Countdown To Christmas Matchbox Swap #5

Today is day 5 of the Countdown to Christmas matchbox swap reveal. Today's box comes from the talented Michelle. Love the little snowman! He is so cute. Thank you Michelle.

Happy Stitching,
Wendy

Countdown To Christmas Matchbox Swap Box #4

Today is day 4 of the reveal. This cute little box was made by the talented .Molly. Thank you so much Molly for the cute box and shell inside. I love the glittery shell and the one to hang on my mini tree. Thank you.

 Happy Stitching,
Wendy

Day Three Matchbox Swap

Well today is day three of our reveal for the Countdown to Christmas matchbox swap. Before I reveal today's box and gift inside the box I need to thank Linda from a Swap for All Seasons for hosting this great swap. She also included a little bag of goodies for each of us participating in the swap. Below is a pic of the goodies she sent out to us and below that is today's matchbox. Again thank you Linda for such a fun and creative swap.

 Today's matchbox and little tree ornament is from Becky. Thank you Becky your box and gift inside are so cute. We will continue with the countdown on tomorrow.

Happy Stitching,
Wendy

Look What Came In The Mail

I did not go to the post office until late yesterday evening and look what was in there. My swap parcel all the way from the land down under! What swap is this you may ask...........Well it is the annual Chookyblue Secret Santa Swap (her button is on my sidebar). Chooky has this swap every year and this is the first time that I have participated. Anyhow, we have to make a gift and a homemade ornament to send out to our partner. We can open the ornament but have to put the big gift under the tree until Christmas. My parcel is here and I am doing the happy dance. My swap partner that sent out to me is Sue and I love the ornament that she made. Now the suspense of not being able to open the other package is working on me! I love surprises and can hardly wait until I can open the other one. In the meantime here is a pic of my ornament that she made for me. Thank you Sue, I love it!!!!! It is beautiful and I love that it is a little boot.

 Closeup of the ornament..........I love it!

 Thank you so much Sue and I am looking forward to opening my other gift on Christmas day!

Happy Stitching,
Wendy

Countdown To Christmas Matchbox Swap Box #2

Today is the reveal day for the second matchbox in this swap. This box was sent out by Bonnie http://bonnielass1@blogspot.com a very pretty box and a felt ornament inside. Love it. Thank you Bonnie.

 Happy Stitching,
Wendy

Special Project Post #2

Thank you to those of you who have already responded to my request. I wanted to answer few questions in this post to help things along. First, this quilt will be entirely scrappy so there is no color theme. That way we can use blocks that may have already been made up and have no home. All orphan blocks are welcome for this project. Since my friend and I both are crazy quilters as well as sane quilters I thought I might need to clarify what type of blocks I am wanting for this project. As this will be a quilt that she can use after surgery and during any treatments that she may have I would prefer sane quilt blocks. That being said, if any crazy quilter wants to make a cotton crazy patch block 12 1/2 inches unfinished and send it along that will be ok too. Just do not add any embellishments as we want the quilt to be washable as needed. And if the quilt has no embellishment she can snuggle down and relax a bit with it. Now off to cut out my blocks and sew them together.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

Countdown To Christmas Matchbox Swap

Today starts the reveal of the matchbox swap I was in. Today is box one and here it is. Is this not cute....It was made by......Sophia this was a very fun swap and each day for the next 25 days I will be posting a new box and revealing what was inside.

 Happy Stitching,
Wendy

A Special Project

Hi everyone two posts in one day. This post is about a special project that I am starting this week. I have a blogging friend that is having major surgery hopefully in the coming weeks. She has a brain tumor and is in the process of finding what treatment is best for her. I have been in several round robins with her and have been blogging with her for several yrs. now. She is a very sweet and special lady. I have decided to make her a comfort quilt. I will begin making blocks this week for the quilt. It will be a scrappy quilt if you would like to send  a block to be put in the quilt. Please keep her in your prayers and thoughts. When the quilt is complete on the back will be the name/country/state of each person who contributes a block so she will know who was a part of this quilt. When the quilt is ready to be sent to her I will post pics here and will then give her name..........you can email me at stitchduchess2@yahoo.com  and I will send you a mailing address that you can send your block to. I will be making 12 inch finished blocks. So the block would need to be 12 1/2 inches when sent to me. Thank you in advance and as always,

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

Great Mail While I Was Gone!

I have had some great mail delivered to my post box. The first swap is the 1-2-3 Christmas Bag Swap that I am in. My swap partner Tracey sent me the most awesome bag ever! And I am so in love with it. The Christmas fabric is so great and I love the fabric she used for the inside. The bag is big and roomy which I love, I don't like those small tiny bags. That might be why my shoulders and back hurt all the time!lol I carry way to big of a bag. Oh well, got to have a nice big bag. She also included a nice pair of sockett's that are on my feet even now, some fat quarters of Christmas fabric and a great inspiration magazine. Thank you so much Tracey for the bag and goodies I love all of it and the bag will get much use.

I don't know what pattern Tracey used but I love it. It has a pleat in the middle which is really nice. Thank you so much Tracey I can't tell you enough how much I love this bag. My bag for Sabine is winging its way to Austria and when it arrives I will post full pics on the blog to let everyone see the bag I sent out to her.  Next I was in a Secret Santa Swap and my partner Debbie has sent out my gift already! She is an early bird.......guess what she made me just in time for Christmas.... a great table runner..........not only that she sent me a great necklace as well that says "  I love quilting"  ........ I love them both. I can never have enough table runners as I have all kinds of antique tables in my home that I decorate at Christmas. Some have runners and some don't. So I now have a new runner to display at Christmas. Thank you so much Debbie for making this for me and adding in the necklace they are both wonderful.

My Secret Santa gift will be ready this week and mailed out on Friday. Then I only have two more swaps to wrap up CSSS we open those on Christmas day.....my package is already on its way. And then the Modern Swappers swap which will be sent out in the next week or so as it is not time yet. I am looking forward to these two swaps as well. Hope everyone is staying dry as we are all wet and dark here.......Oh and tomorrow starts our Countdown To Christmas matchbox reveal..... for 25 days we will be posting a new matchbox from the swap. This is going to be so much fun. See you then.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

Back Home

Well we are back home after spending Thanksgiving with my dd and her family in Georgia. We had lots of food and loved spending time with all of them. We also enjoyed spending some time with the new granddaughter. She looks so much like her mother did when she was born. Both are doing good and we are so happy about that. I will have more pics of Jazmine soon.

I have mailed out my CSSS to my partner and I hope she will enjoy it when she gets to open it on Christmas day. My parcel is winging its way to............can't tell you as it is a surprise. Here is a sneaky peek though..........ha fooled ya, as we cannot post pics until after Christmas! It would spoil the surprise...... I do have a sneak peek for Christmas eve, but it will not be big enough for the recipient to be able to tell what it is.

Also my bag swap is winging its way to Sabine and should arrive shortly. With her bag I sent another item along that is for her. We  did a private swap a while back and her package was sent back to me as undeliverable because the zip was wrong. So I decided to wait and re-mail to her when I sent out her bag. Below is a sneak peek of her bag and a pic of the quilt that is winging its way to her.

The bag was supposed to be Christmas themed, but I asked Sabine which did she prefer something she could only use at Christmas time or a bag she could use anytime. She chose an anytime bag made it bright and bold colors. Let me tell you that was right up my alley as I too love bold and bright. So I made her a bag with nice saturated colors. Sabine I hope you like the bag that I made for you. Now for a pic of the quilt.......

 This quilt was made with Moda's "   Bliss "   line to give it a modern feel to a very familiar pattern. I titled this little quilt "   Blissful Coins"   and I do hope that Sabine will love it as much as I loved making it for her. I will update this post later with a pic of the quilt she made for me. It is so pretty and in colors that I just love. Actually this little quilty could be used as a table runner as well as hung on the wall. Which ever way she decides to display it I think she will like it. I forgot to make a pic of the back, so hopefully when it arrives to its new home she will take a pic for me. Well it is late and I need to get some rest. In the meantime I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

Great Joy!!!!!!

Happy Birthday  To:

Jazmine Logan Davis

6lbs 8oz and 19 1/2 inches long

After a high risk pregnancy with many weeks of going to hospital twice weekly plus Dr. appointments we finally got to meet the newest member of our family.Everything went well and both baby and mom are doing good. I would like to thank each of those who have been praying for both mom and baby. You will never know how much we truly appreciate all the prayers and well wishes that you have sent out to us during the past months when all had not been well with mom and baby. God is good to us and has given us a healthy baby and mom is well also. We took mom to hospital at 2:00 am this morning and Jasmine was born at 7:30 am. Our hearts are full of gratitude and thanksgiving that we have a healthy mom and baby. We have so much to be thankful for and my blogging friends is part of that. Now I am going to bed for some much needed rest. We have been up 48 hrs. with no sleep and I am so exhausted now that all is said and done. My rest tonight will be very peaceful indeed.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

Small Update

I can now post pics of what I sent out to Melissa in our Friends Swap. Below is a full pic of what I sent her. I made her a table mat. This was a fun project to make and I will be making more of these in the future. You can see the rest of what I sent Melissa on her blog  

 We are still on baby watch with going to the hospital and Dr. office twice weekly to be monitored. Since she is high risk and is coming early (due date is Dec. 2) between now and the 19th of this month, the Dr. is keeping a close eye on both mom and baby Jazmine. She is 3cm and in position to be born. So far no stress on baby Jazmine's breathing or activity, which is a good thing. The longer we keep her in the womb the better for now. My dd is taking high doses of insulin twice daily and regular doses after each meal. Thank you for all your prayers during this time. I have more projects to share when the camera is charged up and ready again.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek of something I have been working on. Since it is a gift for someone I can't show the whole item until it lands safely in Melissa's mail box. I am not sure if she reads my blog so I can only give a sneak peek at what I made her. When her box arrives I will post a pic of all the goodies that I sent out to her.

I am still working on Jazmine's quilt and hope to have it finished this week. I am also working on a project  for Christmas as well. Hopefully I can post it here soon.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

Matchbox Advent Tutorial

I was recently in a swap that involved matchboxes being altered. I had never done any of these and I had a great time completing my 25. Since I work with fabric/lace etc. that is what I covered my boxes with. Not as complicated as you might think. Below is a tutorial on my process of altering the boxes.
1. Pick out the fabric of your choice or you can use decorative paper. As I am not a paper scraper I chose to use fabric.
2. Tacky glue
3. Hot glue gun
4. Laces
5. Craft wire for the hanger
6. Beads if you like
7. Rosettes
8. Small tags to write the number of the box on
10. Sharpie, scissors and your usual crafty items

Measure your matchbox so around so you can cut out the correct length of fabric. In this case I cut a length of fabric 2 1/2"  and cut it down to fit the box. Apply tacky glue to the whole outside of the box and starting at the short side of the box lay your fabric on top of the glue. Be sure and smooth as you go so you have no wrinkles in the fabric. The outside of your box should look like this when finished with this step. Next you cut out an inside swatch of fabric and glue to the inside of the matchbox.

 All 25 matchboxes completed for stage one.

 Next using your hot glue gun and the lace and bobbles and bits that you have chosen you glue them on. As you can see I started at one end and just applied the hot glue going around the box. Then placed the lace on the hot glue section and pressed all the way around until it held. Be careful to keep the lace straight as it can and will shift as you rotate the box around.

 Here is the finished block all ready for the little ornament to be places inside.

 

You can go here to see more and check out the tutorials for those who use scrapping paper and such.     

When my swapped out boxes arrive here in Nov. I will post pics to let you see the variety that I received in the swap. 

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

New Crazy Quilt RR

These are my nekkid blocks for the Winter DYB RR over on CQI. I chose a winter theme instead of a holiday one.

 Happy Stitching,
Wendy

Started Jazmines 2nd Quilt

Well I have started Jazmine's second quilt that I am making for her. This one will be pin wheels. I have always loved this pattern and decided that I wanted to make her one. This one will be done in Care Bears as well. Also I decided to do a quick tutorial on the way I do my half square triangles and pin wheel blocks. I have always done them this way as it is easier for me and less confusing for beginners. When I first started quilting I tried all the techniques available at the time. (which was not many in the early 70's) I finally settled on this way and the rest is history. Maybe this will help any newbies out there that is looking for an easier way to make them.
Tutorial:
1. Cut out your squares in the size that you want to use. Mine are 6"

 2. Next put the two squares together with the right sides facing:

 3. Now comes the easy peasy part. You just sew around the square a quarter of an inch away from the edge all the way around the square. This is how it will look.

 4. Next you are ready to cut them apart. You put your ruler corner to corner diagonally and cut.

5. Now cut from the other edge in the same way.

6. Here is what your half square triangles will look like when you have cut them apart.

7. Just sew them together how you want them to spin and you now have a finished block. Easy peasy I am telling you. Below is my sample. I do need to re-press as I did not press the block correctly as I was in a hurry to finish this tutorial. I hope this helps you out.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy
 

This And That

First off in the world of sewing and quilting I am quilting the first of baby Jazmine's quilts. This one is really super simple and is working up fast and I should be finished with the quilting over the weekend. No pics yet, will do those when it is finished. Also I have cut out a pin wheel quilt for her and should have the flimsy finished by the weekend hopefully.........we will see. My sister is having her annual October family get-together so I may not get it finished. Will post pics of both of these on Monday. The fabrics is care bears as I have about 30 yds of the stuff and my dd loves it.

I received my "  Friends"   swap from my partner Melissa you should go check out her blog. She has some wonderful things there and she is a very talented quilter/artist. Below is what she sent out to me.

 This is a closer view of my mini quilt that she made. Melissa I love it very much. Notice the little crazy quilt she is holding. I so appreciate that she added the style of quilting that I so love. I love to sane quilt as well, but crazy quilting is my passion. This little quilt is destined to hang in my sewing room.

 Melissa also made me a nail care set which I needed. Some lovely rose lotion and bath petals as well. And of course fabric and beads with ribbon. My package for Melissa will go out this coming week and when she receives the parcel I will show pics here.


Next is a pic I made of the moon on last night. It was about midnight and it was just beautiful. Nice and full and it was so light out that you could see perfectly.

Notice in the second pic that in the upper right hand corner it looks like a second moon! I don't know how that happened. But it is neat looking. Next up is what I sent out to my Colour Swap partner. She is a scrapper and that is what she wanted. So I tried to load her up with lots of goodies for that. My package has not arrived as of yet so just photos of what I sent out to her.We were supposed to send out a little gift for each of the letters and one handmade item for our swap partner.

C- chip boards x2,chipboard alphabets x 2, cookie cutters
O- orchids
L- lace
O- organdy lace and fabric
U- udder cream for her hands
R- handmade rosette pin in her favorite colors, silk roses


As extras I sent six sets of stamps, more ribbon and some more chip boards. I know the package has arrived and hope that she likes what I sent out to her. I have not heard anything from her yet. Her dd was in a car accident and she had to go out of town. I hope all is well with her.


I also made this and something went wrong. I followed the directions I was given and it just will not work out. I am so frustrated with this. It was going to be a candle mat but now it is in the wasted time bin until I can salvage it which I hope is soon. I am looking for a solution but so far nothing I have tried has worked. Here is the pic of my project.

I had thought that maybe I had too many of the pie shapes so I removed one and it still did not lay like it should. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I hate to just have to scrap this project for good. I love this fabric and hate to waste it. I guess if I have to I could make pie shaped pin cushions from it. But only if all else fails. Ok this post has been long so I will say goodbye for now and post more tomorrow.

Added: Thanks for the advice on the blogger situation. I did as you said and closed everything out and all of my blogs that I follow came back  after several times of doing this.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

A Rant

Usually I don't place rants of any kind on my blog. For me it is mostly wasted energy that is best spent sewing or quilting. But today I do have a rant and its against blogger. I signed in and all my blogs that I follow are gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!........Yes I said gone, where did they go? Can blogger tell me? Hello blogger where are my blogs that I faithfully follow? This really aggravates me to no end. I was ready to sit down with my cuppa make my quilty post and read all my blogs. But can I do that on today? The answer is no and I am really upset about it. I have tried several times to restore my follow list to no avail. Hopefully when I come back later it will have worked itself out. Hopefully..........so much for reading early in the day. Maybe tonight. Has this happened to anyone else and what can I do about it if anything. I would really hate to lose all those wonderful blogs that I follow.

Wendy

Quick Post

I have been out of town and now am back. So sorry for not posting but I did not have my computer with me and therefore could not post. I do have some crafty things to post but will do so tomorrow. I am tired and just want to rest tonight. So get ready for tomorrow as it will be a long post with pics. Have a great night.

Baby Jazmine update, my dd doctor said if we can keep baby Jazmine in the womb for ten more days he will not stop the labor process again. We are praying that she stays in the womb until November 21st which is the original schedule for her to be born. Her actual due date is Dec. 2. The dr. said that my lovely d would not make the Dec. date. So we are hoping for the Nov. date for the safety of baby Jazmine. That being said he is having a hard time regulating dd sugar. She is taking insulin shots twice daily and it is still extremely high. God is still in control and we are believing that her sugar will regulate with the medication. Please keep them in your prayers. Thank each of you who have been praying for mom and baby. We so appreciate it.

Happy Stitching,
Wendy

Swap Package Arrived at Destination

Ok my swap package to Gina has arrived today so I can now post a pic of what I sent her. Gina collects vintage tape measures so I was able to find two for her. One is a little dog and the other is gnome they are so cute and both are in working condition. I don't usually buy from etsy but that is where I found both of these. Gina loves to crochet so when I seen this book I knew I had to add that for her. I took a look see inside and it has some really great items to make. A pin cushion I made plus a vintage green bowl. The final item is the knitted shawl that I made.

Happy Stitching,
Wendy

Fall Intrigues Basket Swap

The basket I made up for Elaine arrived at her house on today so I can post a pic of what I sent her. The basket she sent me is below in another post, 2nd one down I believe. Here is what I sent out to Elaine. The pumpkin can be carved so I thought that might be fun if she likes halloween. I picked up a couple of them for myself.

I did not do a traditional basket but used a horn of plenty basket that can be hung on the wall or placed on a table with all the bounty of fall. I thought the set of chooks had such lovely fall colors in them. Hope Elaine likes what I chose for her. This was a quick and fun swap.

Happy Fall
Wendy

Yes Two Posts In One Day!

I tried to post this below but Blogger is wanting to be unaccommodating today. Anyhow I finally bit the bullet and ordered this book Color Shuffle that I have been wanting for ages. It came on Saturday and now I see this quilt in my future.

Sorry for the dark pic on bottom it could not be helped for whatever reason.lol. Camera would not cooperate with me today. I love this quilt and hope to get started on it soon.

Happy Stitching,
Wendy