The countdown clock is ticking...

Well, it's that time again -- less than a week until Christmas, and all those projects we should have been working on since June but started just after Thanksgiving need to be finished!

I just put the binding on my last Christmas quilt, to be delivered tonight. I still have to clean up some loose threads, but this one is DONE! It's destined for my girlfriend's vacation home in northern Michigan, where I'm hoping it will be well used.

Where there's a photo op, there's Archie

I'm slowly but surely working my way through my rather large stash of flannel, specifically the pine tree print I used for the sashing and backing here. I had visions when I purchased the bolt of making oodles of snuggly flannel Up North quilts. This is #3, so I have a few more to go. How many constitutes an "oodle," anyway?

In the zone...

Sometimes when I'm really into a project, I get in The Zone and can sew for hours. I'll even forget to eat.
 

Luckily, though, I have someone to provide some not-so-subtle reminders...

that it's time for dinner.

What would I do without him?

When the fabric speaks...

...I listen.

The bulk of my stash has been mute for way too long, and it's piling up. So when a package of batik strips piped up (Tonga Coffee Cake) and offered itself as a sacrifice to a plus pattern, I didn't have much choice but to pay attention and get stitching.

Positive Thinking, 60" x 44"

It wasn't until I hung it up that I realized how perfect the colors are for my living room, so it's a shame that I won't be keeping it.

Then again, this one doesn't have to be quilted for a while, so I have a few months to reconsider...or make something else. Maybe I should go back to the stash and see if I hear anything?

Thinking positively...

This top is not a Christmas gift, nor does have any kind of looming deadline (next summer!).  But I made the mistake of combing through my stash on Saturday in search of a piece of backing and found a package of batik precuts I'd forgotten about.

I put it back where I found it, but I woke up with the idea of making a "plus" quilt on Sunday morning and couldn't shake it. By Sunday night I realized that idea wasn't going anywhere, so I started cutting.

The first half of the pack

Sometimes it's just better to give in.

In the meantime...

I'm still working on this top, but the stack of leftovers from the original Modern Workshop (Oliver + S) layer cake was cluttering up my sewing space and getting in the way.

So I chopped it up and made another one.

I think the two quilts will play nicely together!

Late to the party...

Well, where have I been that I missed the kickoff to Amy's Bloggers' Quilt Festival? Crawling under a cottage to drain the pipes, perhaps? Cleaning gutters at my parents' house? Prioritizing my list of yet-to-be-started Christmas projects? All of the above?

It's a little repetitive, but I'm entering the quilt from yesterday's post. I'm proud of it because after several attempts at patterns for the fabric my mother had picked out in early 2006, I was finally able to settle on one and FINISH IT. I'm sure she's forgotten all about it (or given up on ever seeing these fabrics again), so it will be a fun surprise for Christmas.

The learning from this project is this: sometimes trying to force a pattern just doesn't work. Sometimes simple (and easy!) is the best, and let the fabrics speak for themselves. I just wish I'd figured that out five years ago!

So here it is. It ain't fancy, but I love it.

Want to see more entries in the Festival?  Go here:

Ushering in the Season of Panic...

Well, the cottage is all buttoned up for the winter, and I've said goodbye to the sunset side of the Big Lake. Back in Chicago, it's time to really get working on all those projects that need to be done in the next seven or so weeks!

The zinnia quilt is complete. I'm really happy with the boldness of it, and I've totally fallen in love with the French blue in the upper right of this picture.

The quilt matches the cottage, but it's not staying here!

I couldn't get a good picture of the whole quilt out on the beach -- too much sun was messing with the contrast.  But what a great complaint to have the first week in November! It was close to seventy degrees on Tuesday, which made closing up the house seem a little premature. But it's the wacky-weather Midwest, and it could very well be snowing in a week (it's in the forties and raining today), so leaving on a high note was the right thing to do.

I'm very glad Jacquie talked me into going with a black and white binding. I was going to use one of the zinnia prints (kind of boring), and this one gives it a little more zip.

How's everybody doing on their gift list? Panicked yet, like me?