Okay...I said I'd try a collage. Not sure this is the one I like yet but here are a few of things I have completed in the past year. I really don't think this is all but a good sampling...enjoy!

I'll post again after I come back from my 11 day cruise on The Legend of the Seas with Royal Caribbean to the the Southern Caribbean. Aruba here we come...first thing tomorrow morning...I'll being back some sunshine and waves!

Finished More 12 x 12s!

As always I am incredibly behind. For the past two years my friends and I, the Quilt Sluts or if you prefer the more watered down version, Quilt Workers, have been working on a quilt challenge. We were inspired by the quilts from the book, Twelve by Twelve: The International Art Quilt Challenge by Brenda Gael Smith 

We decided to keep our theme "colors." In the past two years hopefully 12 of us have completed 9 different 12 x 12 art quilts with various color themes. I am still 3 behind but I will have them completed by our retreat in March. I have to push myself to make deadlines sometimes but usually manage to get things completed on time. In all fairness I do have a full time job at the library as well. We won't talk about the "Sluts" who are over-achievers in our group. They don't count since their mad skills put them in another class altogether, far beyond my scope! (You know who you are Shelley, Mary, Lori). So far most of the Sluts are debating over my color choices but that's okay, too. I choose to take creative licence over my creations. So...below is my 

GREY

And here is my 

RED

I need to block all of them I think to straighten them up nicely but all in all, I'm pretty satisfied. My original plan was to make them all one theme so they would make a more unified hanging in my room once we were done. That didn't happen. I tried doors and things to do with doors for my first two. Then things just didn't work out the way I planned and I jumped all over the place from there. Tonight I will try to post again with all of my 12 x 12s to date in a collage. 

Until then, quilt your hearts out! I have to head back to work after two snow days. Let's hope I make it to work in one piece. It not I guess I'll have to call my quilty friends to stitch me back together!

Sewing Up a Storm for Christmas!

I have been sewing everyday lately, which is something for me. To date I have made four green grocery bags from Sew Serendipity Bags by Kay Whitt. I gave one away at our Quiltworkers Christmas Social to my secret pal, Amy Walko. 

 Today I cut two more. I love the owls but I really like the way the flowers look as well. I need to make me one sometime but for now, I have more to make for Christmas!

This afternoon I finished one more gift...the Tardis zippered wristlet. These are still secrets so I'm not saying who any of these are for. 

Here's the back.

And the inside. The pocket should fit a smart phone or a passport.

And I finished one more divided basket, pattern by Noodlehead. I gave one away to my secret pal at the VBMQG Christmas meeting. I have three more made so that makes four. Here's the front with the pockets. 

This one might be my favorite so far. This is the back side.

And here's the inside lining and divider.

Here's the tote my secret pal, who I now know was Liz Berry, made me for our Christmas Social this Saturday. I really like the bright colors and dark background. If I turn it inside out it's reversible. It's black inside with a row of large pockets.  Thanks so much, Liz!

After the social Saturday, I came home and made seven of these lanyards for friends for Christmas. These were a very easy thing to make. I hope my friends will enjoy them. Again...not saying who they are because I haven't given them away yet!

What are you making for Christmas? Please leave a comment and share what you've been sewing! There isn't a lot of time left but I plan to make a few more. How about you?

Homemade Christmas at the Jebavys

I have been really horrid about posting to my blog but on the other hand, I have been busily working away at my Christmas list. Here are pictures of a few of the things I've made. Somehow I missed getting a photo of the yellow and gray divided basket I made for my secret pal at the VBMQG. I guess you won't get to see that one. 

These are a few of the green grocery bags I've been making from the book Sew Serendipity BAGS by Kay Whitt. My friend and fellow blogger, Mary http://fairlymerry.blogspot.com/, suggested I make the straps longer. I like them much better since I did. 

As you can see above the pouch holds the bag with a strap you can hang by your keys so you won't forget your bag when you run out!

This is my second bag. I guess I need to throw in a picture of my first bag so you can see how short the handles are in the pattern.

The flowered bag is my fourth or fifth bag now and so far my favorite! I put the bird on the back so the pouch didn't hide it.

Then I found a Lego man I though my hubby who is a Lego fanatic would enjoy. I still have to make this into a pillow for him but it's just a matter of time and keeping him out of the house long enough to work on it!

Finally, here's what I worked on today for hours! A Tardis zippered pouch. I am loving this but it's been sort of a bugger to do. I have to wait for some hardware to finish it which is just as well. I needed a break. It's really forced me to think things through. I'm loving the result so far. I just hope the recipient will like it as much as I do.

Here's a peek at the lining and inside pocket which should fit an iPhone or a passport! The color is a darker, richer blue on the outside with the inside being a black and white. I'll try to get the color better on the finished picture. Some days my camera just doesn't want to cooperate! Sorry!

What are you making this Christmas? Please leave a comment and tell me what you've got going. In the new year my goal is to make this blog a little better visually and learn how to make a collage so I can put multiple pictures like these side by side in a box. For now, what you see is what you get! 

Friday Finishes

Yesterday I cut out a Divided Basket pattern by Noodlehead available for purchase here: Divided Basket Pattern. No problem, I thought. I should be able to make this pattern, right? Today I finished a project for my dad and began to work on this basket. From there things went straight downhill! After becoming totally frustrated I texted my friend Mary (Fairly Merry) to tell her I was going out of my mind! She texted me back to say she'd be right over. I have to tell you, it turned my day around!

I hope all of you have one friend that is there for you like this! I had the pattern pieces all cut out wrong. I missed the part about connecting pattern pieces so nothing was right. It would have taken me hours, maybe days to figure out what I did wrong without Mary's generous and timely help! Instead, look what I made with her help in about an hour or so! I only lacked stitching around the very top when she left which took me about 10 minutes to complete. I may make a few of these in the next few weeks now that I know how easily they go together. Who is this one for? That's a secret...maybe it's you!

Before I started on the divided basket above, I finished the last piece of my dad's quilt I've been working on for several years...close to 5 really! The bear in the tree is the very last of nine 12" X 12" quilts from McKenna Ryan's Out and About pattern. The first piece I gave Dad for his 85th birthday. In April he'll be 90. I want to get the last piece to him before that so he actually has some time to enjoy the whole thing! It looks much better in person. I couldn't get the color quite right in the photo.The bear will be on the right of the picture at the bottom of this blog. The eagle will be in the top center spot.

This was number eight. I sent this to dad for Christmas last year but it ended up coming back to me. It's a long story...suffice it to say, he'll get the last two pieces together.

Below is what the other seven pieces look like on Dad's wall. He's going to need to move a clock or move the whole grouping. We placed them where he wanted at the time. I know it will look awesome finally complete!

I'll leave you with Mary's soothing words...stay calm and quilt on!

What Have I Been Up To? And an Update on the Monkey Queen

I know it's been a while again. I have not done a ton sewing or quilting in the past few weeks. The weather was nice so my husband and I have walked and walked and walked. Then it grew nasty and with the front came migraines...lots of them in one week and I really didn't care about much. Now it's nicer but cooling down and I feel like I can function again. We'll keep walking as long as the weather holds out because it can't last much longer. But I must get in as much sewing as I can. Christmas and challenge obligations are looming!

In the meantime, our Virginia Beach Modern Quilt Guild has had to change the date they meet to the third Saturday of the month. That's excellent news for me because I am off that Saturday. Yay! I had to go late this week due to a prior appointment before I knew they changed. I have already re-arranged next month's appointments so they will not conflict with this meeting. I will give up most things for a guild meeting but my massage and hair appointments are not among them.

I spent part of Saturday and a couple short sessions before that trying to finish the last piece to my Dad's quilt by McKenna Ryan called Out and About. It's done in 12" squares which are then stretched on canvas and hung in a grouping.Here's a sneak peek at at some of the detail on this piece. More later. I'll post a pictures of this whole piece and the other 8 when it's done providing I can find photos of all the pieces! I think I have pictures of the first 7 pieces hung on his wall. My Dad will be 90 in April. This was a fabulous way to make him something for Birthdays and Christmas that lasted a while. There isn't much he needs and he doesn't have a lot of wall space left for displaying our crafts.

Yesterday I made two pillowcases. I have two more to make for our bed which may be trickier getting the right size. I have a foam neck-type pillow while my hubby uses a super sized King pillow. One of the pillowcases I made yesterday I can't show because it's for our Christmas Charity with the Quiltworkers a.k.a. Sluts. More about that at a later date. We surprise each other with what me make for this charity at out Christmas Social so I cannot reveal mine yet. 

The pillowcase above is going to my sweet grand niece, Alyssa, the Monkey Queen, who is fighting cancer courageously and happens to be only 11 years old. I made her a quick flannel quilt when I found out to help her get through the chemo and all the other nasty procedures she must endure. You can find pictures in previous posts. I wasn't totally crazy about the fabric but it's all I could find in a pinch. Since then I found this adorable monkey print that was not flannel but I had to get it. I decided a nice pillow case would be just the thing for this fabric.

This method is the same one I use for the charity pillowcases we make each year. There are tons of tutorials out there. I use this one because I seem to find it the easiest and it's quite clear. I have a written pattern someone gave me which uses slightly different sizing but I usually change that to suit me anyway. The tutorial I usually use is Making a Sausage Pillowcase by Judy Woodmansee. There are many others out there but this one always works for me.It has french seams inside so there are no raw edges anywhere. I tend to make two changes besides adjusting sizes. I like to top stitch the cuff just above the flange for a nicer more finished look and I find it works better to take a slightly larger second seam around the side and bottom of the quilt or some of the inside threads tend to stick out. Here's a closer photo of the detail of the cuff, flange and the cute monkey fabric.

The Monkey Queen and Miss Addie

So here's our sweet, Alyssa with her new quilt and the two monkeys I sent her. She is such a wonderful girl. Keep praying for her if you've been reading this. She's still having lots of issues. She was able to come home but now she has a fever that is threatening to send her back to the hospital soon. I know the beginning of treatments like this can be very difficult. My heart just goes out to her. No child this age should ever have to deal with something is awful!

 
Here's another picture. The monkeys are super soft. I hope they help to comfort her when she's having a tough time!

And here's a closer picture of the finished quilt. It's very simple and I even machine stitched the binding which I never do. I 'm never happy with how that looks but in this case I felt speed trumped perfection! 

Now just to lighten the mood...Let me give you a little background on our Miss Addie...the Queen. She is a vibrant woman who has lived her life to the fullest and will not allow anything or anyone to keep her down! She may be slowing down a little with age but she still manages to get into plenty of trouble  stay active, quilt, paint, travel and do whatever her little heart desires into her 80s. When her husband was ill she traded her "boring" Lexus in on a Mini Cooper. Her children thought they were too dangerous and forced her to go back to a "safe" Lexus. So when Joe passed away she went right down and bought herself a tiny, bright yellow Smartcar and had it detailed! (Don't miss the licence plate). She's been merrily driving it ever since! You cannot miss her coming down the street! It is a sight to behold...be on the lookout if you come to Virginia Beach. There is only one smartcar here like it and only one Miss Addie!