Cherry Christmas Quilt

Woohoo - I finally have a finished quilt to share with you!  I started this quilt all the way back in July 2013 (in this post) - can you believe it?

 

It's not even that this was a massively time consuming project - it just kept getting pushed aside in favour of other things.  I used Aneela Hooey's Cherry Christmas line, with a couple of other random fat quarters thrown in to make up the numbers, and the scrappy trip along design that went viral a couple of years ago.

 

I had this quilt thread basted by Sue Burnett, a local long-arm quilter.  Seriously, if you have access to a long-arm quilter, ask them about this.  After trying it myself, I don't think I'd baste a large quilt again and many of my friends are converts now too.  It's generally not very expensive and such a time and hassle saver.  I then quilted the quilt myself on my Juki (for those who are curious, I didn't use the frame - this quilt was a bit big for it unless I added the extension).  I love the simple loops design - it's the one I start off with when teaching free motion quilting and I like to show that it's something I actually use on my quilts as well.

 

I like hand stitching my bindings and I usually do so in the normal way - with a simple ladder stitch that's nearly invisible.  On this quilt, I decided to do something different and stitch the binding down with Aurifil 12 weight thread using a running stitch.  It's probably not quite as secure (and it certainly took a lot longer) but it's oh so cute.  I will put together a little video tutorial on how to do this when I get back from QuiltCon (and I'm sure I've seen someone else use this on their quilt but I have no idea who - if you know, let me know!).

So now I have a Christmas quilt!  It's hanging out on my couch even though it's nowhere near Christmas time.  Luckily, Ivy approves.

Anyone else working on something completely out-of-season?

This is the first item I've finished off my Q1 Finish-Along list.  I'm afraid my number of finishes for Q1 is going to be fairly unimpressive!  How is everyone else going?  

WIP Wednesday

Wayyyy back last year, I started a scrappy trip-along quilt using Aneela Hoey's Christmas collection, Cherry Christmas.

My plans to have it done for last Christmas didn't come off, but I finished the top early this year.  A couple of months ago, I made the back and then had the quilt thread basted by Sue Burnett - it's so much easier to handle a big quilt like this without the weight of all those pins in it!

After quilting my Christmas Leftovers quilt (made from the leftovers from making this quilt, and, ironically, finished over a year before...), I knew I wanted to free motion loops on this quilt as well.

This weekend I made a start and I love the way the quilting is looking so far.  Hopefully I'll have a finish to share with you soon!

Are you working on any Christmas makes at the moment?

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced:

A Christmas Quilt in February

I'm going to claim that I am really really organised for Christmas 2014.  Let's ignore the fact that I was originally aiming to get this quilt done for Christmas 2013.

 

Anyway, the top is done now, and I'm loving the fabric (mostly Aneela Hoey's Cherry Christmas line) as much as I was when I hunted it down in the middle of last year.

 

I know how I want to quilt this top, it's just a matter of when.  There's kind of no rush now, but I don't want to forget about it and end up being really organised for Christmas 2015…

So, how is your Christmas sewing going?  Any tips for me to make sure I don't forget about quilting this quilt?

Skills Swap - what I sent

Several months ago I said I would be interested in a skills swap.  I was keen for a pair of hand knitted socks, but lacking the skills to actually knit them myself, I offered up a quilted item made by me in exchange for the socks.  The lovely Kelsey of Everyday Fray put her hand up and so we have swapped!  Now that my items have arrived with Kelsey, I'm very excited to share them with you.

The thing that Kelsey actually asked for was a sewing machine cover.  She left it to me to choose the design, but we did discuss cute animals, including foxes.  I'll share more details of these items in a later post, but the sewing machine cover is a modified version of this pattern, and the little fox is made using this pattern.  I also made Kelsey a matching pouch using my favourite open wide zipper pouch tutorial from noodlehead.

Since it's so close to Christmas, I thought it might be fun to include something Christmassy as well.  I made this stocking, and a matching one for Kelsey's husband, using my own pattern.  It was really fun and I think I will have to do a whole set for my family one of these days.

The final handmade item that I included is this mini quilt.  All the coloured petals are Anna Maria Horner fabrics - 100 different ones in total.  Yes, I had all of these (and more) in my stash already.  I went for a kind of rainbow effect on a crisp white low volume background.  I'm very happy with how this mini turned out, and I think I will have to make another one for myself.  Good thing I love that hand done blanket stitch appliqué so much!

Kelsey and I also agreed to include some swag in our parcels.  This locally produced knitsch sock yarn is particularly lovely (it's actually what my mum is using to knit me another pair of socks) and with a name like "Mad Blood Stirreth", how could anyone resist?

At the same time I was buying the sock yarn, this Artisan Lace yarn kit caught my eye.  It has two skeins of yarn, three different lace scarf patterns and the right size knitting needles as well.  I have no idea if Kelsey likes knitting lace, but the scarves looked so pretty knitted up in the shop.

There are more photos and details to come on my handmade items, but I have to say that doing a direct swap like this was a lot of fun.  I found it more satisfying than making something for a relatively anonymous partner and I would definitely do something like this again.  Although Kelsey and I sent our parcels on the same day, NZ Post seems to be taking its own sweet time with delivering Kelsey's parcel to me, but I am very excited to receive it and hope to share the contents with you shortly!

Linking up with:

    

and with Finish it up Friday at crazy mom quilts.

WIP Wednesday

This week I'm working on my long-ignored Cherry Christmas scrappy trip along quilt. 

I have 12 blocks finished out of 36 - the other 24 are prepped and just need to be stitched together.

I'm still really loving this quilt but also really not sure it will get finished before Christmas.  I definitely have time to finish the top - quilting is another question!

I thought I'd also let you know that I've made a button for my "How to stop being a no-reply blogger" tutorial, at the suggestion of the ever-glittery Molli Sparkles.  I know I had a truckload of no-reply bloggers enter my SewMamaSew Giveaway Day giveaway (still running here if you want to enter), and it's a shame, because mostly they have not left an email address.

<div align="center">
<a href="http://thewindyside.blogspot.co.nz/2013/06/how-to-stop-being-no-reply-blogger.html" title="How to stop being a no-reply blogger"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg4UVNgArcaqBERJKsZEo-Ug3HCAgsUNJmfck89mt7JLkvt9FAcxWYUo_c6V-ZbGupdlEdM_Z-QdDnaFQ43NGC-07tsYe3pGhKYfX-PfIk4paJWUbgVlF_IQGkh1BuFtpP4OJ6QgR_xn6o/s1600/nrb.jpg" alt="How to stop being a no-reply blogger" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

If you'd like to add the button to your blog, you can grab the code here, or from my sidebar.

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced:

Cushion for Christmas

Have you been following along with the Cushion for Christmas Blog Hop organised by Melissa from Ms Midge?  The cushions are very inspiring - I'm loving how there is a real mix of different things on offer!

Here is the schedule - feel free to backtrack and check out the cushions that have already been blogged, and make sure you check out the ones that are yet to come as well!

Sunday 1st December - Melissa at Ms Midge

Monday 2nd December - Gemma at Pretty Bobbins & Melissa at Ms Midge

Tuesday 3rd December - Kristy at Quiet Play

Wednesday 4th December - Joshua at Molli Sparkles

Thursday 5th December - Rachel at Little White Dove

Friday 6th December - Fiona at Finding Fifth

Saturday 7th December - Abby at Things For Boys

Sunday 8th December - Lauren at Molly & Mama Makes

Monday 9th December - Jodi at Tickle & Hide

Tuesday 10th December - Adrianne at On The Windy Side & Melissa at Ms Midge

Wednesday 11th December - Alyce at Blossom Heart Quilts

Thursday 12th December - Gina at Party of Eight

Friday 13th December - Jane at Quilt Jane

Saturday 14th December - Round up of Blog Hop and link up YOUR projects at Ms Midge

Today is my day on the hop, and this is my creation!  I went pretty literal and put together a Christmas cushion using my favourite festive fabric - Aneela Hoey's Cherry Christmas.  Now, I have to confess that I made this cushion over the course of a couple of days, but it would be totally achievable to make it in a single day.

 

The double pointed dresden is very festive to me - it could be a wreath, but it also has hints of a star about it as well.  I made it using my dresden ruler and the method set out in this excellent tutorial by Melissa from Happy Quilting.  If you would like to make your own version of this cushion, the white central square is 16" finished, and I cut the dresden wedges from a 4" wide strip of fabric, lining up the 2" and 6" marks on my dresden ruler with the cut edges.  The border is made from 2.5" cut strips, leaving you with a cushion that finishes at 20.5" square.

 

I think the pebble quilting looks a bit like snow - and quilting densely like this in the background really makes the dresden stand out!  I used my favourite Aurifil 2021 in 50 weight, and I'm so impressed with how far this thread goes.  Pebble quilting uses a notoriously large amount of thread and this barely made a dent in my 1300m spool! 

Pom pom trim is such an easy way to add a bit of fun to your cushion - I essentially used this method by Angela from Fussy Cut.

You may recognise the back - it's the one from my covered zipper cushion back tutorial a couple of weeks ago!  I'm very happy it's now being put to good use.

I hope you're enjoying this blog hop and that you're getting inspired to make your own cushion for Christmas.  Now, I'll leave you with a question.  Making this cushion has rekindled my love of pom poms, and I'm now thinking about adding some pom pom trip to a quilt.  It would be quite easy to baste them along the edge of the quilt and then hide the tape under the binding - and I think the effect would be really cute.  The one thing I'm worried about is whether they would survive washing - has anyone tried this before?

P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Christmas Leftovers quilt - finished

Almost exactly a month after I posted about the quilt top, my Christmas Leftovers quilt is finished.

 

I'm really really pleased with how this quilt turned out.  It's a good omen for my Cherry Christmas scrappy trip along quilt, particularly since I'm planning to quilt it in the same way.  The quilt top is mainly made up of Aneela Hoey's Cherry Christmas collection, with a couple of other fabrics in similar colours thrown in to make up the numbers.

 

On the back I used a few half yards that had been hanging around  in my stash for a while - I'm not sure what the grey is but both red fabrics are older DS Quilts.  Now that I've used the bottom red fabric I wish I had more - isn't that always the way?

 I used a loop the loop quilting pattern - following the grid of the quilt top helped keep it nice and even. Of course, I used my new go to thread - Aurifil 2021 50 weight - for the quilting.  These photos were taken after the quilt was washed and run through the dryer, and I really really love the texture of the quilting.  Quilting this way was pretty quick and it has left the quilt soft and not stiff at all, so I'll definitely be using it on other quilts.

For some reason it looks extra Christmassy with all the colours showing through the batting and backing like stained glass.

Quilt Stats
Pattern: 2" finished postage stamp squares

Finished Size: approx 36" by 48"

Fabric: mainly Aneela Hoey's Cherry Christmas fabric

Backing: various

Binding: Free Spirit Designer Solid in Carribean

Pieced and quilted by: me

Linking up with finish it up friday at crazy mom quilts and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts.

This quilt is the third of my fourth quarter finishes. I'll be linking up with Leanne at she can quilt as part of the 2013 Finish Along in due course.

Christmas Leftovers quilt top finished

Aaaages ago, I started another scrappy trip along quilt with Aneela Hoey's adorable Cherry Christmas line.  Several months later, and I still have only 4 completed blocks (although I have made progress on the next 32!).  However, because I used fat quarters to make my blocks, I had two strips left over from each block, and I thought I'd use these leftovers to make a wee baby quilt.

 

This quilt is just pretty randomly pieced together, although I did try to get a somewhat even colour distribution.  I'm very happy with how this quilt top turned out.  So happy, in fact, that even though I made it with the intention of donating it to the neo-natal unit at Wellington Hospital, I am tempted to keep it for myself.  I won't, of course, but I want to!  I do think that this is a particularly good quilt to donate - it's totally gender neutral, and it's Christmassy but not so much that you couldn't leave it out all year round.

 

This little guy is all basted up ready for quilting.  I think I'll use the same design I'm planning to use on my scrappy trip along quilt - that will give me a good chance to see how it looks with these fabrics.  Now, to work on my scrappy trip along version.  Here's hoping I can get it done by Christmas.

Linking up with finish it up friday at crazy mom quilts.

WIP Wednesday

These are the first four blocks for my Cherry Christmas Scrappy Trip Along quilt.  I made a beginner's error for one block and put green fabric at either end, so I was left with a double stripe of green.  I'm going to see how it looks once all the other blocks are made - if it's still bugging me then, I'll unpick it.

I have to say, I am not regretting the decision to hunt these fabrics out - I love working with them and I can't wait to make more blocks.  I'm going to try and finish up a few long-standing WIPs first, but then it's straight back to these lovelies.

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced:

 

P.S. My giveaway to celebrate my first year of blogging is still open, so don't miss out!