The holiday trifecta: A quilter's challenge

As any quilter knows our busy season is upon us. We have 3 major holidays upon us (Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the main event Christmas) plus the bonus round (New Years). People may complain that we rush the holidays by having Christmas merchandise in craft stores in August but those people don't know how much work it takes to finish quilted tree skirts, or Santa themed blankets under the holiday crunch.

As I said in my ghosts and goblins post I, like many other crafters, tend to skip over the pregame holidays (Halloween and Thanksgiving, and yes, my birthday) to dive headlong into that magical, musical, marshmallow world we call Christmas.

This is also the time of year that we see sales galore at Joann's, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby fill our craft rooms and fabric stashes with material and our pinterest boards go berserk with all the craft ideas while our UFOs (Unfinished Fabric Objects) and WIPs (Works in Progress) languish in the closet where we look at them guiltily. This Challenge lasts 3 months with a bonus month in January if you're a Type A overachiever (which I just happen to be).

The Challenge

Each Month (October, November, December, and January as a bonus). complete one of the following

• Something new
• Something unfinished
• Something scrappy

At lease one of these projects must be appropriate to the holiday in that month.

I'll be posting each of these projects as I complete them and would love to see what you all come up with!

Happy Crafting!

Sugar and spice and sewing

I am so excited to be the future favorite Aunt (that's right Dawn I said it) to baby Emily who will be making her appearance sometime in November. Of course I immediately started crafting for this little nugget as soon as her existence was announced.

I went back and forth with my sister to figure out a plan for the crib quilt ... I think she underestimated my abilities so I made the quilt she didn't know she wanted instead and she planned to buy the nursery bedding. 

I chose bright cheery fabrics and put in ruffles for emily to play with. 

 

Now I hate making something as beautiful as this and making a bland backing so I chose to make something personalized. 

 

I had enough fabric left over that I decided to make a car seat quilt. I found a great pattern on moda bake shop (http://www.modabakeshop.com/2012/02/sophie-car-seat-quilt.html)

I love the ties on the side to keep the little bundle of joy from kicking it off!

Now I know that she will outgrow these quilts but I wanted her to have something small that she could keep so I had the joy of giving her her first Christmas ornament. This was super simple I just got some glass ornaments from hobby lobby, wrapped some scraps around a pencil and stuffed them inside. Top it with a bow and voila!

 

Of course this story has a happy ending which leaves the manufactured (and boring) quilt at the store. She loved the quilt so much she is using that for the nursery and has asked me to make the crib skirt which, of course, will be shown here upon its completion. In short my quilt kicked the other quilts tush and that, my friends, is what we really do this for (if we are completely honest with ourselves).

 

Can't wait to meet you Baby E and don't worry between me and your Aunt Dawn we'll make sure you have plenty of homemade and monogrammed swag.

Ghosts and goblins

I'll admit it, I'm a huge Christmas nut. I often joke that I craft because it gives me an excuse to start Christmas in July. I often get so focused on Christmas I don't give Halloween, thanksgiving, or even my birthday the deference they deserve. This year I say no more!

This year to force myself to give Halloween the fist bump it deserves I have decided to make a Halloween quilt (I mean how else will I keep warm while watching the 13 nights of Halloween?). I grabbed a pattern off of Pinterest (linked below) that is super easy and headed off to Joann's to get fabric (more to follow on that fiasco later).

This pattern is very simple and can easily be knocked out in a weekend. I definitely recommend this if you're looking for a good one to start with. The top is almost completely pieced so I'm working on determining what to do with the back. I've designed a jack-o-lantern pattern that will help me (1) get rid of some scraps (the bins that hold my stash are already about to burst) and (2) not be one of those boring people that makes a plain quilt back. Can't wait to show you all what it looks like!

Quilt tutorial link: http://thelittlefabricshop.blogspot.com/2012/10/halloween-chevron-quilt-tutorial.html?m=1