SewCalGal's 2011 Christmas Quilt Show

It's time again for SewCalGal's annual Christmas quilt show. I thought I would show a series of quilts that I designed and made for our family TV room a few years ago. I purchased some Mary Engelbreit fabric that I thought was perfect for what I had in mind and went to work. First of all I needed a wall hanging for over the fireplace, Santa and Frosty are the result.

 Then I thought a mantle scarf would be fun.

 

Then, of course, I needed a tree skirt. This pattern is available as a freebie on my sidebar.

 I decided a runner for the coffee table would be nice.

 And finally an advent calendar was absolutely necessary.

Here is a picture of the room decorated and ready for Christmas.

 If you would like to see more wonderful Christmas quilts go here. Thanks for stopping by!!!

 

Tree Skirt Finished!

I finished my sister's tree skirt! Finally...she's only waited eight months since her birthday!

She chose the fabrics to go with a tree in her entry. I made this one smaller than mine because she has limited space for the tree. I'm very happy with the results and hope she will be too!

I first designed and made this pattern for my oldest son and his wife. They wanted a funkier tree skirt that I usually make, so it was a bit of a stretch for me. Here is the design I came up with for them.

 

I really enjoyed making this tree skirt and they seemed very happy with it. I love the fabrics.

When I decided to make one for myself last year, I knew I wanted it more traditional and had also become obsessed with Dresden Plates. I substituted a Dresden Plate ornament for the round icicle ornament, changed the shape of the background a bit, and picked some very traditional fabrics. Here's the result.

 My tree skirt is not as big as my son's and larger than my sisters. It's nice to be able to adjust the size so easily to fit the space.

I think now it's time for another Oliver, the puppy, update. He is now eight month old and I think pretty much full grown. He is still chewing everything he can including catalogs, library books, and ipod earphones. We have puppy proofed the house and are hoping we have everything out of reach. He has quit chewing electrical cords after some strong admonitions from Mom and Dad, although we still watch him closely.

He has also become very timid. New things are very scary! It will be interesting when the Christmas decoration come out. Our last dog was always frightened by them, but then adjusted. I think we will get a similar reaction from Oliver.

 

I've Been a Lazy Blogger!

Sorry I've been such a lazy blogger. I have been sewing, however. First I made these blocks for a block of the month group that I belong to. I'm really enjoying these blocks. Our theme is blocks from Japan and so far these have been fun easy blocks to make. No half square triangles like all the star blocks last year. I'm also enjoying the blue and white. They seem so crisp.

 I also got my tree skirt blocks appliqued and the first border put on them. It's always so good to get that first border on and not have to work with bias edges any more.

 I appliqued them with metallic thread and was in a bit of a panic because I had run out of needles for metallic thread. Finally, I just used a regular one and had no problems. I used Coats and Clark metallic thread and it was wonderful. Much improved since the last time I used it. It fact, I think it was the best that I've used in a while. Now I just have to add another border and then I can sew the whole thing together and my sister can get her birthday present...only 8 months late!

I've also been working on my grandson's Christmas stocking. I'm determined to finish it so he can use it this year. I'm making good progress. I've decided to do all the rest of the cross stitch and then do the outlining stitches on the rest of the stocking. 

I hope you have a wonderful and productive Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by.

This Week's Project

Just a quick post to show you what I'm working on. My niece's birthday is today and I have been working on a lap quilt for her. My original pattern was a freebie from Benartex, but of course, I can't seem to ever just follow a pattern so I changed it. You can see the original pattern here. I wanted my quilt bigger and I changed the trees just because I liked my version better. So without further ado here it is. 

Just the top for now and that's how I'll wrap it up for her. Then I'll bring it home and quilt it, hopefully finishing it before the weekend is over! The fabric is from Susan Winget's "Noel" from last year.