Christmas Presents 2013

The gifts have all been given, so here's a quick post about the handmade gifts I made this year!

A handful of kitchen towels, made using this tutorial.



I made my own fabric covered buttons too!



A couple of scarves, one sewn and one knit.





And one block that never materialized into a finished gift! :)



Wishing you all a happy 2014!

Christmas Star Quilt

I did it! I finished this quilt before Christmas!



I finished it several days ago, but the weather has been so overcast and gloomy lately on the days that I've been off work, I haven't wanted to take pictures. The only reason I was able to take photos today is because I'm home with a sick kid sleeping on the couch. I tricked the sun- it knew I wasn't supposed to be home today!



Lots of straight line quilting, because I still keep talking myself out of free motion quilting on a "real" project. Those practice sandwiches are piling up though!



Now it's back to the mad rush of finishing the handmade gifts I have planned! The list keeps getting "amended" each day we get closer to Christmas... Happy Holidays Everyone!

Christmas Quilts: Making Progress!

Which is a good thing, since Christmas is TWO WEEKS away. Yikes.



I finished this wreath block into a mini quilt and gave it to my mom as an early Christmas gift. The quilted circles gave it a modern feel that I hadn't intended, but I like it just the same!



You can find the pattern here.

And I'm quite close to finishing up my Christmas Star quilt.



I went with option A, if anyone's keeping track. ;) I hope to finish it up in the next day or two, otherwise I'll barely have time hang it up before Christmas has come and gone!

Christmas Star Block

I made this star block over the weekend and just love it!



If I had all the time in the world, I'd love to make a full-size quilt of these stars. But I'm short on time and fabric, as I'm using the leftovers from the advent quilt I made a few years ago. The fabric is from Kate Spain's 12 Days of Christmas collection. I just love her holiday fabrics! I've been hanging on to a layer cake of her Joy collection too, just waiting for the right project to come along.



The above quilt is a pattern I designed for work, and you can download it for free here.

So now I'm trying to decide what to add to this block to make it into a decent wallhanging size. Here are a few options I've mocked up in EQ7:



I'm leaning towards A... what's your pick?

Another Speech Bubble

Sharing another block from my Speech Bubbles collection at My EQ Boutique. I think the "official" name of this block is Question Speech Bubble, but when I look at this block in my head I'm thinking "HUH?"



I made this block 12" x 12", but the best part of My EQ Boutique is that you can print the patterns you purchase at any size you like! Templates, foundation patterns, rotary cutting charts- you name it! Just type in your finished size and the program adds the seam allowance for you.

There's a sale going on at My EQ Boutique today only-- spend $30, get 30% off with code MYEQB30. Go check it out!

In a Paper Piecing Mood

After all the garment sewing of Kids Clothes Week, I was ready to jump back into some quilting! Paper piecing is definitely my fav, so I whipped up a couple more blocks from my Speech Bubbles collection:





I think these two are destined to become a pillow. It's a little conversation-- "love you!" and "love you too!" :)

And as soon as I saw this block on Quiet Play, I knew I had to add it to my "to sew" list! I hate how the all the retail places start bombarding you with Christmas stuff earlier and earlier-- makes ya completely sick of the holiday by the time it actually gets here. But I will allow it for sewing/crafting purposes. ;) Ya gotta have time to make the Christmas stuff! So here it is, my first official Christmas sew of the season:



I think it was this little bird that got me hooked. Isn't she cute? I only wish I had used a different fabric for her belly. It is a different white-on-white fabric from the background snowflake fabric, but I don't think you can see that very well. Ah, live and learn!



Back in June I went to the Chicago Quilt Festival for work, and while I was there I "splurged" on a Curve Master presser foot. They were also selling these wooden seam rollers, so I got one of those too.



I haven't played with the presser foot much, but I've used the seam roller and it's perfect for "pressing" the seams in paper pieced blocks! I love not having to walk across the room to my ironing board after every little seam. If you're a paper piecer, I highly recommend!

For the first time, I'm linking up with:

KCW: Basic Pocket Pants

It seems the sewing gods did not want me to participate in KCW this week. After an early victory with the Hosh Pants, my sewing quickly went downhill. I spent most of the week working on the Oliver + S Music Class Blouse (I made the Music Class Skirt last fall, a great success!). I LOVE O + S patterns, but I made all the wrong choices with this one. The last straw came when I went to attach the collar and the notches were totally off, which is probably the result of using a french seam finish that threw off my 1/2" seam allowance. Now I have an almost-complete shirt and a collar with no hope of fitting.... *sad face*



SO... I put that failure away for now and choose to move on to a nice, easy pair of pajama pants. I used the Basic Pocket Pants pattern from the book Growing Up Sew Liberated and a super cute Hello Kitty flannel.



They took a little more time than the trace-and-sew kind of pajama pants I usually make for the kiddos, but I love the little details to this pattern! The contrasting cuffs, binding, and waistband are cute, and K absolutely loves the pockets! When she first saw the pants she exclaimed "THEY HAVE POCKETS?! For all my STUFF!"





I think I've got the clothes sewing out of my system for a while now, and I'm ready to get back to quilting and patchwork. I've got a few items to check off my to do list and then it's on to Christmas gift sewing! How did you do with your KCW sewing?