Through the Woods - Truck!

Hey y'all!

It's raining in Tacoma, which means Christmas weather for me. Product of my childhood on the Oregon coast - Christmas was rainy and cold, not snowy.

So yes, I'm listening to Christmas music and publishing the truck block for my jThrough the Woods quilt I finished last year.

It's available in my Craftsy shop, along with the tree quilt pattern. They're listed separately because maybe not everyone wants to make the truck block. I get it.

As for the house, well, it's not mine. I used Lori Holt's Farmhouse block from her Farm Girl Vintage book and made it bigger. Twice as big.

The trees come together really quickly, and you could definitely finish this one before Christmas. I'd love to see what you come up with.

As always, if you have any questions, please let me know!

Friday Finish: Ready Set Snow Matchbox

I kind of have a thing for Christmas quilts. Don't believe me? Here's my stack:

This pattern, Matchbox from Abbey Lane Quilts, is a favorite. I've made it more than a few times (3 that I can think of). I think I love the scrappy sashing the most.

Rather than make the smaller version prescribed in the pattern, I used the entire layer cake and charm pack to make one big giant mother of a quilt. Because, if you haven't noticed, I like big quilts.

Backed in gorgeous blue minky, and quilted with swirly loops and some stick-figure snowflakes.

Crossing this one off the 4QFAL list.

Stats:
Fabric: Ready Set Snow by Me and My Sister Designs for Moda
Pattern: Matchbox by Abbey Lane Quilts
Backing: Minky!
Finished size: Huge (96" X 112" huge)

Friday Finish: Stockings!

Edited to add that the pattern is available now in my Craftsy shop! Hope you love it.

My seven stockings a-swingin' at my house. So glad I replaced the old ones!

Hand embroidered our names on the cuffs. Backed them all in this candy cane print.

Linking up! And crossing the stockings off my 4QFAL list: I've finished seven projects so far! Only 31 more to go! Just kidding. There's no way I'm getting that many more done. But a girl can dream, can't she?

Linking up with Amanda Jean and Sarah. They both have some pretty cute finishes today.

Christmas is getting closer, y'all! Top secret sewing going on over here, but I'll post what I can, when I can!

Make-A-List Monday: The Stockings Were Hung . . .

Yikes - November is more than halfway over! Next week is Thanksgiving! I warn you - these lists will get horrifically long!

Here's what was on the list last week:

• Work on my Gypsy Girl Weekender (and maybe even finish it!)

Here's a teaser shot - she's almost done. By Friday, I promise.Just some hand-stitching to do to attach that lining. Gonna pull out all the Downton reruns to get me through it all.

• Make some more Swoon blocks

I was pretty busy with that Gypsy Girl bag, so I didn't get any blocks made, but I did get the rest of the cream fabric cut, so I'm on my way.

• Anything else that strikes my fancy

I really wanted to start new things, but I was focused!

So, now for this week. In case you were wondering, there are just 42 days left until Christmas. And I need to get these stockings done!

Here's my list for this week:

• Finish seven awesome red HST stockings, complete with lining and embroidered cuffs (I'm going to use this tutorial for the cuffs - just have to figure out how to do the embroidery right) and loopy hangy things

And that's it. I'm going to stay focused my friends!  If I happen to get those done, then I'm going to cut out and sew an apron for my awesome auntie in Florida. And work on some bags. And finish that Gypsy Girl Weekender. But stockings first.

What about you? What are you working on?

Make-A-List Monday: Birthday week!

I did get quite a bit done last week. Even with Halloween and the start of birthday week. Remember? All I was working on was my Christmas string quilt. Here's my progress so far:

I'm making the final push this week! I want this top done!

Today is my middle child's 6th, so I've got a cake to make today for him (yellow with chocolate), then another for my eldest son's 8th on Wednesday (chocolate with chocolate). Which means not a whole lot of sewing will be happening until Thursday. Some, but not a lot.

Still, I've got to work on something. So I'm going to pull out our Christmas stockings and work on those. I've got just two more to do:

I'm using Camille's pattern, only I'm enlarging it. Every stocking is a different HSTs pattern and I'm having lots of fun with them. I've got to embroider the names on the cuff pieces before I can finish them. And figure out what I'm backing and lining them in. Still, it will be nice to have part of this finished!

I'll also get that string quilt top finished. I've got the white and red cut for sashing and borders, so it's just a matter of sneaking in some sewing now and again. I think I can do it. That's ambitious enough, right?


Nah! Let's add more to the list! I've also got the border fabrics cut for my Quite Contrary Kaleidoscope. Maybe I'll get those strawberries for the corners pieced and those borders on.


And then I've got to get those borders done on my Glamping Trips quilt. Another flimsy that needs to be finished already.


Have a fun week! What are you working on?

Fabric Tuesday: Santa's Sweatshop

I love Christmas.

I just don't love how I make these last minute gift decisions. Talk about deadline sewing.

Throw into the mix one law student with finals, 4 sick babies and counting, 1 sick me and you've got a recipe for disaster.

Still, this is what I've got done so far:

One passport wallet, one oval box bag make-up bag and two dumplings. The oval box bag tutorial is found here. The dumplings are here. These were all just for practice. I'll make the "real" ones tomorrow. I'll use brighter zippers on the dumplings next time so there's some more color. Still, they are so cute. My oldest won't mind if she gets the guinea pigs! Not too shabby.

Until I look at what I've got left to make:

1. 3 library bags - these will be ridiculously easy once the fabric arrives, and the last of the "shipping out" gifts
2. 2 kindle covers
3. 5 different softies for my babies - not so ridiculously easy
4. jammies for the law student - cut out, just need the thread
5. 7 new stockings - oh my, this is insane
6. 5 dragon softies
7. 5 sets of dragon wings - my law student needs to draw out the wings for me
8. A zippy wallet for my husband - his design, my construction
9. And a partridge in a pear tree

Oh, and did I mention that we're hosting a Christmas donut fry on Friday night? Or I'm in the midst of a bunch of major dental work? Good times around here! And I still have Christmas goodies to make. I really need to plan better next year. Right. If only.

Yep. I'm nuts. Thankfully, the last final is tomorrow and then I'll get plenty of sewing time.

Friday Finish: Red and White Christmas

I love the film "White Christmas." It's been a favorite for a really long time. Love it when Bing and Danny Kaye dress in drag and do the "Sisters" number.

Go ahead. Watch it. I'll wait.

But the finale is my favorite. Makes me cry, every time. And I love that everything is red and white. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against green, but red and white are my Christmas colors. The tree gets to be green. Everything else is red and white.

I finished two red and white HST quilts last year.

This top was in the works all year. I've been hoarding the last of this Holiday Hostess fabric.

If I could, I'd make myself a dress like this one. I'd wear kitten heels. Think I'm kidding? I also would love to recreate Vera Ellen's dress up there. Nope, not kidding at all.

Now, normally I wouldn't love such a matchy matchy quilt. I've actually come to adore scrappier looking quilts. But for Christmas, and for this fabric, I'll make an exception.

And when it's backed in red polka dot minky . . .

And bound in red and white stripe . . .


Well, it's going to be hard to share.

Checking this one off the 4Q FAL list. Eleven down, ten to go! Ooh, and this one is on the 100 Day Hustle list too! Hallelujah!

Linking up with Sarah at Confessions and Amanda Jean at crazymomquilts. 

Make-A-List Monday: We need a little Christmas . . .

What a week that was! I made a quick trip to my hometown on Saturday, so that cut into my sewing time a bit. I was supposed to come home yesterday, but there was some seriously thick fog that I did not want to drive through. Not with all the crazy college students returning. So I stayed an extra night and drove home this morning. It was a nice visit, but it meant that not a lot got done.

How did you do? Here's an update on me:

• Quilt and bind Holiday Hostess quilt

Nope. Gotta get this one done right away and mailed this week!

• Make my tree skirt

It's official. My tree has cuter Christmas clothes than I do!

• Baste, quilt and bind Easy as Cake Christmas quilt

It's basted. I'll finish this one up this week too.

• Work on my, erm, Halloween Spider web quilt 

The strips are sewn and pressed. I've got to get the cutting done. Later. Those Christmas quilts are top priority now.

•  Make my Christmas gift bags

Three are done and waiting to hold gifts. More to come, but I can check this off my 4Q FAL list.

Less than a month left until Christmas. I've got WAY too much planned. Here's my list:

• Seven new stockings
• Five sets of dragon wings
• Five different softies: a dolphin, a shark, a sea turtle, an alligator and an owl
• jammies for my husband
• The rest of the gift bags
• Five dragon softies for my little dragon lovers - I'm SO excited about this one 
• Library bags and zipper wallets for my niece and nephews

So, for this week:

• Project organization
• Quilt and bind Holiday Hostess quilt - ship it off!
• Quilt and bind Easy as Cake Christmas quilt

That's it. When those three are done, then I'll get to this stuff:

• stockings
• gift bags
• softies (I'll start with the owl for my baby girl)
• library bags

What's on your list, fellow elves? Linking up!

RED Friday

I don't do Black Friday, for the most part. I've done it once, at JoAnn's, and it was a nightmare. Great deals on flannel, but not necessarily worth my time.

So I declared a Red Friday, crafty Christmas style. I stayed at home, in my comfy clothes, with my Christmas socks, Christmas music and Christmas movies (and leftover turkey and pie), sewing Christmas crafts.

A tree skirt. Or maybe a tree petticoat? Whatever it is, it's done and in need of a tree. And off the 4Q FAL list officially! 10 projects down, 11 to go!

Seven stockings. Which means chain stitching a whole lot of HSTs.

Gift bags. I'm loving the gift bags this year!

Oh, and watching my University of Washington Huskies lose the Apple Cup. I should have called it a purple Friday. :)

How was your day?

Friday Finish: A Little House Christmas

I love Little House on the Prairie. We have all the seasons on DVD. But this little Christmas episode is one of my favorites. They didn't have lots of money for gifts, so they all snuck around and made gifts for each other, or earned money for them doing all sorts of things. Charles built wagon wheels to sell, and made Mary's fur shawl. Laura dyed yarn to knit a scarf for her Pa. Mary worked with the local seamstress to make a shirt for her Pa. And Laura sold her horse to Nellie Olsen to buy a stove for her Ma.

Well, I don't have a horse to sell, but I'm working on some homemade gifts this year. And the first one is done:

A quilt for my little nephew. He's 20 months old, so it's plenty big enough. It's backed in chocolate Minky for extra snuggle factor. And I have extra fabric, so I'll make a couple of pillowcases and crib sheets for his toddler bed.

And crossing this one off my 4Q FAL list.

My extra lining fabric arrives today, so I'm going to get that Weekender Bag done right away so I can link up this weekend. Hope to see you tomorrow!

Linking up with Sarah and Amanda Jean. Have a great Friday!

Friday Finish: last quilt of the 3Q FAL

Finish it up Friday is back at crazymomquilts and I'm excited to have this quilt finished. The last of my 3QFAL quilts (link up will be next week - hooray!). I'm also going to link up with Sarah, who is back in the saddle and quilting again!

I mentioned earlier that there was a mistake and I was determined to fix it. Armed with a seam ripper and my father's choicest curse words (don't worry, they are PG ones, and funny too!), I took out the offending block and turned it the right way. Phew. Now I can look at it and not go bonkers. Well, until I tie a big red bow around it and ship it to its new home. I'm liking this business of gifting quilts. Kinda fun, don't ya think?


All in all, I finished 9 of my 20 projects for the FAL. Two others would have been done (the R2D2 quilt and the other Christmas quilt), but we had a Minky SNAFU for poor R2 and then a backing hiccup for the Christmas quilt. So those go to the top o' the heap for next quarter. Along with the other projects. I'm working on getting organized for that FAL post. Need some new pictures so you don't get bored looking at the same ones every time.

But first on my list for next week is basting my monster of a string quilt. I think I'm going to enter it in the Blogger's Quilt Festival next month, so I've got to get going on it. The fun part will be the basting. It's so huge, my living room floor isn't going to cut it. Might be using the gym floor at my church next Tuesday night while my daughter has her activity.

Have a lovely weekend. I'm finishing up a dress and waiting for my cushion pattern to arrive so I can whip that one out. With any luck, I'll get it done by Sunday afternoon for the big Sewing Buddy reveal. Here's hoping!

And next week, I'll share my cutting plans for next weekend. It's like prepping 20 meals on one Saturday, only in this case, it's prepping 20 quilts. Okay, not 20. But a lot. More to come!

Make-A-List Monday: I get to quilt!

I've never thought of myself as much of a liar, and I swear I'm not. I mean, not really. Oh sure, I might fib here and there, but it's not a habit.

So I'm confessing that I lied about doing prep work. Sort of. I ran out of prep work I could do. All my projects need something else (something I need to buy), so I have to wait.

So I got back to quilting. I've quilted two small lap quilts that were on my 3Q FAL list. I'll be binding both of them this week.

And I basted this baby last night. She's a monster, but I'm excited to get it done.

Absence certainly makes the heart grow fonder. I made this quilt top last summer (I know, I know) and I want to make another one now! The real question is - how to machine quilt it? I'm a little tired of my loopy meandering, but I don't want to straight-line it. Circles? It's a Christmas quilt, so flowers won't work. Sigh. Wish I had a long-arm.

So the prep work will return once I have my new supplies in hand. But for now, I've got to get some more work done on that monster of a list I made for the third quarter. It's half over, and I'm not halfway through my list!

Have a great week!

p.s. Thoughts on a Christmas I-spy charm swap? I'm thinking of hosting one.

Friday finish: the early morning edition

Rolling pins Christmas quilt, made using a Riley Blake Candy Christmas fat quarter bundle, and used the Me and My Sister Rolling Pins pattern.

Christmas In July

Are you thinking about Christmas yet?

Maybe it's the string quilt I'm working on for my friend's wedding. More likely it's the long list o' gifts I want to make and I'm determined to get them done well before December 23rd.

Some of them have to be done before December 1st. Like this tree skirt:

Source: prudentbaby.com via Jennie on Pinterest

I pinned it last December and I must have one this year. Here are my fabric choices, all from Michael Miller:

 

I have a serious fabric crush on Michael Miller. It all started with this fabric:

Isn't that the cutest fabric EVER? I made an apron, a Christmas stocking and I fussy cut it to make a quilt. It's my favorite and I can't find any more of it. But it has been years.


I'll do two ruffles of white, maybe a white tonal stripe or snowflake print or something. I don't do a lot of green - I prefer all red and white for Christmas.

So, what do you think? What are you working on for Christmas this year?

I'm beginning to think a lot about Christmas . . .

(sung to the tune of "It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas")

Just me?

Crazy, you say?

Here's crazy for you:

My baby girl turns one in mid-October this year.

My oldest wants to be a macaw for Halloween. Yeah, won't be finding that costume at Walmart this year. She was Abigail Adams last year.

My three oldest have birthdays within four days of each other in the first week of November. My oldest shares her birthday with one of my nephews.

My niece's birthday is two days before Christmas. Her brother's birthday is the first week of January.

So I like to get a head start, because it's a slippery slope once October hits. I'm determined to enjoy my holidays this year, not stress over sewing. And there are so many fun projects to make!

I want to make one of these for my kids to play with so they'll leave my tree alone. Wishful thinking, I know. But it might work!

Source: johnnyinadress.com via Jennie on Pinterest

It's been love at first sight with this tree skirt. I must have one. I don't have a tree skirt. We've been putting the tree on top of this red plaid tablecloth for the last couple of years. It's awful. I WILL have a tree skirt this year, and it will be this one!

Source: prudentbaby.com via Jennie on Pinterest

My kids love animals. My oldest girl is not a dolly kinda girl, but she does love whales. Now, if this were an orca, she'd be the happiest girl. But a regular whale will do in a pinch. I won't be able to make just one, either. We'll need a whole slew of them.

Source: etsy.com via Jennie on Pinterest

My littlest guy loves Superman. His favorite toy is a little Superman action figure that came with a Happy Meal a year ago. LOVES that little toy. So I thought he might like a cape of his own this year.

Source: allfortheboys.com via Jennie on Pinterest

Some of the awesome ladies in my life might get these - it's a vintage roll holder. I think it's a pretty unique way to keep rolls warm.

Source: gingercake.typepad.com via Jennie on Pinterest

My niece might like this pillow for her room.

Source: sew4home.com via Jennie on Pinterest

I want one of these! It's a travel case for your curling iron/flat iron. It's insulated, so you can fix your hair, pack up and go. Because let's face it, you're probably doing your hair last minute and your curling iron is hot.

Source: sew4home.com via Jennie on Pinterest

Might make one of these for my baby girl. Who wouldn't want a giraffe?

Source: womansday.com via Jennie on Pinterest

Great for all the little school kids to keep pencils in.

Source: sewmamasew.com via Jennie on Pinterest

Ruffly kitchen towels. Love them.

Source: craftaholicsanonymous.net via Jennie on Pinterest

A tortilla warmer/keeper. For my taco loving family.

Source: allfreesewing.com via Jennie on Pinterest

Macaron coin purse. I've got a few on my list who would love these.

Source: howaboutorange.blogspot.com via Jennie on Pinterest

Library bag. With a pocket on the strap for your library card. Genius.

Source: sewmamasew.com via Jennie on Pinterest

My youngest nephew is totally getting one of these dinosaur tails for Christmas. I made four of them for my kids last Christmas and they are awesome!

Source: projectsbyjess.blogspot.com via Jennie on Pinterest

Because every bottle of dish soap deserves an apron . . .

Source: camilleroskelley.typepad.com via Jennie on Pinterest

And stuffed animals need their own sleeping bags.

Source: fatquartershop.com via Jennie on Pinterest

I might even have a Christmas crafting playlist on my computer. Might. You never know.

So, are you thinking about Christmas gifts already?