December already?

I feel woefully unprepared for Christmas. One big present is off my list, but there's still an awful lot to do.

This top is on its way, though, to getting done.  At least I plan to have it done by Christmas -- "plan" being the operative word.

It was about time to do a HST quilt, and they look so good hanging in the window!

Plenty of sunshine these days here in Chicago, and also plenty of cold. Good for staying inside, making soup...and sewing!

Yellow & blue...

I seem to have yellow -- or maize, as they call it where I come from -- and blue on the brain.

But that's OK. I can live with it.

And another...

There are times when my scrap bin totally surprises me. Like a couple weeks ago, when I found about a strip set and about dozen pieces cut and ready to go. Why I never did anything with them is anybody's guess.

When I laid the pieces out, I did some quick calculating and figured I didn't have to do much more to turn them into a baby quilt. I still had plenty of all three marble fabrics, so I sewed up a couple more strip sets and made this:

All in the name of stash busting, of course.

(Not the best photo with questionable indoor lighting, sorry)

I kind of wish I'd lined up the back better with the quilting on the front, but that's a lesson learned. I suppose using coordinating thread in the bobbin would have made it less obvious. Lesson #2.

All in all, a good quick little quilt. And now more room in the scrap bin.

Yellow...

The sashing dispute has been settled. I went with yellow.

I also took Wanda's advice and took the stripes out all together, but it was just as I'd thought -- too skinny to finish it off without a border. I auditioned every color that appeared in the blocks, and the yellow just made it shine. Five inches of border on either side and three on the ends, it looked too symmetrical and predictable -- so I lopped a few inches off two of the sides to unbalance it a bit. Much better!

So happy to have this one finished! It's not any less bright than the original (especially with the addition of the wacky backing -- which I love), but at least it's not making my eyes hurt.

My entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival...

I'm entering "Split Infinitive" in the Blogger's Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side in the Small Quilts category.

Made from a pack of Kona charm-let polka dots, Kona Snow and a few other dotted scraps, these 210 2" (1.5" finished) half-square triangles went through quite a bit of rearranging before I ended up with this design. It's a little improv, a little traditional...kind of like me. The backing is a yellow dotted flannel to keep with the theme.

For all that work, it only measures 31" x 27" -- those triangles are tiny!

The house that Kate built...

I was going through some bins a couple weekends ago and found a pattern/kit for a Cat Cave that I'd bought several years ago -- and, of course, hadn't done anything with it. I know, it's an ongoing theme with me:  Things I Intended to Make but For Unknown Reasons Never Got Around To.

During the same scrounging session, I also found a leftover piece of orange minkee dot and some home dec fabric from Ikea that I bought to make curtains for my spare bedroom. I ended up using something not as heavy for the curtains, and kept the fabric because a) I loved it, and b) figured I could make something cool out of it someday.

Turns out, it was just the right weight for a Cat Cave.

I probably should iron those seams, huh? They're looking a little unfinished.

I used three layers of high-loft polyester batting + the minkee + a cotton backing for the bottom to make it nice and soft. It wasn't easy getting it all under the walking foot. I also added a layer of batting in addition to the fusible interfacing around the opening for more stability, then satin-stitched the edges.

Archie wasn't quite sure what to make of it. There was a lot of sitting next to it, and a lot of peering inside, but no venturing in for quite a while.

It took two weeks, but now it's his favorite place to nap while I'm sewing.

That's one happy cat.

Done!

Well, almost. I have a few threads to knot and hide, and it still needs to be washed. But Sister #3's 60th birthday quilt is 99.5% finished!

It measures 65" x 80", which should be perfect for the twin bed in her guest room. It's totally her colors, and I had enough of the calico-y blue print to complete the back, another great choice for her.

Wary of her allergies, I decided to use poly batting, and even found a roll up in the closet so I didn't have to buy any. But lessons are always learned the hard way, aren't they? The batting had probably been there for ten years, and over time, there were places where the fusible formed these weird, hard stringy globs that I had to pick off before I could even use it. Unfortunately I missed a couple of them, and after steaming they left small dark waxy spots (almost unnoticeable, but I know they're there) that I tried to pick up with a paper bag and the iron, with no luck. I'm hoping they will wash out -- the package label said it's water soluble, but who knows after this long?

I'm just glad it's finished and I can move closer to another deadline. Christmas is coming!