Middle Son's Tee-shirt/Sports Jersey wall hanging......done!

 Several years ago my middle son (I have three sons) gave me his sports jerseys from when he was very young and playing team sports;  A football jersey, 2 basketball tees, and 2 soccer tees.  He asked me to make a quilt for him.  I told him there were not enough for a regular quilt and asked if he had other tees he wanted to add.  He insisted those were the only ones he wanted to include so I sort of put them on the back burner thinking I would come up with something eventually.

Just recently I saw what I thought was the perfect idea and I am so pleased with the outcome.

the quilt is probably about throw size (50"x50") but I'm thinking his plan is to use it as a wall hanging.......

I had found what I used for the backing at a garage sale.....someone had used the fabric for a curtain and it seemed to be perfect.  Since I had backed each of the jerseys with iron-on stabilizer I opted to just sandwich the front and back with no batting...........

I have added this to my WOOFA list since it sat in my UFO pile for so many years........(I probably need a "Unstarted Object" pile too.....lol......

Stop by the WOOFA challenge page at "Gone Stitching" and see what others have done for this month....just click HERE

Layers of Charm and sort of WOOFA..........

 Well.........my sister made me do it again..........you know that no matter how old we get we still fall into those old "big sister-little sister patterns"...........I mentioned to my Sis that I saw a layer cake pattern at FQS that looked really simple and quite pretty...but the LAST thing I needed to do was start another project when I have so many UFOs waiting for me.......

So, of course, Sis says,   So are you going to make a table topper with it?"....

and I say, "It sure looks easy, doesn't it?".... (Now I have her going.....and I see that she thinks she has me going!)........

Her:  "I have learned that things like that are deceptive".....

Me:   "Now you are just trying to goad me into doing it!  I see through your evil plan..."

she counters with, "Me? Not me.  I just don't want you to get in over your head..."

we go on back and forth with the little dance and then....well........forget it..........I realize I've been had......so I may as well get 'er done.............

Here is the table topper..........I made it in less than a day from start to finish........easy peasy..........here is the front........(bad photo...it is really more vibrant in real life....)

After sewing the 5 inch charm to the corner of each layer cake square and cutting off I was left with 16 triangles which I sewed together and used for the back...............I added some machine applique and VOILA!.........

It is now on it's way to Big Sis for her Autumn table..........some things never change.........lol.............

and as far as WOOFA..........I did actually do a little work on Long Time Gone .......Instead of making more checkerboard squares to go in some of the big spaces I found a couple of orphan blocks that I adapted to go with the quilt........just a few more filler blocks to go and I think the flimsy will be ready!

Please check out all of the other WOOFA projects on Cheryll's page at Gone Stitching...........thanks for hosting Cheryll!

CLICK HERE

Mama's quilts.....

 My mother has been quilting for years.....I can remember a big frame my father built for her to hand quilt the quilts she made for us.  I am one of the fortunate ones that has one of her hand quilted hand appliqued quilts..........

This is a baby quilt she made for my youngest son, now in his 30's.....handstitched..........Mom was great at embroidery too....something I have failed at........my embroidery still looks like the embroidery I did when I was 8 years old!

Nowadays my dear Mom, who turned 100 years old this year still enjoys quilting but does mostly the cutting of the patches and we daughters do the sewing.....Mom's latest choice was Grandmother's fans.............

We know we are so fortunate to still be able to enjoy our sweet Mom.   Although her short term memory is failing badly she still remembers so much from her childhood..........she can still recite most of the Village Blacksmith by Longfellow and everyday she wakes and sings little snippets of songs she grew up with....

I love you Mama..............

WOOFA September!

 Yay!  I'm so proud of myself.........I actually worked on 2 projects on my WOOFA list this month..........After NOT working on one in months I am still way behind, but nonetheless..........happy to say that the Garage Sale Quilt is sandwiched, quilted, bound, Done!

I limited myself to using what I had in my stash to finish this flimsy I was lucky enough to find at a garage sale this summer.....I found 4 different greens that I cut up into 16 big rectangles that I sewed together for the backing

After sandwiching and after asking for input from my blogging friends for the binding I settled with a Green containing a bit of white, yellow and red that I found in my stash and I think it works

I've also pulled out...or pulled off is more like it......the Long Time Gone quilt that has been looking at me from my design wall for months now..........all the blocks are done and now I am piecing it together in sections using checkerboard filler blocks.   

I've started at the bottom and worked to the right so I think I have a little less than half ready to put together.  I have decided I am changing the checkerboard filler blocks to a bigger size.  The 1.5 x 1.5 squares are just too small for me I think.............I am hoping to get this finished in October......or at least November..... but I will continue to work on it in the meantime.....

So anyway.........don't forget to go and check out Cheryll's link-up page HERE and see the fabulous things everyone has to show you!  Thanks for keeping us on track Cheryll!

Old WOOFA project.............

 I have been looking at the"Long Time Gone" quilt on my display wall for a LONG TIME now and decided it was time to tackle it again............

The last time I worked on it I struggled trying to sew the block with the 9 churn dash patches to the other 3 surrounding blocks and it just wouldn't cooperate so I threw up my hands and put it away until now..............

This is the section which includes 8 LTG blocks sewn into one section.......the directions have you fill in the blank areas with  checkerboard filler blocks....it's a little crooked but you know what they say.........."from a moving train or an airplane it will look fine" 

I am hoping to get this finished for October WOOFA but in any case I will at least work on it in October...........

Thanks to everyone for your ideas on the binding for the Garage Sale Quilt........I am happy to report that it is done and will be posted as a September Woofa finish!

Sandwich and quilting Done!..........binding is next..........

 I finished sandwiching the garage sale quilt top today then did just some diagonal stitch in the ditch quilting.......now trying to decide on what color binding.............

I want to use something from my stash for the binding but not sure what color to use........I sort of thought green would be over-kill and red might look too Christmasy.........but I did have a red with white polka-dot I placed to look at and some blues...........any ideas?  Here are some possibilities.............(I guess I should have tried the green too since I really don't like any of these.....)

Playing with Dollies.............

 My sister has been cleaning out closets and came across some old dolls that originally belonged to our youngest sister and asked if I wanted them..........I have also been cleaning out closets but I couldn't say no........the dolls went from little Sis to my nieces and I thought maybe I could refurbish them for my Granddaughters.........

Here is what the vintage dolls looked like when I got them......(my little Sis admitted she was responsible for the short haircuts on most of them.......) "I don't think I realized when I cut it that it wasn't going to grow back".....

Unfortunately, not all the dolls were repairable......After I decided on the ones I would repair 2 of them gave their lives for the others............One gave up her hair and the other gave up her eyes.....both dolls were in pretty bad shape.....one looked like maybe a dog had chewed on her nose and mouth and hand and the other had lost most of her hair and also had some cracked plastic.....

So anyway........I washed the dolls and their clothes, made hats and purses and repaired and embellished one of the dresses.....and here they are now!

This little Gal was missing her left eye........so here she is with a new eye and a new hat and purse to match her "vintage" dress

This pretty blonde was missing hair patches and only had a pajama top to wear..........Now she has a new pink outfit and some blond hair extensions.............

This young lady got a new purse and a new hat with attached hair extensions..............

Here she is with her friend.....ready to go shopping!

So these 4 dollies will go into "Nana's Prize box" so my Granddaughters will have some more for their collection..............

(yes....at the age of 70 I am still playing with dolls!....Us "little girls" never get to old for that.....)

 

WOOFA for August!

 Time to get back to something!  Whether it be blogging, sewing, or what have you....the time is NOW!

Last month my Mom and I went to a garage sale where I managed to leave with 5 totes full of fabric, a hand stitched quilt top, and several Grandmother's flower garden hexi blocks!  What could I do?  This wasn't even an estate sale.......it was a moving sale and I asked the lady why she was getting rid of her stash....she said, "Oh Honey, I have a big room in the house full too and I am not going to have room at my new house".........I really didn't even know everything I bought til I started looking through it all.......so......

I have added this hand sewn quilt top to my WOOFA list........even though it didn't start out as my UFO I feel a sense of obligation to finish this gorgeous quilt..........

I can't imagine spending so much time on a quilt and then putting it in a garage sale but I am happy I am able to finish it for her....check out the hand stitching!

I looked through my stash for a piece large enough for the backing with no luck but I found enough green fabric to piece together 16 large pieces that I think will work well.....

so this is my contribution to the August WOOFA.......thanks Chez for keeping me on your list!  I hope to have this finished for September!  Don't forget to see all the other WOOFA projects at Gone Stitchin!

Click HERE!

February WOOFA party finish.............

 I was frantically trying to get this quilt and Raggedy Ann done before my newest Granddaughter was born on the 11th.........I was about a week late but got it done!

I included some gifts for my other 2 granddaughters but I'm not sure they liked them....lol........

 Sisters each got a pillow case and new doll outfit.....

                                                                      

Even Tita, their kitty loved the box everything was packed in....

as much as Cali, my kitty did.....

I am linking up today at Chez's Gone Stitching February WOOFA party.......Click HERE to check out what other's are working on........

Done and Done, Done, Done, Done and Done.............

 Yes........that is 6 "Done's".............the first two are the quilt and Raggedy Ann for my new Granddaughter.............

I quilted in the ditch then quilted diagonals in the smaller squares...and a meander throughout with an outline meander in the blocks with the dancers...........

and here is Raggedy Ann, whose "real" name is yet to be decided when Lila is old enough to name her..............

.........and since it's always more fun when packages contain something for everybody............here are the next 4 "done's"....

I made a couple of pillow cases and doll outfits for my other granddaughters.........

First is a Mermaid pillow case for Iris........(albeit with crooked lines...I pulled an "all-nighter and the lines looked straight at 4 o'clock in the morning....lol) and a mermaid outfit for her American Girl Doll........the mermaid is a paperpieced pattern I had made last year.......

and here is a Moana Pillow Case and Doll Outfit for Ella's Raggedy Ann (named "Nana Baby") The Moana motif is a Machine Embroidery........

So now all that is left to do is box them up and send it off!.....ummmmm.........and go take a nap!