Rick Rack Reversible Napkins

Another great Holiday and gift idea: make-your-table-pretty-a-reversible-rick-rack-napkin-tutorial by Filminthefridge.

Definitely on my list of pre-Holiday projects!

Assembly line-style coasters

In September, I stumbled across these lovely panels at my favourite German quilt shop, Patchcom and just had to have them. Thankfully, they went really well with fabric I had bought there the previous year but never got around to using.

So I figured I'd make quickie coasters by sandwiching sections of the panel, machine quilting a detail or two, cutting them into two strips of four sections each, attaching long rows of binding, cutting each strip into four sections and attaching the rest of the binding. Now I'm hand-finishing the individual coasters before spraying them with fabric protector.

There will be eight.
Then it's onto the potholders.

Mock Log Cabin for my potholders

Moving along with Christmassy items, I have been looking for a good log-cabin-esque pattern idea for potholders:

http://quilting.about.com/od/blockofthemonth/ss/mock_logcabin.htm

Now I wonder if gold-coloured decorations on the fabric make that fabric a bad choice for potholders ...

Anyway, the goal is to have a good number of small things to hand-finish over the weekend to keep myself busy (read: stifle boredom) when visiting my in-laws.

Flea Market give-away

You can really tell that Christmas is around the corner by the amount of give-aways going on. I almost feel cheap not doing one myself!

Here's one for Denyse Schmid Flea Market Fancy fabrics: http://littlebluecottage.wordpress.com/2008/11/23/flea-market-fancy-stash-a-little-giveaway/.

All bound and ready for a pre-delivery wash

The binding has added another 160 minutes to the count - and is all done. While I was working on it, I found myself getting increasingly worried as to the well-being of the intended recipient. We knew the baby would make its arrival in early November .... and we already were weeks into the month.

Therefore, I am glad to report that Baby Samuel and his parents are doing very well and are ever so pleased with one another.

I myself am pleased as well, with myself for guessing the gender correctly, finishing the quilt "in a day" - approx 640 minutes plus washing, ironing, wrapping, packing and shipping. Ten hours forty minutes does qualify as a working day, a short one, around these parts.

Fabulous idea for scraps

This doll quilt idea has been flying around my head and I think I'll make a few during the holidays. It also seems to be a good opportunity to use up random kids's shirts decorated at parties that are too large to be worn or too cute to be washed.

Potholder et al Give-Away

Check out this cool give-away: http://www.filminthefridge.com/2008/11/18/100-posts-lets-celebrate-with-a-giveaway/

Quilting finished: Zig-zags showing up nicely

Another 160 minutes on the clock ... argh, I was slow the past two evenings - paying too much attention to the Brothers & Sisters Season One DVD set.

Now onto the binding ....
480 minutes on the clock.

Sails of a Thousand Ships

I am making good progress on the quilting and another evening session should see the rest of it finished plus the binding started. The top is a bit wavey where I pulled to reveal corners, but there is notably less bunching and pulling than in the previous one.

320 minutes on the clock.

Chirstmas is near!

I found this brilliant idea for potholders on flickr ... and now know what my mum will get for Christmas. She always "demands" self-made gifts and her potholders are getting tatty. However, I suspect that the ones I make will only be displayed, which might call for using some lovely Christmas fabric.

a Thousand Ships Sail the Sea

My quilt in a day top is done, quilt sandwiched and what I didn't manage to snap a photo of last night: one half is almost completely quilted in a pin-striped inspired pattern.

200 minutes on the clock.

Quilt-in-a-day 2 in production

Minutes after gift-wrapping and packaging QIAD 1 to be sent to England, I started my second one. I made really good progress on it and after 1 hour 20 minutes had quite a lot done, not least thanks to this brilliant tutorial: Zig Zag Tutorial.

Finished and ready to be shipped

Yay, my "quilt in a day" is finished! It'll be shipped this week and I'm quite pleased with it.

I learned to not scrimp on backing fabric!

Now onto the list of upcoming projects:
1.) PIF - not done yet, sorry
2.) Coasters - not done either ... but then there's always Christmas
3.) Stashbuster Quilt for my God-Daughter, well, sort of: used some of the the fabric and finished the quilt -> the rest will be turned into the ragged squares quilt.
4.) 2 quilts in a day for new babies: finished no 1, working on No 2
5.) a Big Zig quilt, based on Denyse Schmidt's pattern for yet another baby: on the backburner
6.) a long-term project: my first and only sampler quilt was meant for my first-born and to be ready when she starts school. She's in second grade and the thing still looks the way it did in November 2003. Yikes. I have plans to rework it and finish it off eventually. I will not hand-quilt and it will not be the size shown in that post dated January 2005.
7.) A Night on the Tiles in Manchester: started.
8.) Crocheting Madness

In the final throws of binding

The Quilt-in-a-day is ready for the final spurt of hand-stitching. And I love my binding clips! As a finishing touch I will add a little bit of hand quilting to the back where the hearts are in the front. And then the thing gets shipped and I will make another one, just in a different colour scheme for what I think will be a boy.

I *LOVE* my walking foot!

Oh, the work we create for ourselves

at least me for myself. On the other hand, this is a sign that I am learning as I move from project to project. My main mistake here: being too much of a cheapskate. I cut the backing too small and then didn't pin it enough. Oh well, won't happen again ... then again, I have done this before.

But it is looking good so far: