Oh Christmas Tree

Welcome to December (one day late)! It seems that people are putting up their Christmas Trees earlier every year here in St. John's. As I was driving home last evening, I could see brightly lit trees through the windows. Many houses had the outdoor lights on last week. My house won't be decorated until the master bathroom renovations are completed. That will hopefully be tomorrow. The flooring is going on today. The other bathroom will not interfere with downstairs decorating once the new  tub and surround are removed from my main hallway. We had to open up the wall between the bathrooms to remove the old tub in one room so two bathrooms had to be renovated.

I have been working on some felting as you can see from the photo. The colourful background will eventually become felted tree ornaments. Usually I do several felted sheets and put them aside until they are needed.

To get into the spirit of Christmas (very difficult to do when things are topsy turvy around the house), here are some trees for future projects. I don't know about you, but I like to collect things for reference later as you never know what new ideas emerge.

Many of these projects are quick and easy to do so you might get one done for Christmas!
Enjoy!

• Tree Skirt Poppyprint
• Wall Hanging  Barb Creations
• Advent Calendar Quilt
• Penny Rug Les Petits Points de Boute
• Patchwork Christmas Tree Softie Sewn Up Teresa Down Under
• Mod Tree Wall Hanging May Chappell
• Tree Pouch
• Modern Christmas Trees  Christa Quilts
• Tis The Season Patchwork Pottery
• Christmas Tree Quilt Projects Fave Quilts
• Christmas Tree Package
• Ruffled Ribbon Christmas Tree Tutorial
• Patchwork Navidad 
• Oh, Christmas - Fat Quarter Tree Patchwork Posse

Elephants

Elephants - no, it's not an April Fool Joke. I was wondering what to write about today and decided to find some quilty stuff about elephants. So get ready! I think you might find a pattern or two! Enjoy. . .

• White Elephants
• Cloth, Stitch and Thread
• Applique Elephants
• Art Quilt
• Elephant Softie
• Elephant Walk
• Elephant Family
• Elephant, Botswana
• Plush Elephant
• Pink Elephant
• Felted Elephants
• Patchwork Elephant
• Charlie, the Patchwork Elephant

Blog List

If you are interested in patchwork and quilting, please visit Red Pepper Quilts. There are 833 blogs listed. Mine is # 442. I scrolled down several times before finally seeing it as I was looking for an entirely different photo than the tea cosy shown. You can also access this blog by clicking the shortcut icon on the left side of my blog.

It is also interesting to check out the blogs and websites other quilters, stitchers and fibre artists select. You never know what you will find!

Well, I was going to publish this post but decided to have a look at a few blogs and came across a Patchwork Tree on # 8.

Down Under Blogs

One of the things I like to do when I visit another blog is check out the favorite sites listed there. You never know what you will come across. I've selected a few interesting blogs from the land down under for you to visit today. Enjoy!

Linda Stokes ... textile artist
The Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc. - check out the member's blogs
Serendipity and the Art of the Quilt
The Quilting Owl - traditional style quilting
Patchwork Fundamentals
Suzanne Gummow - a journey in Textiles
Crafty Quilting with Pamela
Fairholme Quilters

Patchwork & Quilting Blog List

Just when I wondering what I would blog about today, voila, I came across this site, called Red Pepper Quilts.
This web site, from Melbourne, Australia, has quite a list of patchwork and quilting blogs. I added my blog to the list and made a link at the side for easy access. At the moment there are almost 400 blogs listed! Mine is # 398.  I can't wait to start exploring.

Enjoy!

Note Book Cover

Here is my latest note book cover. It's 4 1/2" x 6". A friend is having a birthday and she's into shoes big time!

The shoe is made from some left over 'fantastic' fabric that's bonded to the background and then satin stitched around.

Free patterns to make your own notebook cover:

Fabric Journal Cover Tutorial from Sewing Crafts
Making a quilted book or journal cover
Patchwork Notebook Cover Tutorial
Patchwork Notebooks from Sew, Mama, Sew!
Reverse Applique Journal Cover by Liz Kettle

Appliqué Patterns

Here's one of my machine appliqué Fantasy Fish. I love using batiks as the colours are so bright.






As promised in the previous post, I've made a list of a few sites that have free patterns for Appliqué. Have fun checking them out.
Make Baby Stuff is just that, stuff for baby!
The Stitching Cow has a simple house to do.
Lots of applique patterns at the Sacred Spiral.
Bella Online has some wonderful applique patterns that Judie Bellingham found on her web travels. Something like I'm doing.
A simple butterfly at About.com: DIY Fashion
Wee Folk Art has applique done in felt but that doesn't mean you can't use cotton. In fact, check out the whole web site as there are lots of other patterns too.
Have fun with these!
If you like cats, there is a pattern on Craftown.
Block Crazy has free patchwork and applique patterns.
Teddlywinks has a couple of bear patterns to put on a small wall hanging or mini-quilt.
Applique pitchers in a log cabin quilt.
Welcome spring with this flower applique. More flowers here!
Using geometric shape templates in applique.
Stain Glass Spring Tulip

If you have any questions or comments, please contact me.