Christmas

My Favorite ornament!! Even Santa bows down to Christ as Lord!! 

Christmas is my absolute favorite Holiday (Holy Day) Season! I love; the decorations, the music, the food and the smells. But most of all I love the reason for the season.....the birth of Christ! Christ, who came to earth to die at the perfect time for our sins. That those who would put their faith in Him, making Him their Lord and Savior and accepting the gift of Salvation would be washed clean from their sins. That they would be able to stand before God and be accepted. Accepted only because they knew His Son.  I pray that today, you have accepted Christ as Lord & Savior of your life and are able to celebrate His birth with real JOY!

Let us adore Him! Another favorite.

Today my almost grown-up "Little Man" and I put up our Christmas Tree and unpacked all the ornaments. He took on the task of  meticulously placing our myriad of ornaments on our tree. While I watched him decorating and being such a huge help, I contemplated his coming graduation and how quickly he'll be off on his own, in his own home, with his own family, decorating their own tree. I wonder if he'll come over and help 'ole mom put her tree up?

I cross-stitched this ornament....love the snowman

When we pulled our tree out of it's bag, it smelled like dust. UGH! One of the few disadvantages of using an artificial tree, I don't get the smell that comes with a fresh pine tree. But for me that disadvantage is worth it, since I won't have to deal with the dry, sharp needles all over the house or try to figure out how to get rid of an old dried-up tree in January. But, that's just how I am at home. I'll come to your house and greatly enjoy your freshly cut tree with great pleasure!

Another of my cross-stitched ornaments...this with a Christmas tree. LOVE!

After seeing this last picture, I realized just how badly I need to get some curtains made and hung up. Those poor windows are looking pretty bare and kind of pathetic. Another project for my to-do list.

Merry CHRISTmas
and Happy Stitching,
Marcia ~ The Little Pink Rose

A New Favorite

 UPDATE/CAUTION:  Since I originally made this post, I have discovered a couple of things about this pen that I wish I had been aware of before using it. 

First, the ink from this pen can NOT be permanently removed. When it gets cold (i.e. stored in a cold room, sent through the mail in the winter, kept in a cold car, etc.) every single one of the marks will reappear. They can be removed again with a blast of steam from a steam iron, but that's not always convenient.

Secondly,  on dark fabrics it leaves a white line that will NOT disappear.  Thankfully I discovered this on a test piece, before marking a dark quilt. 

I still like how this pen works, but with the careful consideration that must be taken before using it on a project, I'm not as in love with it as I once was. 
__________________________________________________________________________


I have discovered the most amazing tool, destined to be an absolute favorite in my sewing room. A tool I'll insist on always having plenty of on hand. This is a "must have" marking pen. A pen that every seamstress/quilter should not be without, is Pilot's Frixion pen.

The Pilot Fixion pen, is a ball point gel pen.

The Fixion pen makes nice, bold marks that are easily seen.

I used a ruler to mark some nice straight lines for quilting.

 The Frixion pen is totally removable with friction. It even comes with a little rubber tip to rub out all the marks. Though I discovered something divinely, wonderful for every sewer........

With just a blast of steam and no rubbing/friction whatsoever

Every mark is completely & magically gone!

 LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this pen!!!!! Without a hesitation I'll be keeping these pens in stock in my sewing room and grabbing it before any other removable ink pen available to me! If you haven't tried these pens, pick some up next time you're at Staples or order some online at Missouri Star Quilt Co.  If you haven't figured it out yet, I HIGHLY recommend these pens!


Happy Stitching,
Marcia - The Little Pink Rose

A Special Baby Blanket

This order all started with just a quilt top received as a baby gift that needed to be quilted.  From there the question came, "My youngest doesn't have a special baby blanket of his own, could you make one for him?" Of course, I'll say yes to most any request for a quilt, for me it's the perfect excuse to spend even more time sewing and piecing a quilt. Then there's the added benefit of getting paid to do it, that's just the icing on the cake for a seamstress/quilter. As soon as I saw the brother's quilt, I knew right where to turn, Sew Scrappy Vol. 2. I knew the quilt, "Rhymes with Baby" I had seen when browsing through it would be perfect for this request.

The Inspirational Source

The Inspiration Pattern

 Then it was off to shop for fabric, with a few ideas in mind, I decided to go with a train theme all in flannel.

Vibrant, Beautiful Fabric

The progression of a quilt is an amazing and beautiful thing.  It all starts as just  a pile of yards and yards of fabric that's cut into much smaller pieces, manipulated into different shapes and sequences all in the hopes of making something beautiful.

For the center piece I used Print Shop on my computer and then printed the design on printable fabric with an inkjet printer. After allowing it to dry completely I used a dry iron to "set" the ink into fabric.
Then trimmed the printable fabric to a square and added a border to make the block the same size as the other blocks

Looking good so far.

 After adding the sashing strips between the blocks, I sat back in satisfaction at the life these pieces seemed to add. At this point I absolutely LOVED how this was turning out!

 Then I added the train border.........and I have to admit, I didn't like it as much anymore. It was still okay, but I thought it was so much better before the border was added. But I forged ahead, deciding that I'm my own worst critic and others will love it, especially if I keep my dissatisfaction to myself (so much for that).

 Next came the quilting. It took me quite awhile to decide how to do the quilting, in the end I decided to go with part of the same quilting pattern that the original inspiration piece had. I have no idea what it's called, but I like how it turned out.

Almost finished.

The back.

Lastly came the final step of adding the binding. This simple step completely changed the personality of the quilt. I just shook my head, amazed at what a difference something so simple (and seemingly small) made.

Finished.

LOVE what the red binding did! 

Here's the reveal of my brand new label.

Happy Sewing,
Marcia - The Little Pink Rose

Signs I Might Be Addicted

 I just read a bog post at Sew Fearless listing, "12 Signs You Are Addicted to Sewing."  The end result for me is that almost every one of these signs (or some form of them) are right on the mark for me.  Happily my sweet hubby supports this addiction and is thrilled that sewing has become more than just a hobby.  Check it out and see if you agree, is the Little Pink Rose addicted to sewing? 

Photo by Miss Sews-It-All

Now, if  I were a tattoo type of girl(and I can assure you all I'm not), this is exactly what I would want.  But, for more reasons than I care to go into, this will never be happening.

Happy Sewing,
Marcia - The Little Pink Rose

Christmas Came Early

 Christmas came early this year and excitement fills the air.

Wishing this was my family room!

In fact Christmas came on November 27th when I picked up my new sewing machine. I've desperately needed a new machine for quite some time, but couldn't bring myself to spend the money. My old machine is a bit temperamental (okay that's a huge understatement) and I have to do everything just right. She's been known to eat fabric from time to time and attach horrific thread balls to the underside of projects. All very frustrating! All this fussing has continually made projects take much longer than they need to take and left me wanting to throw her through the window.

My new baby... I think I might call her Sapphire.

 Now I just need to carve out the time to sit down with the instruction books and learn how to use this beautiful gift! I can hardly wait to experience the difference in sewing with a machine that isn't so temperamental....I suspect it'll be amazing!

I must give praise to the Lord for leading a dear friend to make this purchase a possibility. I must also thank her for, Chasing the Wild Goose (aka the Holy Spirit)* and allowing the Lord to use her to bless me. You know who you are and I thank you from the depths of my heart, you truly are a treasured friend!!


* Please follow the link to understand the reference to the Holy Spirit as the Wild Goose.