Elfing Around

Greetings!
I've been busy with all the usual holiday stuff, but I finished my gift quilt and wanted to share it.

I used Jay McCarroll fabric and pieced the back, and pieced the batting, and made a scrap binding.  Waste not, want not.

For the quilting, I stabilized the block then added the wavy lines and also quilted the circle centers.

How wonky is that?  So funny.  The large print was not really on grain, so the whole back got thrown off.  I'm okay with it.

No peeking until Christmas.....

I really liked these colors and thought they were an unusual combo, until one day while looking at my inspiration board I saw all of these.  They are of similar color combinations.

I've finished 2 more stars -

What a nice model.  Thanks Coco.  She'll be turning 2 on  Christmas Day.  What a good girl she's turned out to be.

I'm prepping a couple of more.  I'll be making 12 in all.

And finally, I'm having twins!  I received this amaryllis as a hostess gift and it was asleep so long, I thought it would never get going.  I'll post what color it is when it blooms.

Kids are coming home tonight!  Hope you are having fun with your family and friends during this season.

New Beginnings

I've started 3 new projects and I'm sharing them here today.

First, a special Christmas gift for a dear friend of the family.
Can't tell you who it is yet as it is a secret....ssshhhh

Here are the blocks.  They are a simple square in a square.  These are Jay McCarroll's fabrics.  You remember he was the first winner of Project Runway.

Here is the layout in progress.  I just finished the top and will share it next time - I love these colors for a man.

Here are stars that I'm english paper piecing.  I was inspired by an antique quilt I saw at the New England quilt museum.

I have one more finished, and another started.   They are addictive!

I'm trying to push myself to use interesting colors and patterns.  I'm always so inspired by the women in Australia and they inspired my color choices.

And finally, a first look at half of my Hawaiian quilt project.

The clover white pen worked great on this!  It's very fine and removes with the iron.   This is a test block which I'll probably make into a doll quilt.

I will send a surprise to the first person who can guess correctly what other color fabric I'm using for my Hawaiian.

I'm hoping to Deck the Halls this weekend and do a little sewing too.

Have fun!