Merry Christmas to all!

Here at the Lilypad, we are wishing all of our quilting buddies and the lovely, dear friends that we've made over the years here, a very wonderful Christmas.

We're praying for peace in our world, food in our tummies, songs in our hearts, and fabrics in our stashes.....

Seriously, we love you all, and hope your Christmas is blessed and peaceful.

Love to all,

Table "topper" (and placemats, too!)

Just as promised, here are some pictures of what I was working on when I had that epiphany about the labels. (Grin)

I've seen this idea before, but have no pattern.....just developed it on the run. Flew by the seat of my pants, you might say.

Padsworth and DragonDrop helped with the clipart we found...

I wanted this to be useful for winter, not just for Christmas, hence the mitten theme!

Found the snowflake clipart free on the interwebs (don'tcha love technology?), fused it, and carefully cut it out with my teeny, pointy, embroidery scissors. Then of course, I wondered why my hands were aching. (Grin)

Here's a photo when I had it sandwiched for quilting:

You can see that on a larger (square) table, there will be the snowflake in the center, and the mittens will be placemats for each person.

Some of you peeps will be smartypants and notice that I used the same fabric for the backgrounds -- on the center you see the right side, and on the mitten blocks you see the reverse!

The mittens all have the same red print for the cuffs, and the calico stars, too.

Simple zigzag this time - I hoped it would make the mittens look "fuzzy" and warm!

LOVE the way the snowflake turned out! Just straight stitch applique....

Used my fav thread from Aurifil:

From this thread collection (by the way, this has been awesome; the colors lend themselves to so many different projects. If you want a "jack of all trades" thread set, this is your set!):

Here's a photo of the finished present! Don't worry, the recipient never looks here at the Lilypad!!

And yes, I labeled it!

Love,

Quick! Before you wrap it!

Just a quick note today....

I know everyone is super busy -- some of us are madly scrambling to finish projects for gifts.

A word to all of us before we wrap up those handcrafted gifties.....

Label them!!

No kidding, it is so important to label our work. We are proud of it, right? Many years from now, it will be important to those we love, and to those who perhaps aren't even born yet, to know who made these lovelies, and when!

I just finished some projects (in fact, I hope to post pix tomorrow) and wanted to remind all of us to do this important finishing step!

(I magically erased my name from the image above, but you can see that simple hand stitching is a cute way to do it.)

I used these cute labels from Jacquelynne Steves, but there are many ways to label your work. Just search online and you will find quick tricks to get 'er done!

Then sit back and enjoy as they open the gifts you so lovingly created!!

See y'all tomorrow!!

Love,

Bonus projects to go with the quilt.....

Mhairi, I hope you are reading this.....and for those of you who haven't seen our boyz for a while, and wondered where they have been, Padsworth and DragonDrop are very much here, and very involved in things!

They decided they would help out with this post . . . . we'll see how this goes!

Remember the flimsy?

Well, it's still a flimsy, but I put those bonus HST squares to very good use!

First, I made a star pillow for the guest room bed where the quilt will make its home (once I have time to finish it!). 

Here are Padsworth and DragonDrop showing it to you:

Yep, that's one of my vintage chenille spreads on the bed, and those pillows behind the boyz will be covered in shams soon; that's next on the list!

I'm afraid they got a little rowdy after this; they wanted to check out the new window treatments. DragonDrop thought that rappelling down the cord of the new blinds looked fun:

And Padsworth lost his hold on the new valance and had to be rescued before any more photos could be made.

Once that crisis was averted, we could take some pictures to show y'all....

And yes, that is a particularly bright green on the walls.....hence the use of a good bit of white to tone things down!!

Here is the new valance, with more lovely bonus HST squares!

Along the top and bottom, I used scraps of the gorgeous Joanne Figueora fabrics as borders.

Whew! I think the guest room is coming along!

Of course, the boyz decided on a new project, and I'll give you a glimpse of their plans..... more to come soon!

Love,

Christmas gifts

Do you have a quilter on your gift list?

Or do you need to whip up a quick gift?

Here is the solution for you!

Our friends at this online store:

offer kits and accessories that those on your list will love!

And right now they are enticing us with free shipping!!

Hop on over (click on that link) and check out the fun! (And tell 'em that Snoodles sent ya!)

Love,

Flimsy done! (As promised!)

Last time we talked fabrics (yes, I know it's been too long, y'all have my heartfelt apologies....but my customers have a good bit of my attention) I showed you some luscious fabrics and the blocks I was making.

Remember?

Well, some more blocks and some sashing and corner blocks later, and there's a flimsy ready to be sandwiched! (Grin)

Of course, it had to rain when I wanted to show you, so these photos are not too good, but I think you can get the general idea.

I used a few of the "bonus" HSTs in a partial border.....

Why? Didn't want to use 'em all up.

Why? Cos I have several projects for them. (Oh, this is so exciting!!!)

I'm going to make a valance for the windows where this quilt will make its home, and then pillow shams, too!! Squeeee!

Hang in there.....more quilty goodness coming soon! (And a visit from Padsworth and DragonDrop.....just sayin)

Love,

Countdown to Christmas is coming!

Our awesome sponsor, the Fat Quarter Shop, is gearing up for their Countdown to Christmas!

Do you like their Flash Sales?

You'll LOVE this countdown event!!

They are working feverishly behind the scenes to get ready, so while we wait, check out these cool ideas at their site:

Shop for the quilter or crafter in your life! (Or for yourself, just sayin'.)

Get organized and whip out finished projects this year!

Love a good mystery? Check out this one -- fun all year long!

I'll be back with more news soon..... jingle, jingle!!

Love,

Stella Lighting Sale -- you don't want to miss it!

Oh, my.

It's been way too long!

Sorry for my absence; working for a living has a way of keeping us busy, no?

But I simply MUST tell you about this sale at Stella!

Remember my bestie, Emmy? My fav light that is so awesome!!

You can get one today!! The Cyber Monday sale is going on, and if you hop over there from this blog, you'll find a bestie just for you!!

Here's what you do......click on this link to be whisked away through cyberspace to the Stella site. Then shop and choose your own Stella..... enter this code at the check out: betterlightbetterlife

You will receive a $50 instant coupon, plus free shipping!!!

Hurry!

Only a few more hours left!!

Love,

PS. I finished a flimsy in my "free" time! I'll show you soon!!

Working on a UFO.....

I was stunned to see the date on the post where I first showed you lovely peeps this bundle of fabric!!

FIVE years ago! (I didn't even realize I'd been a resident of blogland for that long!)

I was the lucky winner of a giveaway, and received that gorgeous pile of fat quarters, plus a pattern! The fabric line is called Butterscotch and Rose, and is from the talented designer, Joanne Figueroa!

I actually dug in and started this project, as you can see in this post: click here.

And I love, love the fact that I got bonus triangles from the blocks, too: click here.

I dug this out of my stash a week or so ago, and said "howdy" again.....I'd forgotten all about it. 

I'd made almost all of the blocks, just four more to go. They go together so fast!

Check these out!

I can't think of another word to describe these beautiful fabrics adequately, except for sumptuous....they are really lovely.

Now I'm putting together the lattice strips and joining up the large blocks....then to put on my thinking cap for a cool border. Maybe I'll use some of those bonus triangles!

I'll show you more progress next time!

Love,