Merry Christmas....

On tractor joe's side of the family, they do a name exchange. He drew his sister-in-law. She wanted a squirrel proof bird feeder like the one tractor joe has. He had bought it in Tennessee. 

Even though he had been back to Tennessee several times, he was never in the able to find that bird feeder again. 

So....

On our "Saturday before Christmas" shopping trip he found a squirrel proof feeder in the clearance section. 

WOW, what a deal!!

And he bought it...

Tractor joe spends a lot of time reading reviews on products before he buys anything.

He didn't read any on this feeder until we had it here at home.

One review had the information needed to make it a REALLY and TRULY squirrel proof.

Some were reassuring that this was a good feeder.

And some just cracked me up. 

That is when I decided to make a little book to go with the feeder. 

I dug out an old Bird and Bloom magazine, stickers, and used the actual packaging material from the bird feeder.

It was ripped and falling apart.

Those headless birds were really in my stash. Years ago my nephew had been making strange animals by mixing and matching heads with bodies. A normal person would have thrown headless birds away....but no, there they were, ready to use in this project!

Tractor joe thinks she will enjoy the bird feeder, even if it is nothing like his, and the book!

late start at school.....

Quick post before I leave for school. 

I put together one little bag last night. Things are wrong with it....

like the handles aren't positioned the same on each side...

and the other side of the handle should be facing out.

For a test run, this isn't bad though.

I put some candy in it and will give it to the teacher I work with.

Now, I have about 3 days before I need more done.

One of those days is a shopping day.

tick tick tick

time is running out.

The hardest blocks for me.....

Star Crossed blocks for BLOCK LOTTO

The rule for these blocks was simple,

pick ANY three fabrics that are light, medium and dark.

This paralyzed me for the longest time.

I started grouping fabric by threes, one of each....dark, medium and light. But nothing seemed right. It just looked like a big mess. 

So I put it all away and started over. I just grabbed a light and put it with something dark. 

Then, I went back to look for the cross part. I think I ended up with mostly mediums there.

Construction wise, these were pretty easy. I love the way they look and think who ever wins these will be so lucky! They will make such a cool quilt.

I started cutting and sewing fabric for teeny tiny gift bags. Big enough for a handful of candy and gift card. Or just candy. I was hoping I would have a few little bags done by this time. 

But no, not yet. They are based on (this sweet little bag pattern)

I will get back at them later.

zig zag, book and bag.....

I had two Christmas sewing projects to finish and I did.

The zig zag quilt got some binding.

It will be given to a toddler aged girl.

I thought she needed a book,

so I bought this one....

Then I thought she needed a book bag too. It had to be big enough to hold this book and the quilt.

I sewed left over strips from the quilt until they were gone.

Sort of like a mini jelly roll. Then I cut that into eight sections and sewed them back together.

It is a basic bag, no pattern.

The butterfly I had made earlier became a pocket. Everything fit just right!

I also finished Step 4 of Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery

No pictures.

My 30 year old Montgomery Ward sewing machine had new life breathed into it today.

It had started just whirring and going "zzzzzzzz" when I pushed the pedal.

Tractor joe took it apart and tightened the belt, then he oiled everything.

It is like a new machine.

I do have an inexpensive Brother, but I was not having very good luck piecing with it.

The fabric seemed to want to veer left and it had a hard time going over seams.

There are still Block Lotto blocks to be made and next weekend is our Christmas shopping weekend.

Yes, we cut it close, but it works for us.

easy street progress

The geese are getting made using the big square and four smaller squares so I get four at a time.

This goes pretty fast. I am up to 88 of them. Not bad.

I made a butterfly using this pattern or tutorial...

Free pieced butterfly 

Lynne at patcherymenagerie created it and is selling them.

It was nice having detailed step by step pictures and directions. I didn't have to think so much. I loved it. My plan is to use the butterfly as a pocket on a bag. I don't have a pattern for this bag. I am winging it as I go. It will be a Christmas present. 

Then there is this other ongoing project....

The latest Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt Easy Street.

All the four patches are step 1. 

The goal-----use what I have for the quilt. 

There was a large hunk of batik here, so I went with that.

I am not totally committed to these colors. 

But I did start cutting into the greens for step 2 and have a few done. 

So green will be in it, I am not turning back now.

I knew I would run out of the black and whites, but went with them anyway.

My Mom gave me birthday money, that is what I used to get more on Saturday. I have no picture of the green geese yet.