The quilt of generations

I can finally post about this quilt which took me all fall to make. About 3-4 years ago, I was given a stack of antique quilt blocks by my mother in law from her side of the family. We think they were assembled by her mother and possibly her grandmother too. There's really no telling how old these squares are. They were hand pieced and made from old flour sacks and work clothes. (They're fabulous).

The squares were amazing. But they'd also sat neglected for decades. This year I decided to assemble them into something my inlaws could appreciate. Their Christmas gift was a California King sized quilt made from 16 of the 30+ squares I have. Though the squares themselves weren't really in colors that suited my husband's parents' taste, I decided to make do and work with fabrics that drew the quilt into their color palette.
I traded fabric with friends and was able to shove all this fabric through my tiny machine's throat to make the top and back. Then to make sure these delicate squares would be forever preserved, I had my friend Lisa Alexakis quilt it on a longarm machine. She did a beautiful job and I was able to bind it and give it as a gift this Christmas.
I'm very excited about these squares being used finally. I'm also thrilled to be the one woman who finally finished this project after decades of women touching it and passing it down. It feels like I'm a part of a wonderful legacy. And now it finally gets to be used.

Nice gifts for nieces

My sister has three great girls. (And a cute baby boy!)
Making original gifts for three different sisters can be tough. But I had a lot of fun with these. For the oldest, a Star Wars fan and reading enthusiast, I got this amazing Spoonflower fabric and had fun making every random bag I could for her from them. Perfect for going to the library and loading up.
The second, "the artsy one" got a patchwork tote and pouch embroidered with her name. (Along with art supplies!)
The littlest one is in preschool and I loved using this Robert Kaufman fabric "dollhouse" line to make dolls and matching bags for her.
Baby brother will also be getting a tote/book bag, some beanbags to throw and an awesome ball...
And other cousins get other gifts... Pics to come.

Christmas Quilt #3

Here it is.
I love this quilt. It's backed in the softest flannel sheet (from The Company Store) and its so happy to wake up under it every day. The layout was stumping me until a fellow guildie suggested the tree layout (LOVE!)

I could not be happier with this quilt.
I'm so happy I made it to enjoy this year.

Christmas Quilt #2

Here's Z's quilt. He loves it. The layout is so simple, and perhaps would have been different if I weren't trying to make EQUAL quilts, but we are all happy with them and there are no complaints.

In all honesty, I've been sewing nonstop all month - trying to get these gifts cranked out. But my priority was these quilts. I wanted to finish them by Dec 9. And I did!

I'll have to wait to do the big reveal of all the other sewing I did for gifts after they're given. I know, lame, and not very inspiring, but secrets are secrets!

Christmas Quilt #1 (what I've been doing)

As long as I can remember, I have been wanting to make a Christmas quilt. I began collecting fabrics for it before I ever knew how to quilt.
Last year with my Bee Happy girls, when it was my turn, I asked them to make Christmas blocks. I send the fabrics to them asking for one block each. They sent back THREE each. Which were amazing and beautiful and utterly overwhelming! What was I going to do with so many blocks? (Ahem: make Christmas bed quilts for all the beds in the family)

I set aside all of the Christmas tree blocks to make a tree themed quilt for my bed, and divided up the rest into two EQUALLY awesome piles for my two very competitive kids (who would notice if one person's quilt was cuter than the others')

Then on the LAMQG retreat, I cranked out the three quilt tops. My goal was to maybe finish the quilts in time for Christmas 2013. But my friends encouraged me that with my new machine (still need to post about it) that it would be a lot easier than I thought to finis these up. So by the end of the weekend, both of the kids' twin size quilts were quilted up and my king size quilt was basted.

The first to be completed was Mimi's quilt. She was thrilled and cuddled under it the first time she was sick this month while watching movies. It's been on her bed ever since.

I just have this amazing happiness when I walk into their rooms and see my little people sleeping under their Christmas quilts. How amazing to be a little kid and wake up every day in December, knowing its Christmas before you are even out of bed? The very thought makes me happy.
(Them too, they're already talking about how sad they will be to put them away)