Christmas cheer and some pillows...

I. Love. Christmas.

Have I said that before? I really do. 

I've realized that Christmas and the decorations and little traditions make me feel so happy! So why not surround myself with all things Christmas? 

Here are some pillow cases I made for Christmas time! 

I bought the fabric on sale at Joanns during their after Christmas sale in January. Isn't it so vintage? I love it! 

The trim is vintage cotton trim and the cases are reversible! They have holly and bows on one side and angels and deer on the other!

 The throw pillow I made from an old printed embroidery panel that a very lovely person sent to me on etsy as a gift when I bought my copper kitchen things for my doll house. Wasn't that so sweet? I  just LOVE it! 

The fabric I used for the rest of it (also Joanns) is a forest scene on cotton that's sparkly!

So happy!

I hope you will all have a wonderful December and are as excited about Christmas as I am!

Please let us know what you've been crafting or planning to craft this month! We'd love to hear!

Happy December! Cheers!

Marguerite

Last of the Summer Roses

Hello lovelies! 

I hope you are all having a splendid October thus far! 

We've had such a crazy Summer!  Our Mom was sick in bed ALL Summer as well as one of our sisters, and her husband had to be away for work, so we've also been taking care of our 4 year old niece.

Needless to say, we haven't got around to much of anything else. Sorry for the LONG absence!

I did manage to take a very few pictures of some things we did this Summer. Such as picking flowers from our much overgrown garden. I hope you enjoy them!

God has been gracious and loving and has provided everything we've needed and taught us much. And of course, what would we have done without our dear friends who have helped and encouraged us so much! If you're reading this, thank you so, so much!

I know this isn't very Autumnal, but... Happy October! 

♥♥♥ Marguerite 

Summer Dresses

Hello!

Are you enjoying Summer? I hope so!
I have been loving the sunshine, thunder storms, popsicles and flowers all around!

Also, some free time to sew! I made a dress for each of my 3 nieces.

I only have pictures of two though! Oops!

The pattern is the Sweetheart Dress from Very Shannon . She has the most adorable little girl dress patterns.

The skirt fabric for this next one I got at The Stitchin' Post in Sisters Oregon, during the annual Sisters Quilt Show. I couldn't resist it! It's too cute! The other fabrics and the HEART BUTTONS I got at Joann Fabrics. ♥

What have you been making this Summer? Do tell!

xo Marguerite

Free Printables from Pretty Wit!

Hello!
Just thought I'd show you a little sample of the free calenders that Pretty Wit are offering.
At the beginning of every month they post a new calender (or two!) on their blog.
I use them all the time. They're very pretty (and useful) on my desktop and they look fabulous in my room.
In fact I rarely take the old one down when the month is over. ;) And all the extra little tidbits of free printables and diy's are always fun to see and use!

June is here so get their newest free calender!

Happy Summer!

Aimee

Happy May Day! Hooray Freebies!

This months FREE calender from Pretty Wit is called "Daisy Braids"

Please go to Pretty Wit to download, print, paste, and enjoy your May Calendar!

Aimee

April Freebies from Pretty Wit!

Hello all!

Over at Pretty Wit, they just posted their "Frenchie" April 2015 Calendar!

Head on over there for some other delicious freebies and tune in each month for your own free calendar page!

tootaloo!
Aimee

Another finished quilt!

What?! Two finished quilts? I finished this pretty 60's quilt during a very lovely sewing weekend with my two fellow spinsters and our very good friend Anna of The Willow Nest!

We were given this quilt top a few years ago and I finally decided to finish it! I love this quilt to pieces (pun very much intended). It's filled with so many pretty fabrics and it's so bright and cheerful without being too dated. Ooh, AND I finally got to use the beautiful vintage sheet that I won in a giveaway several years ago to back it! I love the result!

 The next three photos are of my three favorite fabrics in the quilt.

 I had to cut one row of squares off of the finished top so that it would fit the vintage sheet I wanted to use for the back. I didn't want the strip to go to waste so I cut it in half  and added it to two of the corners on the binding.  The rest of the binding is a yellow gingham!

It's super cozy and warm!

♥Genevieve

My Irish Chain Quilt

I recently finished a quilt that has been in the works for oh...4 or 5 years maybe? It is an Irish Chain pattern I found in a book called Big Book of Scrap Quilts. The pattern is called Jenny's Flower Garden. I used all scraps from my stash including scraps from a civil war ball gown, a failed green linen dress project,  a button up shirt, a pair of pajamas, a baby quilt and other random scraps from my stash! It feels so good to use up so many! Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

The whole thing is machine quilted in a diagonal pattern with PURPLE quilting thread! In each white square I hand quilted these pretty flowers. Honestly, I think the hand quilting was my favorite part of the process.

It is bound in scraps from my Civil War Ballgown!

And here is the back. A pieced together back with a bunch of  pastel scraps and muslin from my stash!

 I have to say I didn't enjoy making this quilt as much as I thought I would. There were just too many little corners that had to match up with each other. That is why it's so small. Originally I was going to make it at least a double size but I ran out of steam and ambition. That being said, I really love the finished quilt and I'm so glad that I stuck with it and finished it.

♥Genevieve

Free 2015 Calender and Freebies at Pretty Wit!

  Pretty Wit will be giving you a FREE 2015 Calendar Page for each month this year!

{also a bunch of other freebies and DIY's that make the perfect gifts, gift toppers, and envelope stuffers}

There is no specific theme for the year {because who can stick to one theme for an entire year?} There's a little bit of vintage, films, Paris, and just plain pretty! 

Here's a bit of

-what's already been-

and a sneak peak at some

-surprises to come-

Please visit Pretty Wit to download your Free 2015 Calender for March and enjoy all the goodies!

www.prettywit.blogspot.com

 

Don't miss the coming months!

Subscribe, Follow, Pin, Repost, Comment, Link-to-this-Post, Link-to-that-Post, Share, Email, Call, Telegraph, Send-out-the-Town-Crier, Light-the-Beacons,

Knock-yourself-out. :)

 

Aimee

The Hobbit and my Dwarvish Knits

Marguerite, at your service....

We went to go see The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies the day it came out. (We loved it!)

It was so epic and SAD and beautifully done! I won't post any spoilers in case some of you haven't seen it yet! I absolutely LOVED the song at the end. Heartbreakingly beautiful!

 So, because it was the LAST one we decided to dress up. It's tradition, what can I say? "Nerds have more fun." as Gen says.

I finished my medieval over dress and we each knitted a "detachable party hood" like the dwarves have in the book. Mine is the blue one because Fili and Kili were always my favorites and their hoods are blue. =] 

 I used the Dragon Watcher's Hood pattern by Tiny Owl Knits.

I made it a little longer than the pattern and I added a bell at the tip of the hood as well as the ends of the massively long drawstring with fabulous tassels!

I also made this knitted bag for which I made up the pattern. Something I've been wanting a very long time! A bag to wear with my costumes! It's inspired by Eowyn and Rohan... and also the Dwarves. 

Well, I hope everyone had a happy Groundhog day yesterday! One of the best (and silliest) holidays ever. Let me know what you thought of the the Last Hobbit movie (no spoilers please!) and I would love to see if you made costumes too!

Happy February!

Marguerite

We had snow...

..on Christmas Eve! And it stayed all through Christmas. yay!
I'm wanting snow again. Don't shoot me for saying that, but I do.

I really don't have anything to say except that I want to talk. I miss my friends that live far away.. and that live close for that matter. But I am resolved to actually learn how to communicate. I'm working on it.
Meanwhile I'm making Mochi and pillowcases. :)
Thanks for puting up with my weird moment.....s.
Moments.


♥Margo

Happy New Year!

 Hello to you and to a brand-spankin'-new year!

I am so excited for this year! Last year really was great in so many ways! This year, I hope will be something marvelous!

So, I am a nanny. Have I ever told you that? Well, anyway I am. A very part time one.
The Lady I work for, who I love to pieces, lived in Japan until she was 14, so I always ask her things about Japan and how they celebrate holidays and so forth. One day I asked her about Christmas and New Years and the thing she remembered the most was the Kagami Mochi. It's a decoration they have the whole month of December and then when New Year's comes they break it up, cook it and eat it! So, I decided to try my hand at making one. And here it is...

I used THIS recipe (the microwave one believe it or not). (One day I'd love to make it with ice cream!)It's made out of Mochiko (sweet white rice flour (Bob's Red Mill has it.)), sugar, water and a little potato starch (to cover the outside so it's not sticky). Then I used a Mandarin orange with a leaf for the top and made an origami paper fan and tag for it. I had to wrap it in plastic wrap as well to keep it looking spiffy. Fun, huh?

I also made some Mochi squares to snack on, but the were a dismal failure! They tasted really good, but after a few hours they got all soggy and bleh. (I hope that didn't happen with my Kagami Mochi! I'll have to ask...) So, I'll have to try them again. Probably with this recipe.

Thanks for stopping by! Leave a comment and let us know what you're doing or trying this new year!

Love.
Margo