Pieceful Monday

Well, the holidays are over and a new year has begun. I had a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s with my family. This holiday season was quieter in some ways than others, but lovely nonetheless.

I made a goal to do as much of my Christmas shopping locally as I could. It made the whole season so much less stressful; no mall crowds to contend with. Perhaps that’s why I think it was a quieter season this year. It was certainly more relaxed!

I also made a few things, but not so many that I felt rushed at the last minute. As a matter of fact, I spent the last week or so before Christmas just playing in my quilt cave. More about that in another post.

I met some of my girlfriends for an annual coffee date. While we were chatting, one of them talked about a pillow she had seen. She had mentioned she had seen a larger pillow like this at a store, so when I got home that evening, I made her a little mini pillow, about 6-7 inches. All the buttons are from my button box, some of them my grandmother’s, my mother’s and mine. It’s only fitting that some of my family should be part of hers. She is a very dear friend of mine, and our lives have woven in and out together for many years. The linen fabric is from my stash, a left over piece of fabric from a dress I made years ago. The dress is long gone, but I’ve made good use of the scraps!

Another gift I gave was to my daughter. She has always liked pillows she’s seen similar to this, so I thought it would be fun to make her one. I found a {free} outline of the deer and blew it up. Then I traced it onto hand-dyed brown wool and stitched it to the pillow. The pillow fabric is left over from the fabric I used to make curtains for her apartment. She loved it! It was probably my favorite project that I gave as a gift.

Gifts came to me in return. I loved all of them, here’s a couple of highlights.

When visiting my daughter this summer, we were shopping in an antique store. I saw a cute little toy sewing machine. We talked about it and that was that. When I opened my gift from her this Christmas, there was the little sewing machine!  I am so delighted to give this little cutie a home.

It is a Kayanee Sew Master made in Germany post WWII in the 40s. Apparently those with decals are a bit more rare, but I’m no expert so I don’t know if this is true. It works too, the only thing it’s missing is the needle.

My son asked me for some suggestions. He gave me one thing I have wanted for quite some time. (I had forgotten I had even told him about them.) Blackwing pencils. I could hardly wait to use them!

If you’ve never heard of them, here’s a fun but lengthy link that gives some background.  They are truly remarkable. Even BigJ was surprised when he picked one up. They are so light! I spent the entire day using one the other day, and my hand didn’t get all cramped and sore like it often does when I’m working on designs.

Well, let’s talk quilting and what I’ve been doing. As I said earlier I have one project I worked on that I’ll share about another time, but I do have a couple of blocks to show you.

Pat Sloan started her 182 Day Solstice Challenge  recently, and I decided to join in. Each Wednesday she sends out a new block. She’s designing as she goes, pulling from her stash and encouraging us to do the same. So far the blocks are simple and fun. Come join the fun!

Here’s the first block. I’m not overly excited about the fabrics I used for this one. They kinda make me want to nap — Zzzzzz. I may redo this one.

Here’s the second block, called Day into Night. This one was really fun to make. I’m happier with this block.

For my birthday earlier this month, my daughter gave me this canvas that she painted. The saying is hers too. I love it, and will leave you with this thought today.

Happy Stitching!

Wendy