Christmas Scrappy Lattice

This is a quilt I made with more scraps from the same Fig Tree kit whose scraps I used for the Christmas tree I showed in my last post. The pattern is called Scrappy Lattice and it's by Bonjour Quilts.

I was able to go through quite a few of the scraps but there is still probably enough left for another small quilt. The quilt shop I bought the kit from gave waaaaaay more fabric than I needed!

The author gives fabric requirements for fat quarters and scraps but I think I figured out that you can use a layer cake too. I'm going to re-crunch the numbers before I cut into the one I want to use but I think it will work.

It's a fairly simple pattern that I think came out cute. I made the Baby size which comes out at 42x54 inches- for me this is a reasonable throw size. It's going to be gift along with that tree from the other day, for a friend who needs some holiday cheer.

I do want to make another with a Nordic-Christmas-themed layer cake I have; I'll let you know how it goes.

Last Finish of 2019

I finished this quilt the day before Christmas. It is the Scandinavian Tomte by Rebecca Mae Designs.

The trees were pretty straightforward but the gnome was very challenging. It's hard to see in the picture but the hat is pieced horizontally and the pieces must line up perfectly; there is at least one place where I just couldn't make it work. Precise cutting and piecing are a must.

I quilted it in straight vertical lines using Aurifil monofilament and Aurifil 50wt in gray in the bobbin. The monofilament was a dream to sew with. This was my first time using it and I was nervous, but it worked so well I want to quilt all my quilts with it now. Not really- I'll still use regular thread too- but it was a revelation to me.

Closeup on the tomte himself

Next up is a simple throw quilt I have to finish for a baby shower in a few weeks. Onwards!

I hope you had a great holiday season and wish you a great 2020.

Sewing Update

So I guess I haven't been much of a poster lately but I am chugging along on my projects.

• I finished my black & white cats quilt, which I don't have a real name for. The pattern is called Row of Cats by Gingiber. I'll have a picture soon.
• I made six pillow cases for a charity drive initiated by a member of my guild. The tutorial I used is from The Crafty Gemini. It was a lot of fun to make these and learn a new skill. I made a couple to keep for my home in addition to the six for charity.
• I'm just about to finish piecing the top of my Tomte quilt. It's up next for machine quilting since it's a Christmas gift. You can find the pattern at Rebecca Mae Designs.
• Still working on my 12 Days of Christmas redwork series. I just started Nine Ladies Dancing. I just looked it in the hoop though I'm thinking I might need to start over. It's not looking that great lol.

This past weekend I had a lot of fun visiting the Brownstone Quilt Guild's show in Allendale, New Jersey. Allendale is a beautiful suburb not far from NYC and my husband and I enjoyed viewing the spectacular quilts, shopping the vendors and taking in the fall scenery. We even found a new-to-us rare book shop in nearby Teaneck. 

What's up next? Machine quilt the Tomte and start thinking about any small projects I might want to complete for the holiday season. What are you working on?

Not Too Early!

This is a wall-hanging size quilt top I finished a couple of weeks ago. It was fun to put together and use up a bunch of red and green scraps. I have so many green scraps right now for some reason.

Anyway this is about 30 x 38 so too small for a lap/throw quilt (unless it's a baby quilt- the minimum size for my guild to accept baby quilts for charity is 30x30) but it will be a fun decoration for the house.

It was easy enough to put together that I'd consider making more for gifts but probably not this season.

The pattern came from Frivolous Necessity on Etsy and is simply called Modern Patchwork Christmas Tree.

Holiday Crafting Plans

So it's getting to be that time again- thinking about Christmas crafts. Actually I was thinking about them in August when I bought a pillow pattern from Craftsy and got started cutting. Now it's the end of October and I have to get serious.

This past weekend I bought a copy of Better Homes and Gardens "Christmas Quilts and More," which is always fun. It was nice to see that this year there were no projects I recognized from other issues, as sometimes they do recycle projects from year to year. There is also a nice mix of modern and traditional patterns- a red and white shoofly alongside a modern Christmas tree, for example.

The issue also contains some ornaments, bags and purses and some woolfelt projects like the snowman pillow on the cover and a simple wreath made with felted squares.

My favorite ideas from this issue include the fabric gift tags and the "Happiness is Making Friends" stitchery.

In the mean time though I have a Pinterest board full of Christmas ideas and that pillow to finish! What are your crafting plans for this Christmas season?