Holly Christmas Tree Skirt

For those who have read my blog for a while,

you may remember that my

"Signature Wedding Gift"

is a quilted Christmas tree skirt....

when appropriate, of course!

My daughter's best friend is getting married

at the end of June,

so a tree skirt is needed.

I had a jelly roll of Christmas fabrics,

so ordered a roll of "Snow"

and made some Log Cabin blocks.

After finding a layout that was pleasing to my eye,

I sewed the blocks into a big square.

 I knew it would need something in all of the white space,

so I got my new book out,

written by my bloggie friend, 

Lara Buccella at BuzzinBumble

and appliqued some holly leaves in the white space,

using Lara's applique technique.

 Lara's technique is so easy and worked so well

on my tree skirt.

I HIGHLY recommend her new book!

The white corners were trimmed on the diagonal

and the quilting was done.

Ta-Da!

 All this needs is a Christmas Tree!

This line of Christmas fabrics is 

gorgeous... traditional with some metallic gold going through it.

(It's Robert Kaufman's "Holiday Flourish.")

The label is on it and it's ready for wrapping.

(I'll let my daughter do the wrapping!)

Christmas will be here before we know it!

YIKES!!

I'm linking up to Patchwork Times today.
Go visit to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!

Memorial Day...

To all who have given the

Ultimate Sacrifice

(images borrowed from the internet)

We honor you.

We Thank you.

Kept It...

A while ago I almost threw this little quilt away.

It was made for an Amish Quilt exchange we did in

my quilt group,

but I didn't use it.

The quilting was too bad.

Just look at the corners!

I made another quilt for the exchange and threw this in a pile

of things on my counter.. with the binding pinned to the back.

Why finish it if it's going to be tossed?

The other day I was cleaning and found it and decided

to keep it afterall. Yes, the corners are not quilted well at all,

but it's a process. We don't reach perfection, or even "pretty"

immediately.

So the binding was stitched down and here we are!

I do have some knitting from the last month or so.

I was trying to follow a pattern for these bright socks,

but started knitting it incorrectly.

Oh well... I like them this way!

:)

 

 

It's time to knit the heel on this sock,

but I need about 45 minutes of uninterrupted time. 

It will get done.

And then I have a sock finish!

These are for my 29 year old daughter with the size 1 feet.

The yarn is from Hobby Lobby and is their

"No Wool" brand.

I really enjoyed knitting with this yarn.

Happy Friday!

Gravity Finish

I have a big finish!

And I love it.

It's amazing how different a quilt looks once it's quilted, isn't it?

The Flimsy before quilting...

And the finished quilt.

This quilt is so large, I can't get back enough to get a good photo.

It's too wet and muddy outside to put it on the grass and take

a photo from the deck.

The floor will have to do for now.

I think this quilt will be on the bed in our guest room,

but I haven't decided for sure.

It will need some bright pillow shams if it stays here.

 

The rich, vibrant colors just glow in this one.

It wasn't my favorite while making it,

but now that it is finished,

Woohoo!!

Happy Quilting!

More Amish blocks

Not much sewing was done over the weekend.

I am doing a major overhaul of two rooms in my home,

one being my Hidey Hole.

Things have gotten a little out of hand in here

and it's vexing my spirit.

Time to reorganize.

I did get the next three blocks made for my

"Amish With a Twist II" quilt.

I really enjoy making HST's,

so making these blocks was very relaxing to me.

These are the last three blocks to be made 

before the last big set.

Guess what comes next?!?

If you guessed 36 Log Cabin blocks,

you are correct!

I have a lot of cutting to do first!

For a recap,

Here are the blocks I have made.

It's coming together!

Hopefully I will have a finished quilt top by

the end of the month.

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are working on today.

Happy Quilting!

Now it's a UFO...

My "Amish With a Twist II" blocks are coming along!

When the husband is out of town,

the sewing machine sees more action. :D

I have completed the blocks through

Installment C.

These colors are more to my liking!

I think my eye went to these when I was looking at the completed quilt

and decided to join the BOM.

 

I'm having a good time making all of the different blocks.

 

There is something about these little blocks that just make me smile.

Maybe it's the red and blue?

I can see LOTS of possibilities with these.

Onto the next installment!

Happy Quilting!

Working on a USO..

I have a lot of quilts on my wish list...

And a few of them are actually in the "to do" phase...

a couple are kits and

the rest I have the patterns and fabric gathered to make them,

but none of them have been started yet.

The term "UFO" doesn't apply in my mind

because I haven't started them.

Therefore,

they are "USO's" in my book...

"Unstarted Objects"

Over the weekend one of my USO's started

SCREAMING at me...

It's my turn!

I've been in this cabinet long enough!

Get me out and start working on me!

So here we are...

A few years ago I joined the

"Amish With a Twist II" BOM.

I loved the finished quilt in my LQS.

The first kit arrived and....

YICK!

The fabric colors were dull and boring to me.

So in the cabinet it went,

along with the next kit

and the next...

 

 

These are the blocks of the first installation.

The colors are a bit dull for my taste,

but I keep remembering the finished quilt

and am going to get this one made.

The first two installations are finished and the third is started.

Hopefully in the next few weeks

one of my USO's will be finished!

Happy Quilting!

Westering Women Block for May

After struggling with the block for April

of the Westering Women BOM,

the block for May was a snap!

I love the

"Tree of Life" 

design and can see many of these blocks

making up an entire quilt.

We are 1/4 of the way through the blocks.

Here is a link to Barbara Brackman's blog

if you are interested in joining this BOM.

The history is so interesting.

Happy Quilting!

Red, White and Blue Finish

There is something about

Red, White and Blue

that draws me in.

And it is Red, White and Blue anything...

quilts, wreaths, clothing, etc.

Maybe it's because my father was one of the most

Patriotic people I've known.

Last year when I saw the "Polka Dot and Paisley"

fabric line by Minnick and Simpson,

I knew I would be making something with it.

Here it is...

This pattern came from one of the Missouri Star Quilt "Block" magazines.

 

The pinwheels and rails really move the eye around this design.

 

The pattern called for using the pieces cut when adding the pinwheels to the

rail blocks as the border pieces. At first I wasn't sure if I liked it,

but it has grown on me.

It's a very different border.

 

My LAQ did a great job quilting it with swirls.

 

I don't know where this quilt will end up yet.

It will either be donated or given to someone....

I'll wait until I'm "told" where it belongs.  

Happy Friday!

Bits and Pieces

I am participating in the

Westering Women BOM

and am really enjoying learning about 

these strong, courageous women

who traveled out west.

The first two blocks went together like a charm.

Then... the third block instructions were released.

Y Seams... yuck!

I have not had much luck with these in the past,

but decided to give it a try and conquer these things.

Well...I stitched.... I ripped.... I stitched some more

and ripped some more.

After several frustrating attempts, my block went into the trash.

My quilt will only have 9 blocks instead of 12,

or I'd make two of one block.

That's okay... right??

Then one day I was reading this blog post

and was saved!!

Here is my third block and no Y seams were involved!

Thank you, Barb!!

After making my Doll quilt for the swap and sending it off to Kathy,

I decided to make the same little quilt for myself.

This little quilt is one of my all time favorites.

 

The applique block is finished, but not trimmed.

The rest of the little blocks have not been cut or sewn yet,

but I will begin work on those soon.

Now it's sunglasses time!

All of the Kaliedescope blocks are sewn together

and have created quite a busy center!

 

I could play with these all day...

arranging and rearranging.

 

Hopefully I'll find a fabric for an inner border today

and finish this top this week.

I'm thinking lime green or orange.

What are you playing with today?

Happy Quilting!

My English Doll Quilt

I was away last week and came home to a

Squishy in the mail!

All the way from England!

I couldn't wait to open it and when I did,

I found this beautiful doll quilt.

Ailsa made this for me and I couldn't be happier.

I love the fabrics she chose and the design is one of 

my favorites.

She hand quilted this little gem with the

tiniest, even stitches.

 

And I love the corners. 

The HST point to the beauty in the center.

I haven't decided where I will display my

new little quilt yet,

but here it is on an antique mini ladder

I found a few weeks ago.

 

Thank you so much for this wonderful quilt, Ailsa!

And thank you, Lori, for hosting the doll quilt swap.

Happy Quilting!

What to do...what to make?

While I was digging through my stash a few weeks ago,

I found this piece of fabric that has been in my cabinet for years.

I don't remember why I bought it or what I was going to make with it,

but it was something big.

There are yards of this fabric...not just fat quarters.

My youngest daughter loves fish and the ocean,

so I was probably going to make something for her.

She has cut me off from giving her any more quilts

until she is out of an apartment,

so I had to think of something else to make.

Then I saw the repeat in the pattern.

And a thought popped into my head.

I cut four repeats,

stacked them on top of each other,

cut 5" strips and then 5" squares.

Then the fun began...

I placed the squares together in kaleidoscope fashion....

turning the pieces to see which way looked the coolest.

 

We have fish spinning,

Coral gathering in the middle,

turtles swimming in circles...

 

All kinds of things were happening in these blocks.

It's going to be a wild, crazy and colorful quilt!

I'm thinking of either a lime green or orange polka dot

inner border and then an outer border of the fish fabric.

We shall see if that just puts it over the top once all of the blocks

are sewn together.

Hopefully it won't make us all seasick!

Happy Quilting!