Merry Christmas

   Merry Christmas to everyone! I had a very nice Christmas. We did all our celebrating yesterday, since DH had to work today. Aren't we glad all the nurses and doctors that work on holidays are there? Thankfully, DH says the ER has not been too busy, which is always a good thing, any day of the year.

      Three of our kids and their godfather and I went to the movies and out to lunch today. The kids are gone out to another movie now, but I get a little ADD after a couple of movies, and we watched a DVD at home too. Didn't think I could sit through another one.

    This is the quilt I made for my MIL. She has an angel collection, and after searching for a couple months, I finally found what I thought was the perfect fabric for her. I used the same pattern I used on my DB quilt. The colors are so different, I don't think they look much alike. Isn't that the fun part of using the same pattern more than once, seeing just how different a different color scheme can make it? Evidently I did OK, since she's been cuddled up with it today, not feeling well. I'm sorry she's not feeling well, but glad I could bring her some comfort.

     I got such great quilty gifts! I got fabric from my MIL and sister, lots of quilting gadgets from my DH, and a new MP3 player from two of my kids. I like to listen to music when I sew, and the MP3 player I had didn't hold enough music for a long day of sewing. Now I have a new one with 8 times the memory of my old one! One of my other kids got me a quilting book, and the youngest got me a travel coffee mug that I shouldn't be able to spill while sewing. Don't ask why I needed that, just trust me, it is quilt related! My MIL also got me a subscription to a quilting magazine. I am all set up for a great quilty 2009!

Two sports quilts delivered

   

 I am never quite sure what to get one of my nephews and his Dad, my BIL. They are HUGE sports fans, and love their New England teams. Now they they are out here in AZ with us, I thought it would be fun to give them something with their favorite teams on it.

     Patriots and Celtics fabric was easy, Red Sox fabric is almost impossible to find in cotton, so I found a Red Sox sheet instead and used that. As far as I could tell, the NHL has never had cotton fabric, so I bought Bruins patches instead. My BIL's quilt has sports page fabric borders, and my nephew's has the red borders. They are backed with the same sports fabric. I figured with different borders and different colored bindings they could tell them apart. The squares are 8 1/2 inches, and the borders are 6 inches, so you can get an idea of the of these quilts. My BIL's quilt ended up with cornerstones because I ran out of the sports page fabric.  It was by far the most expensive fabric in either quilt, and I cut it too close when I purchased it. Sometimes you just have to make adjustments!

My Christmas ornaments

    Finally, I've finished the Christmas ornaments that were giving me fits!  I thought they'd be so easy, but they weren't.  No matter, they are done, and the few that have already been given away have been well received. I put a six inch ruler next to the ornaments, so you can get a feel for the size. 

     This was the last sewing project I wanted to get done before Christmas. Now I can try to get caught up on my baking. My next few posts may end up being food related, but right after Christmas I hope to post some pictures of some of the gifts I made.

getting closer

   I finished the skirts I had to make, as well as the pajama bottoms. I ran into a snag on the Christmas ornaments. They are just not turning well, so instead I am backing the pinwheels with solid fabric, and turning it to the front as a binding. I wanted them double-sided, and I debated just binding them with bias tape, but this is faster. Of course now I'll end up with twice as many, so in the end it may not be faster. I'm writing the year on the solid backing with fabric markers. I think they are cuter with a binding than sewing them wrong sides together and turning them. Now they look like miniature quilts, which I like. Sometimes it works in my favor when things don't go according to plan. 

     I put the ornaments aside, and got the Christmas cards in the mail instead, which took all the time before DS soccer game. My goal is to finish all the Christmas ornaments in the next couple of days, and then no sewing at all until after Christmas. I am behind on my baking, but I think I've got Christmas dinner menu figured out. I'm flitting from project to project pretty badly, but still making progress. All should be ready by next week. I'll post pictures of the Christmas ornaments when I get more done.

Backing a panel

    Now that my parents received this, I'll post it so others can see. I bought this nativity panel last year after Christmas on clearance. It was a someday project, but with my mom in mind. After I finished my Exploding Star quilt, I had 20 leftover 2 3/4 inch WOF strips. I went to www.quiltville.com, Bonnie Hunter's awesome site, and was looking for an easy way to use up the strips. I decided on the Strip Twist, and used my odd-sized strips which made 9 1/2 inch blocks. I ended up with 20 quarter blocks, set 4x5, and it was exactly the same size as the panel. If I had tried to figure out the math, it never would have worked, but this was just a Christmas quilting blessing that came my way. The little pieces I had left ended up as one of my basket liners. Now I have no Christmas fabric from these projects to put away, it is all sewed into something. Not to say I have no more Christmas fabric, I have plenty. Just what I cut up is all used.