Little tricks to make life easier

We are having a tea towel swap over on our quilting forum, Coming Together to Quilt.  One member told us the colour of her kitchen and a lot of us have posted our colour too.  There is a poll over on the right hand side.  Join in the fun and lets just see the most popular colour for kitchens.  I'm just talking the walls here, nothing else.

Okay now for today's blog..............................................

Well, that may be a stretch.  Little tricks I guess would have probably done it.

For my November block of the month (BOM), I thought about the days when we built snowforts in Montreal so we could throw snowballs at each other.  I wish I had photos to share, but I don't for reasons I won't go into.  Everyone can make a snow angel, lay down in the snow and just start moving your arms and legs.  Then you stand up and admire. Cool!

Of course, a good snowstorm also means a good snowman.  I lost count of how many of them I've made over the years. 

I wanted little things to machine quilt...............snowflakes for sure.................and then I remembered.  I had these tiny little cookie cutters I bought one year at Michaels for gingerbread.  They would be perfect templates.

I dumped them out on the table and found the three I wanted........................

I used my favourite white marking pen by Fons and Porter

to trace around them and then I quilted.

Done!  As simple as that.  Just about anything you have in your home you can use for templates.  There is the web too but sometimes there you have to resize.  Need circles?  Oh, my gosh, so many circles in a home, spool of thread, base of a cone of thread, coffee mug, plates, pickling jars.  Think outside the box......

By the way, I've started my Christmas shopping.  We (as in I picked it out and Karl paid for it) bought our youngest grand a "stuffie".  Cutest little thing. 

Then I got asked for a sock monkey. A pink sock monkey. Wouldn't you just know it?  She isn't getting the sock monkey.  I'm going to wait til the Chrismtas break and have her over and we'll make one together. 

We have also bought the girls their annual snowmen.  They get them every year.  Now seeing as this is the big girls I'm talking about, I'm going to have to sneak in the photos as they do occasionally pop in here and read things.  They will of course, read the day I don't want them to.