Christmas company and that new project!

My sister and husband arrived on Wednesday night, so we had fun giggling over old stories, and catching up on each other's news for a couple of nights. (I still had to work during the day...darn!) They left for my parent's home in Earling on Friday, so we will see them again on Christmas. We also have a sewing day planned for Sunday. I think some of my nieces and my daughter are going to start T-shirt quilts, so that should be fun helping them!

Purples and reds

 I spent yesterday cutting the rest of the strip-sets for the Honeycomb Waffle, Too quilt and put them on the design wall. Since my quilt will have 4 more blocks than the one featured in the book, I had to cut two more sets of strips so that I had enough. But there was plenty of fabric left,  so I had no problem doing that. I also cut a few extra strips for a working model for the class when I teach it in February. I will need more, but I want to use some more fabrics from my stash for that.

Greens

Oranges and blues

 As I put it all on the design wall, I kept wondering if I chose the right fabrics...I kept thinking maybe I should add one more set of 3 fabrics. I had deliberately made sure to keep the blue and orange sets lighter so that quilt wouldn't be too dark. You have to have good contrast or the 3-D details don't show up. Does anyone else have this problem? Second guessing as you go? I finally decided not to add, but use what I had purchased for it.

Five Honeycomb colorways

ABC 3-D Tumbling Blocks and More by Marcie Baker

 I am making the same size s the pattern in the book, but instead of  having three honeycombs in rows three and five, I will have five in each of those rows.  The colors aren't showing up great in these pictures as it was cloudy yesterday. I think this one shows them the best.

We are on holiday break at school now until Jan. 5! It's like being a kid again! I love it

I have some exciting news to share tomorrow and will be having some giveaways in celebration! See you then!

A new project....

Is it too close to the holidays to start a new project? Not when you have a deadline to get it finished! I had cut these five sets of three shades  last week, so have been itching to sew them together and see how they will work for my new project, Honeycomb, Too, from the book ABC 3-D Tumbling Blocks and More. Since I spent a good share of the weekend cleaning, I figured that I could sew without feeling guilty.

Easy strip sets, mindless sewing. I had to cut one set before I quit for the night so I could see how it looked. I hope to get some more cutting done soon and get all of the colors on the design wall.

My sister, Nancy, and her husband arrive tomorrow night for a short visit before they go to stay at our parent's house...she'll be here for about 3 weeks so we will have many family gatherings and a sewing day while she is here. One of these years, she is going to actually finish her quilt! You can see the post of last year's sewing day here. 

SewCalGal's Handmade Christmas Challenge

SewCalGal has posted the winners of her year long Handmade Christmas Challenge today. She has links to the winners blogs, so you can go back and check out some of those Handmade Christmas gifts and decor. I managed a few gift items and it was fun to think about and post about them months ahead of the big day. My posts are here and here.

 I applaud SewCalGal for encouraging us to make those Christmas items ahead. Challenges like this get us going when we sometimes need that push to motivate us. Thanks, SewCalGal!

Another bag, another pillow....they are so addictive!

I had to make one more small Whatcha Got? Bag out of this fabric. I decided to use an orange zipper for some pizzazz.

 What could YOU put in here?

I made another pillow to go with the pieced pillows I made last week. It reads as a solid, but is actually lots of blue and green lines. I think it looks nice with the others. 

I've been cleaning like crazy in preparation for my sister's visit. It's a good thing I have company once in a while! No class today, so more cleaning for me! Happy Saturday!

Marching along with Sue...

 The Sunbonnet Sue Sampler Club met Tuesday night to make Sue herself. It was their first attempt at using fusible webbing and they did a great job. They had fun choosing which of their fabrics to use for each part of Sue and traded some fabrics so they each had hands and shoes that worked.

 We spent some time admiring everyone's work so far....they all have their sashings cut and in some part put on the blocks.Some had already sewn theirs together into rows!

 It's interesting to see all of the color palettes used and their comments to each other about color choices.

 They meet one more time to make the ninth block in January.

Let's peek through the windows...

The weekend flew by. I taught the Modern Cathedral Windows class  on Saturday...what fun! It's always interesting to see what fabrics everyone chose and watch them come together. Rachel posted this kitty pillow that she made as a Christmas gift using my pattern on Facebook, so I wanted to share. She took the class last year. I like the way the cats are looking different ways so you always see one right side up no matter how the pillow is sitting. I love seeing finished projects from my classes!

Janese

Pretty and bright with snowflakes!

Alice

 She is making a quilt!

Bev

 Yummy blue batiks!

Diana

 She loves snowmen, so chose many little ones for her pillow. Unfortunately the pic is blurry, but you can see part of in the picture below. Sorry Diana! Maybe she will send me a finished pic!

Bev and Diana

I did some cleaning Sat. night and Sunday in preparation for my sister's visit. They are coming on the 17th for a 3 week stay in IA. Most of that time they will be at my mom and dad's, but they will stay with me for a couple of days when they get here. They like to do some shopping plus I get her all to myself for some chat time! I wish I could say I was finished cleaning, but not so. I will continue this weekend.

The binding is on... we have quilts!

Diane and Avis

The last session of Beginning Quilting met Thursday night to learn how to make and attach binding. Mission accomplished! Laural couldn't join us, so I hope to have a picture of her finished quilt soon too! That first quilt is so much fun and these ladies did a wonderful job. They are hiding their happy smiles, but they were there!

I'm teaching a class today on the Modern Cathedral Window Pillow. I've taught this technique quite a few times but it's always fun. I will also demonstrate the traditional, hand pieced method, which is a mystery to most of us when we see a finished Cathedral Window quilt. A lot of work, but gorgeous in the end.