Post-Christmas Musings

     We had a lovely Christmas at the pickinstitchin household!  Family gatherings, good food, an unending Uno game with the grandsons, a beautiful candlelight Christmas Eve service and SNOW!  Yes, we had a little snow on Christmas Eve.  Just enough to cover the ground, but not enough to restrict travel to family activities and church services.

Here it is, falling softly on the deck, just before sunrise.

This is one of our recent sunrises, but not the snowy one.  Still beautiful.  Is it my imagination, or are the sunrises and sunsets more spectacular in the winter?

In addition to all of the Christmas preparations, my Early Work Mercantile update was posted on December 15th.  On Saturday, December 16th, we had lots of family here to attend our local theatre's production of A Christmas Carol and I was getting emails about purchasing the items from that post.  My previous updates had pretty lukewarm sales, but this one sold out in the first day!  So exciting!  Here they are.

Feather Tree Stocking went to New York state to live.    

This cute little doll quilt from CW fabrics went to Katy, Texas.

Hooked wool Snowmen.  I actually hooked 4 of these, but gave 2 to my oldest daughter for Christmas.  These went to El Paso TX, so will add some winter cheer to a warmer climate.  

Santa doll.  He went to live in Rome, NY.  

Frosty.  This was sewn from a white wool and came with a red scarf and a blue scarf.  He has a little pocket on the back to tuck a personal note or a small gift.  

Here is his cute face.  I actually sold two of these.  The extra one added some stress to my week before Christmas, but went to a really sweet lady in Texas, so it was worth it.  She also bought the  doll quilt, would love to see how she is using them.  

     My mind is spinning now about what to make for the January update.  I have seen some other snowman ideas, but also want to do something with hearts for Valentine's Day. 

Quilting

     This week, though, will be about finishing up the year with a flourish.  I am within a few yards of equalizing my fabric stash-in and stash-out numbers.  I would like to see it done, for once.  I usually buy more than I use.  Not a good situation for someone in my age group.  My children will not thank me for that.  I finished this quilt top a couple of weeks ago. 

 It had been languishing in the UFO pile for about three years, so it was time to bring it to the finishing stage.  It is a pattern by Homestead Hearth called Red Cross, so has some significance for me as a retired RN also.  I plan to start the quilting on it this week.  I've been thinking about the quilting (this is always my biggest decision of the entire process).  I grabbed this quilt for my Christmas Day nap and have decided I will use this design. 

It was an easy and fun design to do, so will be a good choice for the week.  No stress!

It shows up a little better with this picture.  

     I'll be back after I finish it and give a recap.  Meanwhile, I'll 

Keep on Stitchin.'

     Judy

Buried in Scraps

   I tried to store some 1-1/2" scraps last week and couldn't close either container (storage had already increased to 2 bins).  Something had to be done!  As a result, my sewing room is exploding with strips of fabric, the floor is covered from strips spilling out of those bins, and the 6 foot cutting table has a 12 inch spot free for any cutting.
    I looked at those bins and couldn't see any possibilities.  I had just read a blog post form someone else, that talked about sorting their scraps into color ways.  Maybe that would help.  So, I sorted and sorted, and sorted, and sorted………You get the picture.  I sorted into an autumn group, a red group, a neutral group and a black and white group.  The rest went back into the bins.  At least the lids would close now.   Now, what to make?  I love doll quilts, so they immediately came to mind.

I decided to stay with the Civil War theme for now.

I love those double pinks!

These are just from four-patches.  I haven't even thought about

 all of the other options.

 Of course, log cabins are always a good solution for 1-1/2" strips.  So I tried a quilt as you go version of a table runner.  Its even finished!  All of the doll quilts still need quilting.

Lately I've been attracted to the braid patterns.  Chevrons are so popular right now, so I decided to give that a try.  Here's a table runner from a braid pattern.  I think this could be quilted as you go, but didn't try it this time. 

I'm going to make an attempt to link up with Oh Scrap!  I love the name of Cynthia's blog and she always has great ideas for scrap quilting.  She is having a linky party this week, so here goes.  

Oh Scrap

http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/

Hopefully this works for you.  She has some great ideas so you can 

Keep on Stitchin'

Judy