Christmas Project Wrap-Up

I’m sitting down after a long holiday, watching White Christmas, laundry is underway, and I’m prepping to return to the real world tomorrow.

I hope you all got to enjoy the holiday and spend time with loved ones. We headed back home for the weekend/holiday and spent time with family, watched the final Star Wars movie, and of course, I spent time with my sewing machine.

I was able to finish up two projects - first, I finished my 2019 Perfect Half Square Triangle BOM and got it in to the quilter! PS - stairs help you with that perfected “mushed” quilt look.

This quilt Xander took a liking to, so it’ll be going with him to keep at his dad’s. Glad I got this done before the new year (on time) and can “legally” start my 2020 BOM quilt when January rolls around.

While I was at the quilter’s (Prairie Flower Crafts), I picked up my material for my 2020 Paper Chain BOM quilt. I’m being brave with this one and doing something I don’t normally do; use solids. The white does have a little pattern in it (white-on-white circles), but the rest of my material selection are solids and using this many solids is a new adventure for me.

I pulled fabric close to the fabric palette suggested in the pattern overview. I love seeing the color palettes used in the BOMs. The palettes are a big reason I enjoy these as they use colors and combos I wouldn’t think to use myself. It’s another way these BOMs challenge me; not only to learn a new skill, but new color ways as well.

Next, I pulled out a pattern I had on hand that looked like a quick project and whipped up a pillow cover in under a day. Yep, I cut, pieced, sewed, and quilted it all in a day. This is the Riding Mountain pattern from The Blanket Statement. I found this pattern creator on Instagram and love the simplicity of her designs. That, and the patterns have multiple size options. This one had pillow, wall hanging, baby, and throw sizes.

For this, I used the new line from Lewis and Irene Fabrics I picked up at Thanksgiving time. While I did quilt this on my own machine, I did it with my stitch-in-the-ditch foot instead of my quilting foot. I still need more practice with my quilting feet before I venture using them on an actual project and not scraps!

I don’t know where home will be for this project yet and it needs a bigger pillow form (I’m going to try to pick up tomorrow), but I’m enjoying it. The blues do match the color of my car…maybe it’ll become a travel pillow for us.

There’s a few days left here in 2019 and I’m looking forward to getting a few more projects in the done pile before kicking off 2020. And, in exciting news, I’ve started working on a few patterns - one my son even helped me with! So, maybe 2020 will bring a pattern release from yours truly!

Again, I hope your holiday season continues to be merry & bright! What are you working on to close out the new year? Leave a comment below and let me know!