Happy New Year Eve's!

I hope you are all doing well. I have been working on my Christmas swap blocks. I will talk to you all next year! This has been a wonderful year for me and I have made many incredible friends. I look forward to a great 2010!

Catching Up

Right than writing a whole bunch of posts, I decided to write one to catch up on everything that is been going on. I had a wonderful Christmas. If I ever had doubts that I was a quilter I don't anymore.  It was all I want for Christmas is quilting stuff, and quilting stuff I got. Fabric, scissors, needles, thread, books, pins, glove, new iron, quilt calendar, quilt cards, patterns and chocolate. I can't quilt without chocolate!

I finished my son's Kitty Cat a couple of nights ago at 4:00 am in the morning. It was fun to put it on his bed while he was sleeping. Today he told his sister that she could not be under it because it was his quilt. They always know how to warm my heart.

I did not finish my in-laws table runner. I decided to use some of my sewing machine's decorative stitches on it and one of them went a bit haywire. I ended up taking some of the machine quilting out. However, through the magic of blogging I was able to show them the table runner.It has been fixed, so now I need to put on the binding.

I also started working on this snowman table topper. I had the idea of making it look like a window. I have a stitch that looks somewhat like snowflakes so that is what I used.

Here are the  blocks for 1 of my groups for the Holly Jolly Christmas Block Swap. I am in 2 groups. I like how the present turned out. It just needs to have a border on it and  I have a couple of ideas of what I want to do.

I hope you are all doing well.

Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future

Christmas Past

Here is a Christmas Table Runner I made last year for my mother.

Christmas Present

Here is the quilt finished for my dad and on his couch. I decided to keep it simple, and named it Dad's Quilt. He loved it and had us take lots of pictures of him with it.

Christmas Future

Here is the start of my Berry Sheri Christmas quilt for my daughter. I have decided on stars for the quilt, but I have not decided yet the rest of the pattern. I may do the Lucky Stars pattern by Terry Atkinson.


I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas, and for those who don't celebrate Christmas I hope that you have some time to relax for the start of a new year.

Pinwheels

My pinwheel quilt top is now finished. I started off in one direction and ended up in a totally different one. I am really happy with how it turned out. I am going to call it Summer Fun. I had planned on giving it to my mother-in-law, for her to pass it on but she may or may not get the chance to see the person for whom the quilt is for over the holidays. I have decided instead to mail it and this takes me off the hook for Christmas, which is good since I am sick right now. Every year, as soon I get holidays I get my traditional cold. It usually lasts about 5 days and I am on my 3rd day right now.

It also gives me a chance to work on this table runner for my other set of in-laws. I am extremely lucky to have 2 incredible mother-in-laws. I have also started making a table topper which I hope to have done for Christmas.

Quilting Triage

With 8 days left before Christmas, I am going through quilting triage right now, deciding what absolutely has to get done by next Friday. There is so much I want to do right now. I have the week off before Christmas, so I just have to decide what I can squeeze in. I have to get my pinwheel quilt done, put the label on my dad's quilt, and the binding on my son's. Now, I have decided I want to make a table runner for my in-laws. They just redid their dining room. My mother-in-law is an amazing sewer, but she does not quilt so I know she would really appreciate one. I have one that is half finished from August so it is doable. I still also would love to get a quilt top made for my sister.

I hope your triage is going better than mine.



P.S. Amy is having a fabulous giveaway for her 400th post. Go check it out!

Dear Santa ....

I have been a very good girl this year. I have made and given lots of quilts, participated in lots of swaps, made many new friends and have tried to be the best mother and wife I can be. For Christmas, I would love to receive the Aster Manor Jelly Roll.

Please, let the elves know at the Fat Quarter Shop that I appreciate them passing this letter on to you. I will have food waiting outside for the reindeer and a special treat for you inside.


If you would like to send your own letter to Santa, the Jolly Jabber blog for the Fat Quarter Shop is sending them on to Santa.

Need Suggestions

My strip search quilt top is now done. It was fun to put it together and not worry about matching seams. Now I need some help with it. I am trying to decide what colour thread I should use to quilt it with. Any suggestions would be wonderful.

I have also decided to start working on my sister's quilt. I have 2 weeks, right? I am thinking, simple and modern, most likely a square in a square type design. I would like to have the quilt top done for Christmas, and then do the rest of it in the New Year. If anyone else, has other suggestions I would love to hear those too.

My horoscope says I am in a creative phase. I just hope it can last for another couple of weeks.




Wishing you well,

Holly Jolly Blog Bingo

Run, don't walk and sign up for the Holly Jolly Blog Bingo put on by The Quilt Shoppe. You only have until midnight PST to sign up.

Mini Shop Hop

My husband and I went away for the weekend a couple of weeks ago. Luckily for me, we have been together long enough for him to know that will include me checking out the quilting stores in the area. I have been quilting ever since we have been together. We lived apart for a while, and when I went to visit him he would take me to the quilting stores in his area. I found 3 that were nearby and we visited all 3.

I think I am going to use these fq's to make placemats. The fat eights are for a quilt I have been collecting fabric for, for a long time.

At the next store, I found this incredible sun and watermelon fabric. I was unhappy with my pinwheel quilt and this fabric will make a great border for it. I also bought some Christmas fabric, because I may have forgot to mention (okay I did it on purpose) that I joined the Christmas block swap twice. To make a long story shorter, I had switched groups so that I could make Christmas presents. Then when I checked out the swap a week later, I noticed there was only one spot remaining and it was in my former group, and Christmas trees were available, and that was what I had originally planned on doing. So, I signed up again, plus between the 2 groups I will be getting 18 different designs!

At the last store, I found a cute aqua fabric. I have not started to put together my red/aqua swap but I thought it would come in handy if I need a few extra blocks. I also bought some straw needles. I had heard good things about them for binding and I must admit they worked well. The end did seem sharper then other needles and I did get a sore on my finger. I may have to try a thimble next time. I also got this fabric which I just love and have no idea how I am going to use it.

Started Strip Searching

As a quilter I am learning more about myself. I think things work better for me if I stick to one project at a time. That way, I don't lose track of where I have been and things seem to go smoother. That said I do get distracted easily, because as I start to sew, it frees up brain space to come up with other ideas for projects I am working on.

Right now, I am working on my Strip Search quilt. It will definitely have a new name in the end. Here is my progress so far.

My Strips

My A Set of Blocks

The B set ready to be sewn together

I started it on Friday and only worked on it this weekend. I am really happy with it. I loved it when it was in the strips, and almost did not cut it up. It always makes me nervous to cut something once it is sewn. I decided that I did need to cut it , and try something new and I am glad I did.

I am going to be machine quilting soon. MQ and I have had a long history together and I am ready to tackle it again. If anyone has suggestions to make mq easier I would gladly take them. The largest I have ever machine quilted is a baby size quilt, and I would like to quilt some lap quilts.

Hope you are making progress too,