very interesting and has written several Christmas books. We also visited the Staunton Consignment Shop where I bought a lovely antique tablecloth. We bought handmade soaps and other gifts at the Staunton Augusta Art Center.

It was dark when we got back from shopping and having dinner at the historic Depot Grille. We unloaded the car, got comfortably dressed, turned on the Christmas music and started back on our quilts. We didn't get to bed until around midnight, but all of our quilts were mostly finished! The next morning we packed up to get ready to travel home. Effie took pictures of us and our quilts in front of the fireplace, on the front porch of the farmhouse and standing in front of them hanging on the clothes line in the backyard. What fun! Effie set up her tripod and would run to get in the pictures.

After lunch, we said goodbye to the farmhouse and headed to town to pick up the ornaments that we made the day before (they needed time to cool). We also bought many hand-blown ornaments for gifts for family and friends. As a topping for our trip we went for dessert at the Depot Grille. We then went back to our vehicles and hugged and said goodbye and left to go home to Blue Ridge, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, and Herndon.

We still have one quilt to go for my sister-in-law Thata who moved to the Philippines with our brother Bob after Mother died.  Hopefully, it will be finished as her Christmas gift next year.

This was one of the most enjoyable times of our lives. We are sisters by birth and friends by choice: Betty Greene, Donna Wilson, Marlene Thompson, Effie Shaw, and Brenda Van Dorn.