Christmas Cards from Quilt

Just before Thanksgiving, I ordered 20 Christmas cards through Shutterfly using a photo of my Island Batik Christmas in July project (above). The cards arrived today and I am very pleased with them.

I cropped the original photo to fit the card. I have room on the wood, at the top of the card, to stamp or emboss some words, like Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings,etc. I left the inside blank so I could stamp or print my own messages.

I have used my quilts a few times over the years to create cards for various purposes. I order only when Shutterfly has a discount or free cards, so I only pay tax and shipping fees.  I make sure each card costs 50 cents or less. These cost 40 cents per card. The cardstock is a very good quality as are the envelopes. I also begin a photo book of my quilt projects in my account. As I finish more quilts, I upload the photos, write the captions, and save it until a great offer comes to my email or Facebook--usually I use the one free book offers and only pay shipping. I now can say I have been published!

Have you ever used your quilts with a photo service opportunity?

I'm off to write some Christmas cards!

Back to Quilting Projects

I took the Thanksgiving week off from sewing in order to get ready for the holiday. We were going to dinner with our daughter and her fiance. I baked the pies - pumpkin and apple. The kids cooked the rest of the dinner. We had a wonderful day with them.

Gift wrapping was on my list, too. I have been buying items all year to give as Christmas gifts. I now have them wrapped. There are only a few gift cards I will be purchasing for a couple of people on our list.

So, it is back to sewing - Yes!

I did shop on Small Business Saturday. I bought embroidery CDs at my go-to embroidery store. I am experimenting more with my embroidery machine and look forward to using these CDs.

Join me on December 5 for my SEW WITH ME pattern. I will have step-by-step directions for sewing this table topper. (I have revised some measurements.)

It doesn't take much fabric. You can use scraps, strips, or pieces from yardage. It can be changed up for any holiday, so you'll want to grab the free pattern. I made this in October for the Island Batik Pumpkin Fest, but the one on December 5 will be for Christmas (with some EQ illustrations for other holidays).

Other items on my list include this:

I am looking forward to joining Marian and Janeen as they begin 12 Days of Christmas on December 1. I will call it a free pattern collection. They are combining Marian's patterns and Janeen's patterns into something new.  A gingerbread village block from Janeen and a gingerbread man or some other cute item from Marian. I grabbed this preview picture from Janeen's post today. I think it looks so fun. They will not have a new block on the weekend, but Friday's block stays up all weekend.

What are you sewing this week?

Winter Table Topper Finished

I am quite pleased with the straight quilting I did on this table topper using the walking foot on my domestic sewing machine. I set the needle for a 1/4" away from the seam line (ditch). The angular effect makes it graphic. And yes, the end are skewed because of the 9 degree angle cuts I made on the sewn strips. 

I thought these snow people looked quite happy to be playing in this woven winter wonderland of Island Batik fabrics. 

It is thrilling to make (designed) something from a small amount of fabric.

Late Night Stitching

I literally sewed into the night, finishing at 1 PM. 

Sleep came easily. I guess "Sewing does a person good."

I worked on a table topper using some Island Batik strips of blues 

that came in my most recent Island Batik box. 

I used a 9 degree ruler, so it gives a bit of movement to the sections. 

I liked the winter theme of these strips. 

I know they are from a number of different collections. but they look so nice together. 

I embroidered a few finger puppets. Papa Bears from Goldilocks story. 

Finally, I worked for about an hour sewing this sunset with scraps of Island Batiks I just couldn't toss from other projects. (I have more, so more landscapes will be made.) But it was the most relaxing sewing for me....so forgiving, a great experiment with my threads, and a satisfying artistic item. I am not sure if I will frame it or sew a binding on it. It could become a journal cover. 

So many possibilities to explore. 

The postal carrier came to the door with a box just before 11 AM.

 It contained my 3 quilts I sent to the Connections Quilt Festival for the Island Batik exhibit. 

Thank you, Linda, for getting them back to me safely. 

I am ready now to clean house so I can get back to sewing on this COLD, blustery day in West Michigan. We have little flakes of snow spurting from the clouds, but nothing is sticking. 

(The ground is still warm from our near-70 degrees yesterday!

Hope you can take time to sew a project this weekend. Thanks for visiting. 

Winter Wonderland Project and Pattern Special

My Island Batik Winter Wonderland project for this month is finished. 

I had a preview photo on my Facebook page last week showing the two colors of gorgeous Island Batik fabric I was using for this project.

This project involved some sewing, weaving, and a lining.

Do you think you might know what it is?

This is a pattern I wrote and published 3 years ago. 

I decided to revisit it and revise it. 

I won't leave you wondering any longer. 

It's a CHRISTMAS STOCKING!

I've had a great time with this pattern.

I have made it using Christmas fabrics, 

the university colors for my niece and nephew,

and this year, the gorgeous Island Batik fabrics I used are close to 

the colors of the university that our youngest daughter attended. 

I think she will like this gift.

(But before I give it to her, I am entering it into the Christmas Stocking Contest 

at the local quilt store, The New Ewe.)

I also entered the photo to Nancy Zieman's Stocking Sewing Challenge 2016. 

That is pretty cool, too.

Now, the PATTERN SPECIAL mentioned in the blog title: 

If you would like to make one or more of these woven Christmas stockings, 

I am running a special pricing until December 25 on 

my Woven Fabric Christmas Stocking pattern

You get an instant download 

at PatternSpot.com 

and the cost is only $2.75 USD.

HERE is the LINK.

If you would like to try a smaller woven fabric project, 

I have a pattern for the Woven Quilted Potholder. 

And the special price thru December 25 for this pattern is $1.50 USD. 

HERE is the LINK

Thank you for visiting. 

I hope with the holidays approaching you have time to 

fit in a few 

SEWDAYS!