Wee Wonderfuls Elf Boy

Wee wonderful elf boy
Originally uploaded by hmsohly

Stitched, quilted and stuffed, this is the boy version of the Wee Wonderfuls Elf Stitchette. The girls are adorable, too! The kids got them early so they could be part of the holiday decorations. The photo of all three on the couch was fuzzy, but the boy alone turned out great. The one for the big girl in the house is very sweet and has her dark hair.

The one for the little girl is darling, too. It has her blonde hair. Many thanks to the designers who share their talents with us for free. I have purchased the some other embroidery patterns from Wee Wonderfuls and look forward to making those, too. Happy Holidays!

Reversible Runner

December 8 2010 170
Originally uploaded by hmsohly

I do have a thing for toille. This Santa toille really stole my heart. Right now, it is hosting our gingerbread house, snow globe and Happy Santa on our console table. I did some simple line, organic quilting and put a white, winterberry print on the other side wo it will work for the holiday and through the winter, too. I completely cheated and used bias tape to bind it, but it turned out almost as well as if I'd spent the time making the binding myself. Sometimes, it is good enough for who it is for, as my friend, Nancy says.

I hope you are enjoying decorating for the season.

Sweet Water Quilt-as-you-go

December 8 2010 169
Originally uploaded by hmsohly

So, I gave this a try. I enjoyed that I could try different patterns on small pieces--it alleviated the decision making and commitment phobia. Once I had quilted each square, I trimmed them as wonkily as I felt comfortable. I found this method easy to do and like that I learned which patterns I appreciate most. This is just a lap quilt, but I think it will make a nice gift.

Hope you are having fun trying new things!

Winter Banners

The weather people are forcasting a snowy winter in the Northwest. Who pretty snowflakes and lights that twinkle in the night? My kiddos and I made these little banners to welcome winter.

With two pieces of felt, scrap ric-rac, and felt stickers, these little banners came together easily.

The only sewing I did was to sew on the ric-rac which became the string for the lights. You could glue it on in advance and then let the kids get started. We're working on counting here, so they counted and sorted the different light stickers. We had 30 so they each got 15 (one pack from Joann's for $1.00). They divied up the colors that went best with their sensibilities and with their felt. Then they made their patterns. Once they had the designs ready, they pulled the adhesive and placed their lights along their strings.

I helped with the snowflakes because some of the felt stickers didn't cooperate with the intended die cut. Joann's has other stickers--gingerbread men and ladies, penguins, etc. You don't need kids to make this project fun. They would make great gifts for the holiday season, too!

Winter Pillow Cases

Winter pillow cases
Originally uploaded by hmsohly

What fun! Just in time for the snow in Seattle, my friend, Nancy, and I made pillow cases for our kiddos. She wanted to get it done last year, so I found a great tutorial. With my stash and what Nancy had, we made five cases while our youngest kiddos were at preshcool.

These would be great wrapping for larger gifts and were a happy surprise for the little people in our lives. Nancy is inspired to make them for other seasons, too.

Wool Fall Runner

Wool Fall Runner close-up
Originally uploaded by hmsohly

Here is a fast one! With a wool remnant and one seam, I have a fall runner. . . something that can take us from September to Thanksgiving. A pretty flannel would work, or another plaid you like. These colors just seemed perfect for our house.

It is super simple. Fold your remnant in 1/2 with the selvadges on each end. Seam it and press. Easy, peasy, lemon-squeezy.

Thanksgiving Crafting with kids

With scraps of cotton, some felt stickers, acrylic paint and a sharpie marker, we now have a banners to remind us and welcome friends as we approach Thanksgiving.

I simply hemmed the scraps and created casings for dowels. I found a font I liked, enlarged it and then traced the word "thankful" onto the scraps. The kids painted the letters. I love the spots where they are outside the lines. Once the paint was dry, they chose the pattern order of the stickers and placed them. I had fun, tracing the letters in the brown Sharpie, to make the words pop.

This will soon be fluttering on our door. Find a a scrap, a font you like and some felt stickers. Or find some leaves, make crayon rubbings through the fabric or find fall colored scraps and have the kiddos make patterns with those.

Thankful for my little helpers.