Thankful Weekend

I am thankful that my daughter had a wonderful Thanksgiving visiting her Gamma in California. This is them at dinner before they went and saw the Broadway show, Wicked. She also got to show off her driving skills, lay on the beach, go shopping, get a massage, and so much more. She was completely spoiled, but she deserves it!

I am also thankful my dad is on the mend after having an allergic reaction to his face peeling medication. He broke out in terrible hives and needed serious medication right after we attended the father-daughter dance a couple of weeks ago.  Now he can help my mom recover and get back to sewing with me!

I got my country colored Little Letters blocks done on Saturday

and the filler blocks to finish it up.

 For Slow Sunday Stitching, I finished up this block this morning.

 It is part of my Journey of a Quilter BOM.

 Football was really exciting today, so I managed to start and nearly finish this block while watching all the games. 

 Here are the adorable fabrics and embroidery up close.

I have a few more flowers to add before it is done, but I think I will finish it this evening and start on one more block for this quilt. I am thankful to get inspired by all the amazing handwork over at Slow Sunday Stitching http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

Christmas Tree Skirt UFO Done!

 Finally this UFO is done! I started this Christmas tree skirt two years ago. It is from an Art to Heart book my mom has.

 I appliquéd it on my Pfaff using a blanket stitch, but I decided to quilt it with DMC ecru perle cotton #8 by hand with large primitive stitches. I just outlined the appliqués and the design. It probably could use some more quilting, but it is just going to be under the tree with presents on top of it, so no need to bother!

 The colors and big hand stitches give a nice look.

 I added the button embellishments to the Santa blocks this morning. There is no need to bind it because I turned it and did not use any binding. I am not a fan of bias binding and wanted to avoid the circle in the middle, plus it saved on fabric.

 My daughter is still out of town for Thanksgiving, so I got into my sewing room pretty early this morning and made my final bright Little Letter blocks from Temecula Quilt Company. The X, Y, and Z blocks are precious!

I also made the filler blocks as they showed in the finished quilts just using simple half square triangles. Next up is to make the country colored Little Letters X, Y, Z, and filler blocks. I hope to get these two tops together this weekend. Now that the Christmas tree skirt is done, I can pin my Love Blooms Here quilt to start quilting it.

I also need to embroider on my Journey of a Quilter blocks as the new one should be here in a week or two. Plenty to do and two whole days left to spend in my sewing room. Enjoy the rest of the Thanksgiving weekend!

Progress?

 I made my Little Letter V blocks this morning

 and the W blocks too. So far, I have not repeated any background fabric on either the bright blocks or the country blocks. We have three more letters to go plus the additional blocks to form the Little Letter Baby Quilts.

I am planning on using this layout for both quilts and have tried to spread my colors out fairly evenly with it in mind.

 I am stitching my last Santa block on my Christmas tree skirt today for Slow Sunday Stitching. I feel like it is taking so long and I am hardly making any progress because I still need to quilt the center and the borders too. See what handwork is going on today around the world here http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com 

I realized why I did not get that much quilting done this week was because I read this book! My book club selected this for our December meeting. I picked it up thinking it might take awhile to get through, but I was totally wrong. I loved it and could not stop reading. It is about a genetics professor on the Asperger's Spectrum who decides it is time to find a wife. He approaches it scientifically with a survey. It was so funny! One of our book club members recommended it because we wanted something light and humorous for this time of year. I highly recommend this and cannot wait for the sequel to be available at the end of December. It was refreshing to read something that was not all doom and gloom as so many books are!!!

November FNSI

 For some reason, I did not get much sewing done during the evenings this week, but here is what I did manage. My Coffee Koozie presents are nearly complete. I just need to add buttons. This year I did not procrastinate and I am done even before Thanksgiving!

 My Little Letters T blocks are all done

 and the U blocks too. I will get the V and W blocks done this weekend. I am very excited that I will have two scrappy baby quilts from nothing but scraps very soon.

 I always feel like a zombie by Friday night, after the long work week, but I signed up for the Friday Night Sew In. I just sat and stitched on my Christmas tree skirt for a couple of hours while I sipped a French Vanilla Cappuccino and watched TV...Even though I was in zombie mode, I was productive!

My progress is slow and steady. See what everyone else was up to for the Friday Night Sew In here http://sugarlanequilts.blogspot.com/2014/11/fnsi-sign-ups.html

I am taking my daughter to the airport over an hour away because she is going to California to visit her grandma. She was so excited while she packed because it is supposed to be 77 degrees there, so she brought bikinis and shorts. I am going to hit the mall and start on my Christmas shopping and make it home before our snow storm arrives. Have a great weekend!

What Have I Been Up To?

My week started with the arrival of this "Up Parasol" fat quarter bundle from Shabby Fabrics https://www.shabbyfabrics.com I won them on Kelly's blog http://myquiltinfatuation.blogspot.com they are one of her sponsors. I made a quilt with these fabrics on commission for my sister and jumped at the chance to have some the fabrics for myself. Thank you Kelly and Shabby Fabrics!

I got my November BOM for the "Journey of a Quilter" pieced in one evening, so it will be ready for the embroidery. I think I only have one more block on the way...I better get moving on my embroidery!

I made my Little Letters S blocks and I plan on making my T and U blocks tomorrow when the U directions post.

I kept making Coffee Koozies for Christmas gifts. I have been cutting up some Bonnie and Camille fabrics for more.

I finished my wool felt fence block for my "Love Blooms Here" BOM.

I went to a Father-Daughter dance at one of my school's last night with my dad.  My daughter, Heather, who was sick still managed to curl my hair and do my make up. I am only as tall as her in this picture because I have 5 inch heels on!

I got five other teachers to bring their dads too. I hope to get pictures back soon as there was a photographer there and my mom took some pictures. It was very sweet to see kindergartners dancing with their daddies. It was also very sweet of my dad to come with me!!! Here is the pretty corsage he gave me. The girls really got a kick out of seeing the teachers with their dads and us dancing the chicken dance, limbo, etc.--think of a bad wedding music disc jockey!

Today, I finished the last block for my "Love Blooms Here" BOM and I got my whole top together! I apologize for the bad picture, but it was after dark when I got it done and I had to settle for indoor pictures.

I am really pleased with this one! I am planning on hanging it up for Valentine's Day, but I love how it is not all done in reds and can stay up past the holiday. The only materials I bought for this was the rose print that is on the corners of the word blocks, a couple of small yellow wool felt pieces for the sunflowers, and a subscription to Quiltmaker magazine for the designs-- all of the rest was from my stash. I think I even found a brushed cotton backing in my stash. I would love to start hand quilting this for Slow Sunday Stitching, but I need to finish my Christmas Tree skirt first.

 It is going pretty quickly with large, primitive, perle cotton stitches just around the pieces.

I have 25% of it done, so you know what I will be working on for Slow Sunday Stitching. Get more handwork inspiration here http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com It is supposed to snow tonight and be cold tomorrow--perfect quilting weather!

Variegated Violets Finish

 I finished quilting and binding this Modern Herringbone baby quilt for my neighbor. I quilted it on the diagonal about an inch apart.

 It shrunk quite a bit from washing, so it now measures 36 x 42 inches.

 I put an extra strip of the herringbones down the back to make it a little wider for quilting.

 The two tone fabric I used for the backing really enhances the variety of violets in the quilt.

 I decided to name this "Variegated Violets." This design is very scrap friendly and was very fun to make. I will probably make one again.

It is Sunday, so at my house that means NFL football and Slow Sunday Stitching. I am almost done with the fence block for my Love Blooms Here BOM. I need to add the leaves to the left side. Then I need to get the last block together. I am anxious to get the top together and start hand quilting it.

 Before I can work on hand quilting the Love Blooms Here quilt, I need to hand quilt my new Christmas tree skirt. This is a UFO for the last couple of years...

 I am planning on using perle cotton and chunky stitches for a primitive look.

It also will get some buttons for embellishment. To be inspired by more Slow Stitching, visit Kathy's blog here http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

FNWF November

 I did not get much quilting in this week, so I was very motivated last night for Friday Night With Friends. I made dinner in the morning using my crockpot, so when I got home from work I could spend more time quilting! I pieced these Q blocks for the Little Letters Quilt Along over at Temecula Quilt Co.

 I also made my R blocks. Now, I am all caught up and ready for the S block instructions that will post tomorrow.

I also finished quilting my Purple Modern Herringbone quilt last night. I have the binding on it and ready to be hand sewn down this morning. I also got an e-mail from Shannon over at Modern Tradition Quilts that she will be featuring it this week for her KISMIF linking party http://moderntraditionquilts.blogspot.com/2014/11/my-scary-halloween-projects-and-kismif.html

I won one of her patterns because my quilt was chosen as the feature! I should have it all finished for her linking party this week...

Check out what everyone was working on for Friday Night With Friends November here

http://stitchingcubbyhole.blogspot.com/2014/11/sign-up-time.html

Gift Making Time

 Last Christmas, I was unprepared with small gifts for my co-workers and ended up spending a fortune on last minute presents. I vowed that would not happen this year! I have been on the lookout for a small handmade item that would be inexpensive, but would be a thoughtful, personalized gift. Fat Quarter Shop came  to the rescue with their free, simple, quick, and adorable Coffee Koozie pattern http://www.fatquartershop.com/media/wysiwyg/pdf/CoffeeKoozie-Pattern.pdf

 Here is my sample using purple scraps. They recommend using a mini charm pack which would be good if I did not have overflowing scrap bins...I picked up 13 of the reusable dollar cups at Starbucks and need to get some more because I offered to make some for my daughter for some her favorite teachers. High school teachers are not showered with gifts the way that elementary teachers are, so they are much more appreciative of goodies!

I got elastic hair bands at the dollar store and buttons from my stash. I am going to fill the cups with candy and hot drink mix packets. Then, put bows and gift tags on them and they will be fun, useful, and inexpensive gifts.

 I whipped these up yesterday afternoon in no time flat. My daughter's high school colors are black and red, so those are for some of her teachers. The other nice thing about these coffee koozies is they are good for males too!

I have made progress on one of my last blocks for the Love Blooms Here BOM I have been working on all year. For Slow Sunday Stitching, I need to add the leaves on this side and start on the other side. It is a rainy, windy day here which is perfect to stay in my pajamas, drink warm drinks, watch football, and slow stitch all day. To be inspired by other slow stitching visit Kathy's linking party here http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

I am about half way done with the quilting for my Modern Herringbone and I hope to finish that and start on the hand binding. I should have it finished soon, so stay tuned!