2016 Quilts

This year I decided to make a collage of the quilts I made this past year.  I was more productive than I thought!

Looking forward to ringing in the New Year!

Have a Happy New Year, everyone! :o)
Suzy

Merry Christmas!

May your day be merry and bright!  

It's a (Christmas) Party!

I had the pleasure of attending a Christmas Party with a few of my quilty friends last night. Rie was our hostess with the mostest. She really outdid herself with the food, decorations (there were Christmas trees in EVERY room -- even the bathrooms!), and the merriment. Lots of fun was had, especially when we did the opening and stealing of gifts. My wallhanging was a hit and ultimately went home with my friend, Diana, who is also my longarmer (after the maximum two steals, LOL!). What a fun night with friends!

Enjoy the pictures. Rie really goes ALL OUT for Christmas and every nook and cranny was very festive!

That would be Rie in the Christmas apron.

Have A Merry Christmas!
Suzy

A Happy Recipient

Today is my niece, Morgan's, 15th birthday.  She has now opened her gifted quilt and pillowcase and appears very happy with it, which makes me happy, too!  Wish I could have been there in person to watch her open it, but a picture is the next best thing.  :o)

Birthday Hugs to my Niece,
Suzy

Christmas String Tree Wallhanging - Finished!

Ho, ho, ho, everyone!  I finished my little Christmas String Tree mini-quilt a couple days ago.  I wasn't sure whether to call it finished or not, as I couldn't decide if I wanted to "decorate" the tree.  I auditioned some buttons, but it just didn't do it for me.  So, I posted a picture of it on Facebook to get a consensus.  Everyone was very helpful and said such nice things, with recommendations from small charms, to jingle bells, to sequins, etc.  In the end, I decided to leave the tree as is (some also recommended that), and let the new recipient (currently unknown) decide whether they want to decorate it (or not) at their discretion.  :o)

I really like the quilt pattern I digitized for it.  I wanted something that reminded me of the cold wind blowing.  I used my embroidery machine to quilt it.  It's a nice, small quilt (11-3/4" x 15-3/4"), so I only had to hoop it twice the way I digitized it.  It was done in a flash!  The only bummer is when I took it off the machine after the first pass, I noticed that the embroidery foot must have gotten caught in a small portion of the ribbon and twisted it a bit. You can bet the second hooping I kept an eagle eye on it, to prevent that from happening again.  It's not perfect because of that, but it's minor and it is what it is.  I don't think it detracts from the overall quilt too terribly, and overall I'm very pleased with my little fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants gift.  I've attached a small hanging sleeve and a label to the back to finish it off.

Hope the recipient likes it,
Suzy

Christmas String Tree

I was trying to decide what mischief to get up to in my sewing room today.  I've been toying with the idea of making a couple different sizes of paper-pieced string trees.  So I spent the morning drawing in EQ and thought I would make just one as a prototype to see how I liked it.

Then, realizing that I was going to be attending a Christmas party with girlfriends (quilters and non-quilters), and that I would need a gift, I decided to make the prototype into a "holiday" string tree by adding ribbon before sewing the background on, adding an upper section for a star, and then adding borders to make it a mini-quilt wallhanging (it will finish at about 11" x 15").

You could say I killed two birds with one stone.  I think the trees will be cute done in a forest of different sizes.  On my future to-do list...

Now to quilt my little wallhanging, bind it, and maybe even "decorate" the tree.  :o)

Still getting ready for the holidays,
Suzy

Making My List...

Morgan's quilt is on it's way to her, along with my sister and brother-in-law's Christmas gift.  Check.

I sent it priority mail (insured, of course), and the post office said it should arrive on Monday.  I'm relieved.  The quilt is a combination birthday (Dec. 23) and Christmas gift for Morgan, so I wanted to be sure she had it in time for her birthday.  I sure hope she likes it.  I made a matching pillowcase, too.  I mean, I had leftover blocks and fabric, so why not, right?  :o)

More "to do's" are now scratched off my list...

Ho, Ho, Ho!
Suzy

Mai Tais in Paradise - Top Completed

Yay!!! Tuesday, I finally finished the top for my Mai Tais in Paradise quilt which I started on my Caribbean Cruise with Bonnie in August/September 2011. It needs a good pressing, but it was folded up 'cause I took it with me to share with my friends this past Wednesday.

I'm not working on Bonnie's mystery quilt this year because I'm trying to whittle down my multitude of UFOs.  I am, however, saving the clues; because I know it will be a beauty and I'll want to make it in the future.  *grin*

Wish me luck,
Suzy