Abby and Olivia's Christmas Quilts 2012

Here is Abigail's quilt:

 

 

This one is for Olivia:

 

 

I love the rick-rack on the front.  It reminds me of a gingerbread house.

I was happy to be able to use up the left over fabric on the back.

They are so soft and crinkly from the dryer. 

 I hope the girls like their new Christmas quilts!

I'll see you all in a week.  I can't wait! XOXO

 

 

BRUCE ROCKS 12*12*12!

 Oh, my Bruce Springsteen pie!

 

I wish that was me...

 

OK So I didn't get any sewing or school work done last night. (Sorry kids, you won't be getting your DBQ paragraphs back tomorrow.)  But, Bruce was on and I HAD to watch the concert! Boy, am I glad I did...what a great show!  I wanted to post yesterday on 12-12-12.  Thought it would be cool to mark the date, but it didn't happen. Oh, well.  So tonight I'm posting the pictures of the finished tops of the girls' Christmas quilts.  It is pretty dark in the back room, so the colors don't look as bright as they really are.  Wait till you see them in person!  I just have to put the back on and quilt together.  That is my task tonight and tomorrow night.  Hopefully, I will have them in the mail on Saturday.  Keep your fingers crossed!  I hope you like them so far!

 

 

A little parting music...

Block # 9, 10, 11

 

 

Three more blocks done...one more to go!  Next, I have to piece the strips together and add a border.  I probably won't get to work on it again until next weekend.  I'll put the pictures up when I have the top put together.  I 'm still working on the girls' quilts.  They are looking cute...updates soon! 
Have a great last week of November!

Love,

Big Decision Girls!

Hi Girls! 
I need to know who likes which color!
There are two color choices to pick from...blue or green?
Look carefully at each picture and tell Nana to text me your choices.
I can't wait to see you at Christmas!
XOXOXOXO
Love,
Aunt Kelly

Block # 6, 7, & 8

Here are the next three finished blocks. 

I only have four more to go!

Counting down the days until my Christmas visit!

 

 

 

 

 

Went to Joann Crafts yesterday to buy some red rick rack for the girls' quilts.

 Tell them I will have some pictures up soon! 

They are going to be soooooo cute!

XOXO Miss you guys tons!!!

Love,

P.S. Wasn't the Hallmark movie good last night?! :)

I {heart} the Hallmark Channel

Let the holiday movie marathon begin!

October Welcome

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. ~Albert Camus

Enjoy!

Block # 4 & 5

Well it has been a LONGGGGGGGG time since I've posted anything on here.  School has been busier than I thought, and I haven't been able to sew after school.  I have just been buried in paperwork this year!

So I finally got a chance to sew yesterday and today.  I was able to complete two more blocks in my Christmas quilt. 

 

(Only seven more to go!) 

Block #3

Here is block #3:

 

 

I had some trouble making this block...I had to rip out the stiches THREE TIMES and start over!!  I'm thinking it had to do with me watching 19 Kids and Counting on TLC at the same time...it was hard to concentrate on what I was working on!  Needless to say I finally finished the block and it turned out great.  Here are the three completed blocks together:

 

(Sorry, the lighting isn't very good here.) 

 

Until tomorrow and block #4...

goodnight!

Vintage Holiday Quilt Along

I wanted to join the Vintage Holiday Quilt Along that started at the beginning of August.  However, with the trip to Cape Cod happening at the same time, I knew I wouldn't be able to start until the end of the month.  I still went ahead and ordered the pattern and fabric for the project.  I ended up ordering "Cherry Christmas" by Aneela Hoey.  I started ironing and cutting fabric on Saturday, and then began sewing block # 1 on Sunday. 

Here is block #1:

Tonight I finished block # 2:

 

I'm going to try to make one block each night until I finish all twelve.

 

Wish me luck! (I'm not sure how much I will be able to do next week when school starts!)

Doll Quilts

Using some left over fabric from other quilts, I made Abby and Olivia each a doll quilt.  I got the idea from a great book by Cathy Gaubert that I picked up at the book store:

I decided to create quilts using the quick and easy nine patch design.  I had lots of strips of fabric to do the blocks and some borders.  The first quilt is for Olivia:

I tried the meandering stippling style for the very first time on this quilt.  It was not easy to just "wing it" and move around with no lines to follow.  Although, the more I worked at it the better it looked.  I did a lot of practice on extra fabric sandwiches before trying this one.  Thank goodness after it was washed and dried, you couldn't see my quilting very well because of all that crinkly fabric!!

Here is the backside of her quilt.  I used the extra fabric from Olivia's birthday quilt so that they would match.

The next quilt is for Abby. 

Once again, I tried another style of quilting here.  I sewed straight lines very close to each other across the entire quilt.  This took much longer to complete than the meandering stich.  I think it turned out great! Here are some closer looks of the quilting before I washed and dried it.

 

Here they are straight from a warm dryer with all that crinkly goodness!

I love you Olivia! XOXOXO

Happy Birthday Abby! XOXOXO

August Again

The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color. Often at night there is lightning, but it quivers all alone.   ~Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting

Enjoy the final month of summer!

Reminds me of summer!

Black and White

Here is Ilona's Black and White birthday quilt...finished just in time to mail out before the big day!

I made a half-square, quarter-square triangle quilt for Ilona.

Black, white and red are her favorite colors.  I thought this pattern would look cool with the more modern prints that I chose.

I love the back of this quilt!  The red really pops!

I ended up with a lot of scrap fabric from this and I plan to use it!!

Since I used more modern fabrics,

I thought I would quilt a more modern pattern. 

I quilted single and then double diagonal lines.

I think this is my favorite quilting pattern so far!

I will go through the process of creating this quilt in my next post.

Have a great Sunday!