Friday Finish: Red String Quilt!

Drum roll please. Cue Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney. I have finished the red string quilt (which I can now cross off the 4QFAL list!):

Wanna hear a great story? Of course you do.

I have a great friend I've known for over 20 years. She and I have always shared a love for all things Christmas. Every year, we see who starts playing the Christmas music first (I've been winning the last few years because I play it when I'm working on Christmas projects!). We shared an apartment in Salt Lake City for a while, and I have her to thank for introducing me to "White Christmas" while we were roomies.

Now, I always thought that my first Christmas with my new husband would be so fun and romantic. And it was. But we were still getting to know each other. He didn't get my obsession with Christmas music. Or my need to put twinkle lights on anything that stood still (don't worry, he gets it now). So I was sort of lonely the first Christmas we were married.

Until a package arrived. Just a CD.

Well, not JUST a CD. A carefully selected CD, chosen by my best friend, of Christmas music sung by one of my favorite singers (Josh Groban was still in high school, I think!). Michael Ball, tenor extraordinaire, who played Marius in Les Miserables, and what's-his-name in Phantom of the Opera.

(There were no videos of his Christmas music - just trust me, it's awesome!)

I was a bit giddy about it, and insisted on listening to it the entire month of December.

Such a simple, thoughtful gift, but it made me feel loved.

Flash forward to last year. She got married! Finally! And I didn't have time to get a quilt done for her. But I wanted to give her this one, because not only does she love Christmas, she also LOVES the color red.

So this quilt is headed to Utah as an early Christmas/late wedding gift. It's big enough to share, if she wants.

Here's to awesome friends! Have a lovely weekend, and I'm linking up!

WIP Wednesday: String Quilt Dilemma

Okay y'all. I've been sewing and staring at these blocks, and pinning ideas for the last 48 hours. Can't decide what I like best. Help!

I've got 31 red string blocks done. I think I can make at least five more, which gives me a six by six layout.

But it's too small! I wanted a big, two people could snuggle under it kind of quilt. The friend that it's for is 5'10", so a 60-odd inch quilt just isn't going to cut it folks.

So, I have two options. Well, three, if I combine them.

First option: sashing

from Quilt in Progress

from About.com String Quilt Gallery

from Jaclyn's Scrappy String Quilt on flickr

And this is the best one as far as similarities with my blocks and how they'd look with the sashing:

from the Craftsy project gallery

Second option: borders

 plain white border - simple, nice and restful for your eyes from Sarah Jackson's flickr photo

A stunning pieced border, but I don't know if I've got the fabric for this one! from Marjon Savelsberg's flickr photo

Third option: sashing and borders (and I think I like this one best of all!)

Again, not sure I could swing the pieced border, but I could use a single red print for it that would be awesome. And I LOVE the little cornerstones in there. From JulieKQuilts

Here's what I worked up in EQ7 (sorry it's kind of blurry - I'm a work in progress myself!):

So, what do you think? I could fussy cut some of the Holiday Hostess ladies for each cornerstone, which means the sashing is going to be pretty wide. or just use thinner white sashing with scraps from the quilt, then do a couple of borders.

Please, if you want to pin any of these images (other than mine), go to the original source and pin from there. They aren't mine, and I want the right people to get the credit for their awesomeness!

Make-a-list Monday Week . . . um, I forget

Well, I did take a little time off, so I really can't remember what week I'm on. I'll just hit the reset button!

I won't even try to recap what I was supposed to be working on. With weather like this:

 

You could hardly expect me to pay attention to that sort of thing. Add in sleep deprivation, sick kids and potty training a 2.5 year old and I'm lucky to remember to put clothes on in the morning!

So here is my list for this coming week:

Finish piecing this yellow and orange string quilt:

I only need 8 blocks there on the bottom and it's done. I really, honestly love this quilt more than any other. The colors are my favorites. And I'm backing it in yellow Minky. Be still my heart. I might not get out of bed.

I need to get started on this red string quilt (while I'm in the mood for string quilts) for my bestie in Utah who is getting married. Yes, it's a Christmas quilt. But she loves red and she loves Christmas. It's beyond perfect, and I hope I make her cry when she opens it!

I've also got to make a laundry bag for my handsome law student who is leaving for his internship next week. I also want to make myself a new pincushion. I'm thinking a sunflower.

I haven't forgotten my granny square quilt. Or my pinwheel quilt. I just needed a break from them. And those borders are all kinds of fussy, so it's going to take some time. But with my law student gone next week, I'm going to sew my little lonesome heart out.

Change of Plans

I usually don't love it when I have to change my plans. I mean, it's life and I deal with it, but I don't love it.

This time, I LOVE it.

My best friend from high school just announced her engagement last night. The wedding is this summer and I've got to get her a quilt finished.

I'm excited about this quilt because it is so her. She's the only other person I know who loves Christmas as much as I do (we notify each other when we've started listening to Christmas music, and it can happen in the summertime!), and red is her very most favorite color. I thought she might like a nice cozy lap quilt for this Christmas season.

So I'll be buried under mountains of red strips. And I just might be listening to Christmas music while I'm at it!