Happy Holidays Christmas Pillow and Buntings

A few weeks before Christmas my daughter sent me a link to a Christmas pillow on Amazon and mentioned she would love a seasonal Christmas pillow like her Thanksgiving pillow. She gave me creative license, and away I went!

Using a combination of different designs from Gail Pan (inspired by Christine) and Maggie Robertson Design, I fashioned a Christmas pillow with embroidery and a bit of rudimentary applique.

I used a bit of glittery embroidery thread for the garland hanging off the house and simple embroidery stitches for the pillow.

I added a kitty and bird for my cat and birdie-loving daughter!

The back is from Riley Blake's Postcards for Santa collection and was my daughter's favorite of the fabric photos I sent her.

A few days after her pillow request, she also asked for a bunting for her fireplace as well as a smaller bunting to hang above her daughter's crib.

For the fireplace bunting I used the same pattern as for her nursery bunting and fabrics primarily from Postcards for Santa.

The baby's bunting was composed of Christmas fabric from my stash and white felt with buttons purchased at Hobby Lobby. I am particularly fond of the Frosty Fun by Clothworks fabric (upper left and lower right). Oh I might as well as admit it - I am fond of most ALL Christmas fabric!


Now I already have my eye on a Christmas pillow to make for her next year.

Happy Holidays everyone!

New Name, New Look, Same Stuff

Sunrise in Sam Houston National Forest - I never tire of this view from our gate! 

Over the course of my blogging life, I have had several blogs. I started blogging in Oklahoma about 10 years ago and had a blog for my catering business For Goodness Sake, as well as one about life in Oklahoma Oklahoma Peach Fuzz, which became The Katy Rose when we moved to Katy, Texas in 2012. We moved again in 2013, and I started The Road to Oklahoma. Now that we have moved yet again, and my domain registration is ending in January, My Sew-Called Quilts was born. Hopefully this will be the last time!

My daughter saw this pillow on Amazon and asked if I could make her a Christmas pillow. She wants seasonal pillows like this pumpkin pillow I made for her last October.

I plan to use some of the grunge I recently ordered, (and which Jack thinks is his bed), and I will applique and embroider my own design - wish me luck!

Almost Sewing . . .

I know by now you must be tired of photos of the Janome silhouetted against my view - but there is a difference this time - the Janome is "ON". So I am enjoying a glass of zinfandel in my #1 Grandma wine glass to celebrate!

It has been a looooooong process with all the additions, corrections, and repairs that go with the purchase of a new manufactured home, and having so many people doing different tasks (running electricity underground, installing an aerobic septic system, waiting for parts to take care of first time walk-through repairs, and installing "skirting") takes time away from unpacking. Our first time purchasing a manufactured home has been an eye-opener!

Jack the new kitten is thriving in his new environment, and he and Katy (my older black cat) have adjusted beautifully. Jack is honestly the sweetest cat EVER, and he is a true gift from God. You can read about how I adopted him here Although he is very much a kitten (trying out his claws, scratching, play-biting, running/galloping through the house) he cuddles at night, purrs loudly when I speak to him, and follows me around when he isn't acting "crazy" or sleeping.

I am so inspired by all the quilting activity I see on Instagram and in the blogs I read daily. I cannot wait to get my fabric unpacked and start sewing!

Future Sewing Space

While at the house today, I couldn't resist putting my sewing desk in place!

After many days of waiting for county permits, electricity was connected yesterday, and tomorrow the AC will be installed - yay! Last week we had to go ahead and move our furniture into the house to avoid paying another month of storage on two units. Fortunately we had great movers, and everything arrived intact and unscathed after sitting in storage for two months. Next Monday the aerobic septic system will be put in, then Tuesday new appliances will be delivered.

Itching to get to these boxes in the sewing room!

With an additional bedroom, I will have a dedicated sewing room, so I am very eager to start unpacking. It has been so warm in the house, even with fans today it got too warm to stay long, so only a few boxes got unpacked.

If everything goes according to schedule, we will gather the dog, cat, and kitten, say good-bye to son's game room, and spend our first night in the new place next Wednesday!

UPDATE 9/25/16: Found the Janome - now to find the cords!

Meet Jack Nicklaus and Our Soon-To-Be Home

Left - First time in my lap

Right - after a bath and food and lots of love

Last week before the closing for our new manufactured home, the sales manager told me that there was a stray kitten on the office porch. With our cat and dog plus our son's kitten and dog, we have quite a zoo going on while staying in our son and family's gameroom, but was there any way I could walk away from this little guy? It took several minutes of coaxing to get him out from under the chairs on the porch. He was "kneading", purring, and crying, and clearly in distress. Poor little fella! The guys at the office took care of him while we closed and fashioned a makeshift box for me to put him in - they were so happy someone was taking him home!. As soon as I got in the truck I took him out of the box and he never moved from my lap. I found a vet nearby that could take us that day because I couldn't take him back to my son's house with our two healthy cats until we knew he was illness-free. Although he was full of fleas and had a few issues, he is healthy and is feeling much better now. The other two cats are tolerating him - I suspect they will all be playing together this week!

Little Jack Nicklaus sleeping next to Mommy

He is an 8-week old beautiful orange "mackerel" tabby, sweet and affectionate, and now his little belly is round with good food that he gobbles like a pig. I named him Jack Nicklaus after my favorite golfer.

This is our first time owning a manufactured home. Buying a manufactured home as opposed to building a "stick" home was a very reasonable alternative after purchasing 5 acres. Most people refer to them as "mobile" homes, but in fact once it is in place on our land it will not be mobile.

Things we love about this model: the roof was built higher to allow for a flat ceiling rather than typical pitched ceilings in most manufactured homes, it is energy efficient, it is a roomy 2128sf with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, it is gray, it has two living areas, it has a pantry, and the pantry, utility room, and the guest bathroom have barn doors - I love barn doors!

This model was promotional and so no options on colors and floors, but we may change those in the future. We did ask for an allowance for the very basic appliances that were included and have purchased new stainless steel range, refrigerator, and dishwasher. Can't wait to have photos to show you after we move in!

The back of our house just delivered to the lot!

The groundwork begins Monday morning with the contractor preparing a "dirt pad" on which the home will be placed. An aerobic septic system will be added, electricity and water will be installed, and hopefully all will be in finished in the next couple weeks!

Almost There . . .

It seems our move has been a loooooong process. When you are trying to coordinate a move with another family (my husband's Mom and sister) and roadblocks happen on both sides (we each had initial offers that didn't work out!), you end up living out of boxes. Our house did sell, but we had to put all our belongings in storage and are living out of suitcases in our son's upstairs game room. The household now consists of four adults, three teenagers, two dogs, and two cats - good thing it's a big house!

If everything goes according to plan, my husband's sister will close on the sale of her home at the end of this week, and we will finalize the purchase of five acres in Sam Houston National Forest. Hopefully next time I post we will all be in our permanent homes!

In the meantime, this little Punkin is growing fast - she is now four months old!

Fingers crossed that soon we will see this view every morning.

Update

I had to share this funny house plan that I found on Sewing Parts Online's Pinterest feed. Wishful thinking!

We have had numerous offers on our house, one contract that ended after one week, and now have a contract we feel is pretty secure (fingers crossed). The contract for our new place has been on hold also, and we are eager to get this done. My husband has been reading up on chicken and pig farming - lol! He wants half a dozen chickens and a couple of "pet" pigs. I am looking forward to finding the right place for a small garden. And one of the first things we'll do is build a deck on the back of the house - we can't wait!

This is how I feel since most of my fabric is packed in boxes,

and I've schooled myself to NOT look at any fabric online.

Our new granddaughter is thriving! She is already two months old.

I love this photo of her and my daughter.

Pool inspection yesterday, house inspection today, appraisal next week . . . hopefully the next time I post, we will be moved in and enjoying "the farm"!

Pink Is My New Favorite Color. . .and A Hiatus

Our beautiful third granddaughter was born April 12, and we are in love! The birth was one of the highlights of my life, and Delaney and my daughter are both thriving. I stayed a few days and got in all the cuddles I could and am now counting the days until we see them again.

She was 6 lbs 5 oz - a little bundle of pink joy!

I can't believe she has already grown and changed so much in 3 short weeks!

My daughter and son-in-law made the nursery so darling!

In other news...

We have an option pending on a house and a little piece of land about 100 miles north of us. We are keeping our house clean and "staged" for showings, hoping for an offer soon. I am going to become more and more busy, so blogging will take a back seat for awhile as we start on our next adventure!

I'll Be Back...

Much to the dismay of my grown son and daughter, I still try to use my best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice to imitate his character in Terminator. It is a perfect fit for the state of my blog posting as of late.

Life has been a bit stressful and busy lately, with my daughter's delivery of her first child imminent, plus we are getting our house ready to sell. I'll be staying with my daughter a few days next week and will try to give a blog update as soon as possible on the new baby!

Hope all of you are doing well!

Debbie's Prayer Quilt

The prayer quilt for my niece is finally finished! My niece is a strong Christian, and I positioned the three magenta and violet crosses to serve as a remembrance of the three crosses of Calvary - I think she will like the significance.

Pattern illustration

As I mentioned when I blogged about it (almost 3 weeks ago!) I used Plus Quilt pattern by Jeliquilts.

I pieced the back with some leftover cuts from the fabrics (listed below)

I particularly love this bird fabric and the bit of whimsy it adds. And it was very gratifying to audition it and see it contained the colors from the other fabrics.

I made a few errors and had to rip seams a few times, even with the binding! The Kona magenta fabric I originally intended for the binding raveled too much after all the chaos, so I looked to my purple stash to find something that would work. Lo and behold I had a 1/2 yard print that was perfect!

I stitched crosses in each corner

The quilting was mostly straight line, with some wavy lines on the border.

Last time I talked to my niece, she was feeling stressed about her upcoming treatments following her mastectomy, so my wish is that this prayer quilt will give her some comfort.

Quilt Details:
Finished size: 45"x45"

Quilt Front:
Collage Bird Dot Cream by Carrie Bloomston for Windham
Bohemia Teal Dots by Julie Paschkis for In The Beginning
Kona: Snow, Ash, Violet, and Magenta
On a String in Lime by Valentina Ramos for Robert Kaufman
Unknown dark eggplant fabric Made in Japan

Binding: Mosaic Purple by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery
Backing: Collage Bird Dot Cream by Carrie Bloomston for Windham, Kona Ash

Thread used:
Superior Threads So Fine Genoa Gray