FIU weekend

Pat Sloan is having a UFO party on Quilt Mashup Forum and that has inspired me to check out those projects I need to finish up. I am working on a Nancy Halvorsen Be Attitudes mini quilt. I started it in January 2009! I bought the book and the kit in April 2008 in Deer Lodge, Montana at Quilter's Corner.

This is the first one I have started in the book. I also bought kits for Feb, March, Oct and Dec.

I at least hope to get this mini quilt done and hung in January. This weekend I hope to identify more of my projects to finish and get them on my list for 2012. Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Merry Christmas

Best wishes for a happy holiday to all. Smiles and hugs....Caryl

12 days of Christmas tabletopper

Here is the finish....blogged in June about charm squares to 4-patches here... I also had an update in Nov.... I forgot to use the walking foot when I started this decorative stitch in the center... and also forgot to put the feed dogs back up...oops.... after I figured it out what I had done...it was much better....

I did the stem stitch for the words and a running stitch along some of the seams... I'm keeping this one for me....the other two I did this month were for gifts... Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Secret Santa Swap fun

Pat Sloan's QuiltMashUp group had a swap earlier this month...

I decided to join in the fun....

Here is a little Santa bucket on the tabletopper I made....

I personalized the tabletopper for my swap partner.... and I used Kate Spain 12 days of Christmas fabric....

this photo shows all the goodies I put in the package... I also had some almond roca in the snowflake box.... the little snowman changes colors... I put some photos on flickr of what I got from my swap partner.... this was a very fun swap... Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Christmas tabletopper tutorial

Here is a quick tutorial on how I made this very simple tabletopper.

I used 2 1/2" strips of all different reds and greens for the center. I sewed a red strip to a green strip and cut in 2 1/2" segments and then sewed them together for a 16 patch of all different fabrics.

Next for the first borders I used gold fabric with stars and swirls and cut 8 1/2" x 2 and 12" x 2 and sewed to the 16 patch. For the last borders I started with a red strip and sewed to the right side. I then sewed a strip of green to the bottom and next red and last green at the top. For the machine quilting I did a decorative stitch down the centers of the 16 patch center and then straight lines about 1/8" from the seam. I wrote words in each of the borders.

Here is where I did something new....I did the binding by machine! I used red fabric with stars and swirls. First I listened to some tutorials on how to do machine binding and then sewed the binding to the back instead of the front. Pat Sloan has a good video on how to do this.

Then I folded the binding over and sewed a buttonhole stitch with my machine to finish. It was fun and I will be doing this method again. Smiles and hugs....Caryl

SPBB #6

Here is another project I did before I started my blog. I had a photo of it last year with my decorations but not about Sweet Trimmings. This was part of the Cross Country Christmas blog hop in November 2009. The design is Gudrun's of GE Designs and the free pattern is on her blog Gudrun's World and here is where you can find her post about Sweet Trimmings.

This is a close up of the top of the wall hanging. It was a lot of fun to make. Smiles and hugs....Caryl

SPBB #5

My post today is about another project that I made before I started my blog. This project was on a blog hop in November 2009 by Rosebud's Cottage blog. Anyone following me on flickr has already seen this...and I just had the binding pinned to the back that Christmastime and finished it later!!

You can find the directions here. Lots of little pieces to sew....but fun and worth it!! Smiles and hugs....Caryl