Cozy Cottage 2016 Calendar

Find it here - Cozy Cottage 2016 CalendarLori Holt of Bee in my Bonnet #ISE-706 | Fat Quarter Shop

 

Create and be unique - Lisa

Merry Christmas

 

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or just good thoughts to you and your family! I appreciate each and every follower of In The Boon Docks for sticking with me during 2015! First my husbands and then my youngest daughters illnesses left the blog without a blogger for stretches at a time.

Thank you so much for still being here when I came back! Hopefully, 2016 will be healthy and fun for us all! I really love participating in the Farmer's Wife 1930s sew along, blog hops, and giveaways.

2016 will see lots of activity!

My husband and I look forward to Christmas with our children and grandchildren.

Have a safe holidays! See you soon! Love Lisa

 

 

 

 

 

 

Create and be unique - Lisa

Artbin Thread Storage

 

Tools In My Toolbox

I have had so many comments on the way I store my Aurifil Thread that I thought I tell you a secret! It is an Artbin! Anyone can have one and at this time of year they are on sale! I love mine for holding the open Aurifil Italian Threads | Perfectly suited for every quilt project, I own. The box protects it from lent, dirt and curious children. The pegs make it easy to see what you have and keep them from unraveling. It takes a great picture!

 

 

ArtBin Thread Box-9002AB

Organize your sewing threads in the handy ArtBin Thread Box that offers a great solution for storing all your spools in one container. This spooled storage box has the capacity to hold (224) 20 mm spools, (108) 32 mm spools or (30) 45 mm spools. The stackable boxes securely hold the spools in place regardless how the closed box is stored. You can also keep this thread box inside the Super Satchel or the sew 'n' Go for extra utility.

• Brand: Artbin
• Collection: Super Satchel
• Includes one box stores up to 224 (20mm spools), 108 (32mm spools), 30 (45mm spools) and two removable thread trays
• Dimensions: 15.25 x 14 x 3.5 inches (W x H x D)

I checked JoAnn's and they are on sale ArtBin Thread Box-9002AB | Jo-Ann for $14.99 and you never again have to worry about your thread!

 

This was a free review of the Artbin Thread Box! No on gave me anything to state my opinion!

Thank you for reading - Lisa

 

Create and be unique - Lisa

Fleece Scarf

Right now we are looking for quick gifts for someone we forgot to buy for or that we want to let know they are important to us. Let's face it, we all need one more gift idea. I made one of these for my mailwoman who never makes me go to the Post Office to pick up packages. Well because she knows I don't drive and I get a lot of packages. She is pretty awesome!

All you need is a 1/2 yard of fleece!

Cut (2) sections 9" x wof (width of fabric)

Put them right sides together!

Sew both sides together with a 1/4" seam. Then the bottom!

Reach your hand inside and pull it right side out!

Now fold in the end about 1/2", pin, and sew closed!

Smooth out the sides!

Change your stitch width to 5.0 (quilting stitch) and sew 1/4" seam all the way around the scarf and your done!

I rolled mine up and put a ribbon around it! Ready to go!

This is also a great teachers gift! David teacher being a man really made me think outside my box this year! My husband didn't like the idea of a tote bag for him since he already carries a brief case. So, this will keep him warm and know we really like him as a teacher.

I hope I helped! Happy Sunday! Lisa

 

Create and be unique - Lisa

SMS Giveaway Winner

 

The Winner is???

I'd like to thank everyone who entered! I used random.org to pick!

Congratulations! Pam you win!

Pam blogs at A New Life in Wales who said she follows on gfc! Thank you for following Pam! I'll send you an email for your address in Wales!

I hope you enjoy your winnings in the New Year!

I'd like to thank Aurifil Italian Threads | Perfectly suited for every quilt project for donating the 50 wt and 12 wt threads. Also, Colonial Needle needlework, notions, canvas, threads and supplies for donating the Thimblepads for the giveaway!

Did you know I am a blogger for Aurifil Italian Threads | Bloggers ? You can stop by the webpage and checkout all the Aurifil Bloggers! I am proud to be included with such a talented group working with the best threads.

Thank you for stopping by today! It is almost time for presents! Lisa

 

Create and be unique - Lisa

Le Challenge - Space

Hello, I am Lisa and welcome to In The Boon Docks! First, I'd like to thank Lucy at Charm About You: space ~ le challenge ~ Levi's 2.0 and Nat at Made in Home: Vintage Inspired pincushion | Tutorial the creators of the Le Challenge! It is open to all with the possibility of prizes! A monthly linky party with a theme! What do you think of when you see the word SPACE?

This months challenge is Space but when I think of space I think outer space (fabric above is Marty goes to Mars)! I going to make something for myself out of my Marty fabric, it is just so cute. Secondly, I think of the space I need to get clean or decorated for the holidays. In reality I have been trying to organize my space for awhile.

Like trying to keep all my Aurifil thread in one space! (It seems to wander around from my sewing machine or the table by my livingroom chair).

 

My fabric stash takes up a lot of space! Do you know I have given away 6 moving boxes of fabric over the last year! You would think that would have freed up a lot of space but it really didn't! One goal for 2016 is to use the fabric I have to reduce the space it is taking up. Clubs not included! But no new ones because we need more living space.

So what did I make? A space saving gift idea! I started out all over the place. What got me was this year David's teacher is a man! What can you make for a man that doesn't take a lot of time and be useful? The Boxy pouch is the perfect idea for cleaning up a space and men use them!

This is my first boxy pouch so I made a test one to see what I would need to do. (My husbands's cousin really enjoys getting my first of things, so this is for her)! David's teacher might be a little amused if I gave him this one.

A little space in my bed sometimes would be nice! I do enjoy a good cuddle though so she can have all the space she wants when she comes to visit.

I know Christmas is next week but I am feeling a little scatterbrained. I do this every year finding things I still haven't done, finished, or wrapped. Next year I think I'll just give everyone a candy bar and have a maid service clean my house.

I have an giveaway open until December 18th! Please take a minute and enter! In The Boon Docks: SMS Giveaway Days You might win!

I hope your holidays are happy and creative - Lisa

 

Create and be unique - Lisa

SMS Giveaway Days

Welcome to Giveaway Day (really a few) at In The Boon Docks! I really appreciate that Sew Mama Sew | Outstanding sewing, quilting, and needlework tutorials since 2005. Links us all together to have the largest ( I think) party on the internet. I love to win things and I bet you do too!

A quick rundown on myself: I am Christian, wife, mother, grandmother, veteran, and artist. In a rural area of West Virginia, USA, my family and I, live with 2 dogs, 4 chickens, a squirrel, and miscellaneous deer (they live in our woods). We grow, can, and freeze, both fruits and vegetables. I will admit I love to blog, blog hop, swap, sew, quilt, crochet, knit, and just about any DIY project. I am a fabric and Aurifil thread lover! Hopefully, some of the things I write about here will interest you and keep you entertained. If so, please leave a comment occasionally and follow. Follow any way you like if I don't have it available, just send me an email. Look in the upper lefthand corner to choose the way you want to follow!

With the help of some of my sponsors, Aurifil Italian Threads | Perfectly suited for every quilt project, Colonial Needle Company, and I put together some of my favorite things: Moda fabric (3 charm and 1 mini charm packs), Aurifil Thread - both 50 wt. and 12 wt., and ThimblePads! My last giveaway of 2015 for all of you in blogland.

Giveaway Open to everyone!

(if you are no-reply leave your e-mail in the comment or you can't win).

Note to Google+ users if your email is not in your profile no one can reach you - so leave an e-mail address.

1. Everyone gets a entry! Leave in the comments - Answer: What do you want for Christmas? (Be material but it doesn't have to be sewing related)!

2. Follow AURIbuzz | Your window into the world of Aurifil blog (additional comment)!

3. Follow Colonial Needle Company on Instagram (additional comment)

4. Follow "In The Boon Docks" just tell me how!

(leave an additional comment)

That is (4) possible comments per person!

(You can edit a comment after you post it)!

This giveaway starts today, December 12, 2015 and ends December 17, 2015 at midnight and winner will be announced

May 18, 2015!

Happy Holidays my friends, I am grateful you have been here in 2015! Now enter mine and all the other giveaways at Sew Mama Sew | Outstanding sewing, quilting, and needlework tutorials since 2005.

 

Create and be unique - Lisa

First Invisible Zipper

Are your couch pillows looking a little old and flat, mine sure where until I started covering them. With a boy at home ours seem to end up on the floor more than on the couch, since he and his friends like to lay on them and play games. I tried envelope closures but they seem to gape open.

So, I thought I'd try an invisible zipper.

Prepare the fronts of both pillows!

I quilted both tops to add a little structure since my pillows were kind of flat!

This one looks pretty good! Matching the fabric back together can be a little hard since you are cutting it in half. Making a 1" fold over on one side. That hides the zipper. Doing a a 1/4 roll over hem on the other side. Sewing in the zipper.

Oops! I bet a small print fabric would have worked better on this one!

Make sure you get a long enough invisible zipper. I used a 16" - 18" one. (fat quarter cut in half)!

Sewing the first side worked like a charm but how not to sew the flap when I sewed the other. Pin it!

Now, you have your front and back completed! Sew them right sides together. Leave part of your zipper open for turning!

Not to bad for the first time. Not perfect but not bad!

Tada! New fluffy couch pillow.

We have been busy around the homestead lately getting ready for Christmas! A few doctors appointments, a few illness (love school), and a beautiful little visitor. I hope to get caught up on my Farmer's Wife 1930s Quilt blocks during the holidays, you can see over at Angie's GnomeAngel – Life of a Creator, Maker and Baker they are cranking the blocks out. The weather is chilly and rainy so the internet is down again. I'll post this as soon as it comes back on.

Thank you for stopping by and seeing my new pillows! Lisa

 

 

 

Create and be unique - Lisa

Fat Quarter Shop Cyber Sell

It is Cyber Monday!

Go get those fat quarter bundles you have been wanting!

I went shopping on Black Friday at the Quilting Fabric, Quilt Fabric, Moda Fabrics, Quilt Kits, Online Quilting Fabrics & FREE Quilt Patterns | Fat Quarter Shop!

 

Thank you for stopping by! I have to do a little more shopping myself!

Happy shopping my friends - Lisa

 

Create and be unique - Lisa

FW 1930s Grandma

 

Block 39 Grandma

Hello Everyone! Well here we are at my day for posting in the Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt Sew-along, The day after Thanksgiving for those of you living in the USA. I have seen so many beautiful blocks in all kinds of fabric combinations that you can view in the Facebook Group. This is the first of four post I will be doing over the next year. I am a Blogger of the week. Exciting and scary at the same time. I am very grateful to the Fat Quarter Shop, and Gnomeangel for giving me the opportunity to participate as an official blogger.

The letter for this block from a woman of later age really hit home for me. She reminded me of my grandma. Grandma came to live with use when I was 2. She had married young, raised 5 children, on a farm not 5 miles from her parents farm, her birthplace. When the last child graduated from high school and married she came to live with us to help care for me while my parents worked. She was a strong woman who had never left Texas since her birth and was then living in California. What a different world it must have been for her. I always admired my grandma for her bravery and her love of her family. When I was about 7, my parents divorced, Grandma bought a home in the town her children had gone to high school in and Momma and I lived with her. Her youngest daughter had children by then and she cared for all of us while our parents worked. Each letter within the book from women of the 1930s have the same concerns we do today. They lift you up and make you feel good even in bad times there is good.

The Grandma block (39) has lots of triangles and if your foundation paper piecing (FPP) and trying to fussy cut, use a fabric that is nondirectional. Meaning it doesn't matter if it is upside down or sideways!

As Blogger's we all try to find different ways to teach a lesson or just let you know that problems you maybe having with your blocks, others are too. You are not alone.

I used the Foundation Paper Piecing (FPP) technique included in the book. When I started the sew along I didn't have much experience with FPP. But I have practiced, practiced, practiced, and developed my In The Boon Docks: Tools in My Toolbox - FPP which has really made the sewing of the block much easier. The importance of using a small stitch width (I use 1.6) when sewing FPP is when you are removing the papers on the back. I recommend leaving the papers on until you get ready to join them together in a quilt or use them in project. It protects your blocks from stretching and becoming all wonky.

Fabrics are Tula Pink assorted fabrics and Cotton Supreme Solids, RJR Fabrics. Thread is Aurifil 2600 Dove which is great for piecing all colors.

The perfect tool for removing the papers are a pair of long slender tipped tweezers! I originally bought these to remove splinters. On the outside papers you can slip the side of the tweezers and remove the paper pretty easily.

But once you move into the next layer of papers it gets a little harder, that is when you carefully stick the tweezer point into the paper and move it to the edge and gently give it a tug. Some might just fall out but others take a little work!

The idea is removing the papers without pulling out the stitches or causing the block to stretch out of shape!

Throw away your pill of trash!

If you are using the templates the conversion chart for Block 39 Grandma From Marti Michell Quilting Blog: Chart 18: Grandma.

The Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt | InterweaveStore.com by Laurie Aaron Hird or Fons & Porter/F+W; RRP $28.99 The Farmer's Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt | InterweaveStore.com it's on sale.

The coupon code works with the

Quilting Fabric, Quilt Fabric, Moda Fabrics, Quilt Kits, Online Quilting Fabrics & FREE Quilt Patterns | Fat Quarter Shop. Happy shopping and block making! Lisa

I'll see you at the linkup at GnomeAngel – Life of a Creator, Maker and Baker lets SWAP!

Thank you for stopping by!

 

Create and be unique - Lisa