I'm still sewing trees...

Libby wrote a very nice post about getting less done than she had envisioned this week and well, it happens to the best of us. I'm still plugging away on the tree blocks. Slower than I thought, but life has a way of distracting you at times and begging for attention. I could still have them completely done and ready for quilting by Monday...that's the goal anyway. I have both the red and white blocks done waiting to be trimmed once I find the final size. I started the green pile yesterday afternoon and stopped so I could make dinner and watch a movie with my sweetie. The rest...cross your fingers...might be done tonight. It's iffy, but possible. Wish me luck.

I picked up some more Debbie Mumm snowman fabric for the back at JoAnns Thursday and bought the last 8 yards of Warm and Natural they had in the place since I had my 40% off coupon. I like it for heavier, machine quilted quilts. But I need to order a 40 yard roll the next time from online instead.

Happily, we got all the normal chores, errands, and grocery shopping, etc. done this morning, so we don't have to brave the stores tomorrow. Except for some online things I need to get ordered for Christmas tomorrow, I'm staying out of the stores and home with my machine!

A much happier place to be!

**UPDATE: I noticed on a few blogs when I tried opening the picture for the larger view that instead of getting the big picture I got asked what I wanted to view it with?? or download it? This isn't the normal choice, but I'm guessing a new thing with Blogger. if you choose to download, it saves it to my desktop where I can open it and then have to delete it off. I can also chose to view it in something like Paint or Picasa..but it's a hassle none the less. So sorry to anyone who gets this new option. Not my fault, not something new I am doing...just something Blogger has evidently decided to do rather than host the larger jpeg picture anymore.

New projects...

It's not like I don't have plenty of current projects going at the moment, but sometimes you just shove a few more in there to keep you on your toes. I knew just what I was going to do next. A Christmas Tree quilt done in the "chop and re-sew" manner. I've had the FQ's already picked out and tucked away with the pattern waiting to be done for this Christmas all year, but I got a late start. Better late than never I say.

Sunday I started ironing all the FQ's and lining them up on top of each other for cutting. 10 FQ each of red, greens, and cremes in my case. Laid out and cut on the lines. These is the white and green backgrounds waiting their turn for sewing.
Once I got all the pieces ready for cutting, I started sewing the group with red backgrounds yesterday afternoon and got all but the last 2 seams done last night after hubby went to bed. This morning I got all the red background pieces finished and ready for trimming. I have to wait until all the blocks are done to find the final block size.

With any luck, I hope to have this tree quilt done and on the wall after this weekend. I realized yesterday I am sorely lacking in Christmas quilts. I put up my only finished quilt last night and thought I would share it again. I think this was one of my very first quilts. I call it Christmas Star.
I have a few more things to make for this year. I need to adapt Marcie's Tree Topper pattern into a new tree skirt. I hope to get that finished next week and under the tree. I also would love to get a copy of Libby's Christmas Angel done. I'm not as confident of getting that one done, but I'll cut the fabric strips and make the blocks while I sew other things. If it doesn't get finished for this year, I'll have a big head start on next years decorating.

New BOM started...

I started a new BOM called Sweet Land of Liberty today and got the first section done.
I'm using what I call faux paper piecing. You don't sew through the paper, but right next to it, thus not having to rip off pieces of paper. I posted a detailed description of the technique on my blog last summer and also over on the Sweet Land of Liberty group BOM. You can find both links on my sidebar for the technique and the group blog. Now I'm going out to work on my needlework bag for a while and watch some tv. Have a nice Sunday tomorrow!

Happy Thanskgiving Everyone...

Make sure to pace yourselves and eat in shifts so you don't blow any buttons! We are staying home this year and enjoying ham and all the trimmings. No turkey this year, and I really am not going to miss it one bit. I've got lots of things to fill the void...and the tummy!

Like my paperweight? How can I possibly read anything with that big tub-o-fur on my table...not that I'll read but a few of the ads anyway. Poor hubby almost got a hernia lifting today's newspaper. Why must they get so overindulgent with all the ads? Years ago I would be right there, but you couldn't find me within 2 miles of a mall these days. I stay home and skip the whole thing now. I'm off to do my Jumble and Celebrity Cipher and do some pre-cooking cleaning. Hope you all enjoy the day with your families!

Buckeye Queen finished...

Here's the finished Buckeye Queen quilt. Does everyone name all their quilts? I don't think it's all that necessary on every quilt, so I'll skip it this time. It was a very easy quilt made simple by a good pattern.

I stuck with my plan to just cover it all with a simple medium meandering and it worked out very well. I used an Aurifil color (#1318) that Libby shared about a year ago and blends with almost every fabric color very well.

Thanks Lynda! It's going on the sofa ready for use on cold winter days.

Little Red Schoolhouses...

Cute isn't it? I wasn't planning to sew this today but I finished cutting the background pieces and was so intrigued at what size they would end up, that I just kept going. These are super tiny little schoolhouses! They finish at 3 1/2 inches! I don't know that I'll do all the quilts in the book, but a few of them really caught my eye. This was one of them. Now I'll spend the night getting my binding sewn down on the Buckeye Queen.

Here's where I am this weekend...

I got most of the quilt pinned last night but dinner was getting late and my back was feeling the strain of all the standing. I took this picture before I finished pinning. Now, Buckeye Queen is all pinned and in a few minutes I'm going to start quilting. Hopefully it will only take a few hours to do a nice overall meandering.

My husband got up this morning and was at the Red Cross at 6:30 am for his platelet donation. Normally they give out t-shirts but this morning he got the neatest kitchen apron. I thought it was so clever that you would appreciate seeing a picture.

Can you read what it says?