John Deere Top Done ..

Finished up the top last night.  Now for the not so fun part of basting. 

This is my largest quilt so far.  And my first commissioned quilt.  Looking forward to the finished product.  

Linking up with Lee @ Freshly Pieced today.

Baby Love ....

No sewing was done at my house this weekend. 

But much baby loving was done!!

 

Little Things ...

I can share the Christmas presents that I've made now that they've been mailed and (mostly) received.

 

I made Linda a tea wallet from this tutorial. I also made her a couple of mug rugs.

 

 

 Peg got bowl buddies from this tutorial. (I had a hard time getting decent pics of the bowl buddies in a way that you could see the bowl shape!)  She also got mug rugs (no pic, sorry, but they match the bowl buddies).

 

Debra and Julie got wine coasters from this tutorial.

 

 The each got a Christmas set and an 'every day' set. 

 

(Top row, Debra; 2nd row, Julie; 3rd row, Linda)

 

 

And an extra set .... for me? ;-)

 

 

Still got lots to do, like finishing this John Deere quilt .....
(I have the top half done!)

 

 

Won't be much sewing going on this weekend with both Gabbie and Sadie at my house!  Gabbie will be there all day Saturday, and Sadie will be coming to spend the night!  Lots of playtime and fun in store for Aunt Paula / Gamma!

 

Linking up with lots of great blogs this week.  Please visit the links in my right-hand sidebar!!

 

Tuesday's Tales .... Circus and a WIP

Didn't get much sewing done this weekend.  Was just too busy having fun with Sweet Thang.

 

She went to her first circus.  She is not fond of 'characters' (in this case clowns, but she doesn't like Santa either).  Elephant rides were available, but she preferred to watch rather than ride.

 

 

Same with pony rides.

 

She did get her very own red nose.  But that's about as much clown as she wanted!

 

 

And this is my current WIP (and will be for a while).  This is my very first commissioned quilt.  My instructions were "John Deere / twin size".  I have free reign on the rest of it.  This (indoor, late night) picture doesn't really portray the true colors.  I'm having to keep it hidden from BabyGurl lest she steal a 3-year olds Christmas present!! :-)

 

I'm mostly only getting to work on it for a couple of hours in the evenings because I get to spend a lot of time with Sweet Thang, and this coming weekend I'll be spending lots of quality time with Sweet Sadie Mae.

 

*Real name, Sadie Lynn, but Gamma likes Sadie Mae better.  :-)

 

Linking up with lots of great blogs this week.  Please check my right-hand sidebar for links, and show them all some bloggy love!!

New Projects ...

Got a couple of new things going on.  Well, almost going on; I bought the fabric today.

First up is my second quilt-along with Polly ... This one is Nativity In The Trees.  She has posted the first lesson and it is fabric selection and yardage requirements.  So it's definitely not too late to sign up to quilt along with us.  I'm looking forward to it.  Polly's instructions are very easy to follow and if you have any questions she responds promptly with her answers.  

This is my fabric selection in the basket in the cutting line this morning at Hancock's (they had 50% off almost everything in the store!)  

(This is my first trip to the cutting table.  I made three trips.  The ladies at the cutting table and I are great friends now!)

And here it is all laid out (as the day's light was fading, but the colors are pretty true)

 Closeup of what I'm planning to use as backing.

And for another project, my first quilt "for hire".  

A friend's little boy wants a John Deere quilt so I picked the fabrics today - I got some of every JD fabric they had.  Would've loved to have another couple of selections but I can work with this.  

I'm planning to make it similar to how I have it laid out here.  Large squares of the four prints, sashed with (narrow) strips of the yellow, and bound in the blue check with the tires for the back.  

This will be my first quilt that was specially ordered but she gave me free reign with it as long as it is John Deere.  So at least I've got that covered!  

(And while I was posting this she text'd me to ask if I had any luck finding fabrics and I showed her this layout and she replied with "Oh my gosh! I cant wait!"; so I guess I did ok.)

I also picked up some random Christmas fat quarters for $1 each.  I'll  make coasters or mug rugs or something out of these.  Or I may be so busy with the two quilts that these just sit til next year!

And, this cute owl fabric.  Who could resist this at 50% off? :-)

I also got other miscellaneous items such as zippers, thread, interfacing etc while there was such a great sale going on.

Linking up with Marelize at Anything Goes Mondays,
and Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday,
and Connie's Free Motion By The River,
and Randi at Show and Tell Tuesday
and Lee at Freshly Pieced.

WIP - Christmas Presents ....

Okay, I can't show the actual projects / gifts, because the recipients follow my blog.  But I can show you some of the fabrics. 

I've made one gift from this fabric, and am making a second (different) gift for another recipient.
(That blue is a brighter, more turquois color than this pic shows) 

And I've made one gift from this fabric, and a second (same) gift for another recipient from other Chrtistmas fabrics (all used up so no leftovers to photograph).

I'm enjoying matching gifts and fabrics to the recipients' likes and personalities.  I hope they get as much pleasure from receiving/ using them as I have gotten while making them.

I will show pictures of the finished products after they have been gifted (I'm sure I'll have them in the mail to said recipients around Thanksgiving; patience is not one of my virtues!)

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday

and with Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday. 

Baby Quilt

Of course I forgot to put the label on ... but I can still add that ... I'm going to call this one "Confetti".  The top is made from the leftovers of Playmate.   The back is flannel.

 There are a couple of spots where my points didn't match exactly ... but for a first time HST quilt, I am happy. 

"Confetti" is for sale in my Etsy shop.

You can also follow along on my Facebook Page for mini updates.

Linking up with Marelize for Anything Goes Monday 
and with Connie at Free Motion By The River
and Show And Tell Tuesday with Randi
and Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday
and Michelle's Let's Make Baby Quilts.