Wedding Stuff Prototypes

DD is getting married in May...I offered to make the ringbearer pillow and flower girl basket and since she likes stars, I said I would try to make them in star shapes...I finished the prototypes this evening...will have to see what DD thinks of them!

You have to imagine them in satin brocade...I just used some scrap material to see if the patterns would work out..so they are not even her colors..

First, I had to re-learn how to make a 5 pointed star out of paper for my pattern (yay Google!)...

The first ringbearer pillow I did was a flop..the points would not stay stuffed! and it was way too big..cut down the star pattern and made another one..this time I stitched each side of the star fabric to cotton batting..which when the seam allowance is poked into the points, makes them stay pointy..and the cotton batting seems to hold the polyfluff better..

This is the flowergirl basket..I only did one of these..and again, I think it may be a bit too big..On the real one, the outside will be satin brocade, the lining will be satin and I will probably use shiny rayon thread for the satin stitching. It does stand up on its own and I think its pretty cute! The bows should probably be bigger satin ribbon...and I think they may end up pink, as that is one of her colors...

Horsing Around...

A few weeks ago, one of the bloggers that I follow announced she had just gotten a new fabric line that she designed published..she had a little contest and I was chosen to recieve some of her very cute fabric to make a pillowcase...So...here is the pillowcase and if you guess that it's going to DGD, you would be guessing right! She has a LARGE collection of horsies..but so far, not a horsie pillowcase!

You can see the whole fabric line here. Isn't it just the cutest design?? It's supposed to be in Quilt Shops sometime in February in case you are interested in getting some for yourself..

I love the main panel! Have to see if DDIL would want me to make a wall hanging for DGD's room out of it:

Christmas Gifts and Cards

Here is one of the Christmas gifts I made this year..the number of folks that DH and I exchanged gifts with this year was cut down to just our kids..the rest of us donated to a charity and we had a marvelous Christmas Feast!

A little fleece pony that I made for my DGD:

And here are the Christmas Cards I made, I attached a Grany Star to the front of the card. The Grany Stars were all made with yarn and gold cording that came from MY Granny's stash that I inherited. All the materials for the cards were stuff I had on hand:

I put the following story inside of the cards..it's similar to one I read but that one was too long and not quite right for my purposes, so I wrote my own version:

The Christmas Star

One day there was great excitement among the stars in the heavens. God had called a meeting of all the stars to announce something 'Very Important'. Each of them polished their rays until they sparkled and made their way to the meeting room, from the biggest and brightest stars, to the littlest star.

God told them, "I am sending my beloved son to Earth to give comfort to all the people. I wish to announce his birth by sending a star before him. I am looking for a very special star."

Each of the stars, one by one, came before the Throne of God and told of their qualifications.

“I am the North Star," said Polaris. "I help guide the Men of Earth on their journeys over sea and land."

Sirius said "I am the brightest star. I shine on all the Men of Earth."

"I am the closest star to the Men of Earth" said Alpha Centauri.

The parade of stars before the Throne of God lasted for quite a while. Finally God asked, "Are there any more stars?" From the back corner of the room a little voice was heard. "Only me, Lord.'

The Littlest Star made its way to the front and kneeled before the Throne. "I am just a wee little star. I don't have any great qualifications, My Lord. My light is hidden behind the other brighter stars. But I would be honored to be chosen to announce Your Son. I humbly do Your Will the best I am able. Whatever You say I should be, I will be." The Littlest Star returned to the back corner.

The meeting room was still and quiet as the other stars thought about what the Littlest Star had said.

Then one by one the other stars approached the Throne. "Pick another, Dear Lord. I am not worthy of such a great honor." And one by one the stars returned to their places in Heaven.

Soon, only the Littlest Star was left. "Why did they all go?" the Littlest Star asked God.

'Because, " said God, "each of the others told of their abilities. You were the only one to have faith in my abilities. You will be the special star to show the Earth my glory."

And so God made the Littlest Star into a blaze of beautiful light, shining brightly over the town of Bethlehem. Below, the shepherds in the fields were amazed at the light and became afraid, until an angel of the Lord appeared and said "Behold, I bring you tidings of great joy. For unto us a Savior is born this night." The angel pointed to the bright beam of light and said "Lo, He is born in a stable in Bethlehem." And the shepherds gathered their flocks and went to see the newborn babe, guided by the light of the Littlest Star.

The Littlest Star, its job done, still shines humbly in the evening sky, its light hidden by the bigger and brighter stars. But it still remembers those wonderful hours when it got to be the most brilliant star in the heavens as a reward for having faith in God.

Susan Noonan 2009 inspired by ‘Heli, The Star of Bethlehem” by Harrison Woodard

Making 'Terry Birds'

Terry Grant designed a pattern for some cute stuffed birds...the pattern was published in the Special Commemorative Edition of the International Quilt Festival Quilt Scene magazine that is in the bookstores right now...its a dilly of a price ($14.95!!) but I wanted the pattern for the birds, so I ponied up the bucks! There are a couple other cute patterns in the magazine that I might make too, so maybe it will amortize out..
The wings are supposed to be fused with heavy interfacing..but for my prototype bird I just used freezer paper!! I know the bird is not going to get washed, so it should be fairly safe! On the prototype bird, the beak did not turn out quite right..it's a bit off center (gives Mr Birdy a bit of personality!)..And I did not have any wire to make the armature for the legs that allows the bird to stand..so he just has a bit of fleece for wee feet peeking out at the bottom.

I ventured out early on Black Friday to get some wire and the brown floral tape to make the legs..then spent at least half an hour arguing with the wire but it finally was pliered into submission..and as you can see in the picture, the Blue Bird does stand - so..it must be close to right! If I end up making a few more of these - and I probably will  - I think I will build a jig for the feet.. The bird goes together pretty quickly after the legs are made and all the pieces cut out  - 'stash diving' and deciding on just which pieces of fabric to use can take up a bit of time though...'Oh look..that one is really cool..but this one is even cooler..no wait..THIS is the perfect combo'.

The standing bird was made as a present for my Mom, who loves fat birds (she is the reason I wanted to make this pattern) When I showed her the prototype..she thought the two birds together looked really cute..so they both are living on her kitchen counter!

I have some lovely batiks picked out for the next bird!