Christmas Quilts part deux

These have been way too long in the making. They were started in Seattle (all the HSTs sewn together) and finished in Moscow (Idaho, not Russia). But they are done in time for Christmas cuddling, and that's what counts.

So many projects to finish this next week. Linking up to Amanda Jean's Finish It Up Friday - and hoping she hosts a big one next week to show off our Christmas crafting!

Fabric Tuesday

I finally finished these quilts. Shown here is the Christmas Barn Raising quilt (please pardon the bad, hazy lighting - I'm not trying to be fancy - we're just having awful overcast skies!). I've also got one in diagonal stripes (I'll save that one for Friday). Oh how I love these quilts. Red and white, backed in red flannel and perfect for snuggling. My kids are a little hesitant - they just keep staring at them right now. We'll get snuggled at storytime tonight.

This quilt makes me happy. I should be doing other sewing, but I wanted them finished for this Christmas. My other Christmas quilt tops can wait for next year, but I wanted these two done. Hooray for finished projects!

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday!

Fabric Tuesday

I'm playing along in the Quilt Story Fabric Tuesday again today. Yes, I'm working on dresses for my girls when I get a moment, but I thought I'd play around with these blocks a little too.

I'm making this quilt, using Riley Blake's Indian Summer. Loving how it's coming together.

Fabric Tuesday

After I joined in on Amy's Bloggers' Quilt Festival last week, I browsed around the other blogs, bookmarking and following as I went. One of the first sites I visited was Quilt Story. Every Tuesday, they host a "Fabric Tuesday." Now, I've been doing "To Do Tuesdays" on my own, but sometimes my to do list isn't so exciting. Now fabric? That's exciting.

So today I join in on the Fabric Tuesday fun.

And just in time for Fabric Tuesday, a box o' lovelies arrived from the best online quilt shop EVER a.k.a. Fat Quarter Shop. Seriously. I heart them. A lot.

I've been needing to make some "boy" quilts. While my guys are tough guys and have no problems cuddling up in a pink/green quilt, or something with lots of flowers and butterflies, they deserve something a bit manlier. We are huge Richard Scarry fans in this house (seriously - check out "Busytown Mysteries" on Netflix - so much fun!) and when I saw this fabric at FQS, I knew it would make some great quilts for my little men.

So I ordered two FQ bundles - each comes with a panel with different vehicles, which I'm going to fussy cut and use as individual blocks. The colors are great - orange, green, blues, some reds and yellows.

I picked out some coordinating fabrics in orange, red, green and blue. I'm going to use this quilt pattern - it will be bright and fun and they'll love it. I'll have to border them differently so we can tell the difference. William's will be red, James' will be orange and Henry's will be blue.

Can't wait for my pattern to arrive so I can get started. Want these done by Christmas - can she do it?

Looky looky!

In spite of this sweet baby girl (try to deny it, but she really is the sweetest little girl!):

And these four crazy trick-or-treaters:

I was actually able to do this today:

I wanted to participate in Rachel's quilt-a-long many moons ago, but I was in my second-to-last quarter at UW and just didn't have the time.

Funny that I think I have the time now that I have a newborn, am homeschooling my two oldest kids and I have three birthdays to celebrate this weekend. But hey, it's all relative, right?

I'm halfway through on my blocks and am so excited to get this quilt top done this week. The weather here in Northern Idaho is chilly-dog and we're in need of more quilts.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I like things to be matchy-matchy. I made my first quilt when I was 18 or 19. This was back in the day when you chose maybe three coordinating fabrics. I made a double Irish chain using a yellow solid, a French blue check and a white on white floral. I still have that quilt and I still love that quilt.

But I needed to move on. Scrappy quilts scared me. I liked looking at them, but wasn't sure if I could make them. Now I know this quilt isn't as scrappy as it could be. I've since done scrappier, promise. But it was a challenge for me to mix the fabrics, even from the same line, and make something beautiful out of it. I loved this pattern so much, I'm ashamed to say I've made half a dozen just like it. But I've given two away, so that's a good thing.


I waited a long time to quilt this quilt. It's funny, but when my Henry was born (over 2 years ago), my Gran gave me some money to spend on me. I, naturally, bought fabric. I bought the fabric to make this quilt and while I got the quilt top done forever ago, I didn't quilt it. Well, Aaron bought me my Juki in May, just a few weeks after my Gran passed away, and I finally, FINALLY worked up the nerve to quilt it. What did I learn? That straight line quilting can be a better idea than free motion quilting. I learned that imperfections should be expected and not fretted over. And I learned that finished quilts are so much nicer than unfinished ones!

Enjoy the rest of the festival - I know I am going to do some serious blog hopping! So many great quilts with great stories.

Oh. And in case you were wondering, here are the specifics on this quilt:

Pattern: Matchbox by Abbey Lane Quilts
Fabric: Oh Cherry Oh by Me and My Sister (don't try to find it - I'm buying up all that I can!)

Future Project

Oh, who am I kidding? I want to get started right away on this. But I won't. I will finish up that costume and the dresses for November before I allow myself to get going. But I want to, so desperately.

I was cruising around on etsy when I discovered this stack o' lovelies. An Oh Cherry Oh fat quarter bundle. Someone was destashing and I was going to reap the rewards. This is my all-time favorite line of fabric and I keep buying it for different projects.

What will I make with it this time? Well, I'm so glad you asked. I plan on making this quilt, times two (one using the pinks/greens and one using the reds/aquas). You can buy the pattern here.
Can I just say I love Allison's patterns? This isn't the first one, or the last one, I've purchased. I've got a Kaleidoscope in the works, and I'm dreaming of what I'll use to make the Seville quilt and the Basket Case quilt. I still need to buy the Shortcake and Sugar Dish patterns. But that's for later. I've got too many WIPs and future WIPs to add to the pile.

But that won't stop me from making these little fabric baskets. I will have some yellow FQ left over from that bundle, and as my sewing room is decorated in yellow, I thought, why not? I'm always need storage spots for scraps and "stuff" - these will be perfect!

Okay, baby is sleeping now (I was taking a nursing break, so don't think I was just wasting time - I was multi-tasking!). Back to the Abigail Adams costume.

Still Here

I'm still here, still busy, still pregnant. Got my law student (that's his handsome self up there, posing with a perfectly roasted marshmallow, all for me!) off today and so begins are latest and greatest adventure. I'm so proud of him. I don't get too personal on this blog (usually save that for my other one), but I just love this guy - he's a hard worker and he's determined to make a good life for us.

The least I could do is finish quilts in time for Christmas! I've been sewing like crazy - I've got 56 blocks done on my string quilt. I've got some catching up to do on the FWQAL, but I'll get there. I'm also finishing my last two (hooray) classes at UW. Then I'm a graduate! Hooray!

Our landlords are remodeling the upstairs next week, so we'll be escaping the chaos and chilling in the air-conditioned goodness of my parents' house. I've got sewing projects there to cut out (baptism dress, blessing dress) and lots of fall/winter shopping to do. It will be a nice break, although we'll miss Aaron a whole lot. But it's his first week of classes, so he can really focus and work out the kinks in his schedule without having to worry about neglecting us. We'll all adjust when we get back from K-town.

In the meantime, happy sewing. I'll be ordering a boatload of flannel to back my quilts with - that's decision is a long story, but for another day - and then I will (gulp!) start in on the quilting of my finished quilt tops. Scary. But if Aaron can go to law school, I can quilt a quilt.

Christmas Quilts

Here are the finished Christmas quilts, so far. Yes, they need to be quilted. Can I admit to a smidgen of nervousness associated with that prospect? And I need funds to buy batting and backing. I'm thinking of backing them all in flannel, just for extra coziness. Good idea? These are just snuggle quilts for everyone to use when they need one.



These are the two I finished up this week. It was just a matter of putting together the barn raising quilt and sewing the sashing on my Holiday Hostess quilt. Still, I'm glad to have them done!


I have the Christmas tree one (that I need a different foot for on my sewing machine - long story!), one using Riley Blake Christmas Candy and then I've got a string quilt in mind using up all those red scraps I've got left. So eight in all. People need eight Christmas quilts, right?

I'd stop making them if the fabric companies would stop designing such cute Christmas fabrics!

Wordless Wednesday

Houston, we have a problem

So I might have finished that blog post on Saturday afternoon and glanced over and saw a stack o' charm squares I've been wondering what to do with. And I might have thought "Why not make two Farmer's Wife quilts in tandem?" And I might have gone ahead and started.

But they are SO cute and so much fun!









I finished seven blocks on this one. That last one, with all those teeny tiny triangles (these blocks finish up at about 6.5") was stressful, but it came out alright. Phew!

I have to control myself today though. I have homework and homeschooling to do as well. Luckily, I can cut out the pieces while I work with Laurel and William. Theoretically.

Happy Monday!

Farmer's Wife

It's official. I've joined a flickr group. Not just any flickr group - a quilt-a-long group. An ambitious one, but well paced. It's the Farmer's Wife Quilt-A-Long.

You take this book. You read all the awesome letters on why being a farmer's wife is so great (all written in 1922 as part of a contest). You smile and hope someday you can have the simple life. Okay, I don't dream of being a farmer's wife. I dream of being a lawyer's wife with a lovely little sort-of-farm - some chickens, a pig or two (hey, we love bacon and ham!) and a huge vegetable and fruit garden.

Then you make the quilt blocks. The group is making two per week, but I'm about 6 weeks behind, so I'm playing catch up. I finished 6 today. They are cute and time-consuming, but it's going to be one fabulous quilt once I'm done with all 111 blocks.

Block #1 - Attic Windows

Block #2 - Autumn Tints

Block #3 - Basket - yes, she's missing her handle. Working on the applique tonight.

Block #4 - Basket Weave

Block #5 - Bat Wing, but I made mine look more butterfly-ish

Block #6 - Big Dipper

I'm just using a FQ bundle of Sew Cherry fabric - a lot of the quilters are going full-on scrappy, but I struggle with that and as this will end up being a queen-sized quilt for my bed, I went with something I love looking at.

So, are you a Farmer's Wife too? Really, join in the fun. 2 blocks per week? No problem! Once I catch up that is . . . .

Superfast!

Clearly I need to work on my clever blog titles. But we say that around here a lot. In a superhero kind of voice.

Here's how the early afternoon went down. I went from this:
To this:
With this:

In about an hour. I'm not exactly sure how long it took because I was

1. Homeschooling Laurel and William at the table next to me
2. Fixing lunch
3. Getting milk for thirsty kids
4. Distracting James and Henry from the Accuquilt awesomeness - that was tough!

But not too shabby, right? I have 144 apple core pieces and 96 2" squares from the scraps. And a pile of scraps in the corner that is making Laurel drool all over her math homework.

I think I like this little GO! Had I used a template and hand cut all those, I'd be doing it until next week. I've always wanted to try curved piecing but have hesitated because the cutting scared me. Yeah, I know, my grandmother would have done it. But you know what? If she could have, she would have used one of these GO! cutters in a heartbeat.

I've got the Double Wedding Ring dies too. Just waiting for the right fabric to jump out at me so I can finally have one of those. Squeee! So excited for that!

In the meantime, I'm taking a break from my string quilt and prepping some other projects. It's kinda fun.

What I've been up to . . .

String quilts are HARD! I mean, I know they are easy to put together, straight seams, randomness, yada, yada. But that randomness takes planning. And time. I have to pick out the set of 6 or 7 strips I'm going to use for that block, iron them all, then sew each one, iron it out, repeat. And then do it again for the other color.

I've got 25 blocks done. I've got I-don't-know-how-many to go. I'd like to make one big enough for my bed. We'll see how far my strips o' fabric go. I've got more orange than yellow.

Just for the record - I'm not complaining. I'm having a blast and I've got my little sewing room and all is well.

Progress!

Well, and why not start with my favorite block? This is my all-time favorite Christmas fabric. I'm hording it like food storage. But I did fussy cut 20 squares and turned them into these blocks - this is just my favorite one - love the present.

I love red and white for Christmas. LOVE it. There is a touch o' green in there, and I'm debating on adding some little fussy cut green tree fabric with the sashing for some popping green color - but not too much. Thoughts? The sashing is a white on white snowflake print (Micheal Miller again) and I think the little bit o' green would be nice, or would it be too much? Voice your opinion!
This is the Easy As Cake quilt from Moda Bake Shop. It came together rather quickly, and isn't meant to be anything special other than something to get us through our first Moscow Christmas. I'm thinking that I'll have enough Christmas quilts to hand out to my little family this year. That will be fun!
Just some happy red and white HSTs. I have another one in the works, although I'll do it as a barn raising quilt this time. More Christmas quilts!
I made two versions of this Jelly Filled quilt - I separated out the greens/blues and the pinks/oranges/yellows. It will make for two smaller quilts, but I'm happy with them. Just good, snuggle on the couch quilts once I add the borders.
Version two - I think I like this one a bit more, but is that even a surprise?
I'm loving the Double Hourglass quilt, even if there is a mistake. Can you see it? Yet another reason why I need a design wall so that I'm not hurrying to get those blocks off the floor before a little helper rearranges them. So one block got flipped. Once I spotted it, I wasn't super keen on fixing it. We'll live.

Yes, I need to improve my photography skills. Working on it, I promise. I need a better camera (and one that doesn't disappear on me).

I also finished some coin purses/wallets that will be handy little gifts. No pics and I still need to put snaps on them. Made a shark one for William and a cupcake one for Laurel. I'm wanting to make a matchy-matchy bag/coin purse/laptop sleeve for me. Too cutesy, or just right?

Well, happy sewing. I'm about to dive into my string quilt and that may consume the rest of June and most of July. But I want it for my bed, so it's got to be big!