December 22, 2014

The Gift of Love

Devotion for the Week...


This is the fourth week of Advent. To read my previous Advent devotions, click on The Gift of Hope, The Gift of Peace and The Gift of Joy.

This week we light the Love candle.

We give a lot of gifts at Christmas and, usually, the ones that we put the most effort into are the ones that go to the people we love most. Whether it's time spent searching for just the right thing, the amount of money spent to buy that perfect thing, or the physical work of making something truly special, we're willing to give a little more when we're giving it to someone important to us.

So think about this: God gave us Jesus.

How much love is expressed through the birth of Jesus, God's own Son, come to earth to restore the relationship between God and humankind? Jesus, a member of the Trinity and therefore fully God, became a helpless baby, completely dependent on others for His every need. It is unimaginable how much He gave up to enter our world and be one of us. Amazingly, God thinks we are worth the price.

Why? Because He loves us. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Not only does God love 'the world,' but He loves each of us individually, personally. And He loves us so much that He not only picked out a great gift for us, He gave us the only gift we actually need. No matter who we are, where we live, the size of our bank account or of our family, we all need a Savior and Jesus came specifically to be that Savior. All we have to do is accept this amazing gift.

Christmas, the arrival of Jesus in our world and the beginning of God's plan to offer us salvation, is the proof of how much He loves us.

December 15, 2014

The Gift of Joy

Devotion for the Week...

This is the third week of Advent. Click the links to read my devotions for the first two weeks of Advent, The Gift of Hope and The Gift of Peace.
 
This week we light the Joy candle. A few years ago, I read a book by Dan Schaeffer called In Search of the Real Spirit of Christmas, which I would highly recommend. In it, he asks, "Have you ever asked yourself what good news could affect all people equally, regardless of race, sex, income level, or location?" He goes on to say, "Initially, I thought of a cure for cancer. Surely that would be good news for all people. But then I realized that not everyone has cancer...So while a cure for cancer would be good news for those affected by cancer or for their loved ones, the benefits don't affect everyone equally."  He also considers the end of war and of poverty, but again concludes that while it would be wonderful news for those affected, it would not be good news for everyone.

So what is good news for everyone? Well, the answer is recorded in the Christmas story that we so often read. "And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:8-12).
 
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. 

That, right there, is the only good news that is equally good for 'all the people.' Not only the shepherds the angel spoke to, or the people of Bible times, or the early church, but all the people  anywhere, ever!

We all needed a Savior. We all needed someone who could bridge the gap between God and us, because we could not do it for ourselves. None of us would ever claim to be perfect, to have never done a single thing wrong. We know full well that we are not perfect, and our wrongdoing opens up a chasm that keeps us separated from a perfect, holy God. Jesus came to bridge that gap. With His death on the cross, Jesus took our place, paying the penalty of death for our sin and offering us His perfect righteousness.

There is nothing we need do to qualify for this gift, nothing we could possibly do to be worthy of it, and yet Jesus offers it to us freely. All we need to do is accept it, believing that His death paid the penalty for our sins.

All the people who have ever lived have done wrong and need a Savior. Jesus came to be that Savior, and that is good news of great joy for all people.

December 10, 2014

More Trees

I've been working on more of the free motion quilted tree ornaments I shared before.
This time I'm making them a little differently. Before, I made the ornament and then stitched the tree through both layers. Since I wasn't using batting I wanted to have the two layers of fabric to help stabilize all those stitches, but there was still a little distortion as you can see in the ornament on the right. The one on the left is made with the new method. I'm using a tear away stabilizer and only stitching the tree onto the front piece. Then, after removing the stabilizer, I put the ornament together. It makes for a much neater finished product, don't you think?
I also tried a new fmq design. I quite like the swirl-filled tree! Hopefully this evening I'll have a chance to finish the ones I have half done.

How is your Christmas sewing coming along?

December 08, 2014

The Gift of Peace


Devotion for the Week...

This is the second week of Advent. My devotion for the first week of Advent was The Gift of Hope.
This week we light the Peace candle. All week as I've been thinking about what to write for today, the verse that kept coming to mind was Jesus saying, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives" (John 14:27). For some reason, I kept thinking especially of the part when He says, "I do not give to you as the world gives." At first I had a hard time figuring out where to go with that since it didn't seem to really apply to Christmas, but then I realized it actually does fit perfectly with Christmas. 

The world offers us the expectation of peace as we approach Christmas. Christmas cards show peaceful, perfect scenes, carols tell of silent nights and winter wonderlands, and commercials show us how simple it will be to find the perfect gift for everyone. We unconsciously take in the message that Christmas is supposed to be perfect, peaceful and calm. 

Really, though, the world's offer of peace at Christmas is only an illusion. The world's Christmas emphasis is always on more...more...more.

Spend more, eat more, attend more parties, put up more lights and more inflatable decorations, buy more decorations for inside the house and bake more treats. December can feel like a giant to-do list, with no space for quiet, no time for rest.

Coupled with the expectation of rest and peace, this "most wonderful time of the year" can feel like the most stressful time of the year if we're not careful.

Jesus, on the other hand, offers us His peace. Romans 5:1,2 says, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand." Peace with God is possible only through Jesus, through faith in Him as our Savior. 

Before Jesus died on the cross for us, the Jews followed a set of laws that governed the animal sacrifices that were required for the forgiveness of sins. The sacrifices had to be repeated according to a set schedule because no animal could be a permanent solution to the problem of sin. But Jesus is the Lamb of God, the only One who could take away sin permanently and open the way for us to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father. Because our sin is forgiven, we have peace with God. 

Jesus' physical birth, which we celebrate at Christmas, was the first step in God's plan to give us that peace. So because of Christmas, we have peace. And the peace Jesus gives is no illusion.

December 04, 2014

A Finished Tractor Quilt!

My commissioned tractor quilt is finished!
For the record, I need to find a way to take pictures of big quilts or stick to making small ones! I took this one to a friend's house to use her clothesline, and the quilt was still dragging in the snow. At least the snow was clean!

The mom who asked me to make this for her son wanted minimal quilting. She suggested only outlining the black frames around the tractors, but those frames are 15" wide. The quilting lines would have been too far apart, so I suggested outlining the tractors themselves. I love how clearly they show up on the back of the quilt.
 
 I used a simple, solid black for the binding, which echoes the black frames around the tractors.
I figured this would be my first finish on my Finish-a-Long list for this quarter, but it's actually my third. The others were my 'Twas the Night project and my #igminiswap quilt. That means I'm already doing better than I did last quarter when I only finished two projects, and there's still a few weeks left to this quarter. Yay for being productive!

December 02, 2014

Finished #igminiswap Quilt


I have finally finished my quilt for the #igminiswap! A couple of days past the mailing date, though. I hope my partner will forgive the delay.
I so love how this quilt turned out!
As always, I had fun picking designs for each section of the quilting. I left the dark blue pinwheels unquilted because I wanted them to pop a little.
The different colour threads really show up on the back. The pink, especially, is much brighter in person than it appears in this picture.

The yellow and the light blue were both Connecting Threads 100% polyester threads. I had a couple of thread breaks with the blue, but then I changed my needle and everything was good again. So maybe that thread is a little pickier than my usual Gutermann 100% polyester, but other than that I've been pleased with the thread so far.
I added the triangles for hanging again, and a bright pink label (made as I share in my How to Make a Quilt Label tutorial). The label is shown here sporting a digital bandage over the recipient's name lest anyone think they could figure out where this is headed.

Over the weekend I read a 3-part series of posts about better project photography and the number one tip she shared was shoot across your project. So I decided to try it this afternoon when I was photographing this quilt. The picture at the top of this post was my favourite from the whole session! What a difference it makes shooting across a quilt rather than straight at it. It changes the whole feel of the picture. I strongly recommend the series, especially if you're like me and feel your photography is less than stellar.
This little quilt is destined for the mail tomorrow, to begin its journey Down Under. I sure hope my partner loves it. And now I can begin stalking my own mailbox for a little happy mail for me!

I am considering writing the pattern for this quilt. If you would be interested in testing it for me, please let me know in the comments. Thanks!

December 01, 2014

The Gift of Hope

Devotion for the Week...

Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent. For about nine Christmases now, we've been using an advent wreath, lighting the candles each Sunday evening at supper and reflecting on what Christmas really means. This year I'm going to carry that tradition over to my devotions here. Over the next few weeks we'll look at peace, joy and love, but today we begin with hope.

As we've been getting closer to the Christmas season, I've been thinking a lot about people who are mourning this year, especially those for whom this will be the first Christmas without a loved one. I was thinking in particular of the family of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, the soldier who was killed while standing guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa last month. Then my thoughts were brought closer to home when a friend's mom passed away a couple of days ago.

I remember, when I was a kid, my Dad once said that for some people Christmas is the hardest time of the year. At the time it made no sense to me because Christmas was all about the joy, the presents and the lights. Now that I'm older, though, I understand that being lonely or sad can be magnified when you are constantly being bombarded with the message that you're supposed to be happy. Christmas, with its joyous carols and the emphasis on family togetherness, can be incredibly hard for some.

But the little baby that we celebrate at Christmas came to give us hope even in the hard times. We celebrate His arrival as a baby in a manger because it was the beginning, the start of God's plan to restore humanity to a right relationship with Him. But Jesus didn't stay a baby. He grew up, He healed the sick, He taught His disciples and then He died. If that were the end of the story, it wouldn't have been all that different from the lives of many others, but thankfully that's not the end of the story.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). Jesus died for us, but he didn't stay dead! There is the root of our hope.

In another letter, Paul wrote, "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). 

As believers we have the hope that one day we will see our loved ones again. That all of those who have ever loved Jesus will one day be together again, and that we "will be with the Lord forever."

That doesn't mean we don't grieve, of course. We still miss those we have lost. We are still sad that they are gone, but even in our darkest hours, we can hold to the hope that one day things will be different. One day we will be in a place where God "will wipe every tear from [our] eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (Revelation 21:4). That is one of the gifts Jesus brought to us when He came as a baby in a manger.

Because of Christmas we have hope.

November 29, 2014

#igminiswap Quilting

I've been working on the quilting for my #igminiswap. First I did stitch-in-the-ditch for the whole quilt, and then I could start playing.
 I'm really liking how it's looking so far!

I love how the threads show up on the back. I've finished with this light blue thread and now I have to do the yellow and pink threads. They'll really show up on this dark blue backing fabric!

I should be on track to have it finished in time to mail on Monday, or Tuesday at the latest. I can't wait to see what my partner thinks of it!

November 26, 2014

Finished #igminiswap Quilt Top

I have finally finished the quilt top for my #igminiquiltswap partner!
My partner said she loves low volume, but equally loves brights. As I said in my last post, my low volume stash is almost non-existent, so brights it is! I sure hope she likes it!

I also hopes she doesn't mind that I was just a little short on the light blue solid fabric. For three of the triangles I had to add a seam to make the piece big enough to fit. I don't think it will be very noticeable when the quilting is finished.
Now I just need to get it basted, quilted and bound...quickly. It's supposed to be in the mail by December 1st (5 days from now). I see a lot of quilting in my near future!

November 25, 2014

Round Trip Quilts - Round 2

Boy, did I ever struggle with this round of Round Trip Quilts! This is Liz's quilt, as it looked when I received it from Jennifer.
Beautiful, isn't it? But I didn't know what to add to it! I knew almost right away that I wanted to work with the navy blue that shows up in some of the prints that both Liz and Jennifer used, but that was as far as I could get for days. I'd take it out and admire it, imagining different possibilities, but nothing really clicked.

Then Renee, of Quilts of a Feather, shared her finished traveling quilt on Instagram. You can see it in her blog post here. I loved the feather border someone added to her quilt, and immediately thought of Liz's quilt. So I finally had a plan!

The feathers are from Shape Moth and I had seen a few renditions of them and wanted to try them for myself, so I was pretty excited to give them a go. I knew they would take a long time though, and I was really pushing it close to the mailing deadline, so I decided to do two feathers, rather than the four that surrounded Renee's quilt.
My low volume stash is almost non-existent, so I didn't have enough of any one fabric to do the two borders, so I planned to piece the section to go with the feather. I didn't want the feather to stand out as a block, though, so I used a variety of background fabrics there too. When I had the feather half-pieced I really doubted that decision, but I kept going, hoping I would like it more when the whole feather was finished. And I did! Hopefully Liz does too.
 I used a few different dark blues for the feather.
I had heard from Renee that the three sections of the stem on the feather are tough to line up, so I was extra careful there. I pinned, then used a wide basting stitch for just the stem part of the seam. That's a trick I learned from Kristy of Quiet Play, and it worked perfectly. I could check that the stem lined up properly, then sew the whole seam with a smaller stitch. The extra step saved me from having to rip and re-sew.
Then I pieced the section to complete the borders. This was as close to improv piecing as I've ever gone, even though the pieces were all precisely cut. And I still found it stressful! Trying to make it look random, while keeping pieces of the same fabric sufficiently separate, nearly drove me crazy, especially since I wasn't actually working with that many different fabrics. In the end, though, I think the feather block blends with the rest of the border rather than standing out as a separate block, so it worked.
I added this skinny teal border to separate Jennifer's HSTs from my feather border because it looked too busy when I put them side by side. There needed to be some sort of division, and this fabric has some of both the teal and the navy.
I sure hope Liz likes what I added to her quilt!
Chelsea has finished her addition to my quilt and I love what she did with it! You can see it here.

If you want to check out all the quilts in the group, Jennifer has a page on her blog where she has all the updates for each quilt. You can find it here. Thanks, Jennifer, for putting it all in one place for us.

Next up for me will be Heather's quilt. She has chosen the theme "Wishes for my Daughter" and I can't wait to get started (though I have no plan yet)!

November 24, 2014

Selective Memory

Devotion for the Week...

Have you ever noticed how we tend to remember some things and forget others? I've heard people pine for the days when their kids were toddlers and say "I'd have them back there if I could. They were so easy then." Ummm, do they not remember temper tantrums and potty training accidents? Speaking as someone who has been in toddler-town for 12 years now, between my own kids and the ones I babysit, I can assure you it's not all easy! Those who wish their kids were that age again are remembering only the sweet snuggles and the adorable 'helping' with the chores.

The Isrealites did a little selective remembering too. "The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, 'If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!'" (Numbers 11:4-6). This whining about the food they missed from their time in Egypt would have been understandable had they been vacationing in Egypt, eating an abundance of rich foods while relaxing by the pool. It would have been understandable if they had lived there happily, or even if they had passed through on their way somewhere else and eaten an amazing meal. But none of those scenarios were the case. Not even close. 

The Isrealites had been slaves in Egypt. At one point, Pharoah had commanded that all their baby boys be killed because he thought there were too many slaves in the land and, fearing a rebellion, he wanted to reduce their population. Now they are traveling in the desert, sustained by God who gives them food from heaven every morning, and they remember longingly the variety of foods they used to eat, but they have forgotten the cost. In fact, they have forgotten it so completely they even say, "We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost." 

There are some Christians who have a selective memory too. They read their Bibles or hear sermons preached and they latch onto the promises of God, but they forget quickly that some of those promises come with a cost, or a condition.

There are many who believe that all they have to do is ask and God will give them the desires of their hearts. But the verse they are referring to has a condition attached to it. "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4). Take delight in doesn't just mean be happy because He gives you everything you ask for. It doesn't mean ask for whatever you want and, as long as you go to church on Sunday, He will give it all to you. It means something more along the lines of find all your happiness in Him, which means that you will be desiring things which would be pleasing to Him, which He will give you. Taking delight in God will mean that your desires line up with His desires for you, but many people forget that portion of the verse.

A promise that is often quoted is "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chronicles 7:14). We often fail to remember that God's promise to heal the problems of our land hinges on His people's commitment to prayer and repentance.

Then there are some really tough verses. Jesus said, "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew 6:14,15). We Christians are quick to celebrate God's forgiveness, as we should be, but we are much, much slower to follow through on our obligation to forgive others.

And there are those who think the Christian life is supposed to be easy. God will bless us each and every day with sunshine and roses and nothing will ever go wrong. I'm not sure where they get that idea, because it certainly doesn't come from the Bible. They are forgetting multiple verses that promise exactly the opposite, in fact. Jesus said very plainly, "In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). James even tells us we should "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance" (James 1:2,3). God hasn't promised us an easy life, but Jesus did say, "But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). No matter what trouble we may face, Jesus is stronger.
Weekly devotions on Christian living | DevotedQuilter.blogspot.com

So, how is your memory? Have you edited out the parts of God's promises that you don't want to have to deal with? James wrote, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (James 1:22). Which, of course, means doing all of it, not just the parts we like and find easy to obey.

November 18, 2014

'Twas the Night/ Blogathon Canada

Yay! It's blog hop time again! Welcome all hoppers, especially those who are visiting my blog for the first time! This post is doing double duty as today is my day for two different blog hops.
Sew Sisters Blog

Blogathon Canada is a fun hop organized by Sew Sisters Quilt Shop as a way for Canadian quilting bloggers to get to know each other a little better and introduce ourselves to new friends. There are giveaways on the Sew Sisters blog every day this week, so be sure to pop over, check it out and find the list of all the participating blogs.
And I'm so excited to finally get to share my projects for the 'Twas the Night hop hosted by Mme. Samm of Sew We Quilt, with Marlene of Stitchin By the Lake as our cheerleader/head elf. Mme. Samm's blog hops are always fun and inspiring, but this one has an extra special element. Since the theme of the hop is last minute gifts, we were all asked to make a little something for the person after us in the schedule. It was a lot of fun to plan out what I would send (mine went to Bente, of I Like to QuiltBlog in Germany), and then I couldn't wait for my package from Carolyn, of Sew. Darn. Quilt, to arrive.

What wonderful goodies she sent me! Even the packaging was fun since she had little notes written on each of the parcels. And mmmmmm, Werther's!
The pincushion is fantastic, and has been getting a lot of use already. I'm using the notebook to keep track of my daily to-do list and you can never have too many measuring tapes, right? I've never had a scissors fob before, but it sure is pretty.
 As for this cross-stitched Christmas tree ornament...wow! Absolutely beautiful, and personalized too!
 Thank you so much, Carolyn! I love it all!

As soon as I signed up for this hop, I knew I wanted to make ornaments. I love to give ornaments to lots of the people on my list, so it was fun trying to come up with something I could sew quickly. Except the process was anything but quick! My first attempt didn't work out at all.
 

I used batting, but I found that made it too stiff. I had an opening left from turning the ornament right side out and I stitched it closed by machine, but I didn't like that the red thread showed on the white fabric. I also found the stitching made the whole ornament look really messy. The fact that I caught the ribbon in the stitching only made it worse.

So, on to attempts number two and three. I was pleased with both of those, so I sent them to Bente. She is sharing them on her blog today.

After that I kept playing around with different ornament ideas, since I knew I wouldn't be sharing the ones I sent to Bente. That's when I found these fantastic free-motion Christmas trees. After a little more trial and error, these are my ornaments.
There's no batting, and because the front is all one colour, the thread I used for the topstitching doesn't stand out and take attention away from the trees. I turned the ornaments and stitched the opening closed by machine, then quilted the trees. The one on the far right distorted a little because of all the stitching, so when I make more I'll try adding a thin stabilizer of some sort. My favourite design is the pebble tree.

My next idea came to me when I was trying to think of what to make for the kids I babysit this year. Eventually, I settled on a bean bag toss game. The bean bags are made of scrap fabric, while the targets and the pouch are made of recycled denim. I have a couple of shelves stuffed full of old jeans that I've been keeping for 'someday' and this seemed like a good project to actually use some of it.
I made four sets of the game, including one for a family with three kids. Rather than make three sets of everything, I made each of them their own bean bags and then one set of targets and one pouch to hold it all.
If you have kids who would enjoy the game, my Bean Bag Toss tutorial will show you how to make your own. I'm working on a separate tutorial for the Denim Pouch because one tutorial for all of it would have been too long, but I ran out of time to get it finished before today. I'll get it finished up and posted in the next couple of days, then I'll add the link here and to the Bean Bag Toss tutorial.

If you're finding yourself really short on time this year, I will be making some ornaments and some bean bag toss games available in my Etsy shop.

Don't forget to go to the Sew Sisters blog so you can see the list of Canadian bloggers, and here is the list of today's 'Twas the Night participants:


Thanks for hopping by!

How to Make a Bean Bag Toss Game

Bean bag toss games are always fun, and bean bags are amazingly simple to sew up, so these little games make great gifts for kids. You can customize them by using fabrics in the recipient's favourite colours, or you can do like I did and assembly line a whole bunch of them at once.


Make the Bean Bags

 

You will need:
* 4 1/2" squares of fabric. You need two squares for each bean bag. I included 3 bean bags in each game, so I used 6 squares.
* Dried beans
*Thread to match the fabric



Pin two fabric squares right sides together. After accidentally sewing all the way around things in the past, I like to use two pins to remind myself to leave a gap for turning the bean bag right side out. On this one, I started sewing at the single pin on the top right and stopped at the two pins on the top left.
 Stitch around the squares using a 1/4" seam and leaving a gap for turning. Clip the corners.

Turn it right side out, gently poking out the corners. Press.
Fold the seam allowance in along the gap and press that as well.

Pour in dried beans. You don't want to fill the bag, but put in enough to give it a nice heft. Pin the opening closed.

Using thread to match the fabric, stitch close to the edge all the way around the bean bag.
And there you have it! Three bean bags ready to go.



Make the Targets

 

You will need:

* 6" squares of fabric, two per target. I included 3 targets, so I used 6 squares. I used denim for my targets, but it would work equally well with quilting cotton.
* Contrasting fabric for the numbers. I used the same fabric as for my bean bags.
* Paper-backed fusible web
* Threads to match both the fabric for the targets and for the numbers.


Pin two squares right sides together. Again, I use two pins to remind myself to stop so that I leave a gap for turning it right side out.
Stitch around the squares using a 1/4" seam and leaving a gap for turning. Clip the corners.
Turn it right side out, gently poking out the corners. Press. Fold the seam allowance in along the gap and press that as well.

Using thread to match the fabric, stitch close to the edge all the way around the target. Because I was using denim I found it helped to use my walking foot for this step. It dealt with the extra bulk at the corners much better than my regular foot.

I drew my numbers freehand, but you could print them out if you prefer. Don't forget to reverse them for fusible applique. I used my high-tech lightbox to reverse mine.
Following the manufacturer's instructions, fuse one number to the middle of each target.
Using thread to match, machine stitch around the edge of each number. I used the basic running stitch, but you could use a decorative stitch if you prefer.

And the targets are finished!
I meant to have the tutorial for the Denim Pouch with Flap Closure ready to post along with this one, but I ran out of time. I'll have it finished in the next couple of days, and then I'll add the link here.