Another Finish

Thanks to the snow we got this weekend I had time to sit down and finish the binding on one of the quilts I just got back from Kathleen.

Swaps

Recently I signed up for two swaps . The first was a new sew block exchange hosted by Kathleen. My choice was Star of Virginia for the red, white, and blue group. I finally got my fabric cut today, well almost. I decided to sew my block together to see how it looked.

I had a whole bunch of white squares left, the fabric that I ran short on. I was so mad at myself for messing up the cutting. I looked at the pattern again and realized I should have followed the directions and not just gone on memory. After a lot of time with my seam ripper I found it's actually to look like this:

So yes, I still need a little of the white fabric, but I'll hopefully have the block kits in the mail by the end of the week.

The other swap is an I Spy swap. Now that I signed up and explained it to my boys they both want an I Spy quilt so I guess I'm going to have to find another one to sign up for so I can get more blocks to work with. Here are the fabrics I purchased for this swap.

Hopefully I'll get to the post office by this weekend because I have a lot of things I need to mail out.

I've been MIA

Sorry there haven't been any posts for a while. We were busy because the big boy showed his Angus heifer for the first time. I'll try to update soon, but here are a couple pictures.

Merry Christmas

"Today in the town of David

a Savior has been born to you;

he is Christ the Lord.

This will be a sign to you:

You will find a baby wrapped in cloths

and lying in a manger."

Luke 2:11-12

Tree Skirt finally finished

Last night was our quilt guild Christmas party. Everyone dressed in pajamas, had delicious food, and sang Christmas carols with quilting themed lyrics. It was really funny. We got the most adorable little favors, a Christmas tree made out of fabric, a spool of thread, and a flat head pin with a star stuck on it. I just think it's so cute!

In other exciting news, I got my quilt back from Kathleen. I was waiting on the porch when our mail lady came with it. Kathleen did a great job! I'm so happy with it. As soon as I got it out of the box I started the binding, and finished it the same day. Took a couple pictures of it. I'm always in awe of how much the quilting makes a difference. Before it's quilted it just doesn't seem to have the same presence it does once it's quilted. It just makes me want all of my quilt tops finished right now! The next task is trying to figure out which quilts I want to send next so I can get them on their way before the end of the week.

I've been busy working on Christmas gifts, but can't really post them at this time because the recipients read my blog. I don't think my mother in law does so this one is safe. I made her and overnight bag. It was one of my first attempts at machine quilting so it leaves something to be desired, but I feel like I kind of have the hang of it now, just need to practice to be able to get smooth and not so choppy. I hope after Christmas to make some fabric sandwiches and just practice. I had fun using two really different fabrics on this one.

Last year I started a tree skirt with what I thought was enough time to finish it for Christmas but it didn't work out. I had it all put together and quilted in the center but I didn't get the colored blocks quilted. Finished them up by adding a star in each one. I have to say after putting it together it was a little hard to get the scissors out and cut the opening for the tree. I was determined to finish it this year and I did. The problem is we still haven't gotten to go and buy a Christmas tree, so the little boy decided he'd fill the position for now. However you can only be a Christmas tree for so long before the tree gets tired and needs to lay down. Apparently tree skirts make a good resting blanket.

My sister told me that the littlest girl they have (a foster child a little over a year old) loves purses. I figured I would make her one for Christmas. I made it tonight. It's nothing too fancy, but at least that way if it gets ruined no big deal. It turned out cute though.

Entered a giveaway that is offering some cute items.

Pictures

Finally got a peak at the picures we had done last week. They are as wonderful as I was expecting!!