Potholder Pass

Hello friends!! I've missed you all sooo much!! Hopefully life will slow down some and I will be able to catch up with all of your beautiful creations SOON!! We have been in the process of finding and getting my almost 80 yo MIL into a Nursing Home as well as OTHER things! I haven't had much time for creating, but will hopefully get back to it shortly. In the meantime, I joined Amy's Potholder Pass...and WON!!



Isn't this the SWEETEST potholder EVER?? I LOVE it Amy, thank you! It is perched HIGH above any MESSES that might get too it!! I know you want me to use it, but it is just TOO pretty...and I have threatened my awesome man, so he will not be taking it out to the BBQ pit!! :D I just like looking at...it makes me smile, EVERY time!

I also received my potholder from the VERY talented Karen! With a little "extras"...


The colors are AWESOME, and go with my so-called "theme" very well!! Thanks so much for taking the time to create such beauty for me!!


The little bees are soooo cute! I am not sure if they will be used yet....such prettiness makes me happy and READY for Spring!! Check out Karen's blog Messy Karen..she makes exquisite quilts!


Now for the ones I made!! Amy was smart enough to give me someone without a blog..so she can't say how LATE I am getting these out!! ;) Dawn is a knitter....and OH what CREATIONS!! She does have a flickr pool, check her out!!

Ok, so I've never made potholders before...and thought I bought the recommended Thermolam needed to "insulate" the potholder. So as I was putting the layers together I realized that it was NOT Thermolam, but Fusible FLEECE!! But, I pressed on and put in the TWO layers anyway...on top of what I chose for a backing....***Dawn, this is a SPOILER ALERT***



Yep...terry cloth!! It wasn't too bad, I used a 100/16 quilting needle and only broke ONE!! :D

I LOVE this print!! I hope she likes it as much! I had all kinds of ideas for what to use, but couldn't decide on ANYTHING. Well, I happen to pass by World Market one day and saw they were having a HUGE clearance sale...of course I couldn't resist!! There was a table FULL of table linens, runners and cotton napkins for $1!!!! I fell in LOVE with this print when I saw it and thought they would make PERFECT potholders!! But WHAT to back them with??? Then I remembered that the ones I use MOST in my kitchen are terry cloth. I love using them because they are super absorbent for any messiness I might endure...which is ALOT and quite OFTEN!! So I thought I would give it a try! These are made from two different napkins that I "pieced" together. I was going to quilt it, but ended up only doing a couple of lines following the pieced pattern. Sewing through all of those thick layers was NOT something I really wanted to do...or LEARN free motion quilting with! :D I was also going to bind it with binding I made from the rest of the napkins. Catherine has an AWESOME tutorial on how to do this....which I TOTALLY messed up!! UGH!! Oh well...I think they came out ok, and hope that Dawn likes them. I really enjoyed making these and now have the confidence to try some more! Thank you Amy for including me...YOU ROCK!!

Well...I am off to the Vet today...our little puppy, Peggy is losing her fur and has some "bumps"..I have been neglectful of her and NEED to get this taken care of before it escalates!! YIKES!! Have a good day!! Until later...

My First Blog Swap!!

I am so excited about the recent Towel Swap I participated in. Donna at Clicketyclak was our gracious hostess who received the towels and sent them on to their new homes with a little something extra tucked inside...

Aren't they fabulous? Terri made the towel, and I absolutely love it. It is something that I would never think of making for myself but is so SPRING! It looks like she combined several single designs into one big one! Ingenious! Unfortunately I couldn't find a link anywhere for Terri, so if you are out there reading this please respond!! If not, thank you, thank you!!

And Donna! Wow! The checkbook cover and note pad are so darling! Ms. Priss is already trying to take the notepad from me! She loves butterflies & dragonflies, but then again show me a 6 year old girl who doesn't!! I did not know that you made all of these on your embroidery machine until I read it on Allie's blog! Amazing! Allie got my towel, check it out at its new home on her blog, here. She seems very sweet, and makes fabulous quilts!

I feel very satisfied and ready to do more swaps! I will be watching the blogs I frequent and maybe one day I'll try hosting my own!! Until later...

While I was blogging...

This happened!

So that is why I haven't been back this week!! Children, so much FUN!!! I have been going strong in my sewing room this week and will have some stuff to show off soon. I finished the kitchen towel for the first blog swap I am participating in and she should be getting it soon. Donna emailed me to say she received a towel yesterday, so that might be the one I get in return! I am excited to see what it will be! In the meantime, here is the one I sent! I am hoping that it is ok. And the recipient will be happy with it!

Isn't the little bird the sweetest? I got it from one of the generous givers on Sew Forum! I love that site! So the colors aren't the brightest, springiest colors but it still isn't "officially" Spring so I thought I would keep it cool, with the blues and browns and just a little purple thrown in. I so need to learn about color combinations! I've read everything, but still am so scared to put blues with oranges!! That whole "this color compliments this," and "these are on the opposite of the spectrum". I am in awe of the outfits and children's clothes others have made, the bold fabric combos are just fabulous. I feel my stuff is so plain compared to what I've seen! I am determined to learn how to mix and accent and just know what goes with what!!
Well, I am trying to learn from my mistakes by not staying too long in my blog world, so I will end this post. If I am not back tomorrow, I will post all of my new creations on Monday! Until later....
P.S. If you've noticed, I have been adding more blogs on the left under The People I've Learned From. If you have some time, check them out! Not everything on their blogs are about sewing, some are simple crafts you can do with your kids, or recipes, or project ideas for parties or holidays!