Let the holiday’s begin…

This year I decided to make a red ribbon wreath for the front door. I can’t remember where I saw this idea ( I would have definitely given the link) but i just knew I had to make one.

If you can tie a knot you can make this wreath. Trust me it’s really very easy.

I began with a 12″ strofoam wreath form and 2 1/2″ wide red satin ribbon. (Lots of it, got mine at Costco) I would say at least 25 yrds. Cut your ribbon into pieces measuring approx. 16″ inches long and tie each one around the stro wreath and make a knot.  Continue all the way around the wreath until it is all filled in. Afterwards trim the inside ribbon ends evenly and the outside ribbon ends also. It’s really just that fast and easy!!

I decided to embellish my wreath with 3 white felt rosettes that I just learned how to make. You can find the tutorial for the rosettes here at Inspirations by D.  (Take a look around on her blog she has lots of great ideas and neat things!) These roses are very easy to do also. Then I added quilted leaves (from scrap quilt fabric) and a red and white checked bow! And WHALA!! I’m good to go!

This wreath would look lovely in green ribbon or even white. Whip one up in an afternoon and add a splash of RED to your holiday decor.

I’m finally getting into the Christmas spirit!!

This Thanksgiving was kind of a last minute thing pulled together at my house. (We weren’t exactly sure where we were going to have it this year, either my house or my Mom’s.) So since I wasn’t totally prepared I threw some things together last minute. I borrowed china and table ware from my mom and clipped most of the flowers in my backyard.

Thank heavens it turned out ok!

I just adore the “Old English Roses” pattern of china that my Mom has. She always uses it on special occasions. It totally reminds me of her. I had gold chargers and gold flatware so it worked great!

Thank goodness I still had several roses and the loveliest hydrangeas I’ve seen in years in my back yard. So I just clipped away!! My hubby bought me this pumpkin for Halloween, we didn’t carve it, so he hallowed it out and it became our instant container. Perched on a wire urn with a little Spanish moss did the trick!

A sample of one of the individual place settings.

These are glasses that my Mom got as a wedding gift in 1946. They are a pretty vintage pink and I totally LOVE them!!

As you can see I also borrowed many of her serving pieces too! Thanks Mom!

The cutest little favor I found to make this year were these acorns. I had  a cluster of them for each person. They are really quite yummy and super easy to make.

Here’s all you need to do:

Acorn Treats

Doughnut holes ( either from the grocery store or doughnut shop)

Melted Chocolate  (I used milk chocolate chips)

Chopped nuts or sprinkles

Pretzel sticks

Melt your chocolate in the microwave.

Roll the top of the doughnut hole in the chocolate.

Then roll the top in either nuts or sprinkles.

Snap pretzels in half.

Insert pretzel piece into the top of the doughnut hole.

Repeat

And there you go you’re done! How great is that? So fast and so easy!! I can actually say that they were really fun too!

Make a batch and enjoy……

Today I was sent this email from Maxine Ramey from “A Stitch in Time” quilt shop in  Franklin, North Carolina:

Hi Chris,
We have all fallen in love with your shoe designs! We have a free weekly demo at our shop called “Tuesday Technique” and yesterday we featured your shoes. I had advertised that it would be the cutest demo ever and we had a good turnout. (I keep the topic a secret until the moment the class starts so everyone gets so excited!). We made a video and I wanted to share that with you.

This video was such a nice surprise and I would love to share it with you. It runs about 10 min. It was a huge compliment and so fun for a designer to get this kind of feedback. It nearly brought tears to my eyes. (And I’m not kidding!)

I got to thinking what a great idea this is for the ladies that frequent this quilt shop. Every Tuesday they get a fun surprise! The quilt shop has all the patterns, notions and supplies that are needed for these Tuesday Technique days.

In this video Maxine not only gives a great demo on my Curbys Closet quilted baby shoes, ( and she made some very cute ones to boot!) but she also shows a new kind of batting she carries for craft projects, different scissors for different projects and the most amazing fabric pens I’ve ever seen!! They are awesome!

You have to watch the video just for the pen demo. if for nothing else.  If you already know about these pens and use them, please leave a comment and tell me how you like them.

Wasn’t that fun? And was I right about the pens? I had never seen ones that could be removed with heat. And so easily too. Very Cool!!

Now may I give a big, sincere THANK YOU to Maxine and  “A stitch in Time” quilt shop for this  wonderful video!

A reminder: if you live or visit,  in or around the Franklin, North Carolina area be sure to drop by and see all the wonderful fabrics, patterns and notions at “A Stitch in Time” quilt shop and tell Maxine that Chris at Curbys Closet sent ya!

This years Halloween table scape is all about the layers. I began with black and white plaid fabric, next black and orange big dot fabric and then an pumpkin orange floral fabric trimmed in lace.

My centerpiece was a black crow in a “guilded pumpkin carriage” sitting on a bed of spanish moss and accented with little faux pumpkins.

Of course I couldn’t forget the famous Anderson skull candles!

Or my favorite Debbie Mumm Halloween plates. I use them every year. This year I did add the silver chargers, they were only a dollar each at Walmart.  Such a deal!

What did you do to decorate your table for Halloween?? Shabby or Shrieky or both??

Many customers and quilt shops buy our patterns every day and sometimes they send me pictures or post them on their blogs. I thought it might be fun and you might get a kick out of seeing their finished creations made with our one of a kind quilted baby shoe patterns.

Let’s begin with two sweet pairs made using our Loafer #105 and Baby Shoe patterns #101. Made by Main Street Quilt Cottage

And such cute Mary Jane’s from pattern #110! Seen on Jelly Roll Girl

How about this fun, fun pair of shoes! Our Baby shoe pattern #101. From the French Seam

And who can resist these classic black and white Mary Jane’s! #110 (Not sure where I saw these)

Any baby girl will love these bright and fun Cowboy boots #115! Sent to us from Donna Demby. Made by Theresa.

And lets not forget a pair of sweet, precious Ballet shoes for baby! Pattern #125 From Crafts Direct

Or a  Rootin Tootin pair of Cowboy Boots Pattern #115 From Lickety Stitch Quilts

Such cute fabrics and embellishments and oh so easy to make!

Try making a pair and send me your photos, so  I can see your wonderful creations!

I’ll post more again soon!

I have been doing a lot of cleaning and going through my old clothes and shoes and throwing them away or giving away items that are no longer in style, don’t fit me or that I don’t really like anymore.

I am kind of a “pack rat” normally, but when I get going on cleaning and sorting, I really get the “donate or toss out bug!”

But what do you do when you come across a dress and top that you hand embellished in the 90′s with tender loving care, that either does not fit any more (and the chances of it ever fitting again are extremely slim) or has holes and damage to severe to fix?

Do you toss or donate? Or do you keep them around for sentimental reasons? Do you take pictures to remember them by?

Well, I decided to do it all!

The light blue top is the one that has the fabric damage. I always wanted to remember this design, so first I took some pictures of it just in case I wanted to ever replicate it again.

It’s a soft muted basket design with raw edge applique flowers, hearts, leaves and yoyos.

All hand quilted to the top.

If I recall the yoyo’s were found at a antique shop and are made from sweet vintage calico prints.

I also did a similar design on the front of a denim dress.

This raw edge applique basket design began with a tea stained battenburg doily. (Remember how we used to tea stain every thing?) More of the same vintage yoyo’s but this time with vintage button accents.

I even embellished the pockets with more lace, fabric and buttons!

And then here’s the killer… I even embellished matching shoes!! I found these burgandy suede shoes at TJ Max and glued on a fabric bow a tea stained lace rosette and a vintage button in the middle.

Let’s just say that at the time I thought that I was very cool and super original!

Now I will just have to rely on this blog post and my pics to remember them by.

I am still debating whether or not to pick every thing off and make them both over again.

Hmmm, come to think of it, that would be a lot of picking out!

Second thought I think the pics will do just fine!

Our 8th Quilted Baby shoe pattern the High Top is here! They are really fun and easy to make. Great gifts for babies, baby showers, or mother to be gift.

I remember putting my baby boys in shoes similar to these, except they were hard and difficult at times to get on their feet. These quilted baby High Tops are soft and warm and easy to put on.

They are  perfect little shoes for:

Rough and tumble Little boys!!

Or sweet and precious little girls !

Buy a pattern or our handmade baby shoes on our website www.curbyscloset.com/boutique/ or our patterns are also available in our etsy shop  http://www.etsy.com/shop/christeve92886

Thanks for stopping by…

I have meant to show you these 2 darling quilt shops that Roger and I visited this past couple of months. We love stopping in and seeing how they are displaying and selling our Curbys Closet patterns. It’s so fun!!

Corn Wagon Quilts in Springville Utah is just a totally darling quilt shop! It has a wonderful selection of fabrics and many displays all over their red brick shop. We loved how they displayed our shoes and patterns, right there for all to see as you head for the stairs! Unfortunately, the batteries died in our camera so we only got one shot. Darn it! There was so much more cuteness to show you!

If you are in the neighborhood be sure and stop by and tell Marsha (and the gang) “Hi”   for me.

Corn Wagon Quilt Co.

303 East 400 South

Springville, UT  84663

Next I’d like to show you “Quilters Coop” in Southern California

We were so excited to see our patterns and sample shoes displayed so prominently and sweetly in their shop.

It really looked great!

I so loved all the vintage touches throughout the shop!

Their cute bright fun displays and unique vignettes were very inspirational!

And they have a huge selection of primitive and Civil War prints. And don’t you just love that darling flag quilt??

So stop on by… downtown Temecula is such a fun place to shop. Especially if you love antiques, good food and of course QUILTS!! Be sure to give JoAnn and Drew a big “Hello”!!

Quilters Coop

28677 Old Town Front Street

Temecula, CA 92590

I would love to go on Road Trips with Roger someday and  visit all our Curbys Closet quilt shops across the USA! Believe it or not that would be quite the trip too. Especially since we have way over 200 shops now!

Oh well it would be fun to dream!

If you are a quilt shop and are located near by… we might just drop in and see your baby shoe displays, take a few pics  and then feature you on our blog!!

Thanks so much one and all!!

The inspiration for my table scape this year for our 4th of July dinner, came from my sweet and thoughtful sister Cindi, who sent me these darling little wooden flags. They are the perfect size to put  at each place setting. They are so cute! I am not sure where she got them, but I know that I will use them over and over again.

I began with the little flags and then just started pulling things from off my shelves and inside hutches. Like pewter goblets, blue transferware plates and tin cups. Then I remembered my white and blue toile table cloth and it all just started to come together. It’s amazing what you can put together last minute from around your house. I just LOVE that!!

The blue glass cake plate was a super find at Home Goods a couple of years ago. A dear friend gave me the little painted tea pot and another dear friend gave me the little Uncle Sam box. I thought they all looked perfect together!!

Each place setting had a white and blue toile linen napkin tied with red checked ribbon and a little daisy bundle. A silver charger really makes it all pop!

I love mixing old with new, primitive with fancy and shinny with dull. It makes it all kind of eclectic!!

And to think it all started with those cute  little wooden flags!

Now if only the dinner turns out as well!!

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!!

Well… an easy and fun to make quilt pattern that is!

I am so happy to announce the release of our newest pattern a wonderful and simply adorable quilt.

It was designed by my talented quilt designer sister Cindi Hatch and you are going to absolutely LOVE IT!!!

Aren’t these little posies “Just to DIE FOR!!!” Such a delightful twist on the log cabin design. Cindi thought of every thing… can you see the sweet raw edge applique leaves on each posie and on the flowers in the corners?? Whip one up in a weekend and use the colorful fabrics in your stash. You know that ones that you have in a closet somewhere for years and wish you had a fun project to use them in.

Well this is it!!

I must say that this precious quilt was the “HIT” of Spring Market this year. I wish you could see it in person, cuz it is SOOO darling!! Can’t you just picture giving it as a baby gift or even done in bright colors and draped over a special chair or in soft  muted colors and hung on the wall. The possibilities are endless. So go for it!

You can find this pattern on our website http://www.curbyscloset.com/boutique/

or in our Etsy Shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/christeve92886

***If you quilt one or sell them in your shop we would love to see pictures or hear from you.

Keep on quilting!!!