A little Friday Finish (sort of)

Busy week with Christmas and spending extra time with friends and family ~ I never get tired of seeing our tree lit up every day and I usually leave it up until January 2nd, the day my youngest daughter was born (almost 33 years ago!)

So the only thing I finished were the blocks for the Cat Quilt-Along ~ 25 cute little kitty faces ~ but I hope to have at least the top done by next week!

Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts for TGIFF

For next year ...

I think I've found my next quilt-along project!  Terry @ Terry's Treasures is hosting the Good Night Irene Sew-Along for 2014.  What hooked me was the video tutorial for the blocks put out by Missouri Quilt Co. that showed a couple of finished quilt tops that I fell in love with.  And the blocks sound fairly easy to do ~ bonus!

Wish me luck!

A little finish for Friday

Just one little finish today ~ not quilting exactly, but it involves the use of my sewing machine!   

I tried out a new tutorial to make some last-minute gifts ~ microwaveable fabric bowls by Kathy at Tamarack Shack.  Kathy defines these as "a hot pad that allows you to take a hot bowl right out of the microwave without burning your hands!"  Here are a couple of pics from her tutorial:

I made my first set (just the 8" and the 10" for now) out of some nautical/beachy fabrics.  The tutorial is well written, with lots of photos ~ easy to follow ~ and I LOVE the way they turned out!  The only change I made was to stitch across the diagonals on each side.

As you can see, they're also reversible ~ bonus!

Linking up with Gingersnaps Quilts for TGIFF and crazy mom quilts for Finish It Up Friday.

Monday Kitty Update

I'm three/fifths of the way through the Cat Quilt-Along over at Oh, Fransson!  

As of yesterday, I've made 15 of those cute little kitty faces.  :)

So here's my dilemma.  I'm planning on doing a black background and the same type of quilting as the original, but I'm trying to decide what color thread I should use to do the quilting.  If I use black thread to match the background, should I use a white thread to do the cats?  Or should I just use the white thread to do the all-over pattern?  Hmmmm.

Friday Finish(es)

Tree skirts are done!  I posted pics of the first two here.  The last two are on their way to their forever homes  :)  So I think it's safe to post some pics here.

First up ~ tree skirt #3.  I used fabrics from A Merry Little Christmas by Zoe Pearn and this pattern I found at Moda Bakeshop.  Here's the front:

I actually had to piece the back since I didn't quite have enough fabric, but I love the way it turned out!  (BTW, I hadn't put any ornaments on my little tree when I took pics of this tree skirt.)

Tree skirt #4 was a more traditional patchwork, although I used this pattern that I found at Craftbuds as sort of a basis for the design.  Same fabrics as #3.

I love the way it looks under my little tree (with the ornaments on!)

It's almost kind of sad ~ I've been working on these for almost 3 months and almost hated to let them go.  :)  Oh well ~ time to make something for me!  I have a few WIPs in the works and lots of FMQ to practice up on, but for now I can take a deep breath and relax!

Linking up with Quilt Matters for TGIFF and crazy mom quilts for Finish It Up Friday.

Monday tidbits

I'm beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel ~ that tunnel of tree skirts I started back in September. Two of those have been sent out and received (and loved ~ whew!)  I took pics of those under my own little tree:

 #1

 #2

The third one is finished (but not sent out yet) and the fourth is in the quilting stage and should be done by Wednesday!

Saturday was class day ~ Free Motion Quilting (finally!)  I've been scared to try this, but I learned to just relax, have a glass of wine and go with the flow.  A few other tips were taught as well but I liked these the best.  :)    I started with meandering, went into some loops and in the midst of that did a little flower!

My next practice block included some swirls, a few pebbles, some paisley, a feather, some little hearts and a leafy vine.  Oh ~ and a design that I remembered seeing at Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project (although it's not exactly like hers ~ LOL).  I need LOTS of practice ~ but at least I'm not scared of it anymore!  (linking up with FMQ Friday)

                

Finally got all the ornaments on our skinny little tree ~ I love sitting here with a fresh cup of coffee or Ovaltine with the tree in view, listening to The Nutcracker.  It's just a feel-good kind of thing that can only be experienced at this time of year.

WIP Wednesday ~ more kitties and a beginning

A couple of (super)quick WIPs ...

Two more kitties finished for the Cat Quilt-Along over at Oh, Fransson!  This is such a fun and simple block-a-day project and I can't wait to see it finished!  My blocks so far:

FINALLY got started cutting fabric for Christmas tree skirt #4!  It's the same fabric collection (A Merry Little Christmas) I used in #3, but the pattern I'm using is totally different.

That's it!

Monday Progress and a Cat Quilt-Along

Almost done!  I ended up sewing the binding on to Christmas Tree Skirt #3 yesterday (not Thursday as I had originally planned).  I discovered a great way to keep the binding handy while I did that ~ I'm sure a lot of people have done the same, but it was an AH-HAH! moment for me.  :)

I grabbed my Wonder Clips and spent some time last night hand-stitching it on the back and I'm hoping to finish it tonight.

On Saturday, I got an early Christmas present from my awesome hubby ~ I think he got tired of watching me stack pillows on the kitchen chair I've been using.  It's a Koala chair and it's SO comfy!  We picked it up at my favorite LQS ~ Flash Sew & Quilt in Naples.

 Speaking of Flash, I was there for a few hours with a group of great ladies making pillowcases for the military ~ one of the teachers there has a niece in Afghanistan who's collecting them for the troops in her unit.  We ended up with 70 (collected in the last month or so) and they're being mailed out today.

I know I've had a lot going on lately (for me), but I couldn't resist getting sucked into this new Cat Quilt-Along over at Oh, Fransson!  

Starting December 1st through December 25th, a new cat block will be posted ~ or you can purchase a pdf from her shop (30% discount now through December 7!).  Check out the post for more info.  

I found a charm pack at Joann's that I loved in yellow, turquoise and grey prints and I decided to make the quilt with a black background (kind of unusual for me!)  Here's my first two cat blocks:

Should be fun!  This is about as close to cats as I get because of my allergies!  :(

Linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts.