All Done With Time to Spare!

Hello!  :)

Yes I did it! I finished TWO quilts! There were times when I doubted whether I'd make it or not, but I did with days to spare!  :)  To say I'm happy is an understatement!!!  :)

Here's Mario & Co. ready and waiting for Christmas to arrive and my son to open it and see it. I can't wait to see his reaction!  :)

I quilted it with white thread in diagonal lines approximately 4" apart. It's bound with a solid red.

This time I remembered to take a picture of the back. It's a blend of some Spongebob fabric (the boy loves Spongebob), a yellow recycled sheet (the boy's favorite color) and another recycled sheet with stripes of colors from the front.

Of course Doobie had to get in on the action again.  ;)

My FINAL Official Mario Quilt Countdown

START Date  11/18/12

Blocks to make  12

Blocks completed  12

Blocks remaining  0

~

1-1/2" Squares

Started with  3888

Used  3888

Remaining  0

~

Sashing - DONE!  :)

Borders - DONE!  :)

Backing - DONE!  :)

Basting - DONE!  :)

Quilting - DONE!  :)

Binding - DONE!  :)

~

FINISHED Date  12/21/12

I also put the finishing touches on the Batik quilt for my hunky dude. Yes I did!!! It's finished!!!  :)

You really can't see it very well but I quilted this with lines on either side of the black sashing in black thread. It's not really even (or straight for that matter) but it's done and I know he'll love it (at least I hope he does)!  ;)

My FINAL Batik Quilt Countdown

START Date  12/15/12

~

Quilt Top - DONE!  :)

Backing - DONE!  :)

Basting - DONE!  :)

Quilting - DONE!  :)

Binding - DONE!  :)

~

FINISHED Date  12/20/12

Now with only a few days to go until Christmas, I started on the 6 pairs of jammie pants I need to make. Hope it goes quick. I'm hoping to finish them on Saturday as well as get everything wrapped and under the tree. Sunday I plan on baking some cookies and making a cheesecake for my dad's house for Christmas Eve when the family gets together and celebrates Christmas. I hope all goes smooth. ;)

What do you still have to do before Christmas? Are you one of the lucky ones who are already ready and waiting for the day to arrive? Regardless of where you are in your plans . . . I hope you and your family have a merry Christmas!  :)

Until next time . . .

Christmas Gifts Progression. . .

Hello!  :)

I've been a busy bee over here.  :)  On Sunday I went and got the thread I needed to finish the last pair of Jammie pants. I also put the elastic in all of them and stitched them closed. All 6 pairs are officially finished!  :)

I still have two more Christmas presents to finished in the next two weeks (actually less than that now!). I need to make two twin size quilts. Sunday after I finished the jammie pants I cut the fabric for my oldest son Jay's quilt. I can share it with you now because I haven't told my older kids I have a blog yet. I will do so at Christmas.

Anyway . . . I'm going to back up a little bit. I knew I wanted to make both of my older kids quilts for Christmas this year. They both live at their Grandfather's house (on their father's side). He doesn't have a working heater and I know they could use something to keep them warm. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do for my daughter Jessica's quilt but I had no idea on a theme or color scheme for Jay's quilt. Then all of the sudden it hit me. Hawaiian! He loves Hawaii and all things Hawaiian, beach themed, etc. I go to thrift stores all the time and began looking for cool Hawaiian shirts to use for his quilt. There were lots of beautiful shirts in all kinds of fabrics but I stuck with the 100% cotton ones. I forgot to take pictures of the shirts while they were still shirts (sorry). There's actually quite a bit of fabric in the shirts, especially the 5x one I found. I couldn't believe I found one so large. Anyway . . . In the picture below you can see the squares already cut from the shirts in a circle (ignore the center fabrics for now).

For the quilt I'm using Amy Smart's Lattice Quilt pattern that I got from her Bits and Bobs Etsy shop. I laid out the fabric squares in a pleasing arrangement.

Then I labeled them and stacked them up ready for sewing.

Before I continue I'll share the sashing, border and backing fabrics I chose to use.

The fabric on the bottom is a really cool sheet I found while thrift store shopping for the background. I love it! The blue fabric is a wonderful Hawaiian batik print I found to use for the second border and the cornerstones. It really ties all the fabrics together. I'm using Kona Cotton in bone for the sashing and first border. I think I'm going to use a black batik for the binding but I haven't gotten it yet.

On Monday the quilt top sewed up pretty quickly. Amy has great instructions. When I finished sewing it I laid it out on the floor to view it. I actually squealed in delight and jumped up and down. I was very happy with it! It was great satisfaction after a long day sewing.  :)  This is only the second quilt top I have ever made.

Tuesday I woke up with a sore throat.  :(  I have been pushing myself pretty hard to get these things finished up before Christmas. After I took my son to school I came home and went back to bed for a few hours. It helped. I woke up without a sore throat but now I have a cold. Oh well. Someday I'll learn to take care of myself better. :)

I did manage to get the borders on the quilt top today. I'm very happy with the results! The blue really brightens it up but not too much. I think I made the right decision in using the same blue for the cornerstones. It really carries the colors throughout the quilt to complete the look.

What do you think? Do you like it? Does it look masculine enough? Here's another view. . .

Tomorrow I will cut the fabric's for Jessica's quilt and get it started. As soon as I have both tops finished I'll sandwich them and hand quilt them. I've never hand quilted before but I think I can do it. I love embroidery. Isn't it similar? If anyone has any pointers, tips, tricks, suggestions please share them with me. I'm hoping to be able to start quilting them by this weekend. By the way, what color (or colors) would you use to quilt Jay's quilt? I just can't figure it out. I appreciate all the help and advice I can get! Thanks! :)

Until next time . . .