Cindy's Tree Skirt

Yay, the last tree skirt for this year is done!  After I finished up the two tree skirts, Glamorous and Black and White, my sister decided that she wanted a tree skirt for Christmas.  I made my mom and other sister tree skirts last year so it was only fair that she got one, too.  Cindy is particular so I let her pick the fabrics that she wanted in her tree skirt.  From there we decided that she wanted circles on it, like I did my mom's, with reverse applique.  Cindy chose 12 fabrics so no fabric would be repeated in the wedges so I decided that no fabric should be repeated in the balls either.  So glad I joined in a few swaps of Christmas charms the past few years and have a ton of Christmas scraps in my stash.

The balls look great, they are just a lot of work when putting them on each and every wedge.  They each have either one, two, or three balls on each wedge.  They are all different sizes and all specially selected to match each wedge of the quilt perfectly.

This tree skirt is just a bit smaller than the others at 52" in diameter.  Cindy requested it be a bit smaller to fit her space better.  I did that by marking my template just 4 inches smaller so I cut the fabrics smaller to start with.

I think it looks perfect under her tree, it finishes the look.

My mom made her the angel that is on the tree.

I am done with tree skirts for the year, thank goodness.  Now to try and finish up the rest of the items on my to-do list that need to be done before Christmas.

Black and White Tree Skirt

After I finished the Glamorous Tree Skirt I jumped right into another tree skirt that I was asked to make.  The colors I was given to work with were black and white with a touch of silver, grey, gold, green, and red.  I was nervous that this skirt was going to turn out way too dark, but I don't think it did at all.

Using silver machine embroidery thread and doodled free motion snowflakes on the skirt.  Some were free hand and some I traced over the snowflakes on the fabrics.

It is backed with a great deep red that is perfect for the Christmas tree skirt.  This skirt has a 60" diameter so it is nice a large for those perfectly round trees.

I am on a tree skirt roll.  I have one more that I will be sharing soon!

Glamorous Tree Skirt

I have been doing a lot of sewing lately.  I was asked to make a few tree skirts and a few quilts this holiday season.  I tried to get a jump start on the projects in October since I was having surgery at the end of the month and knew that November was going to be a rough month for basting or moving or doing just about anything.

One of the items I was asked to make was a "glamorous" tree skirt.  She asked for rich colors with gold.  

I chose a selection of 6 fabrics, some from my stash and some new, that were the rich golden colors that she wanted.  I used the same pattern that I used for my mom's tree skirt last year that I made.  So glad that I knew exactly where that template was.

I quilted designs into each of the 12 sections before I assembled the skirt, which made it so much easier to maneuver through my machine, using gold thread to add to the sparkle. Once all the pieces were together I machine bound the skirt with a bis binding.

This tree skirt finished with a 60" diameter.

When I delivered the tree skirt she was so very happy.  She inspected each quilted section.  So happy to have one of many projects completed.  

Simple Baby Quilt

This past week I whipped up this simple half square triangle baby quilt.  I love this line of fabrics, it really makes a sweet baby quilt.  

The HST's are all made using the tube method.  It makes the process so quick and easy.

I did not lay out the quilt before I started sewing the squares together, just picked them up randomly while I chain pieced.  This it totally not the norm for me, I am usually really picky about layout.  This process was freeing, though.

I then quilted it on the diagonal, a quarter inch from the seam.  It is bound in the purple that I used in the quilt and the back.  (I really love the fabric)

This little baby quilt finishes at 35" x 40".  

Bee Blocks for the Jersey Shore MQG

I am part of the Jersey Shore Modern Quilt Guild and we have such a fun group of women.  We decided a bit back that we wanted to do a bee in our group.  It has been fun making the different blocks for the different members.

June - Cindy gave us the blue fabric and asked up to make some block with it.  I went for the Octagonal Orb by Elizabeth Hartman.

July - Diane asked for a firework block which is like a modified asterisk block.  She gave us all black blocks to use as the background.

August - My month, I asked for large hexagon blocks in scrappy monocromatic colors.  I gave each member a template to use for size along with a bit of fabric to get started and said that any way they want to sew it is perfect.  For an example I made one with 2.5" charms and another with batik strings.  

Here is a selection of the hexagons I got back.  Love them all!!  I have a few more I got recently that I haven't taken pictures of yet.

September - Rose (mom) asked for courthouse steps blocks with a red center that she gave us and green steps for a Christmas block.  You didn't have to use Christmas fabrics if you didn't want to.  

October - Kat asked for any block, but she wanted us to use black fabric that she gave us and accent it with bright colors.  I'm calling mine the semi-circle of geese, a blend of the paper pieced circle of geese and straight traditional geese.

I am really enjoying making a different block each month for the different members.  I can't wait to lay out all my hexagons and decide how I am going to put them together.  I am thinking I might sash them in a white on white so they all stand out on their own.

New Puppy

The end of October was an eventful time in our house.  We got a little puppy from a rescue, just 13 weeks old.  The poor little thing was so scared (and stinky!) that she barely moved or made a peep the first couple of days.

First day home after multiple baths

After she came home it took a couple of days to come up with a new name for her.  We decided Maggie was a perfect fit for her.

Cuddling her puppy

 Poor thing was so scared that she barely moved when the boys came to meet her her first day home.

But she has since started to come out of her shell.  She loves her toys and chews everything, including the kitchen table and the cabinets.

She finds fun places to play in the yard, that is when the wind, leaves, neighbors, and squirrels  don't scare her, haha.

I even made her a super cape for Halloween.  Super Maggie looked super cute, but she was not a fan of her cape.  She tried to hide it behind the wood pile.

I look forward to making her a little quilted blanket when she gets out of her chewing phase since she loves to be covered up.  

  

A Lovely Year of Finishes - October FInish

I finished my October A Lovely Year of Finishes project pretty early in the month.  I am pretty thankful I did because this has been such a crazy month.  I chose this wedding gift that I didn't get done before the wedding.

I fully completed the hand stitched project for my friends Kayce and Brad.  I was in their wedding last month, they are such a cute couple.  The orange ribbon hanging it is from my bouquet from their wedding, seemed perfect to use.

Now to just put it in the mail, I am kinda a slacker sometimes (which explains the fact I didn't write this post or link it until 13 minutes before the deadline! oops)