Tic Tac Toe

 So the push to finish Christmas projects in a timely fashion is on.  I finally got the buttons and elastic for the boys pajamas.  Now to sew them on and make button holes.  My nemesis is button holes.

 I have started putting the bean bags together for the tic tac toe games, one for each boy.  That's 20 bean bags.  That's a lot of beans!  I started quilting the tic tac toe boards on Sunday.  I got one all done and now it just needs to have binding made and attached.

 I love the colors and the simple straight line stitch in the sashing.  I did a simple stitch almost in the ditch around the squares.  I am liking the look.

 The straight line were hubby's idea.  Good idea honey, it was exactly what was needed.

 The second one is pin basted and awaiting its turn at the machine.  I made them both very different and hopefully to the boy's liking.  J really love the color orange and V loves puppies.

 I used some Sherbet pips scarves for the back of one.  I can't wait to get these done and bound.  They are looking good!

Hope your Christmas projects are coming along as well.  It's harder to blog about some projects right now because so many of the family read my blog.  It would spoil the surprise.  So for now, this is it.
Have a great week and happy sewing.

A Finish!!

Finally I have another finish to show you.  I feel like I have been sewing and sewing but not any closer to getting anything finished.  Don't get me wrong, I do love the process, but when it comes to Christmas sewing, there is a sense of urgency.

 First, this is not Christmas related, but here is November's Birdie Stitches block.  I can't believe I have kept up for a whole year almost now!

 This is made from a charm pack of Countdown to Christmas.  I wanted something small to top this table in my living room.  It is not quilted so not bulky and since the charms are pinked around the edges, no hemming required.  Love it!  I might have to make some for other seasons.  Now the big finish...

 This quilt is for my brother's new niece.  She is just a few months old, but he wanted a quilt that she could grow into for years.  I love how it turned out.  There are lots of butterflies here.

 The fabric has butterflies and the quilting is, in part butterflies based on a quilt that Patricia of    Happy Days Quilting did for her daughter.

 Here is the back of the quilt, made from pieces of leftover fabric from the front.

 Down here at the bottom is my new label.  I will put a proper label with all the info on the quilt as well.

love the crinkly goodness

Essential dots for the binding, as well as the inner border

I'm sew happy with this!

 And one more almost finished...two pair of sleepover pajamas(Oliver + S) for Christmas for V and J.  All they need are buttons and elastic.  I am going to go shop for buttons soon.

Happy sewing and have a great week.

A Win!

 Look what came in the mail this week!  I won this great box from Moda Lisa.  The magazine has her lovely Log Cabin quilt in it.  When she posted on her blog about it , she offered her scraps to one lucky commenter.  I am so happy that I was that lucky person.  I expected some strips left from her project, along with a copy of the magazine, but I was overwhelmed with just how many "scraps" there were!

 In addition to the strips, of which there were more than a few, there were lots of chunks of the fabrics.

 So pretty and so many lovely colors too.  I just keep looking at them.  I can't believe they're mine.

I am going to use them to make a quilt for my middle daughter.  She has asked for a new quilt and it's been a while since I made her one.  I am going to do a "sort of" Log Cabin.  I can't wait to get it started.  I probably won't get to it until after the holidays.  But it wouldn't be possible without these great scraps.  Thanks so much to Moda Lissa!!

A quick project

You know how sometimes you just need to throw something together quickly to get that instant gratification of finishing something?  That was me, with very little sewing time this weekend.

a new table cloth

Hope Valley and Kona

I found this hunk of Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt on the internet a while back, can't remember where, but I loved it so much and thought it would make the perfect table cloth.  That way, I wouldn't have to cut it up.  I had the Kona in tomato and the green, not sure which one it is, but both were left over from other projects.  The whole thing took about 2 hours.  TADA!!

Have a great week.

Mini quilt sew and tell

Amylouwwho is having a party for mini quilts!  This is sew fun!  I haven't done but a couple of mini quilts in my 20 plus years as a quilter, but I am really wanting to do more.  I mean, have you seen all the beautiful minis that folks are making?  What a great way to try our new techniques!

 This is a mini I made quite a few years back. My skills were still quite rough and I found this pattern in a Georgia Bonesteel book.  Her books were the first ones I used for inspiration and help in teaching myself to quilt.  It wasn't too difficult to make the small squares and twist them.

 Here is a better view of the twisted squares and the little spiral I hand quilted in the green squares.

I didn't even correctly bind this thing.  I just folded the back over the front and hand stitched it.  This was made back when all I did was hand quilting.  I hadn't taken a machine quilting class yet, although I did later.  Now I only hand quilt for embellishment mostly.  Machine quilting is much more fun and quicker!
Stop over at Amylouwho to check out all the cool minis!

Balance in the Universe?

I think this qualifies for that.  Last Friday, after a rough day at the end of a rough week, I just asked the question out loud "Why can't something good happen?" I really needed it right then.  I went through my afternoon arrival at home routine.  I went to the front door and opened it to check the porch.  That's where our deliveries get put. (We never enter our home through the front.  In the south, we use the side door by where we park our car.)  And there was a box...

Two weeks ago I had entered a give away on Lily's Quilts blog.  The prizes were some lovely packages of Aurifil threads.  There were 2 of each prize, one for UK readers and one for international readers like me.  I entered with my comment, always hopeful, hoping for one of the small prize packs at least.  Imagine my shock and surprise and overwhelmedness at the e-mail from Lynne telling me that not only had I won, but I won the GRAND PRIZE!!!

I was reading this at 4:30 am which is when I get up and check e-mail while having coffee and then getting ready for work.  I was so overwhelmed I didn't tell anyone about it, lest I should break the spell.  So I waited.  And I waited.  And then...

here it is!

side one

side two

48...yes, 48 spools of the most beautiful, soft yummy looking thread ever.  I was in shock all over again.  This made my day, my week, my month, maybe even my year.  I won't have to buy thread for awhile and so I am thinking of some sewing to give back for my great good fortune.

Over the weekend I did a couple of blocks for Val at Pink Please for her Heroes Quilt.  That's just the start.  I will be doing lots more of these types of projects.  How can I not?

Kaffe Fassett fabrics block

random fabrics block

the card that went with my blocks

Val, if you read this the blocks are on their way to you.  I posted them this morning.

I know this is kind of long and wordy and gushy, but I really must thank Lynne at Lily's Quilts and Alex Veronelli from Aurifil for making this possible.  I hope they both understand how much this means to me.  A thousand thanks to you both.

Have a great week everyone.