I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!
I've enjoyed a mix of movies, Masses, meals
and...uh...I'm out of "m" words but there were
also puzzles, cozy fires, gift-giving, too much
candy and not any of my beloved snow.
Sigh.
Holiday aside, I managed to get a few things
checked off my to-do list and squeeze in a bit
of fabric shopping for fun. Hubs needed to run
into his office for few minutes so I rode along
to keep him company...Okay, it was so that he
could drop me by the nearby quilt shop to
check out their Christmas sale.
A small KS Troubles kit and 2 yds of this stripe
that I thought would be great for bindings were
the items that came home with me.
I rarely (never?) buy kits but I thought this would
be a fun little project to work on while I'm waiting
to get on my longarm. The stripe fabric should
make some great bindings.
I snapped a pic of these because I love
red/ivory and red/white quilts...which brings
me right on into my list:
1) Finish Peppermint Forest
Done!
66X87
I finished the quilting a few days before
Christmas and then set it aside to enjoy the
holiday--the binding and label could wait.
But on Christmas Eve morning, I got a crazy,
last-minute idea to surprise a friend with it.
When I went to find a binding fabric, what to
my wondering eyes did appear?
Why, that striped binding that I just bought!
A perfect finish for a "Peppermint Forest".
After a little fast and furious sewing, a
finished Peppermint Forest was delivered
on the front steps of its new home.
Surprise-giving is my favorite!
2) Make backing for Pine Tree Lane;
load & quilt; bind, label
Backing made; quilt loaded; currently quilting.
I went with the swirling snowflake design on this
too since it was already loaded up on the frame.
3) Make backing for Pumpkin quilt;
load, quilt, bind & label
Backing made; quilt ready to load.
3) Update 2020 quilt list
Done.
I'll get Pine Tree Lane added into this when it's
done but it's current for now and ready to post.
4) Start on 2021 quilt list
Done!
Will post on New Year's Day.
And now, I finally get to share a secret project
that I completed a few weeks ago! I was
pretty proud of how this finished up--and that
I completed it so nice and early--so it was a
struggle to keep it under wraps at the time.
But, time flies and here we are.
Like all young ones, our grandkids love forts made
with sheets and blankets thrown over the furniture.
It's all kinds of creative fun but refolding all of those
isn't fun for mom. How about one that fits right
over the table and doesn't bring out every quilt,
blanket and sheet in the house?
For pics, I had to put it on our kitchen table which
isn't as long as theirs but you get the idea.
They love Mickey and Minnie so with
a little applique work, I turned it into
Mickey's Clubhouse.
I put a clear vinyl window on each side and
trimmed them out with a wood print fabric.
The tops of the curtains were first gathered and
then sewn on; next I sewed them down on the
sides with a tie tucked into each seam. The ties
have velcro tabs that attach inside. Most
of the clubhouse is finished off with French seams.
(Little fingers like to pull on loose threads!)
And here it is on their table.
For someone who rarely does non-quilt sewing
anymore, I thought it came together really well,
especially for just "winging it".
It seems to be a big hit with the kiddos and
fits the table well.
For other holiday sewing, I gifted five quilts
and donated one which means I'm that much
closer to getting a quilt to every one of my
friends and family.
(I'm actually kind of serious about that!)
Six might seem like a lot but I got a very early start.
I've already come up with ideas for next year
and plan on starting those nice and early, too.
A look at the easy, low-key week ahead:
1) Fireside reading & sewing
This week promises to be colder which means more
fireside time. I need to catch up on a little reading
before the year ends if I'm going to meet my goal.
2) Finish Pine Tree Lane
This depends on what I get done today and
how tomorrow's procedure* leaves me feeling.
3) Load Pumpkin Patch, quilt, bind and label.
I'm trying to trying to stay realistic here--this
probably is not going to happen but I'm putting
it on my list anyway. If I can get it done this
week, I'm going to call it a 2020 finish.
4) Bring knitting back out.
I have socks and gloves going but I'll likely
start the year out by finishing my cable scarf.
*Tomorrow morning is my shoulder procedure
so I'm spending today getting done little odds
and ends that will give me the afternoon off.
I also want to work on #2 today but tomorrow
afternoon, it should be all #1!
Happy quilting,
merry Christmas and happy New Year!
Linking up to:
Comments