Byrne Sewing - Cont'd

The Henry Glass Very Merry Holiday Party is finished but the giveaways are still open. I still have mine open and there are hints about the baby photos if you need them on the Henry Glass blog!

Announcement! I will be at Pennington Quilt Works in December! Come by and say hello. I will be doing a talk and book signing. Can't wait to see you!

I thought that I'd share some more photos from one of my latest appearances. I took so many photos when I did my book signing at Byrne Sewing in New Britain, PA. To me that is a sign of a wonderful quilt shop! Cathy [above though cropped because her eyes were closed!] made a fabulous pillow from my book, New Noel! I love it! I love the green in the pillow and in the sweater that she is wearing!

I always love these pincushions that use a finial for a base. These samples were so cute!

I found a copy of Stitch Gifts while I was there. My latest magazine design is in there. It is a fabulous issue! There's many doable easy projects for gift-giving!

Love these snow globe quilts that they had on display!

Enjoy!

xo, L

Busy Little Bee

It has been a crazy, crazy few weeks. Let's catch up. After Hurricane Sandy, we started to re-group and get back to school and activities. We were very lucky but there are many here on the east coast who are going through so much. Luana Rubin of eQuilter has organized the 5000 Quit Challenge! Victoria Findlay Wolfe has organized her own awesome drive for donations! Please help! I am working with a local shop to do our share and details are forthcoming!

Today is the last day of The Henry Glass Very Merry Holiday Party. There are some great posts, projects and giveaways! You can still enter mine!

I had a short trip to market but it was a good one. [Reminder: sort through and post what photos I do have] I did a couple of book signings at the Henry Glass booth and the Martingale booth. Thank you for dropping by and saying hello!

I did visit with The Main Event group at Byrne Sewing in New Britain, PA during the morning of the projected noreaster storm. It was a great group of ladies. I love this store! I've purchased two of my Berninas and my Miele vacuum here. Fabulous, fabulous ladies at this store! Fabulous thread and pattern selections too! Owner Debbie Byrne has an amazing store. Do you see my Russian doll ornament up there?

Come back for more photographs of Byrne Sewing!

I think that I forgot to post the winners from Jill Finley's Blook Tour! Apologies.

Winner of Jill's e-book and my book is:

Material Girl said...

Beautiful Quilts, I would really love to win Jill's new book, and your Mom's new book would be great to also.
I love all the beautiful fabrics, patterns, books and designers like your Mom and Jill, who make all these enticing books and patterns. And I love that I have met so many wonderful people over the years because of quilting, and it's great to visit with them, they are always so inspiring.
Great review boys... I enjoyed reading it!!

11:06 AM

The winner of my book is:

sew.darn.quilt said...

There's so much to love about quilting. The colours, the textures, the choices to make and the outcome of something beautiful and functional. There's also the wonderful community on the internet to connect with and share, support and stitch along with. :)
Thank you for the chance.

10:23 AM

xo, L

Who's Coming Tonight?

I'm going to be chatting with the North Jersey Modern Quilt Guild tonight! Who's going to be there? 

See you then. Remember to keep up with The Henry Glass Very Merry Holiday Party! My giveaway here is still open! Read about it here.

xo, L

Handmade Is Cool & Henry Glass Party Continues

I have been seeing some fabulous projects from the Henry Glass designers. Today is no exception! I love the digital designs that Shelly Comisky and Wilma Sanchez have designed for you. Did you check out the new baby photos? Cute! Are you good at guessing? I don't know if I could guess very well especially since I know the answers. Sorry, I'm not gonna tell.

Business first. I am going to be at Rock, Paper, Scissors this Thursday at 7 p.m. I'll be chatting with the North Jersey Modern Quilt Guild. Very cool store and I'm sure very cool people.

I thought about all of this gift-giving stuff. Do you buy or do you make your gifts? I try to make and fail miserable at it. Ok, that is more of the beginning of a New Year's Resolution, isn't it? I was amazed at some of the answers posted when I asked my Facebook friends if people started making gifts for Christmas. Wow. There are some impressive people who are connected to me on my Facebook page. I designed that snow globe up at the top when I was homeroom mom for Little A's class. That was a fun one.

I am aiming at making an ornament. Dang. Did I say that out loud? I have ideas swirling in my brain. Ideas that need to take that leap out and onto my cutting board. Yes. Please Do.

Meanwhile, I think that making some jewelry is a fine idea. I made this necklace a long while ago but don't you think that you could make this? You could have a party with your best friends and put together a few of these in an evening. How fun would that be?

I made these three pieces from kits or patterns that I bought at a store. I am so fortunate that I have some amazing crafting stores near me. Ok, I'd better get organized and get cracking.

xo,
L

Let's Continue Hopping Along

No, it is not Easter! We've got two more terrific designers posting for the Henry Glass Very Merry Holiday Party! Dawn Heese and Jill Finley are posting today. I can guarantee that you'll have a great time posting on their blogs! Are you taking guesses for the baby photo contest? It's all for the big grand prize giveaway for the party. Read all about it here.

I'm working on some crafty ideas for the holidays but let's revisit some popular ones that I've had on the blog in the past.

My friend Joanne and I made these wreaths for our school library one winter. Easy and fast decorating.

All you need are some ornaments, inexpensive yarn, styrofoam balls and a cardboard wreath/circle that you can buy in the floral department at the craft store.

I found that when I put my star on the top of my tree it would hang over. I made a "wreath" to put at the top instead. I think that it looks so much more glamorous!

I am trying to make a felt chain. What sort of decorations do you make for the holidays? Hopefully that I can show you soon!

xo, L

The Henry Glass Very Merry Holiday Party: Day 1

*A couple of the first few comments were deleted! Yikes! I appreciate them and please re-post if you can!

Welcome to the first day of The Henry Glass Very Merry Holiday Party http://www.henryglassfabrics.blogspot.com/! Henry Glass and the designers love this tradition of ours. All of the information is available on the Henry Glass blog. Go over there and enter the grand prize giveaway. You will have take a look at the baby photos and make some guesses over there.Please give each of the designers lots of love. They work very hard to bring this fun event to you! I share today with Mary Ellen Von Holt of Little Quilts. I will be giving away a copy of my latest book, "Sew Merry and Bright" to the grand prize winner.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm Linda Lum DeBono. I design some fun and happy designs. I write books for Martingale and I do a lot of magazine work for Better Homes and Gardens' American Patchwork and Quilting and Quilts and More. I've recently done a few pieces for Stitch Magazine!

My latest book, "Sew Merry and Bright" was just published recently and I know that you will enjoy it making some fun and fabulous holiday projects!

This year we are talking about favorites. We were asked about our favorite things about the holidays. I've done a few of these blog hops and you can read about some of the fun stuff that we have going on around here.  

Favorite recipe:

We don't eat turkey. I tried being a good wife one year and made a turkey. It was made perfectly but my husband and I looked at each other and vowed to never make it again. There's just something about turkey that doesn't jive with our palate. We enjoy chicken or seafood [especially lobster!]. For those of you who have read about my favorite holiday foods, here's the post for the mussels and black bean sauce and the always delicious cranberry banana loaf. The recipes and the tags are linked on the right sidebar.

One fun holiday treat is kettle corn with white chocolate and peppermint. Yum. I buy some kettle corn like Orville Redenbacher's Classic Kettle Corn! Then I melt some white chocolate in a double boiler, mix in two small crushed candy canes and drizzle the chocolate mix on top of the popcorn. You adjust according to your desired sweetness by adding more or less of the chocolate mix.

Favorite decoration:

I love decorating my trees [yes, I have two trees] and I love collecting special ornaments. One of my favorites is still this leaf. I do like little birdies.

Favorite tradition:

I wouldn't say that I follow a lot of holiday traditions. I do have one and that is to photograph. The guinea pigs are the usual suspects - Big A and Little A.  My nephew Jack is the other one who's usually thrown in front of the camera. As you can see, they don't seem to have a problem, do they? Well, before you agree with me, you need to read this!

The other is to put one new ornament on the tree each year. We usually try to find one that means something for that particular year or one that I really like. I like to collect little glass ornaments and this year I found an adorable owl to keep the other owls company!

I must admit that I have been very much in love with "Oh Nuts" and the little nesting dolls from my book, Sew Merry and Bright [Publisher: Martingale & Co.]!

My project for you this year is not so much a pattern but a method for you to design your own wallets using frames.

I bought this Hobby Land frame at Quilt Market and I just love it! This method gives you the guidelines to draw out your own pattern for any frame. Start by drawing around the outside of the frame and mark where the hinges appear.

Draw the side of the purse. The bigger the angle away from the side of the frame, the puffier your wallet/purse [hereon will be referred to as purse] will be. Determine how long you want your purse to be. You only need to draw one half. Fold the paper in half by matching up the frame. Cut out on the line. 

Draw a 1/4" seam allowance around using this template on another sheet of paper and cut on this new line. You could have drawn the seam allowance in the last step but I like to cut it out to see if I like the shape and size.

Cut out two exterior, two interior and two interfacing pieces from the template. I used fusible fleece for this project. Fuse the fleece to the wrong side of the exterior pieces. 

With right sides together, sew the exterior/fleece pieces together along the BOTTOM of the purse from one side of the mark for the hinge to the other.  Leave the top open for now.

Turn the exterior pieces right side out and stuff into the lining piece. [lining piece has the wrong side facing out at this point.] Leave a 3" opening at the bottom of the lining for turning later.

At this stage you can create a flat bottom for your purse if you want to but it is not necessary. Flatten the corners and mark 1" [or your desired amount] in from the corner. Sew and trim with a 1/4" seam allowance. If you are doing this step, repeat for the other corner and for the two corners of the lining.

Now, carefully pin one lining to one exterior piece and repeat for the other side. Sew from one side of the mark for the hinge to the other. Repeat for the second half.

Turn right side out and stitch the opening closed and press. Sew or glue the fabric to the frame! These little purses are quick and easy to make once you have the pattern drawn out. Don't be afraid to experiment. It isn't as hard as it sounds.

In the end you will get this adorable little coin purse. I like to make mine long so that I can put things like my scissors or little double pointed needles in.

I will give away one copy of my book "Sew Merry and Bright" here on my blog. Tell me about your favorite holiday memory. The giveaway will end at midnight November 25, 2012. I can't wait to hear about your memories!

I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial! Visit me on Facebook and show me your creation! The link is on the sidebar. Meanwhile, enjoy some of my latest press to get you into the holiday spirit! I have another quilt in the latest issue of American Patchwork & Quilting and will update with it later today.

Come back for some more holiday ideas! Make sure that you follow along and have some fun!

xo, L