crazy'boutquilts

Monday, October 27, 2025

B-r-r-r-r

Who knew that having a Halloween Hop last week would bring the chilly weather?!

We had rain, wind--- the power even went out for a few hours and our lines are underground!-- and very chilly temps! This week looks to be much better! :-)

Are you working on Christmas gifts? Have any good ideas for me for retreat friends? We have done pouches, notebook covers, pincushions, mug rugs... I need a new idea and I just can't think! Please drop a comment if you have one for me!

I had an 'urgent need' request from my DGD last week. She fell off the monkey bars and broke her arm. When she got to go back to school on Wednesday, she discovered she couldn't wear her backpack with her cast. So Nena to the rescue! I made a quick tote--

I added buttons and buttonholes so the strap would be reposition-able. Two pockets inside, one on the outside and she was one happy kiddo!

I love how it turned out!

What are you working on this week? Please let me know~ and let me know any giftie ideas too!

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!

Thursday, October 23, 2025

Today marks the last day of the Hop and I am sad to see it end!

Be sure to check out these fun bloggers for even more inspiration!~~

Thursday Oct 23

And thank you all for the lovely comments! It is nice to know I am not talking to myself after so much time off! :-o

I will be back soon!

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Welcome!

Welcome to Wednesday's Out of the Dark Blog Hop!

I am trying to get back to blogging more regularly, so I thought joining a hop might be just the start I needed! I have a small group of friends that exchange postcards with me for different seasons or holidays and we did a Halloween card swap.

I chose most of my designs from Designs By Juju. I think the Happy Halloween & October 31st were in my collection, and I am not sure where or when I got them! :-)

I stitch them on cotton backed with Pellon SF101, and then use a heavier interfacing in the center. The back is muslin fused to the heavy interfacing with a fusible web. These were the cards I sent out~

Now let's put them "Into" the Dark!

Yes! I used glow in the dark thread in various places!

I just love the effect!

Be sure to visit my fellow bloggers today~~

Wednesday Oct 22

Just Because Quilts

Quilted Delights

Songbird Designs

Crazy.boutquilts ----me!

Quilting Between the Rails (on Facebook)

SelinaQuilts

And until next time~

Happy haunting!!

Boo!!

Have you checked out today's posts yet?

Really cute ideas!!

Tuesday Oct 21

A Quiltery

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Lynn’s Blog

Ms P Designs USA

Melva Loves Scraps

I will be back tomorrow!! :-)

Monday, October 20, 2025

It's Spooky Season!!

And that means blog hop time!!

Check out today's posts~~~

Monday Oct 20

Tuesday Oct 21

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Wednesday Oct 22

Crazy.boutquilts ----me!

Quilting Between the Rails (on Facebook)

Thursday Oct 23

Saturday, September 20, 2025

A Little Handwork

Do you hand stitch? Embroider? Cross stitch?

Or are you a knitter? Crochet?

My grandmother was a stickler for always having your hands busy, so I learned to crochet from my paternal gran and hand embroider from my maternal gran. I am sure I gave them both headaches being the only lefty in the family! LOL

Today I want to talk with you about hand stitching. Being left handed, I used to say I was 'allergic' to hand stitching. :-) Then I discovered cross stitching! Oh my! I have been cross stitching for years and love it! But, an opportunity arose to be a pattern tester for Chickadee Stitchery . I applied, not really knowing what I was doing but very curious about 'floss drops' and other ways to store my floss as I am stitching.

Jessica not only chose me to test for her, but sent a wonderful array of patterns, floss, bobbins and things to test and give feedback.

She sent these 2 adorable ornaments!

I had such fun stitching them and giving the polar bear life. :-)

And she sent an embroidery. I am still stitching, but I love it!

Isn't it adorable?

It sure brings back memories of stitching with my Gran. When I first started with Gran, I had my hoop propped on my thigh as I stitched-- can you guess what I did? Yes! I stitched my project to my pants! I was so bummed when Gran had to cut out all my stitches! Maybe that was why I decided I was allergic? :-)

Now, I so look forward to settling into my chair at night with my projects and just enjoying the process.

Thanks for stopping by!

I was so surprised to find comments on my last post! And so happy to know that someone is still out there!

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!

Thursday, September 11, 2025

A Year!!

The saying 'time flies when you are having fun' certainly applies to my last year!

Where have I been? Well, here there and everywhere!

My job takes me different locations in western WA and my hubby takes me on camping trips!

And I even found a little time to fly to AZ to meet my newest grandson. You met Miss Rosie in my last post~ she had her 1 year birthday already! Time does fly!

I have been sewing and quilting, bag making and machine embroidering.

This is the quilt I designed and taught as a BOM this year. I just unveiled the finish this week. We sped through the steps a little faster than a true BOM because everyone wanted to be done before the autumn to winter rush. I just need to get it quilted. Its a big one at 95" square.

I have been contributing blog posts to the Designs By JuJu Blog.

This is one of my most recent posts... a Stadium Bag.

You can read that HERE

Earlier this year, I machine embroidered this quilt for a blog post (at Designs By JuJu) and then gifted it to my new grandson.

I am still bag making too. Sorry those pix are somewhere...?

Maybe next post. ;-)

So tell me, do you still read blogs?

Is anyone out there?

I hope to be back sooner than last time!

Until then~

Happy Stitchin'!

Friday, August 30, 2024

Time Flies!

Oh my goodness! I cannot believe it is the end of August!

Where have I been?

Everywhere!

But recently welcoming this cutie has been the highlight of our summer.

Meet my newest granddaughter~ Rosie.

I've been traveling, sewing, quilting, machine embroidering and pattern testing... and anything else I could squeeze in!

My most recent tests are the Dogwood Pouches-

and Compass Carpet Bag-

from Sew Sweetness.

They are part of a new 4 pattern series called The League of Extraordinary Bagmakers, vol 1

(which means there will be more! :-) )

Today I worked on a little machine embroidery, and if my project works out, I will be back to show you soon!

Keep stitchin'!

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Where Have I Been?!

...or more importantly~ how can it be April?!! :-o

Well, I took a small break, that turned into a big blog break! I have been to two retreats, and hither and yon! :-)

The first retreat, I worked mostly on machine embroidery projects and I didn't take pix! Sorry. :-/

The 2nd retreat was this past weekend, and I promised my friends I would take pix as I unpacked. I did not factor in that the weather might have other ideas! It is far too windy today to get good quilt top pix~ I did try. ;-)

So I took bag pix. I taught this bag to a group of 16 wonderful ladies.

And of those who decided to sew it while at retreat~ they all finished and left with gorgeous bags. :-) The pattern is called Carmelita Bags & Wallet and is by Cool Cat Creations. It comes in three sizes and I made the large.

The wallet pattern is included in the pattern. It opens to a zipped coin place, a pocket for bills, and lots of credit card pockets. :-)

I have made her Audrey Madeline bag in the past and thought I would really like that outside zipper pocket in this bag. So I added it to the next two. I have not made wallets for the bags yet, but I really like the idea of my wallet matching my bag. :-)

I think I am going to have to make a bag insert so I can easily slip my stuff from one bag to the other. :-) LOL I don't carry a lot in my purses, just the bare essentials and my pocket calendar. I keep a zippered pouch in the car with things that may or may not be needed when I am out as that helps to keep my purse much lighter. :-o

What have you been sewing/quilting? Leave me a comment and I will stop by your blog soon. Now I need to get back to unpacking. :-o

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

New Year and New....

Happy New Year!! :-)

Yeah, it is January 9th and I am behind already. LOL

But not really. I just took time off for family, I wanted to enjoy December, bake, decorate and relax. And I did. It was wonderful! Now I am ready to dive into 2024!

I had the most unexpected Christmas surprise~ I am still pinching myself!

I won a sewing machine on IG!!!!!!!! :-o

I still can't believe it! But this pretty box arrived last week~

And this little beauty was inside!!!!!

It is the Janome 100th anniversary edition. It is all mechanical, has 22 stitches and weighs a mere 14 pounds!

As soon as I finish my 'chores' today, I am going to get sewing!

I cannot wait to put her through some exercises. :-)

How has your year started? Are you sewing? Do you make sewing goals?

I don't make resolutions, but I have a few goals, we can talk about those next time. :-)

Until then~

Happy Stitchin'!!

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Virtual Cookie Exchange

Welcome to the party!!

I love this hop! Not only do I find new-to-me recipes & ideas, but the holiday posts are so inspiring! I'd like to give a special shout-out to Carol @Just Let Me Quilt for arranging this fun hop for us! Thank you Carol!!

I have been thinking about snow. :-) One of my favorite cookies is called the Snowball Cookie and the blog Mama Knows Gluten-Free has my go to recipe. Being gluten-free is a challenge around the holidays for me, but I must say it has gotten easier over the years. And my non-GF family gobbles these cookies up too!

I didn't get a chance to make cookies this week because I have been keeping my embroidery machine humming~

My kiddoes have mentioned (more than once LOL) that they need new kitchen towels. I found this design at Embroidery Library and purchased it during a sale. I love it!! I need to make myself a few too. ;-) ;-)

I hope you are enjoying the hop and meeting new-to-you bloggers too.

Be sure to visit these bloggers today~

DECEMBER 6

Hill Valley Quilter

Beaquilter

Crazy'boutquilts-- me!

Bumbleberry Stitches

That Fabric Feeling

Homespun Hannah's Blog

Enjoy!

Sunday, December 3, 2023

Tomorrow!!

Hi y'all! I know I have been missing lately, sorry...life happens! But I will be back for the cookie exchange hop!

Our hostess Carol, says~~

The "Virtual Christmas Cookie Exchange" starts December 4th! I know you'll be inspired with Christmas projects and yummy treats. Check out who's sharing their Christmas cheer:

DECEMBER 4

For The Love Of Geese

DECEMBER 5

Happy Cottage Quilter

Nettie Sews and Lucky Quilts

DECEMBER 6

Homespun Hannah's Blog

DECEMBER 7

The Life of Grammy

Thursday, September 28, 2023

A Bit of Fun~

A few weeks ago Barb from Barb Tourtillotte Illustrations

was looking for someone to 'play' (to me it is play, but she said 'create' ;-) ) with her newest fabric line called 'Bundle Up' for Henry Glass.

Bundle-Up_Case Pack copy.jpg

(photo from Barb's website)

I applied and she picked me!!!!!!!!!

The fabrics are all so fun! I love snowmen and all the little forest animals are so cute.

She sent me FQs, the large panel and the smaller block panel.

I dreamed and played and came up with placemats for the block panel and FQs~

I had so much fun!

I added a pocket for a napkin and silverware. My DGD is learning to set the table, so this will definitely help her. :-)

There was a border stripe FQ and I carefully cut that apart to put along the bottom of each placemat.

I had two FQs left and I had saved one to put on the bottom of the panel, and the other I used for binding. I really cut that close!

If you look closely, you can see that I added a red tassel to the bottom of the panel.
It fits perfectly in our hall~ is it too early to keep it up? :-) LOL

Thank you, Barb, for trusting me with your gorgeous fabrics!!

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!

Monday, September 18, 2023

Welcome to the second day of the 'It's a Dogs Life' Blog Hop! Thank you to Carol @justletmequilt for dreaming up this fun hop!

The Challenge--

Sew your project with dog themed fabric or applique/embroidery of dogs.

As an added challenge, if dogs don't ring your bell, think vintage.

Vintage blocks, quilts, fabrics, or whatever old designs makes you happy.

I went with 'think vintage'. :-) I love vintage fabrics and quilts! This quilt is very special to me, although it is quite worn. It was hand pieced by a family cousin and hand quilted by my Mom & paternal Gran. My Mom never told me exactly which cousin (I think it was a cousin of my Grandmothers) and now, of course, I wish I had pressed her further. :-/ I know she was on my Mom's side of the family and never married. So the quilt top languished in a box until my Mom rescued it after the cousins passing or from the cousin's sister~ I'm just not sure.

I absolutely love all the prints used; how some have completely faded away, and finding a little person in a print is just the most fun!!! Do you love 30's fabrics too?

I have been collecting 30's fabrics for quite some time and have a quilt top almost together~ maybe I will be able to finish it this winter. Cutting piano keys for the borders is taking much longer than I thought it would! :-o

Please make sure to visit my fellow bloggers today~

SEPTEMBER 19

And thank you for stopping by!

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!!