March

Where has the month of March gone?? The weather has been incredibly nice, so much of my March has been spent outside or running around town! Our little Chamomile was spayed last week, and she has been recovering nicely.
A big part of the month was spent tearing wallpaper and painting the kitchen and eating area of our home. In the midst of it all, the formal dining room became a dumping ground for EVERYthing in the way. Today, I cleaned it all up, putting things back where they go, and decided to throw this quilt on the table for a season. Of course, in my house, where there is a quilt, there is a cat........or two...The quilt was made a couple of years ago, for my 50th birthday, by my friend Sue. Now that the weather has changed, it can be used in a more decorative way.
I did make a couple of needle cases for birthday gifts recently. This is one of them....It is a tri-fold and opens up much larger than you would think.The inside of these gave me fits! I am not a seamstress, so it was tedious. The first one I followed the directions to a T....the second, I made some alterations. Namely, I swapped out the velcro for snaps. Much more attractive! I filled them up and sent them on their way!I also, tried my hand at these 2 inch bowtie blocks. I am HOOKED! I found these on Jeanne's blog.The dime shows you just how tiny they are. I am excited to make a miniature quilt full of these!
Some applique has gotten done on the 3rd Henrietta Whisker's block....not as much as I would like :(I have motivation to get this quilt top done now. I received my next applique quilt pattern in the mail!!With the weather so nice, applique will be the way to go! Hope your March has been wonderful. I need to make my blog rounds! I have missed so much in the last few weeks.
Thanks for the visit!

~Bren~

Friday Sewing Day

Instead of a Friday NIGHT sew-in, I took the entire day! I spent the morning planning and preparing for my quilting class, and the afternoon making these needlebooks for my students. They are SO easy to make and very inexpensive. All you need is 1 yard of fabric and a package of heat and bond. I press one side of the heat and bond to the wrong side of the yard and then pull the paper off. Fold the other end up to meet the top end and press the right side down. You end up with a nice big piece of bonded fabric. You need to cut rectangles, 4X6 inches and then cut pieces of (thin) batting 2X4 inches.
Fold both in half and lay the batting centered in the fold of the fabric.
Stitch down the center of the batting and then press closed.
You could get up to 20 needle books out of that yardage...I only needed 8, so that is what I cut. Now to finish them all sweet, trim the raw edges with a set of pinking shears to get a cute finish.I put a quilting between (needle), and a basting needle in each book as a little gift for each new hand quilter.I finished out my Friday by spending the late afternoon and entire evening hand quilting. I finished this block....it was very dense in quilting...and a couple of sashing strips.It was a productive day and I plan another one very soon! I have more to share about my Saturday, but that can wait. I need a nap!!

~Bren~