Happy Valentine’s Day

Tuffet Class

 

Karen and I saw this tuffet* almost a year ago and had to make one.   We just finished making ours in a class at Tennessee Quilts in Jonesborough.   We sewed togehter what felt like 900 strips of our fabric  to make the cover and then added it  to foam wrapped with batting and added legs. 

*A tuffet is just a fancy word for a cute little footstool.

 

 

 

Here are few on display at Tennessee Quilts.  I love to see all the different patterns. 

Sewing Room Lamp

 

I wanted a unique lamp shade for my sewing room so I decided to decoupage an old shade with pattern paper.   I used about 2 parts elmer glue and 1 part water to decoupage the shade.

 

 

Then I added some tape measure trim with hot glue to finish the top and bottom. 

 

 

 

Hummingbird Feeder Cozy

I needed an insulated hummingbird feeder cozy ( I know, I know, common problem).  I have a little Rufous hummingbird wintering at my house in East Tennessee and the weather is so cold that the sugar water freezes.   You can read more about my hummingbird at Vicki Henderson’s blog here    
I have two feeders that I rotate when it is below freezing.  I put a Nalgene cozy over one but needed something to cover this one. 

The bottom and the neck would freeze first so I used Insul-bright to help keep it insulated from the cold outside and keep in the warmth from a hand warmer.
I cut a circle of fabric and a smaller circle of insulation then added elastic around the bottom cozy to hold it on the feeder . 


I used velco on the top cozy and elastic to make it tight around the neck.
  

Just goes to show that a little fabric and determination is all it takes.   The little bugger drank from it within 5 minutes of me hanging it and so far it has prevented freezing.

Becky’s Quilt Retreat Barn

My little group of sewing friends (aka Bags and Hags) went on a quilt retreat in Jamestown in November. We had a great time.  Becky’s barn is an old tobacco barn that was rebuilt into a sewing retreat.  You can read more about it at http://beckysbarn.blogspot.com   It was a wonderful place for a retreat and had lots of pretty quilts on the beds, here are a few:
 Sue Jones led a  Semi-Mystery class for us.  She had all the fabrics cut out and ready to go.  What a treat, just show up and sew and she always makes it fun! 


A great time was had by all and here are the results (mostly): 
I think Dottie’s was my favorite, however I haven’t seen Melissa’s yet, she was making the so called “Big EZ”  and I know from personal experience it should not be titled EZ.  However she did get it all done except sewing the rows together.

Ann also joined us but just to hang out and to treat us to a wonderful meal!

 

Charlie Brown Christmas tree

I think I may just have a Charlie Brown tree this year, too busy for the big one.  What do you think?

Geff made it for me out of a few pieces of scrap wood and a pine tree limb.. 

I stuck an ornament on it and made a little table cloth to go under it….

 

Alternate use for furniture

I was strolling around World Market and just happened across this wine hutch but I could see right away that it would be perfect for sewing supplies.   They had it marketed for holding bottles of wine horizontally.

 
I like it much better with buttons, jelly rolls, and ribbons.  And bonus that it just fits in the space between the 2 doors in my sewing room.   So always keep an open mind to what a piece of furniture can be used for, not what it was designed for.

 

Wicked

Love this WICKED Challenge that was on display at the Chattanooga Quilt Show!  You can read all about it  at  http://cherrywoodfabrics.bigcartel.com/wicked-challenge

 Here are some of my favorites (click picture to see a larger image)

Karen’s Big Easy Quilt

Karen used mostly French General fabric for her Big EZ quilt. ( I wrote about the Big EZ class earlier http://www.sewingwithrascal.com/2015/01/big-ez-quilt-class.html )   I love the reds and browns she chose.

Judy Egan did a great job quilting it too.  She made secondary block designs in each of the blocks.


Great job you two!

F-A-L-L

I love Fall and like to sew Fall themed projects.   This Fall wall hanging is made with wool.  I found the wool and pattern at Mountain Creek Quilt shop.   A friend Holly gave me the old hoe, it was her father’s.