Halloween Goodies

Starting to get in the mood for the holidays.

Decided I wanted to make some Halloween jewelry.

And these are what I ended up making.

Then I spent the next day sorting, organizing and putting away the supplies.

Obviously it was much needed!

After finishing with the jewelry

 I made up a few fun fans.

More on these to come.

Place Mats (or making a daughter smile)

Completed.

The last of the kitchen accessories requested by my daughter.

I told her I would make these quilted place mats

but would need to machine quilt them

with straight lines.

No fancy machine quilting here.

But when it came down to it

I could not put straight lines on these lovely swirls!

So I designed a quilting pattern

and made a template

And this is how it came out...

 

This backing is actually black but the flash washed it out.

And this is a close-up so only a corner.

I much prefer doing hand quilting on a hoop/frame

 but did not have anything to accommodate this size

 and had put enough time into this project.

Not to mention it is not easy with Carpal Tunnel.

Besides as you can see

the quilting really doesn't show on the front.

But she will be happy.

And that is what a mother wants most.

Cause for Paws

This past Friday I stopped by my local quilt shop

to help support a fundraiser for

a no kill animal shelter.

Last year they raised more than $20,000.00

from selling donated fabric postcards

sent from people all around the world.

The shop provided the machines and all materials.

All I brought was a little of my time.

Literally!

Because I had never made these before.

I had never sewn on any of these new machines.

So this was a win win win for everyone.

Wish I would have had more time.

Maybe next year...

Then again maybe I will make up a few during the year

to bring with me next time.

Now that I know how.

But here is what mine looked like.

Not terrific photos but hey, aren't cell phones wonderful little gadgets?