I completed the needle keepers that I was making for holiday gifts. I have blogged about them earlier in the process, but at that time I did not have all of the designs complete. I have made needle keepers in the shapes of fruit, which is a folk art theme. There are apples, pears, oranges and pomegranates. I made multiple needle keepers in each design. I saw these idea in a quilting magazine years ago. They were so cute that I knew that I would make them sooner or later.
These simple fruit designs are just one idea for
needle keepers. It would be fairly easy to make
them in any shape by tracing the outline of a
picture and adding a few simple lines. For example: could make needle keepers in the shape of dogs, cats or birds for animal lovers. With just a few lines you can create a stylized representation of just about any object. If you don't have a picture of something in the size that you need, use a copier to adjust the size.
It was a fun project, but as with many hand made projects, they took a good deal of time. I'm glad I started on them this summer because I could make them without feeling rushed. The time is not really an issue if you are only making one of them, but I was making five of each pattern. Most will be given out as gifts. I know many people who sew.
This project is not exactly what I would call inexpensive. I used 100% Merino wool felt. The weight and texture is much heavier than the craft felt seen in most stores. Also, I had to order the felt online. The fabric stores where I live did not carry it and what wool they did have were in shades of brown and gray; not exactly what I had in mind for this project. When ordering, there was a half yard (45.72 centimeter) minimum. I have a fair amount of the wool left over, but that may be a good thing. I saw another felt project that uses many of those colors. I may have next year's hand made gift project picked out already.
This morning is a cool autumn morning. The trees have finally started to turn into shades of orange, red, and gold. I thought I would include a picture from the yard. It is a sight that I don't want to forget. It won't be long before the leaves are all down and the yard looks bare.
I am still working on hand quilting the Star and Leaf quilt. I am at the half-way point on hand quilting this project. It is a large quilt; 72" x 72" (188.2 x 188.2 cm) There is a fair amount of quilting on it. Each square has taken approximately six hours of quilting. At the half-way point, that is roughly 72 hours of had quilting. 
I am kicking myself now for adding in all the extra decorative quilting. The extra quilting added a lot of extra interest to the quilting, but it sure has been time consuming. I have actually considered whether I wanted to go back and rip out some of the decorative quilting so that the leaf blocks did not take so much time. I really don't want to do that, but it is tempting. Now that I have reached the point of no return, I guess that it is just as easy to go forward with things as they are. 
Needless to say, I am thoroughly sick of the project by now. However, I continue on because I refuse to quit. I did take a break during the summer. Even with air conditioning, sitting under a warm quilt is not very comfortable. Now that the weather has cooled down, I am back to work on it again. I doubt that it will be completed by the end of the year. Getting ready for the holidays is going to come in to play in the next couple of weeks. The weather has stayed warm so late into the year that I am having a hard time realizing how late in the year it actually is. This is one project that will get finished when it is finished. Hopefully that will happen before the weather turns warm again.
