Merry Christmas to All!

 

Merry Christmas to you and your Families!

Thank you for reading my blog and following along with the sew along! I appreciate it so much, as well as your sweet comments! I still have a few blocks to go, and the finishing, but will need to take about two weeks off or so to finish my book. The deadline is very soon! So I hope you can hang in there, until I'm back in the saddle!!

Thank you again, and may you all have a Christ filled Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hugs, and blessings!

Jeni

PS...the sweet Nativity was made for me, by my wonderful niece Bethany! I love it!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Sew along part 15!

Good morning! I hope you all had a great week, and have been enjoying the Blog Hop! I know I have enjoyed it! I plan on making some of the cookies this weekend, and maybe a little project or two for gift giving!

Here are the blocks for Part 15, of the "Life of Plenty" primitive sew along!

 

The directions for the flying geese unit are way back in the first week, Aug. 26! I have lost track of how many of these units we have done, so if anyone has been keeping up, you can let me know! Haha! I made the first couple, and did a couple more a week or so ago for the photo, but my eyes were too tired to read all the old posts last night!

For EACH basket block you will need:

Light....one 5 1/2" square, one 3" square, one 2" square, and two 2"x 3 1/2" rectangles.

Med/dark.....one 5 1/2" square, one 3" square

To make the block, make half square triangles with the light and dark 5 1/2" squares, and with the light and dark 3" squares. Square the large ones to measure 5", and the small ones to measure 2." Press all seams toward the dark fabric.

Find the handle template on my website...www.woolenwillowdesigns.com, and applique the handle. Sew the block together as in the diagram below!

(Click on the picture, if it gets cut off, so you can view it in full)

( Click on the picture to view in full, if it's cut off on your screen!)

How many naps can one dog take?

(Click to view picture in full, if it is cut off on your screen!)

Isn't it cute, how he uses the pillows? Haha! What a guy!

 

We have our 22nd Annual, Falcsik Family Sing a Long, Potluck Christmas Party tomorrow night! So I'm hoping to get a tree cut down tomorrow at the tree farm, and finish decorating and last minute bathroom cleaning! If you didn't catch the post about my Family Fun Party, it's in the December Blog Hop post from two years ago! I think the free patterns are still there also!

Have a wonderful weekend, with plenty of sewing!!!

Thanks for following along!

Jeni

 

Posted with Blogsy

Today is my turn!

 

Good morning!

Today is my turn! I hope you are all having fun with the hop!! A big thank you to Stacy from Buttermilk Basin for organizing another great blog hop!!!

 

As I was thinking about what to post, one of my Sisters has been trying to get a date set for our Annual Falcsick Family Sing a Long Potluck Christmas Party!!! I talked about that on the blog hop a couple years ago. It's the most fun tradition we have. Well.....all except chopping down the Christmas Tree! For years when our kids were small, and even when I was growing up, the family went to a farm to chop the tree down. It was always a great adventure, because we went to a place that was "woods" and not perfectly lined up trees. It had hills, ponds, and wildlife! We haven't gone since the kids have grown, and have just purchased a pre-cut tree. This year, my daughter Kristen wants to go back to the farm and chop one down, because her Fiancé's son has never experienced that! So we don't have our tree yet, or any decorations up either. So I have a few pictures to share of when my kids were little!

 

This is Kristen, she loved Barbies!

 

This is Kristopher! He loved Back Hoes!! Haha! And Godzilla!!

Whew, that was a lot of fun!

My kids always got up between 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning for opening presents, so we always needed a nap!! Haha!

Here is one of my favorite recipes!!

They are so easy to make, and very yummy!

You can cheat and buy a peanut butter cookie mix, if you are in a hurry!

First roll into balls, and put into a mini muffin tin!

 

As soon as they are baked, squish a peanut butter cup in the centers! These are the tiniest peanut butter cups, I really like the next size up, that you have to unwrap, but my Son got them for me, so I used them! They sort of look like penny circles! Haha!

Let them cool a bit, then pop them out with a knife, and cool the rest of the way on racks!

 

Yummy!!! My honey took a bunch to work this morning for his milk and cookie break at 9:30! I don't know how he stays so slim!

Here is your free ornament!!

 

And I'm having issues getting the pattern on here, so if it doesn't show up, Stacy will help me!!! She is awesome!!! Sorry for keeping you up late Stacy!!! I owe you!

Try this link for the pattern!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8MUisovHQFnelNiRnFOOW51Y3M/view?usp=sharing

 

The blue circle is 3 3/4" dia. And after you stitch it, lay it on a dark wool, whipstitch, and then use sharp scissors to free hand cut the zig zags!

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone, and tomorrow go check out Ali Strebels blog!!!!!

Jeni

Just in case the picture above didn't show up, here it is again!

 

Posted with Blogsy

A Life of Plenty Part 14, free Sew Along is ready!

Okay folks!! Here we go! I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

For the acorn block, cut. 5"x 5" square, and it will be trimmed down to 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" after applique is complete! The templates are on my website, www.woolenwillowdesigns.com. I used a plaid wool for the top of the acorn, and a hand dyed pumpkin/brown for the bottom part.

For this part, cut your background 5" x 13", and after applique is complete, trim down to 4 1/2" x 12 1/2." I used the 3/8" bias maker tool from Clover to make my cotton stem, and cotton for the flower. I used hand dyed wools for the leaves and circles!

Here is what I have so far! I think I might be missing a section of flying geese still. So I'll go back throught the posts and count them!

 

I hope you are still enjoying this as much as I am!!

Have a great evening!

Jeni

My turn for the blog hop is Thursday! Yay!! So much fun!!

 

Posted with Blogsy

The Blog Hop Starts today!!

I see that Cheri Payne has already posted! It's a really great Gingerbread Man Penny rug pattern, and sweet pictures of her Grand-daughter making cookies!

My turn is on the 4th, so I'll be busy getting ready with my post, and my free sew along post!

Here is the list of bloggers to hop to!

Dec 1 Cheri Payne

Dec 2 Plumcute Designs

Dec 3 Gail Pan Designs

Dec 4 me Woolen Willow Designs

Dec 5 Ali Strebel Designs

Dec 6 Kathy, at Cardiff Farms

Dec 7 Blackberry Primitives

Dec 8 Wooden Spool Designs

Dec 9 Heartspun Quilts

Dec 10 Notforgotten Farm

Dec 11 Kathy Schmitz

Dec 12 Crabapple Hill

Dec 13 Primitive Gatherings

Dec 14 Buttermilk Basin

 

Thank you Stacy for organizing this blog hop! Have fun everyone!!! See you here on Thursday!

Jeni

 

Posted with Blogsy

Free sew along part 13!

Happy Saturday!

I meant to get this up early this morning, but I actually slept in for the first time in I don't know how long! I'm an early riser.....ever since I was a kid. I loved getting to school as early as the early bus kids to socialize with my pals who rode the bus! Mom and Dad always got us up early on weekends to do chores, and for church. It was a good thing, because when I joined the Navy, I had to get up EARLY!!!! My husband is also a very early bird too, probably for all the same reasons. Even after I was out of the service, I liked getting up early to make my husbands lunch for work, and have coffee with him before he left. I was a stay at home Mom until our youngest was about 13. That was when we opened the Quilt shop. That early morning time was really nice for me, because it was a time for me to have some quiet before the short order cook took over once the kids woke up for school! It was a great time for sewing, or reading. I love my mornings, but today......that sleeping in really felt good. I must have needed the extra rest from all I have been up to lately!

Enough of that!.....here are some shots of last weeks block all appliquéd, and then the new one!

 

Chester is sooooo glad there is a small bed in my sewing room! It's very tiring watching my fabric fly around!

 

The background is cut 7" x 13", to be trimmed down to 6 1/2" x 12 1/2" after applique is complete. It really makes for nice square blocks!

I used cotton brown print for the spool, green cotton for the 1/4" wide (finished) stems, and a red print cotton for the flowers. I have wools in different colors for the leaves, and green wool centers for the flowers. The template is on my website...www.woolenwillowdesigns.com, and you'll notice there will be embroidery on the spool! I plan to use a Valdani perle cotton with a back stitch on mine. I'll post another picture when it's done. I like needle turn applique for the cotton, so that is why my pieces are larger than the template, for my seam allowance!

I almost forgot! Make another row of flying geese! Instructions are in the Aug 26 post!!!

Have a great weekend, and most likely I won't get another block up until after Thanksgiving!

I'm loving all the pictures you are sending through email and my Woolen Willow Designs Facebook page! If you happen to be on my personal Facebook page, I don't ever post anything there. I'm sorry! Go to my Woolen Willow page by finding the link on my website!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jeni

 

Posted with Blogsy

Part 12 sew along is here!

Happy Friday!!!

I have no idea, again, how the week flew by! I didn't even finish stitching part 11 yet!

Here is part 12, unstitched of course!

 

The templates will be on the website soon, so in the meantime, gather your cottons, wools and velvet!

The background should be cut 9"x 13", and will be trimmed down after applique to 8 1/2" x 12 1/2."

I used cotton for the vase, flowers and stems. The stems were made with the clover bias maker, that makes a finished 3/8" wide stem. You will need about 22" of bias stem, if you are using that method. If not, you can just use the template, and do either needle turn, fusible, or wool applique! I used blue wool for the flower centers, a drab green wool for the leaves, and velvet for the heart. I plan on using needle turn applique for the vase and flowers.

Thank you so much for joining along with me!!

Have a great weekend,

Jeni

 

Posted with Blogsy

Part 11, where did the week run away to?

Does anyone know where this whole week went? The crazy thing is that, I'm pretty sure that I didn't accomplish much! Maybe a time warp happened? Well, here it is, Friday, and I plan on accomplishing a lot! Here is part 11 for the sew along! Cut your background 9"x9", center the applique pieces, using the template on www.woolenwillowdesigns.com sew along tab. After all the stitching is complete, trim the block to 8 1/2" square! I used all hand dyed wool, and wool thread from the collections of wool thread we sell on www.primitivequiltsandprojects.com. If you go there to order a set, make sure you sign in as a guest, even if you have an account, because there seems to be a sign in problem on the website.

 

I have some stitching to do, but here below you can see I've started on it this morning!

 

What else will I do today? I'm glad you asked! I'm going to work on my book! Here is a sneak peak of one of the projects!

Try to be patient, though, because it will be a year from now before the book is ready for sale. My part is to be done for Martingale by January though, so it's crunch time for me! So I plan on writing two more patterns today, and start a new quilt for it also!

I hope you all have a great weekend and get lots of sewing in!

Oh! And for all you fellow Veterans, I hope you have an awesome Veterans Day on Tuesday! Here are a couple of young looking people 32 years ago!

This is my boot camp picture! I was 18!

 

This is me, with my Grandma. I was headed to my first duty station.

And this is my honey!

Again, have a good one!

Jeni

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Part 10, free sew along!

Good morning! Here is part 10, A life of Plenty, primitive sew along!

The house block is made the same as the previous house block, so you can find those instructions in the part 2 post. The word HOPE is on the template page if you need it. The pumpkin block background is cut 7" x 7", do the applique, then trim down to 6 1/2" square. I used hand dyed pumpkin wool, and a dark brown plaid for the stem. I embroidered the lines on the pumpkin with brown wool thread and a back stitch. The templates should be on www.woolenwillowdesigns.com very soon, so keep checking over there! I sent them over to my awesome web gal late last night, so hopefully, she'll be able to get it up there today for us!

 

Here is a photo of all my blocks so far, except a few flying geese units, that I fell behind on, working on my book. I plan on chain sewing those up in the next couple days! I can't wait, because all of the photo's you all have been sending me are so pretty! Keep them coming!!

 

Thank you all so much for following along, and for being patient through my technical issues!

Have a great day!!

Jeni

 

Posted with Blogsy

A Retreat Survey!

Good morning friends! I have a survey for you! We have done several quilting/Rughooking retreats in the past years, and would like to start planning again! If you would go to this link and take the survey, it will help us in our planning!
Thank you!!!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1oU0W1gj0OFsFcJq3P37gsHLpRNT10IBKb_-cz4_uX8g/viewform?usp=send_form
I'm working on the next blocks for the sew along! I'll be posting that soon!!!
Thank you for your patience!!

Jeni
(Chester is tired of waiting on those blocks too!)

Posted with Blogsy

Finally! I think my technical issue with my IPad is resolved!

I have been on the phone with Apple, AT&T, and my internet provider. I got a new router, and a new modem. I installed the latest software through iTunes. I've emailed back and forth with the developer of Blogsy, which by the way, that man has a ton of patience! I could just imagine him shaking his head in disbelief that I could be so unknowledgeable about my technology, but was still so very nice and helpful! This evening, I said out loud in a very frustrated voice so everyone in my county could hear...."I wish I had a tech guru in my house!" My Daughters fiancé's Son said, "what's wrong? I told him, and he started chuckling. Seems he changed the date on my iPad two weeks ago when he was playing a video game and forgot to put it back!!!!! I chased him through the house of course! He is 13 and an athlete, and I'm a 50 year old woman! Haha! So, all this commotion has caused me to not get much done all week! So your next part to the sew along will be a couple more days delayed. I'm sorry! Have mercy on this poor un-savvy quilter, and I promise to get on track!! Here is the picture of part 9 from last week, that I posted on facebook.....

 

The backgrounds are cut 5"x 7", do the stitching with the templates provided on my website www.woolenwillowdesigns.com, and trim to 4 1/2"x 6 1/2" and soon, we will start sewing them together! I'm going to sew like the wind tonight, now that I'm not stressed about technology, and the next part will be up soon!!

Thanks so much for your patience!

Jeni

 

Posted with Blogsy

Hang in there with me please!

Good morning!
   I'm still having some technical difficulties, and really it is all me, just because I have so little knowledge about this stuff! I finally got my internet problem solved, and now today, I hope to have my Ipad problems solved! If you wondered where part 9 for the sew along went, I posted it on my Woolen Willow Designs Facebook page, and the templates are on my website! I will get part 10 up this weekend, and hopefully that will be the end of my difficulties with it! Thanks so much for hanging in there with me and being patient! I am loving all the photo's that are being shared with me of your blocks, so thank you so much for that! Gretchen and Judy are at Market in booth 328 if any of you are there, they will also be at Festival! So stop and see them! I stayed home to work on my book, which is somehow coming along!
    Have a great weekend, and stay tuned for the next part of the sew along!!
 Jeni

Free sew along Part 8!

Good morning friends!

Here is the photo of part 8, "A Life of Plenty" sew along! The stitching isn't complete yet, but I wanted to get this posted before I started the Spring 2015 issue PQP Photo shoot today! The template will be on my website soon...www.woolenwillowdesigns.com, so keep checking, my internet was down, so I couldn't get the document emailed to my wonderful web designer! She will wake up, and see it in her email this morning though, so hopefully it won't be long! She is a busy lady!

 

The background.....cut 5" x 17", mark with chalk, or something that will disappear at 4" x16," so you'll know where to lay your leaves and flowers! The stem finishes at 1/2" wide, and is about 11 1/2" long. I used a clover bias maker, and cotton fabric. The rest...leaves and flowers are wool on my block! You'll see when I was writing on the templates that I got sidetracked and stopped writing after the word "wool" and then forgot I wasn't finished! But I meant to say wool for the leaves and flowers! Ta Da! I used wool thread to appliqué all the wool! I love that stuff! After stitching is complete, trim to 4 1/2" x 16 1/2" and I'll post where it goes!

I hope you all have a wonderful second half of your week, and weekend! I will try to get more blocks up quicker, but I have to let you in on a little secret!..... I'm working on a book! It will be quilts, wool appliqué, one hooked rug, and some other fun things! It's due out next Fall, or December! So bear with me, because it's a lot of work, and my part needs to be done by January! And I know you all know that I NEVER procrastinate! Haha!

Thank you so much for following along, this has been so fun for me!!!

Jeni

 

 

Posted with Blogsy