W.I.P.(Work In Progress) Wednesday - Christmas in July

Because of my busy schedule lately, projects that I had hoped to work on have been put aside due to necessity. I have decided to pick up only those projects that I want to have complete by Christmas. For once I have decided to start these projects well ahead of time instead of unrealistically beginning them in November. ~smile~



While "Skyping" with my granddaughter the other day, she was proudly showing me all of her favorite toys. I am telling you - for those of you who are far from your loved ones - Skyping, or talking via webcam over the internet is the most wonderful invention! It is like sitting across the table chatting with your loved one! Thankfully I can enjoy my sweet Granddaughter and see her precious little face even though I am far from her. It is such a blessing!

"R" loves to show grandma all of her toys and we have long conversations about her beloved dolly that she got from her Auntie. I am going to make her a dolly dress from the pattern shown above. "R" has told me her favorite color is green.



Here are the fabrics I found to make the dress and apron with. The apron will be in the white with pink polka dots. I found some cute little pink heart buttons to use as well. It should be so cute!




I want to complete this stocking for my son "A" this year. He has been patiently waiting for one - I think it is about time I finish it while the poor boy is at home to enjoy it! He has a stocking - just not a homemade one. He has expressed that he would really like one made by me this year so that is what I will do! Really - I have the best of intentions - I just get so sidetracked! With seven children and a grandchild - it has been easy to do. There is always something pulling me in a different direction. I am showing this on my blog to hold my feet to the fire so I will get it done! :-)



It is going to be a cross stitch stocking. I haven't worked on counted cross stitch in years and I forgot how much fun it is! It takes SO long though - this may look like a meager beginning, but this is several hours worth of work. There are many colors in here already. Some of them blended together. My poor eyes are getting a work out! This is tiny!

Here is a close up. Because it is SO small, I can only work on this during daylight hours. I love to sit in the evenings and work on something while watching television with my hubby. He doesn't like many lights on while he is watching T.V. so I have only one lamp that is near my chair lit while I sew. With all of these slight variations in color that I have to work with, I usually have to put this project aside and pick up something else that doesn't require much light.

This is a fast and easy project and I LOVE the way they turn out! There is nothing like a cotton crocheted or knitted dishcloth for washing your dishes! They are SO absorbent and it is so satisfying to use them knowing that you have made them by hand. I have decided to make some for my daughters for Christmas. I am hoping to make a lot of my gifts this year. With the economy being what it is these days, we ALL need to scale back and look at what is REALLY important. My kids know that when I make something for them - it is made from my heart with all of my love put in every stitch! Because I am unable to be close to them at this time, I want Christmas this year to mean something more to them then something purchased from a store.

On the school front, I had my first day of class on Monday. My teacher is a practising Medical Doctor who teaches Anatomy/Physiology for future nursing students and doctors! He is so great at helping you to understand a concept. The class will be challenging, but looks so far to be fun. I have already had SO much reading to do and a test will be given every Monday. So far I am ahead of the game - but today I will start back to work after a glorious week off. I have been able to get so much done around my house this week. It is SO hard for me to go back to work!

Thanks so much to all of you who leave me such sweet and loving comments. Please know that I read and cherish them all and I will try to give you all a personal reply as soon as I am able. Even though I am not always able to comment as much as I would like to, I continue to read all of your blogs and hold each and every one of you in my thoughts and prayers everyday.

Blessings on your creative day today!

Kymber

W.I.P.(Work In Progress) Wednesday Color Dilemma

I love color! Why I can't seem to pull color together for my home is the big question of the day. I am in a rut and am looking for advise and direction from all of you wonderful decorators out there!

I have now lived in this beautiful home for one year. I still can't believe it has been a whole year already! Time flies - doesn't it? We still have some rooms in our home that we haven't put pictures up in yet. I have been in a state of indecision and because I tend to be a perfectionist - it has been easier to just put it off. Enough is enough - I NEED to get my house finished and I need your expert advise.

When we moved here, our dining room walls were painted a lovely hunter green color. They look so nice against the white wainscoting that I haven't been able to paint it another color. I tend to love the color blue. I have it in almost every room of my house so I really have been fighting the urge to use it once again in THIS room.

Heres my dilemma:
I have this beautiful wall quilt that means so much to me - I finally decided to have my husband put it up on the wall in our dining room.



Those of you who have read my blog for awhile, know how sentimental I am! I purchased this quilt a few years ago after we had a memorial service for my mom on a beautiful beach on the Big Island of Hawaii. During our family gathering - when we were putting Lei's out in the water, a giant sea turtle swam through right at that moment. It was such a special moment to me that when we saw this beautiful quilt in one of the stores in Hawaii, I knew I had to have it! As you can see - there are
sea turtles everywhere on this quilt!

Here is a different angle so you can get an idea of the wall space I have to work with. I am thinking about adding some white plates/platters on the two sides to try to balance it all out. What do you think?

We were going to use reds in this room - we purchased a table and chair set from a wonderful store here in Atlanta called the Classy Flea. I have written about this wonderful store in several of my past posts and if you are familiar with Susan - she has written some great posts that she calls "Flea Fridays" about terrific finds that you can get at this store. She is the reason that I stopped in one day - I am now officially hooked and you will find many beautiful things in my house that I have purchased from The Classy Flea.

Here is another picture of the hutch that I purchased from there and as you can see sitting on the top - is a NEW item - my cute little bird cage that I just found during a visit last weekend!

Look at those bare walls! ~oops!~ I am digressing again ...

We purchased this table and plan to refinish it - (don't look too closely at the dust) my hubby likes the look of the striped red in the seat covers so I have been on the look out at the fabric store for something that will work to recover them with. I can't seem to settle on this color though - because in MY mind - everything will clash. We bought this rug at a garage sale. It will have to do until I can find something better. It clashes with the red and now my quilt does too! Should I just give up and go with blues in here again?

I have this fabric bolt that I was going to make curtains out of at my old house and now my hubby isn't too keen on using it in this home. I love toile - but I already have alot of it in my kitchen - do I want to use it in yet another room?

Should I use it to recover these ugly chairs?


I can also use it for curtains.....
UGH! I wish this came easier for me - I marvel at how you talented ladies are able to effortlessly add color to your homes and they just seem to flow!

This is why I have such a hard time deciding on colors for a quilt that I want to make - my color choices never seem to look right to me so I get stuck in indecision.

I love the rich colors of the blues and the green in this room - just don't know how to tie it all together with other colors. HELP!

On a DIFFERENT note...

Not too much happening on my WIP crafts....

Finished up this block - finally! Beginning to cut out fabric for the February block - (slightly behind- but who cares?)

Working on my Grandmothers Flower Garden hexagons in the evenings...

Handwork that I do while sitting with my honey watching television in the evenings! It is so relaxing to me and even though the process is slow - every little bit counts and brings me closer to finishing this quilt! I keep the paper pieces in to help stabilize it until I am ready to put it all together.

Blessings on your creative day,
Kymber

W.I.P.(Work(s) In Progress) Wednesday

Isn't this a beautiful machine? Unfortunately it isn't mine - just one I found on the internet, but I wish it were! One day I hope to find one of these beauties to bring home - but alas - no room in the sewing room for one now!

Lately my sewing room looks like a bomb went off in it! My creative juices are flowing - but running in all directions at the moment. Why start one project when you can have four going at once? I don't know what I was thinking - but after completing my Alphabet Book, I have been thinking about the many things I would like to finish up for the year. I thought I would show you a few of them.

I know this is a blurry picture and the blocks need ironing....

This is a quilt that I have been working on for my daughter. She would probably tell you that I have been promising it to her for years now. It is a fairly easy quilt - It is blanket stitched on the sewing machine and goes together very quickly. I will add the butterfly antennae later by hand. I stopped working on this when I went back to school to become a nurse and never picked it back up again even though I have taken a year off from my schooling. Why is it I always want to start projects when my school quarters are about to start back up again? I hope to use this as a stress reliever this time - and actually finish it for her while I still can!


I found this pattern in the Fons and Porter's "For The Love Of Quilting" magazine - March/April 2001 issue. It is a Depression Era quilt made with Reproduction 1930's fabrics. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it and knew I had to make it! I don't know why I love the look of blanket stitching so much - I seem to do a lot of it. I think because I am fairly new at quilting, it is easier than needleturn applique for me - although I have done both.



Here's a close up of my unironed blocks :-)

I love all of the different fabrics that you can get in these repro colors. They will add so much character to this quilt!I will post more blocks as I complete them.

This was one of my take-along projects that I worked on in the plane on my way to/from Hawaii. I am terribly behind in this Block Of The Month. This is a fun new free Block of The Month quilt called A Tisket A Tasket that is offered from a very talented lady Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs. I know many of you in blogland are making these blocks and you have all inspired me to make them too! They have been a challenge for me - I wanted to do the needle turn method and tried several times to prepare the blocks - I kept making mistakes and finally decided to just do these blocks in my old favorite quick method - blanket stitch! After the Alphabet Book - I really wanted to work on something a little different rather than blanket stitch - but I am pleased with how it looks so far. They are quick to prepare and quick to complete. This is the January block - so I needed a quick method to get myself caught up!

When I just couldn't handle doing one more blanket stitch on the plane - I pulled this project out. I will be talking more about these fun blocks in the future and have joined a fun group that is on my sidebar to keep me motivated to complete this quilt. This will eventually be made into a quilt called Grandmothers flower garden.

It will eventually look like this! Isn't it beautiful? This isn't my quilt - just another borrowed picture from the web. I just love the look of this quilt! I am doing this totally by hand using the English Paper Piecing method. I will show more of these as I put them together. To see more beautiful quilts done using this method - check out The Great Hexagon Quilt Along Two.

I need to get to work -

Blessings on your creative day today!

Kymber

W.I.P.(Work In Progress) Wednesday

Drum roll please.....

The long awaited book.....

Is now finished....

Ready to be packaged up with other goodies....

And sent on it's way to grandma's favorite little girl who is so deserving of the love and time it took to finish this.....

Hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it!

Now.... on to my next project.....

I will show you what that will be next Wednesday!

To see the Work In Progress photos of this book, click on the "Labels" link at the bottom of this post

Blessings,

Kymber

W.I.P.(Work In Progress) Wednesday

Don't you just love this picture? Her dollies are sitting attentively close by watching her sew - too cute!


It has been a few weeks since I have posted my progress on the Alphabet book. I have finally finished all of the blocks (well - with the exception of a few details to finish up here and there) and am now putting together the pages! Right now I am on a time crunch - I need to get this in the mail very soon - I am quickly running out of time!


The blocks appear wavy in these pictures - it is just due to throwing them down carelessly and taking the pictures without taking the time to smooth them out. A photographer I am not! ~sigh~

I love how this little watermelon turned out. The red fabric actually has watermelon seeds on it. It is amazing the fabrics I have been able to find in my stash! The seeds are HUGE, but that is beside the point. LOL! I have a little nick in the felt on this one. I am hoping that because it is in the binding, it won't be seen. This is the last of the felt that came in the kit. The pattern for this book came with enough felt to supposedly finish all of the blocks. I got this kit many years ago and found that when I cut all of the blocks out, I was short four blocks worth! I went to several fabric stores to buy some additional felt, and was only able to find felt that is a tad bit lighter than the original and also it isn't as thick as what came in the kit. How frustrating! Thankfully it will be sandwiched together with another block so hopefully that will help keep it sturdy. I may need to back a few with a thick piece of interfacing. I will cross that bridge when I get closer to finishing the book.

I have had so much fun putting this together! Even though I am more than ready to start a new project, I will be sad to see this one go. As you can see I am not quite finished with the "Z" Block. The pattern called for a painted on zigzag stitch for the mane. I thought it would be fun to add some texture so I have been painstakingly adding a fringe mane instead. It takes awhile because you have to knot each individual cluster of thread. I feel like I am all thumbs when I am doing this on such a small scale. I am pleased with the end result though.

Here are a few of the blocks that have been placed back to back and handsewn together. It looks handsewn - a bit rough around the edges - but that is the idea! I now need to add the 1/2 " cuts on the side to thread my torn homespun strips of fabric that will bind the book together and it will be finished! Hopefully by next week I can show you the finished book and the beginnings of a new project. I have been slowly washing and ironing all of the fabrics in my stash to start an applique quilt that I have wanted to make for quite some time. It will be another great take-along project to work on while the kiddos I am watching are napping during the day.

Hope you have a fun day working on projects that you love!

Blessings,

Kymber

W.I.P.(Work In Progress) Wednesday

I am on the home stretch with the blocks I have been working on forever it seems - one more week to completion~! Then I can start assembling the Alphabet Book. I am so ready to start something new. I have set my machine up for some quilt blocks to begin once the book is completed. I want to make a Springtime tablerunner for my kitchen table. With as much time as I am able to devote to sewing, I may get it finished in time for next year - but I am in desperate need of some soft Spring colors to work with! Alongside the tablerunner, I want to work on my granddaughter's Christmas stocking so I can have it done by Christmastime. It will feel strange to work on something for Christmas, but this year I am trying to plan ahead so I can be prepared for once! Working on two projects will allow me to have an on-the-go project, ready when I am sitting idle during naptime, and a project by the machine- which I hope to spend an allotted hour a day on during the week.(the children I nanny for take an hour nap and I am able to sit and sew during this time so my on-the-go project gives me something I can accomplish during this time - it is a precious hour to say the least!)

Remember this guy from last week? I said that he looked more like a ghost than a snowman. Well, thanks to a helpful suggestion from a new friend, I was able to fix it without starting from scratch.


Here he is the way he looks now. Thank you "Beginner" (she doesn't have a blog) for your helpful suggestion to add batting behind my snowman. It did the trick, plus added a new texture for my grandbaby to feel. I love it!
I have learned as I work on these blocks that as I complete them they will start to "grow" on me. I am not always thrilled with the suggested color combinations, but I do them "as suggested" so that they will be colorful for my grandbaby to look at. This tree was one of the ones that I wasn't thrilled with visually. Now that I am adding the black thread, it seems to pull it all together and I am starting to like it better.

I was so glad to work on this bright block - "V " for Violet! Spring colors at last! After the rains that we had this last weekend, and finishing up my "U" for Umbrella block, It was a treat to add a colorful flower to this block - the arrival of Spring! I hope you have had a fun creative week! I would love to see what you are working on - please join me in posting your projects during WIP Wednesday! I would be happy to link to them in future posts. Let's inspire each other shall we?

Blessings on your day,

Kymber