I love a fast project!

About an hour ago I was cleaning up in the kitchen and as I was putting things away I noticed what horrible shape my oven mitts were getting into!  Your know, the singed edges, spills and stains they acquire?  (sorry, you are not going to see before pictures!) I remembered that Jenny's January Challenge is using a tea towels to make something.

So, using just 1 tea towel, I made covers for both oven mitts!

I made a paper template of my oven mitt, added seam allowances (1/4"), folded the tea towel into quarters, pinned my template on, and taking advantage of the already finished towel edges, cut out all four pieces at one.  Matched them up right sides together, sewed and finished my edges, clipped turned and pressed, and slipped them over my "seen better days" oven mitts, and voila

1 hour oven mitts!

These would be very easy to embellish, and so quick to make you can have a different design for everyday if you wanted!  Slip them off and throw them in the washing machine and you'll never end up with those awful grungy oven mitts again!

Happy quilting!

This week's WIPs

I've been doing a little stitchery in the evenings, with the hope that at least one of these will be my second OPAM finish for January.  It will also be my first project in my Christmas Projects 2010 folder. This first little wall hanging is one I saw Peg working on on her blog, and thought it was so cute, I had to make it too!  It's a free Gail Pan design, which you can get here.

here's another view

I need to re-do the star to make it more prominent, and then it will be bordered in red, quilted and bound.  Should be able to finish it this week!
Meanwhile, I've started another one!

Also a Gail Pan design available here.  Maybe it will be my first February finish?
How did your week of quilting go?

Feeling Lucky?

You should head on over to Sarah's Prim Treasures to get in on her 3rd blogoversary giveaway! 

She is being very generous - there could be 1 person winning 5 fabulous items, or up to 5 people winning 1 each.  Go on, go see if you're luckier than me!

Busy, busy!

I'm still around!  I've been a little under the weather with a nasty cold for the last week, and also trying to sort out our new kitchen requirements and ordering what we need.  Looked after most of that yesterday.  Our dishwasher leaked, and well, after ripping up the lino so that things could dry out properly we decided to just keep going, and rip it all out and replace the cabinets, the whole shebang!  Has meant that we also have had to get the kitchen downstairs up to snuff, which is almost done, so we will have a working kitchen during the reno.  Only big problem is it is in the room that I use as my sewing studio, so that all has to get sorted out to allow this extra use!  I also have to do some modifications on an Irish dance dress that needs to be done before the end of January.  Add to that all the little projects I have on the go, trying to get completed for OPAM for January, and all the plans I have for new starts, and my head is spinning!  To top it off, today I signed up for the Winter Mini Quilt Swap with the Quilting Gallery.  Luckily, that doesn't require shipping until March, right about the same time as my next postcard swap!
Speaking of that swap, several of the postcards have been received, and some pictures posted on Flickr, so I think I'm safe now in showing you the full final image.  (This was my first OPAM finish for January.) There are 6 of us involved, and I made 6 postcards so I would have one too. 
Here are my Grey Jays

a single postcard

I had fun making these - it was the first time I used a photograph to create an applique.  You may have noticed one of the Jay's is looking the opposite way above.  One of the swap members is from Australia and I was thinking of doing an upside down postcard, but decided that looking the other way was enough!  (Okay, seriously, I forgot to flip my pattern over when tracing my design on the fusible web)
So far I've only received one postcard, but today I designed a mini quilt to attach them all to, to show them off.  That's another thing on my to do list...
Hope our week is going well,
Happy quilting!

Winter

that's the theme for our Four by Sixers postcard swap this time round.  Mine are finished, and in the mail today!  Wahoo!  my first finish of 2010!  Sorry, I can only give you a glimpse of them today, as I want them to be a surprise for the recipients.  I hope you understand...

I'll post a full picture in a week or two, when they have arrived at their destinations all around the world!
Happy quilting!

It's a new year

2009 is over - where did it go?  It was a very interesting year to say the least.  I decided last May that I needed a change.  I stopped working, and have spent the last 7 months relaxing and enjoying time to actually do things.  Funny how that works - knowing you have the time - at least for me - made it very easy to put things off!  I was not nearly as productive as I thought I would be but I've loved ever minute of it!  I did accomplish more sewing - particularly quilting - than I would have if I was working fulltime, but there's so much more to do!  Unfortunately, I wasn't really organized - a real lack of pictures and blog posts, so I don't even really know what all I got done in 2009.  I played and explored and discovered BLOGS!  Oh that became a real time grabber, it did!  So many people doing so many interesting things - I had to read, I had to try things, I had to get involved - participate in swaps, try for giveaways, start my own blog!  I did it all!  and I plan on continuing with it.  I've met so many great people this way, there's no way I can stop now!  There's just too much going on!  I can't miss out on any of it! 

2010 looks like it's starting with a bang!  So far I'm down for the following:
Four by Sixers - an international postcard swap -
we'll be exchanging postcards 6 times a year.  This is going to be a lot of fun as each of us gets to decide on a theme, technique, whatever we want.  The first mailing is slated for January 15, and the theme is Winter.  I've been having lots of fun with this one!  Hoping to have them in the mail either tomorrow or Monday.  Here's a sneak peek -
sorry, you'll have to wait until they're received for the full unveiling!

Christmas Projects 2010 - a group that wants to make sure we're ready for Christmas next year by starting now! 

Hopefully, we'll be able to motivate each other to having lots of stuff done before December 25, 2010.  I've got quite a list of what I want to accomplish!

Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs has a new - free BOM for 2010.  Snowbound!  It's all snowmen!  January looks so cute.  I have a feeling I'll be getting started on it before I finish last year's!

Jenny of Elefantz also has a free BOM - another keeper!  More of her fabulous shabby roses - Bouquet.  I'm going to have to sharpen up my embroidery needles for these two!




I've signed up for the Generosity Project with Melissa at Ardea's Nest.  At this point, I just wait, but once I receive my gift sometime in the next year, I'll then turnaround and open it up to more people to receive a gift from me.

And then today I signed up for OPAM 2010 (One Project A Month).  Something to keep me motivated and organized - this time next year I'll know exactly what I did in 2010!  Now, to go tackle those UFOs that didn't get finished last year so that they can appear in my OPAM finishes this year!

What have you got planned for 2010?
Happy quilting!