Santa is sewing!

 

Shhhhhhhhh!

Don't tell anybody else!

Santa is in my sewing room! At least I think so!

Look at all these cute things!

First, since I know the momma won't be looking at this blog, check out these cute bibs for our two month old granddaughter!

Easy, peasy, just two pieces of flannel right sides together, and sew on some velcro! I, er, Santa made seven so there would always be a clean one while the others were washing! (Grin)

Next, look at this embroidery! I can't say who is going to find this under the tree, since sometimes the recipient DOES look at this blog. Heehee!

This is using Jenny Elefantz' Bloom and Weave pattern, and will be turned into a seed organizer. More to come on this one . . . 

And then.

The piece de resistance . . . you have to say that with a French accent, right?

Doll clothes for our other two granddaughters' six inch dollies! (Yes, Mr. Snoodles is sadly outnumbered. But he loves it!) Oh, the fingers ache making these tiny things, but don't they turn out cute?

I'm so glad Santa is in my sewing room!

What's under your needle as Christmas approaches?

Love,

Handquilting

(All posts may contain affiliate links.)

I enjoy hand quilting.

I REALLY enjoy hand quilting.

It's relaxing.

I like the feeling of accomplishment when I finish.

I like seeing the parts of the block that I want to emphasize, "pop" and grab my attention when I pull my stitches through.

I like to see the stitches (as uneven as they may be) on the back of my piece.

And I REALLY, REALLY like it when I have good thread to do it with!

Enter Sulky's 100% Long Staple Cotton in 12 weight!

I like Sulky's 12 weight because it is strong and there's virtually no lint. Also, I can cut a pretty long piece of thread and not worry about it breaking as it's pulled through the fabric many, many times! 

It's great for embroidery, too, because one strand of Sulky is the equivalent of two strands of floss . . . and it's a lot easier than trying to separate those six wiggly strands of floss in order to get two to stitch with! (Grin) Most of our patterns tell us to use two strands, right? Well, using the 12 weight from Sulky just made that a whole bunch easier! Unwind some 12 weight and you are ready to rock and roll!

I love the snap spool end, too. All of the Sulky spools have at least one. All you do is gently lift up the end with your thumb and release the thread. Bam! You're on your way!

Done with stitching for the day? Just lift that end again, wind the thread into the gap, and snap it shut! No more tangled up threads in your basket or bag!

Don't ya love those variegated threads? Gorgeous!

You don't have to take my word for it, though. Check out this awesome video tutorial for tips and inspiration:

Want to try some great Sulky threads for yourself? Click on these links and look at all the yummy colors over at Sulky!  

Want to do some machine quilting with Sulky's Blendables? No worries! Grab some of these delicious 30 weight spools!

But back to my handwork . . . 

This sample block that I'm quilting was an attempt to try out the pattern for a Summer Moon sampler block.

I am pretty pleased with how the Sulky 12 weight worked for the handquilting there. 

Have you tried Sulky thread? Let me know in the comments, and if you would like to try it, click on the links and check out their colors and their assorted color packs!

Love,

Accuquilt - need to finish a Christmas project quickly?

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I'm in love with the new dies at Accuquilt! Just look at all the cute ways to use these and create gifts!

From reindeer to gingerbread men, you are going to find inspiration! 

And those lovely folks at Accuquilt are helping us out with sales! You can get any of these cute dies to make these projects at . . . 

Wait for it . . . 

For twenty percent off!!!

And until December 6, they are offering free shipping in the contiguous United States!!

Click on the link and RUN! Do not walk. Do not pass go. Do not stop at jail. (Grin)

You'll love what you see and you'll love the discounts, too!

Love,

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

 

Yes, 2020 will be a year that we long remember. It was a roller coaster ride, no?

But the Lord is still in control, and He brought us through. 

Many of us endured hardships along with the blessings.

But then, Grandma always said we must take the bad with the good.

Today, I'm going to count my blessings. 

And it will take a while, for they are many.

And then I'm going to pray and ask God to favor our leaders with wisdom, our citizens with backbone, and our pastors with endurance.

I'll look in my survival pantry with a grateful heart. And pray that I won't use it much.

I'll look into my family's eyes with love. And pray that we will be safe.

I'll look into my heart and weed out the negative, the unjust, and the hurtful.

And pray to be more like Him.

I hope you will join me. Let's choose to be grateful.

Love,

A new site, and early sales!

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I don't know about you, but this is not my idea of a good time:

Nor is this:

What am I talking about? 

Black Friday shopping . . . . (Cue the ominous music)

But THIS is my idea of shopping on Black Friday:

And I have a sale to tell you about!

Our buddies at ThermoWeb have launched a brand new web site and they've reduced everything there! And they are offering free shipping on orders over $35.00!!

ThermoWeb offers fabulous products for paper crafting and for sewing and quilting! 

Check out their paper crafting pages for deco foils, card decor, and specialty adhesives so you can create to your heart's content!

Quilters and sewists will love their spray adhesives and trademark "Heat N Bond" products for making our fabric projects quick and fun!

Be sure to use those links to pop over their and enjoy the savings!

This is absolutely the best way to shop before and after Thanksgiving Day!

Love,

... lids! lids! my kingdom for some more jar lids!!

(With apologies to Shakespeare, I'm reworking the line from Richard III.)

We have picked and cooked our scuppernongs and our muscadines with a Granny Smith apple sliced in, and I pulled out the old family recipe . . . it's an easy one: equal parts grape juice and sugar! For instance, this time I had four cups of juice, so I added four cups of sugar. Toss in a "pat" of butter to cut down on the foaming.

Cook (at a hard boil) until the juice reaches the jelly point, and then pour into clean jars. I got five jars of jelly from this batch. 

I'm guessing that many of you are experiencing the same shortages that I am . . . it's harder to find jar lids than it is to find time to quilt these days. (Grin) That's one reason you see four jars there. It's difficult to find paraffin wax, too, and that is what I would have used to seal more jars. The fifth jar of jelly went in the fridge to be slurped up on low-carb muffins! (Yeah, I know, the sugar in the grape jelly kinda messes up the low carb count of the muffins. C'est la vie! Gotta have some goodies sometimes!)

How about you?
Have you found jars or lids lately? If you did, where did you find those treasures?

Love,

Party invitation - updated link!

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Sorry, the cyber elves messed up my link at first - should be correct, now!

I do love to use my Accuquilt to speed things along!

You can turn that handle and voila! Squares, circles, triangles, and applique shapes!

Faster than A. J. Foyt rounding the turn in the track, you are on your way to a finished quilting project!

My sis is using her Accuquilt GO! making plans for some happy sewing time:

All those gorgeous squares!

And tumblers . . . 

Accuquilt has SO MANY dies to cut shapes and pieces and even alphabets! (And what's even better is that link, the one that says "So many dies" will get you "Buy one, get one 50% off!" on the dies to go in the Accuquilt machine!)

And in a few days, Accuquilt will have a fun launch party!

Want to attend?

Here is your invitation! Just click there! That link will land you on the registration page, and then you will be all set for the party!

The Accuquilt elves have cooked up some fun - just for signing up, you get three free patterns and you are entered into some awesome giveaways!

The party begins on November 17th, precisely at noon, Central time! 

Come party with us!

See ya there!

Love,

Darting bird block

Ever wonder how quilt blocks get their names?

Well, some of them are pretty obvious! This is one of them - it's called "Darting Bird."

And it looks like a bird!

Check this out:

Cute, right?

Now take a peek of all three sizes together:

They really DO look like little birds, darting in different directions!

These are the 5 inch, 6.5 inch, and 8 inch blocks that will become part of my Summer Moon sampler quilt.

Now, on to the next block!

See you soon,

DragonDrop approved

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Hi kids!

Those of you who have followed here for a while know that we have two cute mascots here; one is called Padsworth, and he's a true Renaissance frog who is into all kinds of crafts and sewing and quilting. He even has his own project for shelter pets!

The other is his friend, small in stature but huge in heart: DragonDrop, who came to America all the way from Mairi in the "Land down under," when she sent him on his way to us.

Together, they are an awesome team of Quilt Inspectors, Craft Enablers, and All-Around-Good-Guys who keep us on our toes here at the Lilypad.

DragonDrop was checking out my latest stitching when I washed away the Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy, which is a fabulous product reviewed in this post and in this one. (Click on that green link there and you'll be whisked away to check out how to purchase some for your very own!)

Apparently, he has heartily approved my latest efforts!

This is another one of the Psalm 23 blocks from Jenny Elefantz. (Click on that graphic on the right-hand sidebar of the blog, and you can find all the blocks and instructions from our talented friend, Jenny.)

Here's a close-up:

I have just a few more to do and I'll be ready to turn these into a  . . . . well, you tell me. Jenny makes a lovely book, but I'm betting that they'd make a sweet quilt, too.

What would you do with these blocks?

Love,