SBS Block #19 - Orange Windows

This is the nineteenth block in the Skill Builder Sampler series.  I've not kept up very well but I LOVE applique and had to jump back on the wagon for this one.  It looks so fancy and was really easy.  I would love to see a whole quilt out of it or maybe in a different colorway.  Here's the link to Block #19.

Tiny Crochet Star

I have always loved the tiny crochet hooks and I wanted to try and make something with it. It took a little getting used to.  I had to unpick and start all over but in the end it was quite easy.  I just had to get over the fact that I was making something miniature and just crochet like I always do and it worked out a lot better.  I love the tiny star and I plan on making it into a hair pretty for my girls.  Here's the pattern link if you want to make your own.

Crochet Crazy!

I've been going through a lot of personal stuff lately and crocheting has helped me get through some of it and keep my mind off my problems doing things for other people.  It's kind of crazy what I've ended up making in the last few months.  Here's what I'm talking about...

This is all the stuff I crocheted for Christmas presents. In the end there were 4 48" diameter blankets, 4 washcloths, 4 11" dragons, 3 chicken shaped pot holders, and 2 regular pot holders. Also not pictured was another dragon and another fun pot holder that I mailed off early.

I use cotton yarn for all my wascloths and hot pads. I can get a large cone of it at Walmart for under eight dollars. One cone made all of this stuff. Two double sided hot pads, four washcloths, and a tiny baby blanket.

Momma and Baby Chickadee Potholders

 I was looking around for fun crochet patterns and found a pattern for a momma and baby chickadee potholders at lionbrand.com and I just fell in love!  They are two different patterns.  There is the momma pattern and the chickadee pattern.  They are pretty fast and really easy to make.  I used 100% cotton yarn.

I made the set for my step-father.  They keep chickens and have decorated their kitchen in chicken things and he just loved them.  The orange is a little intense but it's all they had in 100% cotton and I wanted them to actually be able to use it as a potholder.

I made just the momma for my mother-in-law.  She says it's too cute to use and hung it on her wall.

Square Washcloth

I went off a pattern for this one (Pattern Here) but I changed it a little bit.  First off, I hated the colors, they were just horrible, and I had variegated so I didn't change colors.  It started out as a circle  for the first couple of rows and finished off as a square.  When I first started working on it I really couldn't see how  circle would end up square but I kept with it and it worked out nicely.  In the end it's one of my favorite patterns.

This is the Ivy League colorway from Peaches and Cream.

Four Fierce Dragons

I made these for my brother's four little boys for Christmas.  I've been wanting to post them for so long but I wanted them to see their dragons first.  I love how fun they turned out!  Each boy got a dragon in his favorite color.  They have gold rimmed safety eyes which work really well with each of their colors.  I just love them!  Here is a picture from all angles of the first dragon I made.  You can see it better.

If you would like to make them too HERE IS THE PATTERN.

9 Patch Quilts

 These were the third and fourth quilts I ever made.  I don't currently have pictures of the first two so these are the first recorded quilts.  My best friend and I were seniors in high school preparing to go off to college.  The colleges we were applying to had extra long twin beds so I decided to make us quasi-matching quilts that were extra long to fit the beds.  I picked a nine patch patter for both of us tied with ribbons (it was something new I'd seen and wanted to try out).  We each picked out our own fabric but the pattern matched and that was fun.  I went for mostly pastels with fun flowery and very girly prints.  All of her prints were plaids and stars.  We used sheets for the backing so they'd match the sheets we were putting on our beds.

This is my version.  My daughter now uses it on her bed.  I left the ribbons long enough to tie bows with them but she likes them hanging loose and will untie them whenever she sees a tied one so they are just knotted and dangling right now.  Excuse the file boxes under her bed.  They are our food storage and were too full of canned food to move.

This is my friends version with her eldest son loving on it.  He liked to play with the ribbons while sucking his thumb, how cute!  I love that she picked all plaid and star patterns and I think it turned out great!  This is the only picture I have of it but you can see all the different colorways and there is a cute baby loving on it so I think it's just perfect.  Plus, you can see the overall look in my picture.

Update: she sent me a picture of it on a bed.  I just love the fabric choices!