Merry Christmas

 Merry Christmas

I've continued piecing the Christmas Tree top during December while it's packed with events to attend or fellowship over a great dinner. I hope you have a Merry Christmas and new ideas for the new year.

That is only some of what I did in December. With instrumental jazz Christmas music playing, I selected fabric for the following six quilt tops. In doing so, I foresaw how much background I would need for those six quilts, and I ordered yards of tone-on-tone, hoping the fabric would be on sale, and only bought what each pattern requires.

 

Small Stash

 

I've sewed and quilted for many years with minimal fabrics. But when I joined a guild with seasoned quilters, the pressure to spend hundreds of dollars on fabric was all my fault. As a retiree, the spending urge halted.

Fabric purchased in the last 10 -20 years has to go before allowing me for newer, vibrant fabric that delights our eyes and hands.

 

From  the four FULL bins I chose the fabrics this is what was left in them.

All the small pieces of fabric are in two bins. The Christmas fabric and solid fabric are in their containers. All yardage over half-meter are folded on comic cartons. Those also have been reduced.

Do not be discouraged by your small stash, you can still piece beautiful quilt with the little you have. Creativity comes from those moments. Enjoy it!

Merry Christmas again! God blessed your time with your family and friends

See you in the New Year!

Wrap it up!

 Hello everyone,

Wow, it's already the end of December, and I had to chill out from preparing my planner for 2024. There is much I've already done; at least six new patterns are in bins, but I need to purchase fabric for all of them at once. My big problem is that for every top I'm making, there needs to be a tone-on-tone background, and for every single quilt, I've to purchase it. The larger the quilt, the more fabric is required. So, like everyone, I shopped for sales and clearance. Still, the material is costly.

Christmas Tree

For this Christmas Tree quilt, I used the same bundle of fabric I used for the Evergreen Tree project. This quilt isn't going to be done by Christmas, but it is certainly before the end of February. 

 

Cutie Frame 

Sewing, backing, binding, and sandwiching four good-sized tops took hours. Now that I've practiced on two quilt tops and simple wavy-loopy lines, I wonder if I could quilt a repeated design.

Wrap it up

So, is it the time to flip through my Quilt Planner 2023 and see what I've achieved this year? Yes, yes, let's do it!

Quilt Finished 2023

1.Spinner (small quilt)

2. Rabbit/bears (small quilt)

3. Spring Thaw (Challenge 2018 and gift)

4. Criss Cross Star (gift)

5. Tangerine (Challenge 2018 and (gift)

6.Tree winter/summer (orphan blocks)

7. Pumpkin (Sew Along)

8.Evergreen (Sew Along)

9. Flower Garden ( orphan blocks)

10.Oh my Stars (Sew Along with Pat Sloan)

11. Homestead (Sew Along 2020)

12. Giddy Gridlock (Challenge 2018)

 

 

Tops completed 2023

1. Arcadia Avenue

2. Lost (Orphan block)

3. Hen Party

Quilt I Designed 2023

1. Abide in Him

 

Joy, Joy, Joy

Finding joy and patience in our quilting projects is satisfying. I look forward to sewing those new patterns and finishing my design: Abide in Him. 

Let's Go Quilt!

 

Evergreen

Snowy Day

It's gorgeous outside on its first snowy day. It's so white that it's intensified the blues in the sky. It's a month of busyness for wrapping up some projects before Christmas is here. By preference, I planned for the entire year, except for the month July and August, which I usually take a break during the sunniest time of the year. 

But last summer, I scattered my sewing throughout the years, due to a crappy-cold spring and a long rainy summer. So, I  worked on finishing a many projects I started as early as 2018, like completing six blocks of Arcadia Avenue and designing a quilted top for orphan blocks.

Now that some quilt tops are sandwiched for the Cutie Frame, I've room for setting up new projects for the coming year. It will be the first time I've planed to sew ten new quilt pattern for 2024 and looked so forward to share those pattern and fabric I will be using for each one of them.

From that Challenge 2018 (sewing 18 tops from a quilting magazine), out the 18, I've four left to quilt. That is progress! This was one of the reason I wanted to invest in a Cutie Frame is to ease the load on my shoulders and arms from quilting larger tops.

Evergreen

A mystery project by Fat Quarter Shop was easy and purchases Christmas fabric because I've none in my stash. Nay, I'm not really a fan of mystery quilt, they never turned the way I imagined it. My brain cannot coped with the tree not having it edges. Yep, I'm going to redo this one...MY WAY.

Front of Evergreen

             

Evergreen

                                                             BACK

Chicken Party Quilt

Hens Party

    One of many fun blocks. Used fabric in my stash. After the top is quilted, I will add buttons for the eyes.

In Progress:

1. Abide in Him

2.Christmas Tree

3.Quilt Planner 2024

Abide in Him

                                                    

Hope you enjoy fellowship with other believers and relative during this awesome month. With my son visiting for a few days, I'm not sure posting next week. 

So until I can, let's go quilt!

God Bless!