Sunday, December 9, 2012

Getting Ready for Christmas

Falalala... it's Christmas time... and along with that is the busy time of year... yet I am determined to make things as relaxing as possible!  That being said, I'm still procrastinating on Christmas cards (to do or not to do...!).  

This is probably my last post for the year, but that's ok.
Like I just wrote... I want to relax!

I finished up some new and some old projects:

My 1st ever Christmas stocking!  This is a lovely quilt-as-you-go pattern and it sure was fun to do!
Front of the stocking

Back of the stocking

My son thought it was fun to wear.

I made a few of these easy paper ornaments for the tree... and with leftover paper, I made some paper Christmas tree links.

November's Freebie 15 block - "Transferware".
16" x 16"
(Quilt block colours look quite blah in this photo, oops, but they really are lovely.)
November's Freebie block is called "Transferware"  
Transferware is a ceramic where historical scenes and delicate patterns, such as florals are transferred onto fine china, making it affordable for middle-class families.  Transfer printing involves etching a design onto a copper plate, inking the plate then transferring the design onto tissue paper; this is then applied to the ceramic and fired with a glaze.  The result is the wonderful dishes we call transferware.


Here's a print-out of the November Freebie 15 Companion.
There are to be two 8.5" x 8.5" squares like this; the fabric is black & white.
I love this year's Freebie's but so far I am not too crazy about the companions' colours: the colours seem so dark compared to the Freebies.
That being said, I think I have fired myself from doing any more Freebie companions for the year!!
Seriously, this is the worst pattern to follow - ever!
The centre piece is actually cut out like a stop sign, but the instructions for lining everything up just exasperate me!!!!!

I finally also tackled some UFOs (Unfinished Objects/Projects) which are awaiting quilting (to be done next year).

Remember this pukey quilt top???  Well, it is NO MORE - Yeah!!
Layer Cake Quilt Along - Quilt top #1 (hacked)
I added a pink-with-white-polka-dots fabric for sashing.
A lady at the quilt store helped me select a border sashing, but when it came down to putting it all together, the border was just bad. Bad. Bad. Bad.
So... a simple brown border came into being.
Layer Cake Quilt Along - Quilt top #2 (done)
Scrappy Stars Quilt
I had finished 11 of these 9"x9" stars about a year ago as a BOM, but then the local quilt store closed and I had to make up my own 12th star block.
And then it sat and sat and sat... until now.
I love the finished quilt top.
I can hardly wait until this one is quilted!!
Scrappy Stars Quilt Top