Cooking and entertaining goes with the holidays, so I designed and sewed this Christmas apron for a festive addition to kitchen chores.
The first step was to hit my fabric stash to find red and green fabrics. I found the perfect combination of red, green and red and white stripe fabrics. I created a simple pattern that can be made in less than 2 hours. Click for the free pattern and instructions that you can download.
I would love to see pictures of aprons you make using this pattern. Enjoy and have a fun Christmas as you whiz through the kitchen wearing your new apron!
I know! Its not even Thanksgiving yet! But when you are hand making gifts or decorations for Christmas, there is never enough time. Between now and Christmas, I will be posting some Christmas projects. I hope that enjoy them and even make a few – as always, I would love to see what you make.
When I am giving a gift of wine to friends or as a hostess gift, I always look for a cute bottle bag. But, with this easy pattern and some felt, you can make a snowman bottle wrap to use instead of the bag. In addition, it can be used throughout the season to display a bottle of wine. So when you are making one (or more) for gifts, make one for yourself.
I love hearing from readers of my blog with projects they have made with my fabrics or designs. Its always fun to see the projects! I just have to show you the adorable dress Jessica made for her equally adorable daughter Raelyn. In this case, it was a special honor for me, as Jessica made the dress for Raelyn’s birthday dress for her 2nd birthday.
Jessica chose the pink cow print fabric from the Sweetheart Ballerina fabric line that I designed for Quilting Treasures. Raelyn loves cows and also had a pair of new pink cowgirl boots (aren’t they just too cute!). Jessica made the dress to match the boots but also made it reversible as well. She used the green ballerina fabric for the reverse side.
It looks like Raelyn had a wonderful birthday and is a fabulous model as well! Thanks to Jessica for sharing the pictures.
Have a wonderful day and many more happy birthday’s to Raelyn!
I just attended another spectacular International Quilt Market in Houston and wanted to share some of it with you. Quilt Market is a trade show filled with fabulous quilts, fabrics, fibers and all sorts of quilting supplies and embellishments as well as being a fusion of colors. Here is a bird’s eye view of a small part of the show floor.
There are always some great quilt challenges and exhibits at Market and here are some that were spectacular. I just loved this quilt made by Maureen O’Doogan from Tallahassee FL. Its fun and whimsical and great colors!
There was an exhibit of kaleidoscope quilts by Paula Nadelstern. They were simply amazing. Here are a few of them along with a close up.
Another huge and fascinating exhibit was the Fabric Forrest, a German exhibit to represent the Black Forrest. The quilts were tall and slim and were hung to represent trees. One of the amazing aspects of these quilts was that they were double sided with both the fronts and backs equally as beautiful. My photo’s didn’t do them justice with the colors because of the space and lighting.
Now for a brief pause before I continue. Not everything about Quilt Market is about Quilts. I just have to show you the gorgeous red shoes my friend Jill (with Quilting Treasures) was wearing. Aren’t they awesome! Some serious Shoe Envy here!
Games are really hot right now, especially board games. I think I could change my middle name to “opoly” because of all the work I’ve done with “opoly’s”. I designed and made this Monopoly quilt for Quilting Treasures booth. They debuted the Monopoly fabric line at Market.
The DMC Corporation showcased their Quiltopoly and Stitchopoly games in their booth. I designed the components of the Quiltopoly board and game last year. Cilene (with DMC and a friend for many years) and I are posing in front of the game display.
In addition to all the beautiful quilts and colors of Quilt Market, Its always fun to catch up with friends including Brenda Pinnick and Debra Quartermain, and many others. I’m already looking forward to the Spring Quilt Market!
Enchant your kids with a whimsy locker caddy to hold their “stuff” or a whimsy notebook cover with a large pocket on the cover. You can easily sew both of these using the free patterns on the Today’s Creative Home Arts website.
Think how fun it will be for kids to have this completely useful locker caddy hanging in their locker. I designed it with various size pockets to hold their school supplies and other treasures. Plus, think how neat and organized their lockers will be – oh well, one can only hope!
The locker caddy and notebook cover are more projects that I designed using the “It’s A Dog’s Life” fabric collection I designed for Quilting Treasures. I love sewing with these fabrics and seeing the projects come to life with personality plus! Of course, you might say I’m a little prejudiced toward the fabrics, but they still make me smile.
Using this free pattern for a notebook cover, you can cover a drab notebook. The large pocket on the front will hold those little extra items that might be needed for class. Again, another little step to keep them organized
I hope that you enjoy these patterns. I would love to see a picture of your project made with them, along with the smile of the lucky recipient!
I just finished the pattern and instructions for this free apron pattern available for you to download. I am showing 2 aprons in different color combinations with different accent embellishments. Both aprons are accented with large dog block pockets on the top part of the apron. One apron has an additional small pocket and the other is appliqued with a bird and dog bones. The aprons are easy to make and can be completed in 2-3 hours tops.
The fabrics that the aprons are made with are the Its a Dog’s Life collection that I designed for Quilting Treasures by Cranston Printworks.
I just love aprons and am delighted that they are so popular. I remember when my grandmother and aunts wore aprons daily and seeing all the aprons now brings back wonderful fond memories.
For products to coordinate with “It’s A Dog’s Life fabrics, please visit my Zazzle store.
I hope you enjoy the patterns and sew away. I would love to see a picture of your finished apron.
I have created a free pattern for you to make this tote bag. I designed it with my fabric collection “It’s a Dog’s Life” for Quilting Treasures by Cranston Printworks. As you can see, the fabric collection features very whimsical dogs and will generate plenty of smiles. The tote is easy to make and can be finished in a couple of hours. The tote has large pockets on each side made with different dog blocks. The bag is lightly quilted with stipple quilting.
Enjoy! And I would love to see a photo of any totes that you make with this pattern.
I just received the August issue of Quilter’s World magazine and am excited to share it with you. I designed one of the quilts in this issue – Daisy Pocket Quilt. Its an easy-to-make quilt that would be perfect for kids and teens because it has pockets to hold their “stuff”. I designed it in the bright colors of “Kids Go Green” fabrics from Quilting Treasures to add a dramatic accent for a wall.
I stipple quilted this quilt in an all-over pattern, a technique that I love, but outline or echo quilting would also work well with this quilt. It would also be a great project for a new sewer or quilter in your family.
Thanks for stopping by and and stay tuned – I have lots more to show you!
My life has been going to the dogs recently, but in a good way. I’ve been sewing and quilting with the whimsical dog fabrics that I designed. The collection, It’s a Dog’s Life, is available from VIP by Cranston Printworks. I recently designed and made this quilt, which will be featured on a segment of Martha Pullen’s Sewing Room on PBS.
The pattern is available on Quilting Treasures website for downloading the free pattern in PDF format.
I taped two segments for the Martha Pullen’s Sewing Room yesterday for the Warm Company ( they make the fabulous batting and fusible web that I use in all my quilting and applique projects). The taping was exciting and Martha is such a warm and nice person. Well, not just her, everyone who works for her is the same way, so it was a very enjoyable day. Of course, I carried my camera and took photos during the day. The project featured on one segment was a quilt, which I made using the fabrics that I designed, “Its a Dog’s Life” for Quilting Treasures on which I demonstrated a stipple quilting technique. Martha’s assistants, who are great at setting up the sets, are arranging the quilt.
For the second segment, I designed this apron shown here with Martha. It also is made with “Its a Dog’s Life” fabrics and features applique. The fuchsia fabric used for the main part of the apron features dog bones, so I appliqued dog bones around the bottom. Since the block and yellow fabric also feature birds, I appliqued a bird at the top above the pocket. I know I’m short, but standing next to the apron which was raised for viewing by the camera, I look even shorter.
The segments will be shown this fall and winter (2009-2010), so please watch for it on your local stations. I am working up instructions for the quilt and apron and will post the free patterns here shortly.
WELCOME! I invite you to visit with me in my studio where I create illustrations for licensing onto fabrics, gift, garden and textile products. I also design quilts and sewing patterns. My new quilt book with Leisure Arts is due out Spring 2012.
I would LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU, so please leave a comment or email me. I appreciate your visits.
Phyllis' Zazzle store features products created with her fun and whimsy art!
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Cupcakes are such a trendy craft theme right now, so check out these cupcake crafts to make in this free ebook created by Maria Nerius.These 31 Cupcake Inspired Creations feature something for everyone, from sewing patterns and paper projects to painting and beading.
