Tree skirt

In my never ending quest to turn all things aqua, I have finished up a new tree skirt for our Christmas tree!

I used this fantastic pattern,  which my friend Melissa, from My Fabric Relish offers for FREE in her Craftsy shop. It just so happened that the day I was searching for a pattern (perfectly willing to pay!) Melissa posted a  link to hers on her instagram account. Fate? Maybe so!

In my usual fashion, I followed the instructions loosely! Ha! I will tell you, I do not have a dresden ruler, but Melissa's instructions for measuring and cutting the wedges are PERFECT! My friend Sandy quilted it for me (I briefly considered just stitching in the ditch but when Sandy said she had time to do an overall motif on it for me I was thrilled!). Most of the changes I made were in the way I did my binding and the fact that I only included one tie in the back...

So now my aqua and red tree is fully dressed and I'm so happy! Last year I pulled the ornaments together but time ran out on me and I bunched some sparkly stuff up underneath as a poor excuse for a tree skirt. This is so much nicer, don't you think?

Are you decorating for the holidays yet?

Gratitude

My close friends all know that I'm a huge fan of gratitude. I preach thankfulness whenever possible and try to live my life to reflect how very thankful I am. Gratitude comes easily for me, in good times and in bad, thanking God for all of my blessings makes my life so sweet. Every day I am thankful for a husband who loves me, supports my crazy ideas, washes the dishes and is one of the finest human beings to walk the earth. And the three fabulous, ambitious, energetic, curious, intelligent children he & I made together! This year I am especially thankful for a God who heals, for doctors who restored so many in our family to good health. For my mom & dad who have shown us what true love looks like. For family and friends near and far.

I'm thankful for Crafty Tuesday, the McKinney Modern Quilt Guild & all of the wonderful, creative people who feed my soul. And for you... for going along with me on this wonderful, creative journey. May you and your family be especially blessed this Thanksgiving day.

Intrepid thread challenge

In September I signed up for a fabric challenge over at Intrepid Thread. By the time the fabric came I had forgotten all about it! Ha. The fabric sat on my table for quite a long time waiting for me to be inspired. Suddenly, yesterday, I knew what I wanted to do! 

I worked all day and this little pillow came to life! I made a patchwork background from the mini charm pack we received, then used the other 2 fabrics to appliqué some orange peels. I had cut enough orange peels to do every square, but when I started to edit, and remove some, I liked it better! Sometimes less is more. 

I had enough cotton and steel fabric to do the back, with a little binding of the arrow fabric and a touch of ricrac peeking out, because, RICRAC! duh!

I wasn't sure where I'd put it, I mean, aqua goes ANYWHERE, right? But the pink was throwing me off. Then I put it on the living room chair for a photo op and it looked so awesome there with my Spice of Life afghan! So, I do believe that's where it will stay. For now....

Perfect spot to curl up with a good book I think!

A blouse for me (or not)

A while ago, I picked up Simplicity pattern 1013 . I had seen it on Instagram and really liked the different options in the pattern. This past week, I made one up, using a lightweight denim and a DS cotton print from Joanns.  I changed a couple of things, like leaving off the sleeve cuffs and adding french seams to prevent major denim fraying! It came out so cute!

front

and back

I love the way the back contrasts & dips down, so cute with leggings or straight jeans! Could be worn as a jacket over a tank or t-shirt or buttoned up as a blouse. There was only one problem.

Even though I made the top according to my measurements, it's too small. Boo. So I'll be passing it along to a friend. Maybe I'll make another in a larger size, as I really do like the look! So if you decide to try out this pattern, I suggest you really evaluate the sizing carefully.

Christmas circle quilt

About a month ago, my pal Mahriam over at Three Owls Handmade finished up her "tiny scrappy circle mini quilt" and I absolutely fell in love with it! In fact, I tried to steal it when she brought it to our last Crafty Tuesday gathering but she didn't fall for it. darn. So, I set out to make my own. And, because I never do anything according to the directions, I made a few revisions. First off, my circles are a tad bigger than hers (about 1 1/4" diameter). I traced the circles onto heat & bond lite, fused them onto my fabrics and then cut them out....

that aqua snowman makes me giggle. 

I cut 144 in total. Also, I decided to make mine a Christmas circle quilt. I selected all fabrics in reds, greens & aquas (I later added in some gray). Many of the fabrics are holiday fabrics, others are just fun fabrics that fit in with the colors I wanted.

I had a light gray solid on hand and I liked the way it looked as a background. I squared it up and pressed it well. Then I began laying out and fusing my circles. I used a ruler to keep them straight(ish).  I laid them out in a 12 x12 grid and fused them well. I must confess, a few began to lift away from the fabric when I started to quilt. I did go back and glue some of them down with fabric glue. Most of the circles did fuse and stay well attached.

Mahriams circles were tinier than mine. Also she had way more of them than I do! But I am quite happy with my layout...

Goldilocks is making an appearance in all of my projects lately!

I began quilting in a organic (that's code for "not perfectly straight and I don't care") grid with light gray thread. Bound it up with a gray herringbone print and I love it! Is it too early to begin hanging Christmas decor? Because this baby is going on the wall very soon.

bee blocks

This was my month to receive bee blocks from our Sew Bee It bee in the McKinney Modern Quilt Guild. I chose the Flower Box Quilt Block made with this tutorial by Lori Holt at Bee in my Bonnet. I gave everyone the gray for the center and a suggested color pallette of aquas, reds & greens (shocker! I know.) These are the blocks I received last Tuesday....

I still have a few more blocks to collect and I think I will make some more to add to them. Aren't they fun?

Speaking of fun, this month is Chris's turn. She has requested Mondrian inspired improv blocks. When I read this, I had to immediately google Mondrian as I didn't have a clue! Upon seeing Mondrian's awesome work, I immediately grabbed my graph paper and pencils and started recreating some of his work on paper. Ummmm, Ellyn? Chris clearly said IMPROV! oh boy. This was going to be harder than I thought!

I set my sketches aside, grabbed the fabric Chris had provided and set to work. And guess what? It was more fun than I expected! Before I knew it, I had 2 blocks done & ready to pass on to Chris at our December meeting.

I love being challenged. And this, well it certainly qualifies as a challenge! I can't wait to see what my bee mates come up with and how Chris puts this all together!

sewing room swap received

I want to share the wonderful goodies I received in Stitched With Love's sewing room swap on Friday. Lisa made me this awesome scrap catcher/pin cushion to keep near my machine. The fabrics & colors are so perfect in my space. She even embroidered my name on the front! It's wonderful.

Look at the awesome spot to keep my scissors handy. Genius! The scissors were included in my goodies from Lisa....

In fact she included lots of goodies..... rainbow binder clips, a seam ripper, post its, handmade labels, glass head pins and these adorable decorative pins...

And this fantastic scrabble tile/ quilt block necklace. she didn't even know that I'm a big scrabble fan as well as a quilter!

Thank you for all of the wonderful treats Lisa! They're perfect!