Christmas Quilt is Done!

 So, after baking off a bunch of cookies this morning, I finished quilting and binding my Christmas quilt.

I decided to quilt it in a swirly design, but I tried to make the swirls bigger than I have in the past, so that the quilt would be softer for snuggling under this winter. The sweet little Tomte just made the quilt for me. I had the pattern from Moss and Lotus a few years back and with this little bit of green in a mostly red and white quilt, they stand out.

Look at all that crinkly goodness. And it is pretty soft too. All of the fabrics in this quilt came from my stash. I usually buy a few Christmas fabrics every year, but I don't always do anything with them. This year I decided to pull them all out and see what I could come up with.

It's hard to see, and it doesn't photograph well either, but I quilted some words in the quilt. I like to do that sometimes. This quilt says: Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noel, Feliz Navidad, and Buon Notale.

This is as close as I could get, to a picture of the entire front of the quilt on this dark, cold, rainy day.

The backing is Tinsel, by Rashida Coleman Hale from 2015. I bought a bunch of it from Cindy at Live a Colorful Life last year when she was destashing.  You can kind of see the letters from Buon Natale here, but they are backwards.

This shows how weird the light was this afternoon. This looks more blue, than the minty green that it really is.

The binding you can see here is the same fabric in white background as the backing. Again, I bought this from Cindy. It turned out to be the perfect binding. I didn't have a good green, which was my first thought and the reds and whites would get lost.

     The quilting here almost makes it appear that the wind is going to blow his hat away.

This is the first use for my new labels that I got from the Dutch Label Shop. It is a woven label, and the first time I have had a colored label instead of black and white. I wrote the year on the back.

These are the four color catchers I threw in the wash with the quilt and a couple of towels. I knew with all that red fabric there might be an issue. But they did their job. Have a great weekend and I hope to see you soon.

Even More Christmas Stuff

 I have more Christmas things to share this morning. I have been very busy, sewing and stitching and baking. More baking to come, as I am making Stollen today. The dough is in the kitchen rising even now.

First of all, my Christmas quilt top is done!!! It came out measuring 61 x 63.5 so a good lap size. I think I know how I want to quilt it and I am busy getting the backing together. The backing will be a Christmas Washi Tape fabric that I got from Cindy at Live a Colorful Life last year when she was destashing.

There are these adorable tiny tomte on the green strips. The pattern if from Moss and Lotus on Etsy. She has many cute tomte patterns. These littly guys finish at 2 1/2 inches.

I finished this stitchery from BeCo Productions.  Hers was  all green in ombre fashion. I decided to do the french knots in red and the stars in yellow and I am very happy with how it turned out.

Another picture of the tomte. I alternated one tomte and then two on each of the green strips you see in the quilt.

This is a mini quilt I made a few years back with the tiny tomte pattern. In this one each little tomte is wearing a different pattern. The tiny trees I drew up myself to fit the spaces. This is all paper pieced, but oh so very easy.

This is my French hen from the twelve days of Christmas patterns by Larissa at MmmCrafts. I haven't decided how many I'm going to try to make this year. So far I am happy with all the birds, as that is how I've chosen to decorate my tree, with most all bird ornaments.

I had some blank gift tags, so I am sewing scraps to them to customize gift tags. This is a very easy project. You can cut your own tags and use up some of those Christmas scraps.

Last one, the back side of the French hen. Those little chicken feet just slay me. So, I'm off to bake and sew some more. Have a great day and a wonderful weekend.

A Little More Christmas

 I am really starting to feel the Christmas season. It gives me a warm glow inside. I want to do all the seasonal things. We started last weekend by watching the entire Macy's Thanksgiving parade. I haven't watched the whole thing in years.

Here is the picture of our fully decorated tree that I promised to post. In addition to the birds, there is a Kansas City Chiefs snowflake ornament and my Santa that I made a couple of years ago from the pattern by Mmmcrafts on Etsy. I also hung my glass icicles that I bought quite a few years ago from Crate and Barrel. 

Here is an old wooden Santa ornament and new garland I made. The pompoms are from Benzie. You can find them on Etsy or at Benzie.com. They are so much fun to string.

I have a sort of addiction to bottle brush trees. I now have well over 100 in various sizes and shades of green. Last year I added a couple that have teeny tiny lights on them. I love those especially.

I decided to set them all up on top of the china cabinet this year. A couple of years ago, I got tired of them falling over all the time, especially the smaller ones. I had a bunch of old wooden thread spools which I wound baker's twine around, and I hot glued the bases of the trees to them and I love the look. The two tiny ceramic houses are a new addition from last year. Not bought as Christmas decor, but moved here to be in the trees for the season. Found them on Etsy too.

Also new this year, I am working on a Christmas quilt. I have been wanting to for a couple of years at least, but never got motivated in that direction. I finally pulled out all my Christmas fabrics.

I first decided to make strip sets and keep it to the mostly red and red and white fabrics. Then, I found some that the design was oriented the other direction. So, I made more strip sets with just them.

Then, I decided it needed something for visual interest. I needed to break up all that red and white a bit. So I pulled out my tomte patterns from Moss and Lotus that I bought a few years ago. I made the tiniest tomte in the bunch. And I love it.

This is going to be a great Christmas quilt for sure. I am hoping to get it done by Christmas, but we'll see. I don't really feel as stressed by the season this year. No deadlines to worry about really. I am trying to just enjoy the season. So far, so good.

The last thing on my list for today, is these pot holders. I have been meaning to make some for awhile now, so I decided to make these Christmas ones for now, and I'll make some every day ones real soon.

These are just made from scraps I had from other projects. I love having holiday pot holders. I hope you are all well and enjoying the season. See you soon.

Hearts Hearts Hearts

I was busy with other things in early February, and if I'm being honest, was quite unmotivated to sew very much. I was looking for my sewing mojo. So, I did not make anything heart shaped for Valentine's Day, even though a part of me wanted to. So I did what any quilter would do when I found my mojo, I started on a heart quilt.

I think it was this little guy that got my mojo back for me. I won this amazing hand made Tomte Stitching Station from Moss and Lotus for the December Tomte Sew Along. When I saw it, I immediately felt better and more like sewing. How's that for magic?

 I had a wonderful bundle of fat quarters that I bought from Fort Worth Fabrics that I just knew would be perfect for hearts. I used Allison's at Cluck Cluck Sew pattern for the hearts. You can find it at her blog.

 See how pretty they are? This bundle of fabrics really makes my heart sing...lol.

I think this one is my favorite print in the bunch. The color is just so vibrant. And I love the touch of gold.

I currently have it up on the design wall . The rows are all together, and I am trying to make decisions about the vertical sashing strips. This cutie will be done soon, though and then to quilt!

 One bonus of this quilt is the leftover triangles from the bottom of the hearts. I decided that the fabric is way too pretty to waste any of it, so I sewed them right up as leaders and enders with the hearts.

  And now I am going to have this little wall hanging for my efforts. Isn't she pretty? I will be back soon, with completed projects to show to you. Have a great rest of your week.

Christmas Time is Busy Time

Lots of sewing projects going on here. I scarcely have time in the day to work on all of them. I guess it's good that I keep busy, though. And holiday cookie baking begins today. So, let's see what I've been up to.

 First up is my Dear Dottie quilt. I made the baby size in a quilt along with Rachel of Stitched in Color. I do plan to make another in a limited pallet soon.

 I am doing some very dense straight line quilting on my Dear Dottie. I am almost finished with it.

And here is the back. I don't think I could ever do this much quilting on a larger quilt, but for this size, I am loving it.

 And all these next photos are my Tomte blocks from the sew along with Sue of Moss and Lotus. All the patterns here, plus some new one are available in her Etsy shop.

 They have been so much fun to make. They are all paper pieced, so if that's your thing, go check it out.

 I made a new reindeer head for my middle daughter. I got this pattern years ago. It is still available on line, but the links with the directions are nowhere to be found any longer. It was a bit of a challenge to assemble, but since I had made 3 of these in the past, I finally figured it out.

 I bought a bunch more tiny bottle brush trees to add to the holiday decor. I love these cuties.

 I got myself an early gift of some LED lights for my sewing machine and all I can say is WOW! They sure do make a difference. They weren't too expensive either, so I can't believe I waited this long to help out these old eyes of mine.

 And here is the first of 4 Santa ornaments I am making for the grand children for next year. It is the Twelve Days of Christmas ornament from Mmm Crafts. I figure I can work at a slower pace and do it right. No rush. That will make next year even easier for me. Yay!
Well, lots to do today, so I gotta run. Talk to you soon.