It's beginning...

...to look a lot like Christmas around here! Dave has been hanging lights outside since the weather has been so nice. He has some ideas for inside, so I had a task set for me for the weekend.

 

The plan is to put up a tension rod in each window of our great room. Dave is going to tie lighted garland to the rod, and then hang ornaments at different lengths. We decided on seven ornaments for each window. With six windows, I needed to make 42 ornaments. It takes me about an hour to make six ornaments, so I knew I needed to get started right away. I'm just happy that I managed to finish them all this weekend!

My sister Janet came to visit for the weekend. She was working on bejeweled Christmas ornaments. Mom was busy knitting. We did take a break yesterday when daughter Carol asked if we wanted to go Christmas shopping at Hobby Lobby. How could we say no? After shopping, we went for a lovely lunch at Olive Garden.

I've had a lot of fun making bejeweled trees, but I've pretty much gotten over wanting to make them. Janet went through my supplies and selected what she wanted for her ornaments. I had one partially finished tree that daughter Alison had started a couple of years ago. She wasn't really interested in working on it anymore, so I told her that I would finish it for her. Today was the day!

Now I feel free to give away the supplies that I no longer need. Maybe I'll be able to organize my quilting supplies a little better!

Finished!

 

I finished my first Christmas quilt today. It's so colorful!

I'm glad I used Christmas fabric for the back. The quilt is now totally reversible. Some of my stitching isn't the greatest, so I hope the recipient doesn't look too closely. 

I've learned a lot from making the quilt with this new-to-me technique. I'm ready to try another!

Tatting Tea Tuesday

At our Tollway Tatters meeting Saturday, we were reminiscing about things we used to do. Tatting Tea Tuesday came up. Does anyone else in Tatland remember doing this? I'm not much of a tea drinker, but I do enjoy tatting!

I'm currently working on a snowflake pattern. This is a test tat for a pattern that I think is beautiful. Unfortunately, I have made many mistakes. I misread the pattern the first time, so my snowflake didn't look quite as it should. I've scrapped two other attempts, because I've made mistakes and shredded the thread  trying to fix them. This time, I'm taking it slowly!

I will share more info on this pattern in a future post. First, I need to tat it correctly!

Yesterday was mostly a prep day for my Christmas quilt. I joined strips of fabric for sashing, cleaned my machine, and started sewing on the first long strip. My ironing board had become a storage table for future projects, and I needed to clean it off so that I can work on the final steps of my Christmas quilt. It looks like I'm going to be making quilts for quite a while. Beautiful fabrics are my weakness!

I had a sewing first yesterday. I lost the tip of my needle! I've broken plenty of needles while sewing, but I have never completely lost the tip. I never did find it, but my machine is now nice and clean, and all of the stray snips of thread have been cleaned up.

With all of the activity during the day, I just wanted to relax after dinner. Luckily, my Gryffindor scarf doesn't take much brain power. I think I'm about 2/3 of the way through the yarn. It's nice to be productive without having to concentrate too much!

Tollway Tatters

Tollway Tatters met on Saturday. I think there were eleven of us. I worked on a snowflake that I'm test tatting. With all the conversation, I messed up on the last round. I'm still trying to undo my mess!

In the afternoon, I worked on my Christmas quilt. Three strips are finished, with two to go.

I meant to finish the last two strips yesterday, but I got caught up in reducing the chaos in my house. We will see what today brings!

Different joining technique

 

While I've really been enjoying using the pot holder technique for my quilts, I decided to try something different for this quilt. This is from Easy Sashing – Quilt as You Go! by Nancy Roelfsema. After watching Nancy's YouTube video, I knew this could be a good method for me to use.

I only have one strip completed, but I think this could be my new go-to method of joining blocks. The quilt will be reversible. I consider the four-patch blocks to be the front of the quilt, with the red and white blocks on the back. I'm not sure about the dark green sashing. I'll be able to tell better once the quilt is finished. 

If I have time, I will bake another Christmas quilt with the same backing, red sashing, and blocks made from jelly roll strips.

For now, it's time to get ready for Tollway Tatters!

I did it again!

Last night I sat down in my chair, ready to write my blog post, when I became distracted by a book, New Techniques for Machine Quilting and Assembly – Block by Block by Beth Donaldson. The more I read about quilt-as-you-go techniques, the more fascinated I become!

The blocks for my Christmas quilt are all trimmed and ready to go. I've put a pin in the lower left hand corner of each block so that I can keep the layout that I chose. My joining strips are ready to go. I'm just waiting for my dark green thread to arrive so that I can get started. I really do miss being able to run to our JoAnn store for supplies. Hobby Lobby and Michael's have some of the things I like, but both stores fall short for my needs. I sure wish we lived closer to a wonderful fabric store!

It's been a while

I have simply forgotten to blog for almost a week. The end of the day comes, and I put up my feet and forget about everything! 

I have been busy working on my Christmas quilt. There are only four blocks left to quilt, something I should be able to finish tomorrow. I'm considering a different way of joining the blocks together. Watching YouTube videos sure opens up lots of possibilities!

My Gryffindor scarf is growing. It sure is nice to have something to work on that doesn't take a lot of brain power!