It's new to me . . .

I got a new old quilt in the mail yesterday.  Do you remember Amaryllis?  This is a top I pieced for Monique Dillard at Open Gate Quilts back in of April 2012.  It's Lifetime Quilt #85.  

This is the first time I've seen the finished quilt in person.  I pieced the top, mailed it to Monique, then she added a border, got it quilted, attached the binding, then carried it around to trunk shows and classes for the last 18 months.  Monique promised that once its 15 minutes of fame, or in this case 18 months of fame, was over, she would send the quilt home to me.  I'm not sure how she parted with this quilt so close to Christmas, I think I would have kept it, just a couple more weeks at least.

I love this quilt, the fabric is Sentiments by 3 Sisters for Moda.  This fabric has a nice romantic feel to it.    Did you miss out on Sentiments?  I think 3 Sisters new Christmas line, Wintergreen, would look great made up into this quilt too.

This is  my chair and as I type this blog I have this quilt on my lap, sitting next to the Christmas tree, with the fireplace going.  If I could just talk someone into bringing me some hot chocolate life would be perfect, but just having this quilt home for Christmas is pretty wonderful all on its own.

The pattern is available here, I bet you're thinking you need your own Amaryllis, I could not agree more!

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Still going Round & Round

I'm practically done with the decorating, although, at my house, I seem to tweak and adjust and rearrange ornaments, knick knacks, and villages until it's time to pack them all up again.  But that's part of the fun, right?   We are enjoying the decorations, eating off the Christmas dishes, drinking out of the Christmas glasses and turning all the trees, candles and houses on each evening.  It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

And even though I still have some shopping, wrapping and cards to finish up, I've been squeezing in a little sewing time.

This is Round & Round by Camille Roskelley for thimble blossom quilts.  I'm using several of Kate Spain's Christmas lines for my top.  Now that my hsts are done, it takes no time at all to make these blocks.  I break the block assembly down into two steps.  First I select my hsts, arrange them in the proper order, then I decide on my centers.  Step two is piecing it all together.  It takes me longer to finish step one than step two.

I'm over half way done.  I'm a little late to this party, but I am thrilled to be making this top all the same.  The genius of this pattern is its simplicity, and during this hectic time of the year, I'm finding serenity working with all this white space and relishing the simple piecing.  If you've not made this pattern yet add it to your 2014 list, you'll just love it, and any style of fabric will make an amazing quilt.

My friend Monique, at Open Gate Quilts, has joined the impressive teaching staff at Craftsy.  Her first class is all about flying geese and is on sale right now at 50% off.  I'm a huge fan of Monique's method of making geese using her "Fit to be Geese" rulers.  If you've ever struggled making geese I think you would love this class.  Check it out here.  You will also receive Monique's Fat Quarter Winners e-book when you sign up for her class.

I hope things are going well at your house, that you're also getting through your To Dos and most importantly, squeezing in a little fun time for yourself, take it, you've earned it.

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Glitter and Styrofoam . . .

There's not much sewing going on here, but I am making great progress on my Christmas To Do list, especially the decorating.   Everything in my house has a thin layer of glitter topped with pieces of styrofoam, even Cooper, even us.  Once everything is unpacked and I can move from decorating to cleaning, I hope the situation improves, although really, Cooper and I don't mind a little glitter, the styrofoam, not so much.

I like dishes, Christmas dishes are my favorite.  I keep the kitchen table set with this place setting, and yes, I pick it up and move it for every meal we eat at that table, which is maybe just once a day.  I like the dishes  and enjoy seeing them out, so I don't mind the daily plate shuffle.

This is the reason we have so much glitter in our house.  I replaced our old 12 foot Christmas tree with this 9 foot one.  This tree is dusted with glitter to give it the look of a tree covered in frost.  I really enjoyed decorating a 9 foot tree over a 12 foot tree and look forward to this tree settling in and the glitter staying in place.  I'm also going with a white and silver theme in the living room this year, a nice change from the red and gold I've had the last 8 years.

Although you know me, I had to have a little red in that room.  I normally hang "Oh Christmas Tree" in the living room in December, but this year I decided I wanted something a little dressier and went with "Red White and Wonderful" instead.

"Oh Christmas Tree" is on the quilt rack with "French Vintage" in the sunroom.  (I've had the quilt rack for over 7 years and have no idea where you can get one too.)

The red couches are ready for Christmas, on the left is pretty little quilt a friend sent me for my birthday, on the right is Vintage Holiday.

Since the tree in this room is decorated with nothing but snowman ornaments, I thought this adorable snowman couple should hang out here too,  in between the two red couches.

Besides Cooper's quilt on the floor, the other quilt in this room is "Scratch", a Miss Rosie's Quilt Co quilt.

I'm hoping to get back to my Kate Spain Christmas Round & Round this week, the perfect project for December sewing.  I hope you're making progress with whatever is on your To Do list too!

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Round & Round . . .

So my normal daily routine, where I rush around doing my errands and chores in the morning to get into my sewing room in the afternoon, netted me no time in my sewing room Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.  I finally decided just to take some time on Thursday, even though I still had things to do and errands to run.  It's that time of year where I never get through my daily To Do list and I'm guessing your day is the same.

I did, finally, put my hsts to use.  Here's my first Round & Round block.   Round & Round is a pattern by Camille Roskelley for thimble blossoms.  (click here) Camille is doing a Round and Round Along and I've seen several finished tops online, and not a stinker in the group.  Here's a new quilt finished by Camille herself using some fabric not by Bonnie and Camille, but cute all the same. (click here)

I'm making a Christmas version using a layer cake of "12 days of Christmas" by Kate Spain for Moda and a layer cake of "In from the Cold" also by Kate Spain for Moda.  

In the pattern the star centers are background fabric, I decided to fill my centers using a print fabric.  Sometimes I use the same fabric as the points, sometimes I use the same color as the points but a different print, and sometimes I go with something totally different.  So far so good.  I've also determined, based on the fabric I'm using, that each large block should have two red stars, two green stars, two blue stars, one white background star and one gray star.

I'm finding this to be a perfect project for this time of year, just a little fun and easy escape, if you're looking for a little fun and easy escape maybe you need to go Round & Round too!

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Tis the season . . .

I had the nicest Thanksgiving week, thanks so much for your best wishes, I hope you had a great week too.

So as several as you suggested, I've been unsewing my Starlight blocks a few at a time.  I'm making progress and have just a small stack left to go.  I still need to trim the blocks and figure I"ll do that all at once.

I'm not going to press and trim these blocks, I'm gong to cut new ones.  That's just some Moda Bella Solid that I buy by the bolt,  I figure at $6 per yard that's the most efficient way to go.

So while I finish trimming my Starlight blocks I figured I would start something new, a Christmas something. 

I like to make Christmas quilts in December, in 2009 I made Oh Christmas Tree (LQ# 53), 2010 I made Red, White and Wonderful (LQ#64), in 2011 I wrapped up my FQS Kate Spain Mystery BOM (LQ#)71,  and last year I made Vintage Holiday (LQ#100).  This is the start of Round & Round by Camille Roskelley for thimble blossoms.  My half square triangle units are trimmed and ready, I'm hoping to make some blocks this week.  The fabric is by Kate Spain for Moda.

I plan to attack my Christmas To Do list this week, so sewing time will be scarce.  I did get a start on my decorating this past weekend.  Here's something new for my house, an advent calendar.  This came from Pottery Barn, is hand painted canvas, and huge.

Those numbered pockets are a great size, perfect for giant chocolate bars, but I figure if I filled those pockets with chocolate bars they wouldn't make it a week, let alone a month.  So I'm going to do my advent calendar in reverse, and add a candy cane to each pocket each day.  Once it's Christmas my wall hanging will be full of pretty candy canes instead of empty candy bar wrappers.  

Even though this is a very busy time of year, it's my favorite, let the fun begin.

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