Merry Christmas in Red and White!

I want to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, filled with love and laughs and with good health! How did Christmas get here so fast? It seems just a blink ago, we were celebrating Christmas in 2014.

Christmas Pappermint

My thoughts have been in red and white the past few weeks while preparing for Christmas. Maybe it’s because I have been eating so many of those pretzels covered with white yogurt and crushed peppermint candy. Its one of my favorites and I’ve been eating it non-stop since Thanksgiving. I’m almost to the bottom of the current container, so I will head out in the morning to stock up again and then diet later when the candy is no longer available!

I would love to hear the little traditions that you repeat each year for Christmas, the little things that have become special for you.

Wherever you celebrate the holidays, I wish you the best!  I know for some it can be a sad time, or bittersweet with memories as life’s ongoing events don’t take holidays.

I want to give Thanks to our military for keeping us safe and to their families for their sacrifices!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Phyllis

Say Merry Christmas with a Christmas Tree Quilt!

If you are like me, you are wondering how Christmas got here so quickly.  The weather turns cold and for some of you, snow arrives, then the seasonal colors of red and green appear everywhere. Its also a perfect time for sewing and quilting while you stay snuggled inside to stay warm.  My newest quilt for the Quilt Dash online game is “Christmas Delight – Christmas Trees”, designed with a flurry of red and green with the yellow of candle light or fire flames.  This pattern was designed for the Quilt Dash.

Christmas Tree Quilt Pattern

This pattern is now available through the WhimsyColor online store.

The Quilt Dash starts on December 13 and runs for two weeks to give you plenty of time to complete the dash. The online shops participating will have a great selection of quilt supplies and notions so you may find something for your Christmas stocking!

This quilt is approximately 55 1/2″ square and is appropriate for beginners to advanced quilters. I used the red, yellow and green fabrics from my “Celebrate” fabric collection from Quilting Treasures.

So, stay warm, enjoy the holiday festivities and try a little quilting!

Phyllis

 

Think Snow with this Free Quilt Pattern!

I know its May and the weather is getting hot, but its not too early to start thinking about your Christmas quilting with this free quilt pattern that I designed!  Think “Let it Snow” to cool down with this adorable fabric collection from Quilting Treasures based on the art of Debra Jordan Bryan.

Let it Snow Free quilt Pattern by Phyllis Dobbs for Quilting Treasures

It was a treat to design this quilt with the fun, colorful fabric.  At 43 1/2″ x 48 1/4″, its a perfect size for a wall hanging, a lap quilt or for a little one to cuddle with. The quilt is pieced and is topped with appliqued green and red mittens in the wide border area. Buttons are used for accents on the mittens. The quilt center is a snowman panel with other snowman pieces in the corners. Its easy to piece and is a great project for beginners as well as all skill levels.

When you check out this pattern, look through all the other free quilt patterns from Quilting Treasures. I’m sure you will find several that you will love!

Happy quilting and stay cool!

Phyllis

Redux – Paint a Flower Pot for Holiday Entertaining or Decorating

The holidays are rapidly approaching but there’s still time to create some great craft projects to help with decorating and entertaining. I want to share one of my earlier Christmas craft projects that is so quick and easy to make and has so many uses – the versatile terra cotta flower pot painted in holiday colors.

Christmas flower pot for entertaining

This painted flower pot can be used to hold food like cookies and candy (line the pot with a napkin first so that the food doesn’t touch the paint). For decorating use, it can hold ornaments or a plant. The size of pot that you use can also determine the use. A small 3 or 4 inch pot can be filled with food or small gift and given as a gift, or placed by the plates at a dinner party as a favor. Simply line with cellophane, tissue paper or fabric, add a food item or other small gift, bunch at the top and tie with a ribbon. Let your imagination come up with many more uses.

I used red and white for Christmas (which can also double as my school colors), but you can use other colors for different holidays – red, white and blue for the 4th of July, shades of green for St. Patrick’s Day, bright fun colors for a birthday, pastels for Easter, and so on. I also painted a flower pot for Halloween.

Easy peasy! I used a very simple design that is very easy to draw.

Wash the flower pot and go over it with alcohol to disinfect it.  With a pencil draw the lines for the stripes around the rim and draw 1/2″ circles randomly below the rim (or create your own design). Paint as shown in the photo.  I recommend painting one color at a time, allowing it to dry before painting with the second color. The white dots on the stripe were added last, after all drying. When all the paint is dry, seal with a coat of clear satin acrylic.

Enjoy!

Phyllis

Redux – Sew a Christmas Apron

Sew a quick Christmas apron in just a couple of hours and wear it tonight! Aprons are fun and trendy to both sew and wear! I designed this apron pattern to wear for Christmas cooking and entertaining. Designed for an earlier post here on my blog, I wanted to share the apron pattern  again. Its so easy to make, even for a beginner, and can be made in a couple of hours from your fabric stash.

Free Christmas Apron Pattern

This apron pattern and others are available in Etsy WhimsyColor.

Thinking of Christmas aprons brings thoughts of all the wonderful smells of food cooking, cinnamon, and other spices. I also think of the citrus smell of oranges.

Enjoy both sewing and wearing it!

Phyllis

Sizzix Triple Play Blog Hop Week 4 – Christmas Journal

Christmas journal

Christmas is such a special time of the year with all the activities and gatherings of family and friends. Keep the memories of your Chistmas holiday each year by journaling in a Christmas journal.

Our 4th week of the Sizzix Triple Play blog hop is the Frame and Frame back die by Eileen Hull. There are so many uses for this die, especially this time of the year for Christmas photos.  I chose to use it to create and decorate a Christmas journal.

To make the journal, you will need the following materials:

Frame and Frame Back, 3D Pro Scoreboards Die #656835 by Eileen Hull

Heavy card stock

Journal

Green fabric

Red and green acrylic paints

Adhesive – Zip Dry by Beacon

Instructions:

Cut the fabric 2″ larger than the opened journal on all sides.  Center the journal and fold the fabric edges to the inside the cover, fold the raw edge back and glue. Cut fabric pieces out along the edge of the spine.

Paint the frame pieces solid red, red stripes and red dots.

Paint a Christmas tree or other motif centered on the bottom frame.  Align the frame pieces and glue them together.  Turn the small red frame turned catercorner. Glue the completed frame centered on the journal.

Be sure to hop to the other blogs to see an assortment of outstanding and unique uses for this die.  Just click on the Sizzix button in the sidebar and hop forward to the next blog.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the hop!

Phyllis