2 Christmas Quilts Finished, screw the 3rd

I finished my tree quilts today YEAH!!! There was a 3rd winter-themed quilt in the making, but time isn't on my side. Hubby reminded me Friday night he would be gaming all day long, thus sewing machine time was quite limited. Andrea will have to be happy with her Bath and Body Works gift basket.

I am really happy on how they turned out...the pictures don't quite do them justice. I am still trying to figure out the best way to photograph my finished quilts, any suggestions? These guys were just hung to a wall with 2 tacks. Fancy, I know.






I got the pattern online. The pattern was supposed to be for a rag-quilt, not too sure what that even is, but it gave me the information I wanted, specifically how many squares to cut to make a tree. I added the star to make it more festive. The pattern had the tree on a white/daytime background. I decided to make one quilt with that background and the other with blue/nighttime background. I like the darker colored one better. Feels cozier plus the little stars create a nice effect (see close-up).

The darker one also has a nicer/more labor intensive border. I took the same fabric I used for the tree and cut it into strips. Like I said, it is a lot more work, but I think it looks more complete. Though I like the fabric and pattern of the dark one best, the quilting on the light one is my favorite. You can see in the close-up of the dark one I quilted 1/4th inch from the seams. This made the tree flat. On the light one I quilted "in-the-ditch" (aka the seam), resulting in a puffier tree. Speaking on in-the-ditch...this is something I learned making these quilts. Well, I learned, what I thought was in-the-ditch wasn't in the ditch. I also learned how to apply the binding properly and how to sew without the presser foot and feeding teeth on my machine...go me!

These were a joy to make. I can't wait to see my mom's and mother-in-law's faces when they receive them this week.

Halloween Costumes!!

Okay, so I know this post is a little late, but I thought you might like to see the dinosaur costumes I made the kids for Halloween. Dallan's tail came out really nice, if a bit long.

One quilt down, almost

OK it has taken me 3 weeks to get this far. Only thing left is for me to apply the binding...yeah!!!!!
I am proud of this pattern, because I came up with it on my own.

I only have 2 more quilts to finish before next Monday. Will the the crafting gods be with me? I hope so. The quilt tops are done at least. The reason for my decrease in productivity is because I have come down with a horrible case of toddleritis. I thought felinitis was bad, but boy do opposable thumbs make a difference and not in a good way.

Skill to aspire to

My mother made this sweater for my daughter. I'm not sure how much detail you can see in this picture, but it is just amazing. The little pink parts around the edges are actually ruffled. This thing looks like something that you would buy at Children's Place for $40.

More to come later today. My current project...Scarves!

See, this is what happens when you mess around

Detail from one of our homemade holiday cards. Limited editions, anyone want to buy a set?

Excuse me, I was promised there would be hats.

So far, since we moved here, I have made seven hats. Yes, seven. Scary, eh? It's good, because I need hats to wear over my hair at work, as opposed to always working the Aunt Jemima/ gang warfare look that is the bandana.

I've never really gotten the hang of bandanas, I have always felt.

Anyway, the small single skein crochet project that is the hat seems to work for me. I was even going to make seasonal ones if I can muster up appropriate yarn. I couldn't get candy corn colors that weren't acrylic (bastards!) but I still have hopes for an election day hat. Guy Fawkes day hat is a little much, though. I even have budget hats! I made this one with yarn from the dollar store and everyone loves it.

I've also started playing with stitch patterns and the like, with some successes and some weirdness. But honestly, for working, this green, floppy organic cotton one is probably my favorite.

It is really difficult to take a picture of yourself wearing a hat.

Too soon?

I decided that we're going to make our holiday cards this year. By "we" I mean, I get to do all the fun stuff, and then he gets to write something clever. Considering the kind of project it is, I consider this a fair distribution of labor.

I got some paper, and some stamps, and some notecards and stuff - man there is a lot out there as far as papercraft is concerned. I mean like, whoa. I don't usually do any of this type of craft soyeah, these cards will, in fact, cost more than our card usually do, but hey! Snowflake glitter!

Any of you scrapbooking types have any suggestions for websites, ideas, glues, that kind of thing?

I still have some modge podge.....

(also hey, if you want one, send me an email with an address, unless you know I've got it already.)