I was asked if there is a pattern for this. I did not use one. I did use this die from AccuQuilt . One quarter of the block shown on the package finishes at seven inches.
The quilting is hard to see, unless you look at an angle with the sun coming in a window.
That bright pink thread barely shows.
I used a light pink solid on the back.
And this strange batik for binding. It has brown, orange, purple, yellow etc in it.
This post from November 2017 still makes me laugh! It brings back fond memories of Christmases past. Enjoy!
The Christmas Feud
Long time readers may remember this sorry quilt. If you want the back story, you can find it here. It’s a sad looking quilt and hung in my bathroom every Christmas for many years. Last year, I gave it to Daughter #3 when she told me how much she loved it.
The other night she sent me this photo of it proudly hanging in her living room. Yes, she is already decorating for Christmas! She also sent this to her sister, Daughter #1.
A few minutes later, I received this text from Daughter #1.
Move been putting off this project. See how crooked the printing is?
Ugh. I set myself a goal of finishing this today.
These bits need to be cut with scissors.
Then you sew the front to the back then add the bottom. You also have to put a bit of cardboard cut to size and some weight to make them stand up. I used a flat rock in the bottom of each one.
But they helped me out a lot by letting me know what side of this piece is the front and which is the back.
I thought this top would be easy to get ready for hand quilting.
I was wrong. Very wrong. When I pressed the top, I realized how bad it was. There is often a reason you find unfinished tops!
First, the edges had been chewed. That was a pretty easy fix as I trimmed the borders down by a lot. This gave me enough to add borders on the two sides that didn’t have any.
The top wasn’t too bad, until that bottom row that flared out like a skirt.
I removed that and it was already better.
The sashing is not a problem so much as the blocks. Some were machine pieced.
Some hand pieced. And some were a combination of the two. All this to say, sizes varied.
I have a couple holes to repair as well.
And you can see here why the two sides never had borders added.
At this point, I decided to just trim the ends and not worry about losing points.
I ended up shortening that row I had removed by running a few tiny seams in the sashing. Then I sewed it back on.
It is still is not great. But it is flatter than it was.
Now I’m rethinking my decision to hand quilt this. I might just machine quilt in a random grid and call it good. I’m kind of sick of it right now.
Mr. Wonderful surprised me with these new tree ornaments! The one on the left is a Harley VRod like his. The one on the right is a Harley 48 just like mine.
Oh, Silly Willy!
I bought a panel like this when my kids were little and I first started sewing. Every year before opening gifts, my son would use this set to tell the Christmas story. He often got creative. One year he talked about Mary and Joseph meeting on a dating site. 🙄
I gave that set to him when his boys were tiny. Then I found another panel and made one for Daughter #1 to use with her boys. I found a couple more at Goodwill one year and tucked them away. Daughter #2 found them in my stash and wants hers now. I guess I need to get sewing!
Speaking of Daughter #2, we made this apron together recently. As I mentioned, she went digging in my stash and found this fabric and off we went!
And lastly, I finally finished this puzzle!
This might have been the hardest puzzle I’ve ever done.
Lastly, I was asked how I choose a color for the “background “ of a scrappy quilt like the one I showed yesterday.
There isn’t any real magic. I usually pick a solid that I have on hand that I think goes with the prints. In this case, I think yellow, lavender, pink, green, nearly anything would work!
Here is another Christmas quilt, finished in 2017. Enjoy!
Christmas Hexies
I finished the Christmas quilt for Daughter #1 a while back, but decided to wait to share it until closer to Christmas.
The big pieces made for a pretty quick finish. I’m glad as I wanted her to use it before the holiday itself. I used a panto from Urban Elementz called Malachite.
I bought all the fabrics from my local JoAnn’s. I love this backing fabric.
I finished the binding completely by machine this time.
Oops….I see a thread on that picture up there! I gave this to her Thanksgiving weekend so they could enjoy using it before Christmas.