A Pain In the Neck

Literally.  For about a month I've been dealing with pain in my neck, which (for the most part) has kept me from tackling any big projects.  A visit to the orthopedist this morning confirmed that I will need some physical therapy sessions, and a little less time at my sewing machine for the next few weeks.

This little 12-inch pillow is a gift for a friend, and is officially the last bit of Christmas deadline sewing I needed to get done.  I pulled out some of my favorite small pieces for this project, and decided to keep the design nice and simple with some improv.  Dense swirl quilting adds a fun little touch of whimsy, and Kona Basil makes a perfect Christmas green binding.

I love this large ornament print, and I had just enough of it for the back of this pillow.  This sweet little pillow is already wrapped up and under my tree, just waiting for Christmas!

Last week, there weren't very many links, as I suspect that most were into Thanksgiving prep mode (me too!), but the projects that were shared were wonderful!  Look at this quilt by Marie at Octopus Patchwork-

Anja Quilts linked up her lovely finished Potter's Wheel quilt-

and Micki at 2 Dogs Studio shared this stunner-

I sure hope you're rocking and rolling in your studio this week!  I can't wait to see what you're working on.  Let's party!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

Be Merry!

Happy Needle and Thread Thursday, friends!  I'm posting the party early to give you plenty of time to link up during this holiday week, and because today will be all about Thanksgiving prep over here.  This year, our family is staying home and enjoying a quiet Thanksgiving with just the three of us.  In my family, Thanksgiving dinner is a midday meal.  After we eat, we spend the afternoon watching football and decorating the Christmas tree.  Since I would rather not spend tomorrow morning scrambling around the kitchen in a frenzy, I will be preparing everything today, and tomorrow I'll just have to pull it out of the refrigerator and put it into the oven.

I finished up this fun raw-edge appliqué Christmas pillow just yesterday and I am so happy to share it.  This pillow was so much fun to make, and I'm excited to gift it to my friend for Christmas.

For the background of the pillow, I pulled lots of low volume text and cream scraps, along with a few bits of gold and sewed them together using the method from my book, Stash Statement.  The improv scraps create a great textured backdrop and allow the solid holly sprig and text to really pop.

If you're interested in making your own appliqué pillow, check out my tutorial HERE.  This tutorial is for my Home State Pillow, but once you understand the basic construction steps, you can easily change the shapes, text, and font to suit whatever occasion you desire.  The steps are the same, no matter what theme you choose!    ps-the font in my pillow is American Typewriter Bold.

I used Kona Rich Red and Kona Basil for my appliqué pieces, along with Aurifil 50 wt. colors #5016 (Olive Green) and #2265 (Lobster Red).  The slightly lighter shade of green thread adds some dimension to the holly leaves and keeps them from looking too flat.  I quilted the background with a dense stipple, leaving the appliqué unquilted.

  

I've had this holly print in my Christmas stash forever, and I think it makes a perfect backing;  and the Kona Rich Red binding creates such a great frame for it.  This pillow will be wrapped and under my Christmas tree just as soon as we finish decorating it after dinner tomorrow!

Let's take a look at some of the amazing projects linked up last week!  Liz at Savor Every Stitch shared her gorgeous waterfall quilt.

Look at this mesmerizing Colorwash quilt by Sew Preeti Quilts!

And Laura at Slice of Pi Quilts linked up this fresh and modern baby quilt.

I hope all of you in the States have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family, food, and fun!  Be sure to check back here on Friday.  I'll be highlighting some amazing Black Friday sales, including a discount code for my Etsy shop, but for now, mum's the word.  Now, let's party!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

CMM November Blocks

Okay, so I have a little confession to make.  I was so excited to finish the very last blocks of my Classic Meets Modern quilt that I totally forgot to take process photos.  I went right from finished blocks to a finished quilt top all in one day.  I only realized after the fact that my snowballs and flying geese didn't get pics all by themselves (and of course, unpicking was out of the question).  Even so, you'll still have to wait until December for the full quilt reveal!

ps- if you're looking for this week's NTT, you can find it HERE!

Rather than sticking with a consistent color scheme for my filler snowball and flying geese blocks, I decided to go all-out scrappy, using up plenty of my favorite leftover bits.

Instead of two different flying geese pointing outward from the center, I decided to substitute a single square on point;  and for my smaller flying geese, I did decide on a consistent gray background.  I thought that section of the quilt would have been a little too busy otherwise.

I love how using prints with this pattern gives it a completely different look from my original version with solids.  I can't wait to see all of your final blocks (and of course, your quilts!)  Okay, ya'll!  Let's see those snowballs and geese!

1.  If you're late to the party, it's okay!  You can get the Classic Meets Modern pattern in my Etsy or Craftsy shops (links on my right sidebar).  As long as you have a finished quilt top at the end of the QAL, you'll be eligible for the prizes.

2.  Remember, the link party opens on the 15th of each month, and will close at midnight CST on the last day of the month.  You can certainly link to the weekly NTT post if you like, but be sure to link your quilt along blocks to this party, so everyone is sure to see your progress.

3.  You don't have to have a blog to join in!  You can link to an Instagram post, or even a Flickr account.  Use the hashtag #classicmeetsmodernbomqal on Instagram!  If you do have a blog, grab a button to let everyone know you're participating!  You can get the button on my right sidebar.

Farmhouse II Lattice and NTT

Well friends!  After many hours of sewing, I am happy to report that my Farmhouse II quilt has been sent off to the longarm quilter, and I love the warm colors and simple pattern in this top.

We seem to have skipped right over autumn here in west Tennessee, which is a bit of a bummer because I absolutely love fall.  As I type this, we are actually waiting on our first snow of the season (which is unheard of for November in the Memphis area), and the days have been wet and dreary lately.  In a perfect world, I would have waited for a sunny day to properly show off the colors in this collection, but since time was of the essence, I settled for a quick cloudy day pic and then shipped it off for quilting.  I am super excited about the quilting pattern chosen for this quilt, and I can't wait to get it back!

Last week's party was late, but the projects linked up were fantastic!  I love this fall beauty from Danice at Homespun Hannah-

Sew Preeti Quilts linked up this scrappy quilt filled with fun, whimsical trees-

and finally, this gorgeous modern improv quilt is from Sophie at Luna Lovequilts-

Without further ado, let's get to the party!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

Playing Fabric Chicken

Happy Needle and Thread Thursday, friends.  My internet service was spotty yesterday, so I'm a little later than usual;  but hey!  It is Needle and Thread Thursday, so I am still calling it good.  I have just one big project left to finish before Christmas, and I'm using the Fig Tree Farmhouse II collection.  Ordinarily, in mid-November there would be plenty of time to get a quilt done before Christmas, but a few factors are making this finish a little tighter.

This quilt is going to be a queen sized (90" x 96), and it's going to a longarmer for quilting, which will take longer than finishing it myself.  As if that wasn't enough of a time crunch, this collection is brand new, and when I ordered it several weeks ago, I just prayed that there wouldn't be any manufacturer delays that would affect the release.  Also, my wonderful husband and I are celebrating 20 years of marriage on December 18th, and we are taking a little anniversary trip before Christmas (yay!!).  It's definitely a reason to celebrate, but it does mean that I have less time than it seems to get this quilt done.  Thankfully, I just received the fabric this week, and for the past several days, I've been cutting and piecing like mad to get this top put together ASAP.  As soon as I get it done, I'll be sure to get a quick picture before sending it off.

Before we party, check out some of the great projects from last week!  Sandra at mmm! quilts shared her Fallen Sky quilt-

Denise at For the Love Of Geese linked up this paper pieced beauty-

This Bowser pixel quilt by Jayne at Twiggy and Opal is so much fun!

And this scrappy Christmas tree wall hanging from Barb at Mountain Quiltworks is perfect for getting in the holiday spirit!

Okay friends!  Let's link up!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)