A DrEAMI Friday - Scrappy Placemats

The morning started very early... 5:30 a.m.  While I am definitely a morning person, even that was a little early for me.  Dave was headed out with a friend to enjoy a very chilly morning watching the dawn come in as he waited for some deer to wander by.  Sadly, he only saw the sunrise and a few birds.

As I laid there in bed unable to go back to sleep my thoughts turned toward a scrappy project.  I prepped a single serving of "slow cooker overnight oats".  Have you seen one of those single serving crockpots?  Usually intended, I think, for a cheese dip or spinach artichoke dip.  I dropped in 1/4 cup steel cut oats, diced apples and dried cherries with some maple sugar and 3/4 cup apple juice.  I prepped a cup of hot chai tea and then went to my chair to enjoy some quiet time.

As I wrapped that up I considered what quilty project I would work on... The Disney Babies quilt is ready for quilting... but I had the idea (a DrEAMI project) that caused me to Drop Everything And Make It... I pulled out my scrap bin and some pre-cut 1-1/2" wide strips. I wanted to try my hand at making these placemats.  I found the double flying geese FPP pattern by doing a search on my favorite search engine.

I had planned on helping a friend learn foundation paper piecing back in September but it never worked out that our schedules meshed.

By 8 a.m. my studio looked like my scraps had exploded!  But I was having a great time and it didn't matter.  

When my tummy had a rumble in it I stopped to eat breakfast and the oats were perfect!  After a shower I returned to the studio...  

By afternoon I had to placemats pieced, quilted and with a scrappy binding from my scrap trims box!  The bias tape worked perfectly for the rounded corners...

My friend had wanted to make some placemats for her camper... she will be the recipient of these 100% scrap items.  They are just slightly smaller than placemats that might be purchased.  But, of course, campers are always a little more compact!  If she wants a few more, I will have still have the opportunity to give her a lesson!

Have you had a DrEAMI project lately?  

Leave a comment...  I'd love to hear from you!

Piece Out,

Melva

P.S. I'll be headed to bed a little earlier than normal tonight.  I'm tired!  😴

Linking with:

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Off The Wall Friday with Nina Marie

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More

Friday Foto Fun at Powered by Quilting

Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch

Scrap Happy Saturday at Super Scrappy

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Thankful Thursday

Another week, and so much to be thankful for! 

#1 - Dave and I have some kind, thoughtful and generous customers, and every once in a while, our customers "cross-over".  I have had some loyal customers that trust me with quilting projects and trust him for their gun work/repair.  And vice-versa...

A few weeks ago one of his customers had mentioned that he had been cleaning out his parents' house (it may have been his grand-parents' house) and found some old bedding that had been made with cloth portland cement bags.  Dave casually mentioned to him that I would enjoy seeing something like that.  

This week I was asked to visit his shop because he had something I would want to see.  When I walked into the shop I saw that one of the "portland cement" bedding pieces, probably about 100 years old, was on the table.  

Paul comes from a long line of coal miners and, apparently, it was common for the miners to grab the empty bags and take them home for their wives to use.

I think most of us are familiar with the use of flour sacks, but this was one was new.

As we wrapped up our conversation and my admiration of the hand stitching holding this "sheet" together he said, "You can have this one.  I have several more at home."  How generous of him!

#2 - I had a meeting with the LQS located in Raton, NM, just over the state line from us.  The owner of the shop is excited and willing to partner with me for a sew along hosted by her shop.  

She has arranged for another book signing at the Raton Public Library that will also be the "kick-off" event of the sew along.  There will be two patterns offered each month, along with the letters, family stories and history lessons.  In addition to this info, I will share hints and tips for piecing the blocks.  Most of this info was included on-line in the posts as I published them, but because I could not include the patterns in the book, I eliminated those sections from the book.

#3 - I am ever so grateful for a reliable and gracious pattern tester that doesn't hesitate when I give her less than a week to try out a pattern that has to be published next week.  Thanks Gina from Gina's Custom Creations.  Her feedback on each pattern of the Santa Fe Trail Sew Along Quilt has been invaluable!  Show her some love over on instagram if you have an account there.

With Christmas approaching quickly I am being cautious to not get caught up in the "commercialism" of the holiday.  We have no Christmas decorations up yet, but we have sent out all of our "business" Christmas cards and we are working on our annual family letter.  With fingers crossed, we will have it printed on Monday and in the mail on Tuesday... and THEN I can be concerned about the decorating.  Plans for our girls and their families to come here on Christmas Day have just been confirmed.  Woohoo!  

What are you thankful this week?  

Leave a comment... I'd love to hear from you!

Stay Piece-ful,

Melva

Linking with:

Thankful Thursday at Not Afraid of Color

Cradle to Quilt

I love, L❤ve, L💗VE to make memory quilts for family, friends and customers!

The latest memory quilt is made with little lovey blankets that accompanied Disney Babies.  With each trip to Disney World a little girl got a new Baby.

That same little girl is now 6 feet tall but still a small girl in her heart and wants to have all of her lovey blankets made into a quilt.  

I'd say she is a smart and very mature young lady to make such a request!

It has been fun working with these little blankets that varied in color, size and texture.  When making such a quilt you can achieve a better success by applying fusible interfacing to stabilize the fabrics.  Those fuzzy, stretchy and slickery (yes that really is a word!) fabrics like to move around way too much without it.

I dug into my stash for some juvenile prints to coordinate with the squares.  Thanks to the various contributions from friends over the years, I had a great variety and I had plenty!

It is ready for a border, but I am undecided about what to do... I am open to suggestions!  Leave a comment if you have an idea. 

None the less... It will have to wait for a few more days because I have more pressing matters to handle right now.  While I only had two items on last week's To-do List (this memory quilt was one of them)  I didn't completely finish either of the tasks.

And since I drug my feet  completely forgot (because I was having such fun with the memory quilt) about getting the pattern written for the final installment of the Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail sew along, it is now a serious matter since it is to be published on December 16th.

So... the list for the coming week?

❧  Write final installment for the Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail sew along and get the last pattern written and tested

❧  Meet with the local quilt shop about partnering for a block of the month event featuring the Pieces From the Past patterns

❧  Finish the Disney Babies Memory Quilt

❧  Pull out decorations for Christmas... and then if I have time 🕑 make a few quilted ornaments to include on gifts

Do you have an idea for the border???  I have considered a piano key border... or some other sort of "scrappy" border to match the scrappiness  variety of the lovies that are featured.

Stay pieceful,

Melva 

Linking with:

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

To Do Tuesday at Texas Quilt Gal

Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Stitch Sew & Show at Life in the Scrap Patch

Put Your Foot Down at For the Love of Geese

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Disney Babies Almost Finish

I have an almost Friday finish to celebrate this week!

The Disney Babies memory quilt top is together and ready for borders...

In relation to my to-do list that I was so proud of accomplishing earlier this week... The Christmas stocking for Grand-daughter Hanna will get a do-over this weekend!  

I made the stocking facing the opposite direction of the stockings for the rest of the family.  

Ugh... If I had done a few this way, and a few the other it would have been fine.  😠  I just hate when I do something like this... at least it is a quick project and I should be able to get it done Sunday afternoon.  Oh, guess what.  I'll be purchasing some jingle bells for the new stocking.  LOL!  

Saturday afternoon I am participating in an "Author's Market" event here in town... I'll be promoting my Pieces From the Past book and quilt.

What are YOUR plans for the weekend?

Leave a comment... I'd love to hear from you!

Keep piecing,

Melva

Linking with:

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Off The Wall Friday with Nina Marie

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More

Friday Foto Fun at Powered by Quilting

Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch

No Guilt::Go Quilt - Green Enchilada Chicken Soup

Where would I be with out my slow cooker??? Stuck in the kitchen making dinner, that's where!

Thanks to my personal assistant and sous chef, my crockpot, I was able to FINALLY complete a few items that had been on my To-do list for weeks.  I'll share the recipe in a minute...

✔  The pattern test is DONE!  I can't share the finished top, but as I stated last week (and shared), one of the options allows you to use a panel at the center.  I had to add to the panel I had selected to get it the correct size... 

Here's a peek at what came next...

The other item completed was the Christmas stocking for our newest grand-daughter, Hanna.

After we celebrated Thanksgiving on Wednesday evening the three darling girls came home with us since their Mom & Dad had to work the remainder of the week/weekend.  

Naps were needed as we "watched" the Thanksgiving Day parade...

Once everyone was refreshed and recharged the afternoon involved riding and driving Dave's new-to-him tractor...

Hanna was hanging out with me inside, happy and content with her plethora of toys offering entertainment as I enjoyed some Hallmark movies...

After a repeat of day one on day two, we ventured into town for the Tree Lighting Ceremony.

Grand times with the Grand-babies! 💗  But alas, the fun came to an end when our other daughter, Rebecca picked them up to return to Pueblo so that they could all sleep in their own beds for Saturday night.  They trimmed her tree, colored/decorated eggs, watched Aladdin and played hide and seek...

That was when I called out my crock to help me out.  On the menu was Green Enchilada Chicken Soup 

2.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs

28 oz can green enchilada sauce

24 oz chicken or vegetable broth

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt & pepper to taste

Cook for 6-8 hours.  Shred chicken.  Stir in 4 oz cream cheese until melted/blended.

Optional garnish:  avocado, green onion, sour cream, cilantro

Serve with quesadillas or chips

I used dairy-free cream cheese and it was delish!  Dave loved it as well. :)

✔  While the soup was simmering away, I was finishing Hanna's stocking.  Ta-da!

❧  On the cutting table next is a collection of little lovey blankets that came with Disney Babies.  This is a custom memory quilt... 

The little blankets  are two-sided and I'll be using a layout similar to the "Little Princess" one in the lower right corner.

I'll need to add some other fabric to make it a 60"x80" finished quilt, but this should be a fun project.

❧  I'll also be getting the pattern for the label of the Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail quilt finalized and tested, as well as a wrap-up of Marion's Memoir.

I continue to search for another "topic" for another special sew along, several suggestions have been made.  Keep the suggestions coming!  I'm still on the hunt.  

One book I have ordered is about five women that made aviation history.  Another I have looked at is by Rose Wilder Lane written in 1925... the only book I have located happens to be selling for $70 and I'm not sure I want to invest quite that much money.  It is a fictional biography of Jack London with a San Francisco setting.  

One last idea I have had was to do a collection of classic books with each having a block of their own.  

What do you think?

Leave a comment... I'm open to ideas and I'd love to hear from you!

Be blessed and keep piecing,

Melva

Linking with:

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

To Do Tuesday at Texas Quilt Gal

Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Put Your Foot Down at For the Love of Geese

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Tuesday's To-Do Ramblings

The list is short and sweet this week...  

❧  Finish the pattern test... The center panel is complete and I am pleased.  The only issue I had was that it was just a smidge too wide.  I took a very narrow seam on the left side of the prayer.  While not the ideal correction to the issue, I will bury it in the quilting.  I am planning to do the hanging diamond grid on the wall hanging and I think it will be just fine.

❧  Finish Hanna's Christmas Stocking...

The other stockings for the grands have little bells hanging from the prairie points.  I have just one bell on hand, and I don't want to buy a bag of 12...  I came across three little snowflakes that I will dangle from the points.

I hope to get it done in time to send it home with the kiddos so that it can be hung with the rest of the family's stockings when Heather is ready to decorate.

I want to make a "baby's first Christmas" ornament with her picture on it too... but that can wait a bit.  It will be a tag on her gift.

Speaking of gifts.  We unexpectedly got all of our Christmas shopping done on Saturday!  Ok, well a little bit of it spilled over to yesterday but we now only need to wait for the gifts that have been ordered to arrive.

We had gone to the local farm supply store for something not related to Christmas at all and walked out with only Christmas gifts for the wee ones.  LOL!  

In other news... The book signing event last week was a success.  Nearly 40 people came by and 22 books were sold.  A friend that I worked with years ago sent me a message with a picture of "my name in the lights" saying he was proud of me.  The local bank advertises upcoming local events and the book signing was one of them. :)  It was great to see friends and acquaintances that I haven't seen for years... But the best part was being able to talk with some people that remembered my grandparents and shared their memories with me.  Priceless!

I'll be participating in an "Author Market Place" event on December 4th... another opportunity to see more familiar faces and make new friends.

❧  The final item(s) on my list is to enjoy our early Thanksgiving with our family and cherish the time with the grand-daughters for a few days after.

How are you doing with your gift giving list?

Leave a comment... I'd love to hear from you.

Have a blessed and safe week,

Melva

Linking with:

To Do Tuesday at Texas Quilt Gal

Monday Morning Musings ~ November 22

As we prepare for the week ahead... the kick-off of the "holdiay season", I look forward to some family time.  Since our daughter, Heather, and her husband, Art, are both working on Thursday and the entire weekend, we will be having our Thanksgiving celebration on Wednesday evening.  The fun will not end that evening because we are bringing the grand-daughters home with us until Saturday when they get picked up by Auntie Becca and returned back home to Mom that night.  There will be one last "tag" as a babysitter arrives Sunday morning to finish out the weekend.  Whew...

Having a natural tendency to be an introvert I will be preparing myself mentally for the presence of a larger crowd... Yes, it will be family... yes, I love them all... but the noise and activity over-stimulates me causing me to want to retreat to quiet and solitude!  Haha!  I will be found in my studio FINALLY working on the pattern test that has been waiting for weeks.  It has an option to use a panel as the center of the quilt and I have planned all along to use one that I had inherited in a fabric stash gifting.  

I had selected some coordinating fabrics and started cutting and piecing.  But after the placement of a few components I was completely unhappy with it.  Bleh!  NOW what???  While rummaging in the studio closet for something else unrelated my eyes fell on a panel printed with A Christmas Manger Prayer on it that has been around for many years... just waiting.

I pulled it out with plans to use it for this test.  All was good until I realized it wasn't quite the dimension that the pattern test called for.  I added a few muslin strips that matched the background and proceeded to cut some pieces of Christmas novelty prints but, again, I was unhappy with my selections.  **Ugh**

Jack (the seam-ripper) and I sat and conversed as I removed the muslin strips.  When I was done I added a narrow black border and then dug out some scraps.  I will be creating a stained-glass look to make the center panel section the appropriate size!  Finally I am pleased with my fabric choices and plan to get the panel to the correct size!  I can't reveal more until the designer releases her pattern... 

Those are itty-bitty pieces... and there is a need for a LOT of them!  You know where you can find me. 😉 You may need to look under the piles of fabric... I seem to have quite a mess! 

When I am done messing with all those pieces I will wade out from them and be putting the final touches on the release of block 12 of the Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail Sew Along.  This is the final block required for the top of the quilt so I'll be including cutting and assembly instructions for the sashing strips, corner stones and borders.  I look forward to seeing some of the finished tops very soon!

Whether or not you are traveling to celebrate Thanksgiving with family or friends, be safe and may your gratitude list be long and plentiful.

And consider this a reminder to clean of your table... LOL 

God Bless!

Melva

Linking with:

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts