Seriously, this is the third quilt I ever started, and I'm just finally finishing it.  Back when I first started sewing, I decided that I wanted to make a queen-sized quilt for my bedroom and I picked out a boatload of blue fabrics to make a nine-patch with.  I cut all of them up and started sewing.  Problem is that my 1/4" seam was far from consistent at the time.  I made nearly 60 blocks before I decided I was so over it, and it became my longest standing WIP, though I completely forgot about it until my son stumbled on the blocks when we were cleaning up my sewing room a few weeks back.  I realized that I could stitch up the blocks for a holiday gift, but it took me a while to get started.  Thanks to an email from Katie about our lingering WIPs, I finally got started and I'm proud to report that I have now finished:)


This quilt is far from perfect, but there was a lot of effort put forth in those blocks and a lot of heart.  I'll be giving this quilt to a dear friend of the family for the holidays and I think he'll really appreciate it.


I used a DS Quilts print for the binding, after waffling over what color I ought to use for binding.  I had thought about adding another color to the mix, for some contrast, but ultimately I decided the black in this print would create the kind of contrast I was after.



This is the very last Christmas gift on my to-make list, so I'll be bringing Betsy 2.0 to the shop today for a thorough cleaning.  She deserves it after all the quilts she's assembled this year.  That does mean I'll be without my machine for at least the next week, if not two weeks, but I'm okay with that this time of year.  There's holiday cookies to bake, a Birdie Stitches block to embroider, fabric to iron and cut for my next project, and a zillion presents to wrap.  Trust me, I will keep busy.  :)


Speaking of busy, I do plan to share a family cookie recipe or two next week, so stay tuned for that as well as my birthday celebration on Monday!  I hope you're having a wonderful holiday season so far!

Over the weekend, I finished up a quilt that has me excited for all kinds of reasons, my I Heart Robots quilt.


Our dear friends Brian and Kelsey are expecting their first baby, a little boy.  Back when my husband and I were dating a zillion years ago, he worked with Brian and also happened to live in the same apartment complex.  Then I moved into the complex, and it was like our very own Melrose Place, but without crazy Kimberly blowing up the joint.  We spent most of our free time together, and after we got engaged and Brian met Kelsey, we were excited to see the two of them falling in love.  At our wedding, Kelsey caught the bouquet and Brian caught the garter, so it was no surprise when they married shortly after my munchkin was born.  Now, they're welcoming a baby boy of their own in the new year and we couldn't be happier for them.  They will be wonderful parents!



I Heart by Rashida Coleman-Hale is one of my favorite baby boy collections at the moment, but I'm not the one who picked it out this time.  I let my munchkin help out with this quilt, since he treasures his Uncle Brian quite a bit, and not just for his infinite superhero knowledge.  The munchkin picked out all of the fabric for this quilt and I was super proud of him.


The blocks are inspired by the Charmed Prints quilt along at Gen X Quilters.  Since I was working from fat quarters and half-yards, I decided to super-size the blocks and I think they turned out pretty nicely.  I did have a bit of an oops moment when I fouled up adding the sashing in between the blocks.  I forgot to add sashing in between the block rows, but I was in no mood to rip out my stitches, so I just went with it and made it work.  I added a border of Kona Peacock to make it just a bit larger as well.



I'm really happy with how this quilt turned out and I can't wait to bring it to Brian and Kelsey.

Quilt Stats:
Name: I Heart Robots baby quilt
Size: 40" square
Fabrics: Rashida Coleman-Hale's amazing I Heart collection for Timeless Treasures paired with Kona Snow and Kona Peacock
Quilting: All-over meandering stipple in white Gutermann thread by yours truly
Binding: Machine bound using I Heart Dots Blue
Pattern: Inspired by AnneMarie's Charmed Prints quilt along

It actually feels like Christmas outside this morning at my house - or at the very least, it feels like winter.  It's in the upper 40's (which for south Florida is mighty cold!) and gusty, almost blustery.  Cheesy as it is, this cold weather makes me smile, makes me feel a little more festive.  I'm really excited for the holidays this year.  I think this is going to be a really special Christmas this year.  The munchkin is three-going-on-four and Christmas is super magical to him this year, so I've spent a good chunk of time this last week or so having holiday fun with him and the husband.


We saw Santa over the weekend, enjoyed a holiday parade and tree lighting, and even went to see a Symphony in Lights (a humongous Christmas tree that lit up in time with holiday music).  The munchkin saw a local dance crew perform a few excerpts from The Nutcracker as well, which he enjoyed immensely.  It's so fun to see how excited he gets about all of these holiday festivities.


Now that Christmas is only another 16 days away (OMG!!!!!!!!), I'm starting to feel the usual holiday rush.  The holy-cow-how-am-I-going-to-get-all-these-presents wrapped rush.  The how-many-Christmas-cookies-am-I-making rush.  I'm trying to keep my cool, because that's not the only deadline fast approaching - I've still got a mountain of sewing to do before Betsy 2.0 goes in for her yearly cleaning (in just ten days, eek!).  I'm making progress, though, and I think I will be able able to wrap things up in time.  Knock on wood.  :)

I got my Secret Santa Swap package to the post office last week, and I'm just crossing my fingers that my partner will get it by Christmas!  I sent off some fabulous holiday candy along with a copy of Block Party and a little Half Moon Modern mini that I made.


I did finish making a successful pair of PJ pants for the munchkin, though I wrapped them before I thought to take a finished picture - this is a photo of the "secret" fitting I had with him.  Clearly, I made them large enough for a grown-up, by accident, but that was a lot easier to fix and adapt to the right size than when I made them too small.  Phew.  Glad that bit of sewing is done - my brain just doesn't work for garment sewing, it doesn't make sense to me!!


I'm shipping off a little gift to a special sewing friend today and I'm hoping it will brighten her day and make her laugh.  I felt super inspired last week to make something for her and just couldn't stop myself.  After she gets it, I'll show you the rest...


I officially finished the very last bit of my holiday sewing last night, finishing up a pair of potholders for all of my immediate family, and I think they turned out pretty well.  I used Keykalou's (love her!) Just a Pinch potholder pattern, which is super easy to follow.  Highly recommend it :)  Naturally, I only managed to take a picture of the pair I made for the munchkin's preschool and not the other 5 pairs of potholders, but I can assure you, they're all quite cute.



I also finished up the quilt top for my Charmed Prints Quilt Along-inspired quilt, though I did make a big oops when I was assembling the top.  I forgot to add the sashing between the rows, so rather than unpicking the rows, which made my stomach turn, I adjusted the sashing border around the blocks so the quilt would go back to being square.


My Bake Shop quilt is coming along relatively smoothly, although it feels super slow - I'm finishing up the blocks today and hope to finish it up this weekend if I can.  Now that my holiday sewing is done, I'm hoping I can turn up the heat on this quilt and get it done before I have to send my machine in!
 
And because I need another project much like I need another beagle mix dog who eats blinds and coloring books (remind me to tell that story another day!), I do indeed have another project, but it's the secret kind.  It does involve these yummy fabrics, though!


So, how are you doing?  I feel like I've been so out of the loop this last week, so if I haven't visited your blog, please forgive me, I'm trying to catch up now!  Are you feeling the holiday rush or taking things easy?  Have a wonderful day :)