Getting closer!

Here is the back of the red quilt, circles sewn but not yet washed of the chalk (so you could see the pattern). Came out great!


Home made Christmas pillows in snuggly flannel.



Stockings hung on the mantle.



And tree! See my new pickle ornament? Got that in Leavenworth.

Second scalloped quilt - almost done!

The early bird gets the worm, if the early bird is me and the worm is finished topstitching! This morning I ran my contrasting top stitch round my ironed quilt. I have to say, against all odds, this one came out better than the last one. It is far from perfect, but some of the valleys in the scallops came out darn right nice! Perhaps the third time will be the charm. Tonight I am going to do the quilting part, in the form of large circles of varying size in a lavender thread color.

Inspired to quilt!

After reading Anna Maria's post today about the Uncommon Quilter book, I was inspired to do the quilt I want to do, mostly because I was reminded that you can take baby steps to eventually create something grand.

I told my friend Marissa about a dream I had, where I created a huge quilt (big enough for my California King sized bed) that was covered with gnomes and forests and gnome homes (I like that - gnome homes).

Of course, the quilt I envisioned looked like it would take a lifetime.

BUT!

If I did one panel per week, 4 per month, that would be 48 panels in a year, which would be a 8x6 quilt. I have to figure out how big each panel will be, but you get the idea. By the end of the year I should have my gnome fantasy quilt!

Scalloped Blanket MADNESS

When I say madness, that goes both ways. I started this scalloped blanket from Amy Karol's book a little while ago. I was very excited to use some new Kaffe Fassett fabric I got. I used Heirloom Organic batting in the middle. When I turned it right side out, I thought I had made a mistake, because in the valleys of the scallops, the material was bunching pretty badly. I went back and made sure to snip to allow the fabric to curve. But it still bunched.


I searched other people's pics for this same project, and it looks like some people had the same problem as me, and a bunch of people had no problem at all. I ironed it down, top stitched the whole thing, ran some stitches on the top both ways, and threw it in the washing machine! I remembered what Amy Karol said, washing and drying can forgive small mistakes, and after a few weeks, all the mistakes are forgotten.


I was determined to make another one right away, because I thought I could do it better this time. I am far enough along to know that the same thing happened! It's still cute, but I wonder what I am doing wrong? Next time I think I will try flannel as the batting...perhaps a thinner blanket will bunch less? One side is another Kaffe Fassett fabric, and the other side is an AMAZING Kona Cotton by Robert Kaufman. This stuff is truly incredible, and I can't use anything but this stuff for my quilt solids. I also used it for a few other crafts with great results.