Mailbox Gnomes

 

I found this glass terrarium on clearance last year but didn't find the right inspiration for it. I'd pick up quite an assortment of odds and ends, including these gnomes, but nothing was coming together. Once a mail scene occurred to me, I knew that was the right theme. I was hoping to find a doll house mailbox, but the one at Hobby Lobby was too large, as the terrarium is only about 3.5" tall. I made the mail box out of cardboard. I was going to make tiny mail, but I found the mail in the doll house accessories while looking for a mail box.

Christmas Octopus Ornament

 

When I found this octopus key chain at Hobby Lobby, I was planning to give to gift it as a key chain, but then it occurred to me that I could dress it up for Christmas and turn it into an ornament. Initially I thought about putting a Santa hat on it, but it has a big head, and the key chain part didn't help. I am very pleased with the results. It is about 3.5" wide.

Pastel Purse

 

After I decided to make a doll quilt for my cousin's daughter, I realized I need to make her a purse too, so of course I made my favorite purse pattern! The quilt fits inside perfectly. It would have been great it the purse matched the bag, but I didn't have enough of the quilt fabric for both projects, and I'd already used that fabric for a purse anyway. This fabric was leftover from making some pillow covers for my sister. I would have used it for the quilt if I'd had enough coordinating fabrics. The purse is lined with a light yellow fabric I used to supplement the back of the cherry quilt. 

Doll Quilt

After I finished the cherry quilt, it occurred to me that I should make a doll quilt for my cousin's daughter, since her brother was getting a quilt. I had 8 days before leaving for Thanksgiving. The most time consuming part was selecting fabric, but I met the deadline! I previously used this fabric to make purses.

 Finished size: 16.5" x 20"

Cheery Cherries Quilt

When I finished the twin kaleidoscope quilts, I needed a break. After procrastinating on my original economy block plan for this cherry fabric, this quilt came together in record time. I found the design, the math worked for the fabric I had (which was not much of the red print), and I had the planning done in a week. Initially I made 30 blocks. Then I made 12 more and pieced the top, but it needed one more row. Fortunately I had just enough leftover pieces of green fabric to make six more blocks. Thanks to a holiday weekend, I pieced the entire top in four days. I realized I've done very few quilts where the entire quilt is the exact same block, especially in the exact same fabric and orientation.

Kaleidoscope of Stars Quilt B

This quilt is a non-identical twin to my first kaleidoscope of stars quilt. The main difference is the combination of fabrics in the blocks, which you have to look rather closely to notice.

Kaleidoscope of Stars Quilt A

After giving a quilt to my cousin for his daughter's first birthday, I knew I would need to make quilts for this baby's future siblings and cousins, and by this time, my other cousin was expecting a baby boy, so I bought some fabric...and then we moved. Baby cousin #2 is now almost 18 months old, and I've finally finished his quilt!

 

Thread Count Quilt

I love the colors of this quilt. Although the design is very simple, it took forever to find a design that worked with these fabrics! It is called Thread Count by Amy Gibson. I used 5" squares and 5" x 15" strips.

Halloween Stockings

I am not sure what I was looking for when I came across this fabric, which I last used in 2014 and 2016 to make treat bags for my nieces (when there were only three of them!), but I decided to use it to make some Halloween stockings for them this year. I used up all the ghost fabric making two, and then figured I might as well use up the rest of the owls and pumpkins, so I made five more for them to share with their friends. Hopefully Lucy still likes little stockings as much as she did back when I was inspired to make mermaid and unicorn stockings.

 

Little Green Hobbit Cape

 

It has been a busy week of sewing! My nieces are reading The Hobbit for school this year, and the lesson plan says to dye some fabric and make a cape out of it. We are splitting these into two activities. I hemmed some white double gauze into blankets for them to dye, and then made a cape out of this shirting fabric I had originally purchased to use as backing for my plaid quilt. I found a simple pattern that I made even simpler. I did not line the cape, I just hemmed around the edges. Instead of button holes, I added buttons at the top with some elastic. This all happened on a tight deadline so everything would be ready for my brother in law to pick up while he was in town for work.

Plaid Quilt

I've been collecting these 6" squares for years, and it was finally time to assemble them into a quilt. There are at least two each pattern, but no more than four. There is one I didn't plan to use that only has three. After assembling 80 blocks, I decided I needed another row, but that was as big as it could get. Before we moved, I found the two fabrics I used for the front. One of my quilter friends suggested I incorporate somewhere to "rest the eye." I did buy some solid fabric, but I could not incorporate it into the design.I am very pleased with how it turned out, despite how busy it is. It was hard to find fabric to coordinate with so many colors, and both the wood grain and navy crosshatch are perfect. I am pleased with how pleased I am with it, given how much I loved the very different color palette of my last quilt.