Monday, December 25, 2017

Merry Christmas!




Wishing you a 
joyful
Christmas
filled with
happiness and fun


Monday, December 18, 2017

Santa's Coming

I've been good this year, so I'm pretty sure Santa has me on his nice list. Just in case, I made him a quilt and a pillow. Santa's Coming is 44” square, and inspired by Christmas fabric I scored back in July. 

Seems like a perfect spot to settle down for a cozy nap on a drizzly December Monday, don't you think?

We made sugar cookies on Saturday but I'm absolutely certain they will not still be around on Christmas Eve. They are sooo delicious! 

I haven't made cookies or other sweet treats for a while since we have been striving to eat healthier. Christmas is the season to indulge but we will be back on track soon. I like these new smaller jeans way too much to risk gaining weight. 
 


Dear Santa:
I've been good all year,
no matter what
the evidence might suggest...

Monday, December 11, 2017

Calm And Bright

I've been as busy as a little elf in my sewing workshop!
A few Christmas projects were on this year's list. I used the 9” wedge die for a pretty table runner in gray and red. Calm and Bright looks nice on our coffee table with one of Hazel's Christmas Village houses and a candle globe filled with tiny red bells.


The stockings came from my July yard sale fabric, one for the laundry room and another for the kitchen wall. 

I like for our home to be festive but not over the top. I have several holiday items in every room, sometimes only adding greenery, a quilt, or pillows. 

We don't put up a tree, but I decorate our Norfolk Island pine with lightweight ornaments. Then I use some of my old favorite ornaments to add a bit of holiday bling to my regular decor. 
 


I almost forgot about the purse I made in October, probably because I've been using it. It's made with a flowering snowball block. Cutting and sewing the curved seams was easy and accurate, thanks to AccuQuilt's die. The gray prints contrast nicely with bright purple and coral batiks. I finished Snazzy Snowball in an afternoon.


Christmas 
isn't a season.  
It's a feeling.
~Edna Ferber

Monday, December 4, 2017

Thrift Shop

Economy block
What a fun quilt this was to design! I used up some of my smaller scrap pieces in a rainbow of colors. I started by cutting triangles and 2 1/2” squares at random whenever I got the chance. I cut leftovers immediately after working on other projects. I stacked them all in a plastic dish until it got full. 

Thrift Shop
One day in mid-October, I began to sew white triangles with print ones, then put them up on my design wall. I used sixteen different 5” squares for the centers, and sewed economy blocks with black and white print corners. Once I got everything arranged, it reminded me of the riot of colors in a thrift shop. 

Leftover white/print half square triangles made top and bottom accent strips, borders are done in apricot diamond print.  Backing on this 40” x 50” lap quilt features cheerful daisies with black accents on an apricot background. 

I haven't quilted this one yet, being distracted by beach walking and closet catastrophe/sorting/construction. I plan to stitch 1” white vertical lines in a straight stitch when I get back to my sewing machine today.

I know my fabric limits,
I just don't pay attention to them.
As long as I keep sewing,
I'm always need more fabric.  ~me

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