Tic Tac Toe Anyone?

I wanted a little project with some handwork to do.  I finished the smocking on a little top (pictures to come) and needed some more handwork.  I am in the process of knitting a lace scarf but I MUST pay attention when I’m working on that.  Sometimes mindless is good.  I dug out some old magazines and came across a cute Tic Tac Toe game board with a matching bag.  The game pieces are fabric yo yo’s.  Great fat quarter project and Lord knows I have plenty.  This thing took forever!  I always underestimate the time it takes to do hand embroidery.  I wasn’t in a rush or anything, I just thought this was going to be quick and easy.  It was long and easy.  It was worth it though. 

The bag:

The game board with yo yo’s:

The back of the game board:

My friend Pam and I took this for  a test drive.  She thinks the game ended in a tie but truthfully, I won.  Let’s not tell her, ok?

Discovery Bag

I saw this little project somewhere and discovered this pattern by make it perfect.  This is the cutest idea.  You basically create a completely sealed bag filled with about 20 or so small objects and some sort of filler…in this case little plastic balls.  The idea is to find all the objects by squishing the bag and moving things around.  It’s a good idea to give this gift with a list of everything you put in the bag.  Here’s mine before stuffing:

and after:

This kit came from Australia and it had the pre-printed list of things to put in the bag.  I had to laugh because I wasn’t sure what a couple of the items were.  So, by process of elimination I now know that a cotton bud is a Q-tip and a peg is a clothes pin.  I suppose I should pass this info on to the person that receives this Discovery Bag.  Maybe not.

Mystery Solved!

The 12 month,  Mystery Designer Block of the Month quilt top is done!  Not bad.  I received my first block in June of 2008 and my last in May of 2009.  I enjoyed making this quilt (except for the part where I had to redo the first 5 blocks).  I love the sashing.  When I first saw it,  I knew it was going to be a lot work but hey, I’d come this far.  Here it is hanging from the side of my deck weighted down with 2 heavy ceramic kitchen bowls.  I was so intent on keeping the bowls out of the picture that I totally missed the garden hose!

I really like the stars at all the intersections.  It’s really pretty and I’m totally happy with it.  I bet it would look better without a hose up its… :)  This club was sponsored by the FatQuarterShop.  This online store is one of my favorites.  I thought of doing the 2009 Mystery BOM but it looked similar to this one.  Hmmm, what to make next?

A quick view of all 12 blocks

I’m about half way through sewing and attaching the sashing to the blocks.  Here’s a quick look at all 12.

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I’ll post the completed top soon and then it’s off to the machine quilters!

Little Projects, Big Satisfaction

Seems like I can never start a large project and go all the way without picking up some little projects along the way.  Sort of a distraction as well as instant gratification.  I finally taught myself to machine applique earlier this year.  I look for things to applique.  I heart applique.  I look at things in my house and wonder how they would look with a flower, bird or dog applique.  In order to save what I do have of decor, I asked my friend Lisa to bring me a tee shirt for her daughter Rebecca that I could, of course, applique.  She brought me 2.  Miss Rebecca loves dogs and they have a huskie mix.  More huskie than mix.  Lisa got her  inexpensive (not cheap) tee shirts from Michael’s craft store.  I also happened to have small white tee from Target.  A bargain at $1.50 on the clearance rack.  I can’t believe how well they     washed.  The little Target tee was too small for some of the applique’s I have on hand so I used a cookie cutter.

How can you not get Big Satisfaction from these?  Scraps of fabric and very little effort.