Mysteries...

This is the mystery quilt Jess over at The Quilt and Needle designed for her December Mystery. I made it as her tester. I love it, it was fun and oh so easy with Jess' directions. I may make it again with different colors. I think I would change the light blue as it seems a bit out of place in this colorway. It is a bunk twin size right now, I may also double it and make a king as I really like the pattern! This isn't finished as it isn't backed, batted, or quilted yet. I may put a solid dark blue border on it, just so the eye has a place to res. I think it is an amazing design. Jess included a bonus pattern and a pieced backing pattern with this one! Check out Jess' fantastic quilt designs at thequiltandneedle.com.

Speaking of mysteries, I see Bonnie Hunter is finished with her yearly scrappy mystery. This year it had a French theme and is another beautiful quilt. You can find her at quiltville.blogspot.com. Her mystery has a tab. You need a lot of scraps or a bit of yardage if you want to do hers this year. It is really cool how she takes scraps and makes beautiful quilts! I do hers each year. She usually starts the end of November and tries to be finished by the New Year.

AND, my new mystery is in the works for Quilters Club of America. I am excited to get our start date. I have the testers moving along, one is finished and checking grammar. The other one is making sure my math is correct and taking the wordy bits and making it more readable. Then we will publish it on their site. If they can't give us a start date soon, I may just upload it here and do the next one on their site.

All will be revealed!

Debi

 

My Space

Well, I don't know about you, but I had a great New Year's Day with our church family. We take our holidays seriously here in New Zealand and everyone was at the lake or just hanging having fun! The two of us came home for homemade pasta and a relaxing afternoon. We had visitors and a lovely quiet afternoon, even with a 5 year old young man and a Nerf war!!

Even with frantic sewing all weekend and Monday, I still have a reasonably tidy sewing area, I thought I would share what God has blessed me with. I love every millimeter of it! The pic is kinda blurry, but you get the idea anyway. I am so thankful. What does your space look like? What do you do in your space? I sew, make teddy bears, cards, scrapbooks, and a little garment designing.

Well, I need to get busy with a bonus quilt and a bit more testing. Have a wonderful day and a fantastic year. I hope you meet all your goals and have fun along the way!

Keep Calm and Start Crafting!

Debi

AND PHEW!!!

I was busy this weekend testing a mystery quilt for my good friend Jess. It started yesterday, I needed to stay ahead of the rest of the quilters, I was sewing fast and furiously! BUT, it's done and I love it. If you want to participate... thequiltandneedle.com  I can honestly say it is one of my favorites and SO easy...quick to put together and looks fabulous. Can't show you a pic, sorry!!

This past week between the holidays has been a quiet one for us, I have been sewing and designing. It has been a relaxing week. Now, I need to get to the goals and other things in my bullet journal. I can't wait to see how this will work out in the end. So far, I love it, I have been using it for two weeks and already my house is cleaner and I have had more time for my sewing and crafts!

Hope your 2017 is the best ever!

Debi

Last Day of 2016

As today is the last day of 2016, I wish I could say I had finished a lot of projects and was ready to start the new year fresh. But, I cannot! I have a teddy bear in the works, I still need to border the mystery quilt, and I am testing a quilt for a dear friend. I've been frantically cutting the pieces all morning as it is an urgent test. Her pattern comes out this weekend, I have tested the first couple of installments, hopefully I will get it finished before she needs it complete.

 

I love being busy though, it keeps my mind going and my body moving. With this stinkin' arthritis, I need to keep moving or I won't move in the end. I am still able to to everything I love, cutting, sewing, hand-stitching, drawing, and knitting. I also made a card and envelope yesterday, that was fun after not making them for so long. I rubber stamped and embossed it for a nice thank you card. And, of course the church keeps us very busy with Bible college classes, Sunday School teaching, ladies meetings, family and teen camps, and follow up care for our new ones.

Hope your New Year is filled with all the things you love doing. What is it you want your year full of? Can't wait to hear from you. If you have a talent you want to share, please let me know and we can get you going here!

Have a safe and happy new year,

Debi

Prayer Bear Done

This prayerful bear is finally finished. It took a few days to decide how to do the face. I also needed to determine if I would even keep it as I thought the arms were a big mistake. I really do like it just the way it is and will keep it and the pattern. It is pretty sweet and I hope it brings someone a lot of comfort along the way. Now to name the adorable bear....something about praying or a word in a different language that means prayer, hmmm...  I still need to make a prayer shawl for it and finish "decorating" it. 

It was a lovely hot day today. I got six loads of washing done, three loads of sheets in that. Having a houseful at Christmas means a lot of sheets and towels. I got it all dry outside, except the socks and underclothes (who likes to hang out a weeks worth of socks?!?!?!?!). It is meant to rain tomorrow, I will be in my sewing room designing a bear and bordering the mystery quilt. I have been lazy for the past three days, time to get back to work! (It is much too much fun to be called work though!)

Hope your day is amazing and you have some time to something you love. What are you busy working on? Share...I am wanting to learn a new craft!!

Beary good day,

Debi

 

Prayer Bear...

I designed a new bear and did a few things differently than I normally do. I moved the arm joints and made the feet huge. I made huge ears and a four piece body to have more control over the podgy-ness. However, I moved the arms too far forward. I now have a prayer bear. It was an accident, but I love the end result! I haven't finished the face yet, but you can at least get an idea about how it will look with its hands folded for prayer. I love these kind of mistakes! I may use the body again as it is a nice "beary" body and is adorable. I will change the joint marks though, change the ears, and maybe the feet too. We will just have to see what kind of a mood I am in!

Now with Christmas over and the New Year quickly approaching, I am just hanging out in my sewing room and enjoying the break from baking, cooking, and cleaning.  I plan to finish this bear, design another quilt and bear. I want to make a handbag for Mrs. French Bear. I also would love to figure out how to make a really cute tutu for Ms. Ballerina Bear. I am working on her ballet slippers, I have some really good ideas on those. I just have too much to do! I'm thankful it's all fun! 

What are your craft plans for the new year? New craft to learn, finish all those UFOs (un-finished objects) or WIPs (work in progress)? I hope, whatever your crafty plans are for the new year, you accomplish your goals and maybe even make some pocket change (or more!!) in the process!

Have a great day and New Year!

Debi

Names Needed...

This sweet poppit is Peppermint Patty. I think she is adorable, although I thought at the start she would have to have a different nose. I wasn't too sure about the two tone nose, but with her beautiful collar, it's just perfect. I usually use perle cotton for their noses, but trying a two-tone nose, I needed something that wasn't so thick. So I used regular DMC floss in two colors. I didn't separate off any strands, just left it in the original six strands. Sweet, eh?

 

 

These poor wee teds don't have names yet. Just thought I would show them to you so you can help me. All suggestions are good! I make so many, I can't keep up with naming them.

Aside from making all my Christmas gifts for next year, I want to learn at least one new craft. I need to do the research to decide what I want to learn tho. I am also busy writing quilt and teddy bear tutorials for the Crafter's Thread. Time consuming, but fun for me. I love teaching, writing, and crafting! What are your crafty goals for 2017? Please share....

Happy naming,

Debi