Christmas in July

Time to do something besides watch the stormy rainy weather outside again. It's starting to feel like groundhog day. I found a bit of petit point cross stitch that I made back in probably 1989. It was supposed to be rolled around and made into a windsock Christmas tree ornament. I made one just like it for a gift, but never got around to finishing this one. Felt like Christmas when I found it in a box last month!

I decided to be a little nostalgic and make a bell pull with it. Goes right along with the vintage cross stitch. :) I found a nice little stack of Christmas fabric scraps and some 5" charm squares in my stash. The little holly berry fabric is really vintage. Loved using it! 

I wanted to add some more needlework, so I used my new book, S is for Stitch by Kristine Czepuryk of Pretty by Hand. I stitched Noel up at the top and a turquoise snowflake near the bottom. Her blog is always very inspiring to me! Absolutely pretty. Sure do miss my nights of embroidery and cross stitch. Quilting has taken over, but I still miss it.

It's tough to get a full length picture of this 41" bell pull. I'm waiting until December to add something special to the bottom. No way am I going to go in the attic searching for it now. Hello. July in a Louisiana attic? No way.

Have a merry day! Only 154 days to go and a few more Christmas projects to finish!!

My New Favorite Tool

So what do you do when the doctor says don't lift anything over 5 lbs for weeks? Improvise! My regular iron just won't do. My mini iron just wasn't working fast enough for these hst's. Not sewing isn't a fun option. Flat iron to the rescue!

Works like a charm. :) Just like a rotary cutter though, be careful. Especially around children!!! I was able to use it to put my first ever churn dash blocks together. Why did I wait so long to sew such a classic block?

Summertime and the living is easy.

One of my favorite summer color combinations is grey and yellow. Makes me think of driftwood and sunshine! I wanted to do a quick project and mug rug are quick and easy.

Started with 2.5 inch squares from my stash and a square layout as well. Blue greys on bottom left. Warmer greys on top right.

I'm loving my project board I put together. It's an 11x14 gallery canvas covered with a scrap of quilt batting. Makes it easier to carry my work around. I tend to spread my sewing all over the house. (sorry family) 

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

I had a piece of Summer Soiree left over from a quilt years ago. Perfect for the back! The dream BIG label is from Sweetwater's label-crew. :)

Happy Independence Day!!!

What a great day to share some red, white, and blue! I bought a package of vintage paper piecing at the last quilt show I went to. 

This is the oldest piece. It was buried amongst the others.

Newspaper dated January, WW I era

President Wilson was in office.

Most of the pieces were sewn on a Florida newspaper, dated1963.

I think I'll frame the oldest one in a double glass frame. They are all in surprisingly good shape.