The heat is on!

This year for Christmas Eve,

I made Pumpkin Black Bean Chicken Chili

 for 15 people in my large slow cooker.

It was a hit with the family and chili is going to be

our new "tradition" for Christmas Eve.

I wanted to make a large "hot pad" to protect my table

from the heat of the slow cooker.

I had some red and green modern prints left over

from the Christmas Charm swap I was in

and I had planned on simply placing the 5" squares

next to each other and sashing around them....

boring...I know.

Then when I was on the flickr group

 looking at all the cool pictures you guys posted,

I came across the 12 Days of Christmas

made by  "Simonedk"

and she was kind enough to post the link to the pattern!

http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com/

It's such a cool idea!

Every block has the same number as the 12 days of Christmas

beginning with 1 piece and ending with a 12 piece block!

So here is my version of a very large hot pad!

I used Insul-brite for the batting

and simple muslin for the backing.

I like the way the stitching shows the details of the blocks.

Don't look too closely at the "wonky factor" of my little blocks.

It's far from a masterpiece, but that's good because

I won't feel bad if someone spills Chili on it next Christmas Eve :)

And you're probably thinking.....

that's great and all....

but who won this week's prize!!!!

The lucky lady is Homeheart!

Please email me with your name and address!

You can find the link to my email if you click on my name

on the upper left hand side of the page.

Congratulations!!!!

The flickr group for week #2 is open!!!

My geese were too fat....who knew?

I really hope you are all having fun

with the After Christmas Sew Along!

It's been so great to see all your projects on the flickr group

and read all the lovely posts of encouragement and praise!

I have to say that the friends I have met through blogging

are truely the sweetest people ever!

Well I've been really enjoying sewing with no deadlines!

I'm so excited that I finished my quilt top yesterday.

I just love this fabric (Countdown to Christmas by Sweetwater)

I used a pattern from the book "Schnibbles Times Two".

(just found the book on clearance HERE

and also amazing prices on fabrics as well!!!)

I would have been done sooner,

but it turns out that my flying geese were a bit "fat" shall we say?

They were supposed to finish out at 2" by 3 1/2".

Mine were 2" by 3 3/4".

Being new to quilting, maybe someone can explain to me

what is the purpose is of a "scant" 1/4" seam.

Why not just stick to a regular 1/4"?????

My lovely quilting foot is 1/4"....not a scant 1/4"!!!!

A scant 1/4" sounds to me like you go just shy of a 1/4" seam.

Well that's what I did and my geese were a full 1/4" too wide.

I had to resew 104 seams!

I re-did them at a full 1/4" and they worked out fine after that.

  

I also finished 3 more little houses for my new neighborhood :)

Don't forget to hop over and add your projects

 to the flickr group for week #1.

You have until tonight to enter your pictures.

The winner will be posted here tomorrow!

Good luck and happy sewing!!!

Nähvergnügen :)

Does anyone remember the Volkswagon commercials where

the catch phrase was "Fähr Vergnügend"?

The way they pronounced it sounded like Far Fig-noogen.

What that means in German is the joy of driving.

Well the After Christmas Sew Along is all about

the joy of sewing (Nähvergnügen)!
Thanks to Frollein Pfau for the correct spelling!
I was going to ask my mom, but she didn't answer her phone this morning  :)

I've had some email questions about whether or not

you have to play along all 4 weeks.

Or if this is a talent competition.

Or if you have to complete a project before you post pictures.

Here's the run down.

You don't have to play along all 4 weeks.

You are welcome to join in whenever you like

even if this is the first time you've ever

sewn anything. The prizes will go to random winners,

not the craftiest or most amazing projects.

It's open to all skill levels.

You can post pictures of work in progress if you like.

The whole idea for this sew along

 is to remember the joy of sewing.

To sew because you love to sew.

Make what you want.

No rules. No deadlines.

Just us girls,

getting together

having some fun

and encouraging each other.

So make sure you stop by the flickr group

and leave some comments and share the love.

I'm headed over there right now!!!

How's it going?

Yesterday I managed to get the 52 flying geese units done

 for my table top quilt.

Flying what?????

I know right?

All this quilting stuff is still so new to me

but I'm having fun learning new things.

Gotta love youtube.

You can find out how to do anything there!

And this Countdown to Christmas fabric

 just makes me happy!

Hopefully today I'll have some more time to work on it.

Have you checked out the flickr group yet?

There are some fun projects showing up over there!

Don't forget to add yours!

 You have until Friday night to post your pics!

 A while back I shared a link to a fantastic shop called 

 Crazy Annies Stitchin .

She has amazing deals

on cross stitch charts, floss and fabrics.

 Well, she was having a giveaway on Facebook where you had to let her know what your favorite chart was on her site and if you won, she would send it to you. Well I was 1 of the 3 lucky winners! Not only did she send me the fun chart I wanted from Heart in Hand, but ALL these other goodies too!!! Look at all that floss! And all those charts! I was overwhelmed for sure!

If you love cross stitch, check out her shop.

Her prices are 50% off retail and she has great sales on top of those discounts as well!

Up until recently the only thing I ever won

was "honorable mention" in a poster contest

 at the Library in 2nd grade.

 I just figured I wasn't the "lucky winner" type.

But you know what?

If you never enter these giveaways, you never win!

So get those pictures posted for the After Christmas Sew Along

and it could be you that wins this time!

  

Never give up....Never Surrender!!!

I did it!

I made 2 little houses that are actually 4" square!

The roof lines are good.

The spacing is good.

I actually enjoyed sewing them by hand!

(confession:  I did the sashing by machine)

One of my favorite movies is "Galaxy Quest".

Being married for almost 32 years to a Star Trek fan

 makes Galaxy Quest an even funnier movie.

There are so many references to Star Trek.

You can't watch it and not have the

"Never give up, Never Surrender"

stuck in your head.

It's hilarious!

If you've never seen it,

I highly recommend it :)

So what does that have to do with sewing?

Well I was about to give up and surrender

to these tiny houses.

My 2 earlier attempts were WAY beyond wonky

and were no where close to 4" squares.

If you remember, I made the first one by hand.

I stitched the 2nd one on my machine

and even my hubby asked me

"what happened to that 2nd one?"

You know it's bad when a man notices these things!

I tried sashing them in cute polka dots

 but even that couldn't save them.

So maybe the 2 little houses on Wonky Lane

will become coasters for my sewing room.....

And today is the first "normal" day of the New Year.

The hubby is back at work and my daily life returns to normal.

I have all the pieces cut and ready to go

for my Countdown to Christmas table quilt.

Hopefully by tomorrow I'll have pictures to show you.

Hope you're all getting started on your projects!

I'll be checking the flickr group for pictures.

Tiny Houses Quilt Along - 1st House :)

This is my first tiny house.

I'll admit that when I started the hand sewing,

 I had already decided

that I was not enjoying the process at all.

But oddly, by the time it was done,

 I fell in love with my little house!

I'm going to try the next one on my sewing machine

and see if I like it better.

I have prefection issues...I'll admit it.

But the "wonky factor" seems to lend a kind of charm.

We'll see if this little house is the first of many

or if I end up making a mug rug out of this one

and call it a day.

Week 1 - After Christmas Sew Along

Hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve!

So who is ready to sew?

I know I am!!!!

I'm getting ready to start sewing this table top quilt
from the book "Scnibbles Times Two".
I'm using 2 charm packs of Countdown to Christmas
 by Sweetwater.

Here's the link to the flickr group for week #1.

You have until Friday night to post your pictures.

I will announce the winner of week #1

here on Saturday :)
I can't wait to see your pictures!
Feel free to let us know about your blog posts
so we can all visit your blogs and read about
your progress!

Good luck and happy sewing!!!!