My Christmas Quilt

I have been calling this quilt the "Kiss Me Quilt" because of the mistletoe print. I still have to decide if I want to embroider "Kiss Me" on one of the squares or just call it done. I still can't believe all those little squares. They finish at 1"!



I used this decorator trim as the edge treatment instead of binding. Boy, it took a long time, but I think it was worth it.


I am excited to start my Baby Jane journey in January and have a few other projects to get finished before the move. I hope I have time to get them done! Wish me luck!

This turned out so cool I can't BEAR it!

Tying up loose ends

Hello everybody!
I have a few projects finished in preparation on our move ( we still don't know exactly when or where yet... dontcha love the military!)

I picked up this table cloth for $2 and added a remnant of snowflake fabric as binding. I also used up a 1/2 spool of green variegated thread and several partially full bobbins of random colors.


I had fun using the different decorative stitches on my machine.


I also made another little portable pincushion to go with the cathedral window quilt I am working on.



I picked up some short little applique pins to make working with all the turned over sides easier on my hands.


I've made quite a bit of progress on this one lately. This is only about 1/4 of the row I have almost finished. It finishes about 80" long, I don't know how many of these rows I will make. We'll see!


Here is a finished but un-decorated present for Christmas.


There's a tablecloth, place mats, a table runner and napkins with rings.

I made or altered everything, down to the napkin rings.


I had fun with the napkin rings.


I also had fun with the macro setting on the camera while I had some beads out.


So Pretty!

Christmas Spoiler-palooza!

I am getting too backlogged with pictures of Christmas gifts and other craftiness, so I decided to post them all with no description, so at least you won't know who the gifts are for...

Here goes!

Upping my average...

The weather has driven us all inside and I have been very productive this week!

The blanket bee for Project Linus got it off to a good start when I stayed there for a few hours and cranked out 4 quilt tops.

I came home and pieced, tied and bound this baby blanket for one of Jeff's shipmates that night.



I brought a few kits home from the blanket bee and started assembling the next day.
Here is #1.


*meow- where's mine?*



Then I took a break and turned this


into this.


I had to hand sew the pages together into a book, so I went ahead and did some embroidery along the spine, too.


Here is Project Linus kit #2.



And the I made another baby quilt. I actually quilted this one, so it took longer.


All tied up and ready to go.


I remembered I had these tags and thought it would add a nice touch...


Back to the kits... There's #3...


And #4...



Man, 6 quilts and a book... I didn't realize myself that I was so productive... and yes mom, the dishes, laundry and picking up are all done, too.

Looking forward:
I have 1 more kit, this month's TIF challenge piece (which I already have an idea about), 4 Christmas gifts (one is mostly done) and then I'm getting back to my cathedral windows and chicken scratch! I miss my hand work!

September TIF and other craftiness

I finished this month's Take It Further Challenge yesterday and am very happy with it.
The theme for the month was "Lists" and I don't remember what the color scheme was.

I have to admit that I am a listmaker deep down. They make me feel secure that I have a handle on things and allow me to reason through things and double (and triple) -check that I haven't missed anything.
I have lists for everything! Projects, packing, books to read, addresses, on and on and on.
The one list I use on a daily basis is the grocery list. I have fond memories of reading and puzzling over my mom's shorthand on her list when I was a child. It took me a little while to figure out t.p. and p-nut butr.
Things like this regularly appear on my list now, as well.

The first idea for this piece was going to be a CQ square centered around a grocery list with these fabrics in a rainbow arrangement on either side, but when I laid them out, I liked the color wheel appearance much better.
I chose a Days Of The Week image off of Needlecrafter's index and hand drew it onto the white part.

So here is the bag. I stitched the whole thing to a canvas tote and found some trim that resembled the embroidery I was planning on doing and saved myself several hours of work!


I enjoyed how nicely the points came together in the center. I had a button stranding by - just in case- but I ended up not needing it! The white tucked down much nicer than it looks here when it was all stitched down.


Here you can see the drawing of the girlie going to market and the trim I chose.


Then I started having fun with the color accent feature on my camera...
Reds and oranges..


Yellows.


Greens


Blues


Brownish-es...

Remember you can click on any of the pictures for a larger image!

In other craftiness...
I whipped out this baby quilt from this cheater panel and an applique. So cute and very soft, and on clearance at Jo-ann's. I went back and grabbed another one for the next baby that comes along because they werte so cute!


It wasn't quite girlie enough so I chose a very flowerey flannel for the back.


And I had to take pictures quickly before the squatter showed up.





I also made this purse for Dodo from the pattern in the most recent "Handmade" mag.
It is my first attempt at something like this, but then it turned out pretty well, IMHO!


I also made a mini-purse for Dodo Barbie. It was a lot harder to futz that lining int such a small purse... I don't think I will be doing that again in the near future...


That is all for now. I am making good progress on Keith's quilt and will be spending the day at a blanket bee for Project Linus...

Happy Stitching!