Appleton Dance

That was fun!  Who'd have thought making a pillow case could be so amusing! I stopped by Jennifer's Quilt Shop in Pinckney last week and found they were in the midst of a pillow-case art show. They had dozens of pillow cases hanging from the ceiling and walls all created by customers according to their obsessions from bunnies to zebras. I picked up the Valori Wells Pillow Cases sewing card 'cause I even though you probably don't need a pattern for a pillow-case, I like information. Plus, these cute, note-sized cards would make nice greeting cards for crafty friends.  Brandi picked some fabrics from my stash -- the pillow case only takes 3/4 of a yard of body fabric, 1/4 of a yard of fabric for the edging band, and 1-1/8 yard of trimming or remnant for trim. I whipped her up a new pillow case in about 30 minutes. The tulips on Brandi's pillow case are quite spring-y -- a good choice.

I made a Christmas stocking for Jake from a printed panel I bought last year at Jennifer's Quilt Shop in Pinckney. The panel is called "Jolly Old St. Nick" by Susan Winget for Benartex. It's really pretty with St. Nicholas in his sleigh pulled by eight reindeer. I used waste canvas to cross stitch Jake's initials to the top of the panel, and added a few beads to highlight the design. Then I quilted the front panel, outlining the design in places with a running stitch. I made pretty, fat cording for the seam and lined the stocking. I think it turned out pretty cute. It's a good size -- 14x27-inches -- and is nice and wide with lots of room for gifts inside. Here's Jake, the boy, with his Aunt Alisa at Thanksgiving.