Sally Said Sew

This past summer, my Aunt Sally (who I am named after) contacted my mom and I to see if we would be interested in making a memory bear for a dear friend of hers. The bear was going to be a surprise. Since I didn't know what a memory bear was, I had to do some quick research. To sum it up, it is a bear made from the clothes of a loved one. After talking it over, Mom and I agreed to take this project on. We found a pattern by Simplicity to use and then waited for the shirts to arrive. Our bear was named Harold after the father who had passed away. The shirts that came were favorites of Harold. We looked over the patterns and colors and decided the placement of them on Harold Bear. Then it was time to cut and sew. As Harold was coming to "life", Mom decided he needed a ball cap. We found one at Hobby Lobby in Wenatchee and with a few modifications to allow for the ears, a cap was added. It's a little big but still cute. Harold Bear Every now and then you cre

My mom and I decided to do a TQPM Small Kennel Quilt Sew-a-thon a few weekends ago. We churned out twenty-four more for the Carlton Complex fire victims and then dropped them off at the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office for distribution. Such a rewarding feeling knowing you are helping both people and animals.

The theme for August was "summer".  This is my interpretation that came to me in the middle of night. Here I was thinking I was doing something original only to learn that many "Polaroid" quilts exist. Oh well. :-) "Summer Memories" Finished size was about 19" x 19" (I forgot to record the finished dimensions). Because my longarm was waiting on a part, I ended up using my domestic sewing machine to quilt it using an echo pattern on elements found in each square. I liked the way it turned it for the most part.

I hated, hated, hated my ironing board. Always felt too small. I had seen those ironing board toppers at a couple of quilt shows, but when your way of getting one home is on an airplane, that isn't going to work. A half sheet (more or less) of plywood, a few wood strips, some screws, staples and ironing board covering fabric were all the materials needed. Using instructions found online here , it didn't take me long to make my very own topper. The finished size of my topper is 22" wide by 60" long. I can iron an entire fat quarter on it not to mention how much easier it is to handle yardage. Now I love, love, love my ironing board.