Another Sock Monkey bed

I just love making these little sock monkey beds!



Once again I really enjoyed practicing my free motion quilting on this small project.



I have gotten pretty comfortable with quilting this design now.  I think next time I'll have to try something new.



Linking up to Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

More hexies and Christmas stockings

Despite all the sewing time I've had lately, I don't have much to show.  I'm mostly working on Christmas gifts, so I'll have to wait to share those projects.



I have made some good progress on my hexy mini quilt.  After showing a couple options for the background fabric back in this post, I ended up choosing something completely different.



Originally I thought I wanted a black and white background, but I think this green fabric makes the colors pop even more.  I'm done hand quilting it with pearl cotton, and now I just need to trim and bind it.

I have made some good progress on new Christmas stockings for my family.  



I'm planning to add a cuff and will probably embroider the name on each one too.  Hopefully I'll be able to get all 4 done before Christmas.

Linked to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. 

Finished quilt top and thread catchers

I have a couple small finishes and a completed quilt top to share today.

After seeing Amanda Jean's thread catchers last week, I decided it was about time to make a couple for myself.  I really needed one to use by my sewing machine, and one for beside the couch where I sit and do hand stitching projects.  



The first one I made ended up being a little tall and narrow.  It's almost the perfect size for a pop can.



The second one is more the size and shape I had in mind, but both will work just fine.



I also finished my quilt top and decided to call it Improv Stars and Stripes.



While laying out the blocks on the floor, I was reminded of my Swoon blocks.  Since those are 24" blocks, they fit in with my 12" blocks quite easily.



So once again, my plan for this quilt changed.  Originally I started out planning to do all 16 patch blocks using just two fabrics per block.



Then I decided to alternate with some stripes.



But I got bored with the stripes and checks too quickly.  The colors were similar, so I used my Farmer's Wife blocks, and just added borders to get them up to 12".



Now the king sized 16 patch quilt has turned into a queen sized quilt that looks like this.



This is definitely not what I originally planned, but I really like it.  I especially like that I was able to use both my Swoon blocks and Farmer's Wife blocks.  Those are two WIPS I can cross off my list now.  There are just always more projects that I want to make than what I have time for, and maybe combining them like this will be the solution for me more in the future as well.

Linked to Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

WIP Wednesday

I'm in the homestretch now, and I hope to have this quilt top finished by the end of the week.



This is a quilt made without a plan.  Well, more accurately, it's the quilt made with a constantly changing plan. 

I am kinda stalled on my hexies mini quilt, because I can't decide which background fabric to use.  I think I have it narrowed down to 2 options.

Option 1 is a text print from the line Mama Said Sew.





Option 2 is a crosshatch print from Summersville.





Do you have a preference?

Linked to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  

Friday Finish - AMH Skirt

Suddenly my daughter loves to wear skirts.  Thankfully they are pretty quick to make, and at her size they don't use much fabric.



This week I tried out the skirt pattern in Anna Maria Horner's All Set kid pattern.  I made the size 4, but used the size 5 length.  I also skipped the tie in the front.



She loves the pocket.  Now I just need to remember to check this pocket before putting the skirt in the wash.



This post is linked to Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Daycare Quilt

Here is a quilt that I made last year as a Christmas gift for my children's daycare provider.



They care so much about all the kids, so I really wanted to make them something special.  I got hand prints of all the kids (footprints of the babies), and made each individual block using a quilt as you go method.



Then I embroidered the names of the kids on the blocks.



To fill in the extra blocks, I used my favorite Loulouthi print bordered with a solid color.



I backed it with a Loulouthi flannel print, and tied the backing to the quilted front using pearl cotton.



The finished quilt size is 60" x 72".

Finish it up Friday

I've managed to have a very productive sewing week, despite being distracted by all the activity outside my window.  The critters have been very lively in my backyard.
   

First, I got a head start on a little Christmas sewing, and finished three more lined drawstring bags.  This time I made the snack size.

Second, I finished up a flannel quilted pillow sham.  I used some of the Loulouthi flannel scraps from the Log Mansion quilt I made last winter.



I had a lot of fun once again trying out some new stuff with the free motion quilting.  The fabric is busy so it doesn't stand out too much on the front.  That meant I knew any mistakes I made would be hidden, which made for another great practice piece.  

Finally, I got around to finishing a pair of pants for my daughter.  These are the reversible pants from Anna Maria Horner's All Set kids pattern set.  I started these a few weeks ago, and now that the weather is getting colder I decided I must finish them.



Hopefully I'll get a couple more pairs made yet this fall.

I'm not sure if all these finishes reflect how productive I have been as much as how many projects I had started and then set aside.  I tend to have several things going at a time, and this week I was in the mood to cross a few things off my list.

Linked to Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.