A Green Christmas

No the grass is not green here in Iowa. We have had plenty of snow for a picture perfect White Christmas. I decided to take a page from son Anthony's book and go green with my gift wrapping. I wrapped my gifts in fabric instead of paper. (Lord knows I have more fabric than gift wrap.)

Anthony's gifts are wrapped in Adoring and Crazy 8.
His gifts are quite large so the 45 inches was great.

Abby's and Deb's are wrapped in Holly Jolly, Merry & Bright and Lollipop.
Not only will there not be any paper going to the landfill

but they will have a nice little stash of fabric. It is like a gift wrapped in a gift.

I have a huge bag of ribbon instead of bows.

Bows get crushed after awhile. The ribbon

you can use year after year.

In my case you my have to iron it from time to time.

If you are one of those people who's ribbon looks like this.

This is what I have to say to you…

I try to be organized but I am way more creative

if I am surrounded by "creative clutter".




Son Anthony wrapped wooden gifts
to put outside under his ditch cedar tree.
He will be able to use them year after year.



He used wire to put shape into his bows.



He cut the tops off of pine cones and glued them together to make a bow.
I think it is cool. I will have to try this next year.


Abby made this out of fabric scraps when she was about nine.
It is one of my favorite decorations.

This little shelf/cubby is made out of an old chair.

Our 1890 house has plastered walls.

I like to use old window frames to hang things on.

This way the nail hole is in the old frame and not the wall.

From my heart,

Sandy

My Most Popular Item At Quilt Market

We are just back from market.
So sorry I did not blog during market - just too darn tired.
I'm sure all of you attending market noticed the bags under my eyes.

The ones big enough to sack a weeks worth of groceries.

The whole market is a blur to me.
Our booth went up fairly quickly.
Can you guess which item received the most attention?

Was it this quilt featuring the panel from the Lollipop line?
Abby drew the picture on the easel - just like she drew when she was little.

Was it the quilt using a Lollipop Layer Cake™ with a dimensional flower?

Was it this "leaving the crib going to a big bed" quilt?



Or was it this quilt made with a Lollipop Jelly Roll™?
Look closely - the dresser is made out of cardboard boxes and fabric bolts.

Although there was much interest in these quilts - the question most ask was "where did you get the couch?"

My spiffed up Ikea couch.

It is very easy to do.
You will need.
Ikea couch.
Sandy solids fabrics (I used 6 colors)
Heavy Heat n' Bond
Olfa Circle Cutter
Markers to match you fabrics

Iron big squares of Heat'n Bond onto fabrics.
Using the circle cutter cut circles ranging in size form 4"-2".

Cut out circles.
Iron circles onto couch.
Using the matching markers, draw two circles around each dot.
Done!

Moda was introducing this nifty machine called the Slicer,

demonstrated by Debbie Duckworth.
Wouldn't these shapes be fun ironed on a couch?

Since market was so close to home, the family drove up to view the craziness.

Moda as usual had an awesome booth styled after an antique doll house.
Did I get any pictures - of course not. Falls under the category of sleep deprived.
Liesl from Oliver + S (Moda's newest designer) took some great pictures which are posted on her blog. Check it out.

Are you all wondering where I left my purse this market???

I went to visit Gudrun from GE Designs - right next door to my sister Brenda of Country Stitches

I sat it down in Gudrun's booth and walked away without it.

Sandy's purse left behind - another market now complete.

From my heart,
Sandy

How About a Lollipop?

Market is 3 weeks away and my "to do" list is 4 weeks long. Yikes - I am not sure how this is going to work.
Sleepless nights I am guessing.

My new market line Lollipop arrived last week.


So I called in the troops to whip up the quilts.
Lori, Sandy and Lois, all still in the same positions
that you saw them in when I blogged about the last market.


A sneak peek of the panel.
This line features fun bright colors such as:

Orange and Vanilla

Lime and Cherry

Banana, Chocolate and Blueberry.

Snippets of a few of the quilts that the girls have made using this fabric.

If any of you are going to Sample Spree at market,

Moda will be selling a kit of this quilt.

It is made using a Lollipop Charm Pack™..
The kit will include a

Charm Pack™, pattern, backing and buttons.

It's pretty cute if I do say so myself.

It might just be worth the cuts and bruises

you may receive during the Sample Spree mayhem.

If you are a shop owner, you will be able to view this fabric at the Moda booth. Book you appointment now.
If you are not a shop owner and you like this fabric - please let your shop owner know and she just might buy it for you. This fabric will ship in October.

Looking forward to seeing some of you at market. Market is in Minneapolis this year - 3 hours from here.
Gotta love it. What's the nicest thing about it being so close? No not the short drive.

When I leave my purse someplace (and I will)

the farthest away it could possibly be, would be 3 hours.

With such a short distance one could just drive back and pick it up -

as opposed to leaving it in Oklahoma - 12 hours away.
Yes, nice to have market so close.

See some of you soon - way too soon.

From my heart,
Sandy