Zig Zag

I have the opportunity to work with 

four wonderful ladies at Church. 

We spend a lot of time together and 

they do so much for me to make my work load lighter. 

So what better way to say Thank you 

and Merry Christmas??

A Quilt. 

With my love of vintage sheets

 I thought this would be a great way to show them off. 

I chose to do lap quilt size.  

It's 50" x 72".

Each one is a little different as to how 

much sheet was on top and bottom. 

There are 30" of chevrons and then you 

can break up the other 42" any way you want. 

I've written up some instructions for you.  

They assume you know how to 

rotary cut and piece. 

The instructions are also written so you 

can just buy yardage that will work instead of sheets. 

Zig Zag Pattern Here 

Merry Christmas to you and yours!!

Christmas Bingo

Finishing up a little game 

for Christmas Eve -

 

Christmas Bingo!

B-I-N-G-O    B-I-N-G-O

B-I-N-G-O... 

 If any of you would like to play with your families...

it's all ready to print. 

 1. So everyone gets a blank Bingo card.

Get the Bingo card pdf here.  Cut in half.

2. Give each person a pen and a little list of words.

These are Christmas and winter words.  

There are 4 lists on a page, just quarter this sheet.

Word list pdf is here.

3.  Tell them to pick any 24 words

and write them in PEN ;) 

on their Bingo card.

For kids - pick words that you can draw pictures of.

For these cards, 

I use colored paper

 or regular white paper

not cardstock, 

because you'll be throwing these away.

The Bingo Caller needs a master list of words 

(that little pile in the lower right corner).  

So...this Master List pdf has the words

 a little bigger for you

 to cut out and mix up and start calling!

 

.

And they need candy or

 pennies or beans or something for marking.

I buy a big bag of Skittles at Costco and 

give each person 1/4 of a cup.

That way they can eat a little and

 have enough for the game.

And there are prizes!!

Of course, we'll have the talk -- 

"Not everyone in life is a winner, 

especially at our house on Christmas Eve."  

(I promise I won't say it quite like that). 

"It's a game." 

"And I hope I win." 

"Enjoy your Skittles."

Decide ahead of time, how to handle 'ties'.  

We've never had a tie, but I don't like them 

(cuz you'd run out of prizes too fast),

so someone better shout Bingo first - really loud. :)  

Let's Play!

Here are the 3 pdfs:

Bingo sheets

Bingo Word Lists

Master Word List

 

Dollies All in a Row

My cute niece is having her third little girl in a row. 

So how perfect will these little dollies be for the new big sisters??!!

So far it's a family of tow heads.

Where did that saying come from? 

Tow heads?  Am I even spelling it right?

I could not for the life of me find butter yellow felt for hair. 

So I had to go with fleece.  

I think it worked just fine.

I love making these. 

I'm a sucker for a Princess Leia look alike.

Made some a year ago

and maybe I'll make some more next year. 

Maybe dollies EVERY year! 

The new baby gets this Speedy Baby. 

Free pattern. Super easy and speedy.

I had a cute Hopscotch charm pack just waiting in the wings. 

Note to self:  Pick up some yardage next time. 

But I kind of like adding some different fabrics and prints.

The backing is flannel dots with a 

strip of something, something orange.

You'll also notice the lovely fold markings. 

Note to self:  when making quilts ahead of time.  Don't fold...roll.  

Now, everyone go refold your quilts that you have 

folded up in your cedar chests!!

 

 Nighty-nite.

Mickey-ity-doo-dah Quilt Tutorial

I got a call from a 'think-ahead' brother-in-law last November.

Corrie's hubby was trying to come up
with a surprise gift for his wife-y poo.


We put our 2 great brains together and came up
with the following Christmas miracle.


It's a miracle because surprising Corrie Dawn
with something she has no idea she wants,
IS truly miraculous!

I designed it and he did all the cutting and sewing!
He's a good student.

Join us for your own Christmas miracle,
even if it is March!
Make a
Mickey-ity-doo-dah
Quilt
I just made that name up!

You need:
~ ~14 - strips of 10" from a variety of fabulous prints. Some that 'read' solid and some that are just plain marvelous and busy beautiful!
OR 56 layer cakes - 10" squares.
~~2 strips of 10" black fabric. Doesn't really matter what's on it, not going to see much of it. So go ahead and pull out your halloween fabric!

~~5/8 yard for binding

~~2 1/4 yards of 60" wide minkee for dreamy snuggling

1. From each 10" strip, subcut it into 4 - 10" squares. You will get 4 squares per strip. You need a total of 48 prints for the quilt and 8 prints for the Appliques and 8 black squares. Choose 8 print fabrics that you will use this pattern here to cut out the shape of the ears. Do the same with all of the black squares.
2. Choose 8 print squares that will pleasantly match your ear fabrics. Layer a black ear behind each of the 8 ear print fabrics and place onto each of 8 print squares. I like to offset the black a little for some visual interest. Are you visually interested yet? Yeah, me too. Pin the appliques to each of the 8 squares.

3. We're going for a rough edge applique here. One that will be raggy when it's washed. And um, it's fast and husbands can pull it off fairly easy. Stitch around the two layered fabrics, about a generous 1/4 inch from the edge. We didn't offset the black too much, so we just followed the top fabric edge all the way around. 3. Now, send the kids out of the basement and lay out your 48 squares in a pleasing manner. Set the squares 6 across and 8 down. Scatter the ear blocks throughout.

We let the kids stay in the basement and look what happened!!! 2 materials WAY too close together.
Whoops.
Someone alert the Quilt Police.

4. Sew into rows.
*Sing "It's a Small World". Press.
*Dream of riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at dusk. Quilt.
*Imagine eating 10 a fritter in New Orleans Square on your way
to sipping a Dole Whip at the Tiki Room. Bind.
*Fantasize about retiring and working as one of Sleeping Beauty's fairy godmothers. It could happen!

5. Okay. You should be done now.

6. Dream happy thoughts under your adorable quilt.

Dreams come true under this quilt!

Granny Square Scarf Attempt

I've just finished up this little goodie for a certain 'peanut' in my family.
Hope she's not reading Taffy Talk these days.

We saw a cute scarf similar to this in a store and I thought to myself,
"Self, you have yarn coming our of your ears. Make one up!"
Thus, an attempt was made....

I'm not a crochet expert or pattern writer. I didn't think of taking pictures along my journey, so you just get some basic instructions.
If you're a crocheter, it should make sense. ;)
But not necessarily. :(


How to make a Granny Square Scarf:
I used leftover Red Heart Soft Yarn. I really like the little sheen it has to it and it's as it states: Soft, not that icky cheap yarn feel. Also comes in a variety of colors.
I used 8 different colors.

Size K Crochet Hook
Each colored square: Chain 6 and join with a slip stitch in the 1st beginning chain to form a ring.
Round 1: Ch 3 (counts as first double crochet), work 19 more dc in ring, join with a sl st in top of beg ch -20 dc
Round 2: Ch 1, single crochet in same space as join, sc in next 4 dc *ch 2, sc in next 5 dc, rep from * around, end ch 2, join with sl st in beginning sc.
Round 3: Ch 1, *sc in next 5 sc, 4 sc in next ch-2 space, rep from * around, join with sl st in beginning sc - 36 sc. Fasten off. Leave a 12" tail for sewing together.

Make 26 squares for a 6 foot scarf, approx.
Using the 12" tail of your first square, slip stitch your squares together. Any leftover 'tail' can be crocheted in later when you put the black border on.

After they are all attached in a long chain, using black yarn, single crochet all the way around. At each corner, put 2 single crochets in one stitch, to help turn the corner. As you go around, catch any 'tails' as you crochet around in black.

I hope peanut likes it.