Churn Dash Quilt

Oh, Friends. It seems the weather is out to thwart any decent photos I might get of this quilt, so I leave you with the one.

Here is my churn dash quilt. The end.

No, I'm just kidding. There is so much more to say about this quilt! Five people other than myself made the 16 blocks for the front of this quilt. Three other people pitched in to purchase the batting and backing material. I pulled the binding from stash, and that is how this quilt came to be. I'll be popping it in the mail next week to Washington, IL for an individual or a family affected by the November tornadoes.

To be able to make this quilt was a huge honor, and I am extremely thankful to all of the lovely people (Anna, Sarah, Francesca, Karen, Barbara, Deirdre, Jenny, Renee) who helped me with this endeavor. I included a label on the back of the quilt with everyone's first name and the city they are from so that the recipient knows that people all over the country are thinking about them. (I think the label is my favorite part of the quilt!)

I'm linking up with TGIFF hosted by Gingersnaps Quilts and Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

All the Baby Stuff.

One of my Q4 2013 FAL goals was to sew up a bunch of stuff for my niece. (Other than her rockin' quilt, of course.)

I did not get as much sewn for my niece as I had wanted. I had big plans to sew her a stuffed turtle and some of those amazing knick knack knickers that Anna Maria Horner designed, and none of that came to be. The turtle pattern printed off a half an inch too small, and I haven't had a chance to reprint it. And I haven't even tried to print off the AMH pattern. I just don't have any time.

I did sew up some baby stuff this fall though, and while it wasn't all for my niece, it was all well-received, and if I can get through 2013 alive--seriously, I'm a little worried!--then I can pick up more sewing for her in the new year.

I made bibs using this pattern by Heather Bailey and ModKid's Rendezvouz fabric line for Joann Fabrics. One used the fun print above, and the other used the blue-green textured solid print from the line. (I've really enjoyed these fabrics, and I'm a little bummed I only have a bit left.)

A color book based on a picture I saw from Angela from Cut to Pieces. I also made a small book using 4" fussy cut novelty charms, which apparently I do not have a photo of.

Crayon roll-up. These are a bit of a pain to sew, but I really enjoy the look of them when they're all done.

Baby Toms. Pattern here. I'm halfway through a second pair, but this pair broke two needles and the final step was brutal since they are SO tiny, so I've been holding off. Maybe I'll get the nerve to finish the second pair sometime next year? I hope so! I selected the cutest heart print! With a hot pink lining!

I also finished the large Noodlehead pouch for my sister. It's a great size to carry a couple of diapers and wipes, and I used the Geekly Chic glasses fabric I backed my niece's quilt with, but apparently, I didn't take a photo of that either. LAME. I have the fabric cut and the interfacing fused onto another identical pouch, so if I can get that finished up soon, I'll snap a photo, and we'll call it good, right? Right.

You can see my original FAL Q4 2013 list here. I'm really excited because I only have one item left on my list! But it's a big one, so I'm really not sure I'm going to get it done. I'm going to try though!

Are you FAL-ing it?

FF: Stocking Love.

Hi Friends! It's Friday. (Eep! I'm so excited! The weekend is almost here!) Today, I'll be sharing the Christmas stockings I recently made. I wasn't planning to make them this year, but when I pulled out our sad, sad stockings--mine had a hole in the bottom--I knew something had to be done. And voila!

I'm so happy I decided to make them, even if they were a gigantic pain to make. But can we talk about how big of a pain they were? Thanks. This is why I love you all. First, I couldn't find a tutorial I liked, so I figured I would find one that sort of worked and modify it. Do you know how many stocking tutorials there are? Kajillions. Then, I couldn't make the one I did find seem to work. I finally just scrapped the idea of using someone else's awesome and drafted my own pattern, figuring it out as I went along. (I measured one of our existing stockings and went from there.)

Bet you can't guess which one is mine. :) My oldest son helped me pick out fabrics for his stocking, even accompanying me to the fabric store to select the cuff fabric. He wanted a blue stocking, and his brother wanted a green, and Mr. Audrey said he'd go for red, so that made picking my color of stocking oh-so difficult. I know. Hot pink is such an out there choice for me. You were probably expecting brown, right?

And while they were super annoying to piece, and it took me much longer than it should have to finish them, I'm so happy now that they're done. My oldest is so excited about his blue stocking, even though this is really the first year he'll have a stocking. Between these and my advent calendar, I'm done sewing holiday decor for the year, but next year I'm hoping to get a tree skirt under my belt.

I'm linking up with TGIFF at Quilt Matters and Finish It Up Fridays at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Churn Dashes!

Hi Friends!

As you may know, I'm putting together a churn dash quilt to send off to victims of the recent tornadoes that hit the midwest. And I had several lovely ladies mail me blocks so that I wouldn't have to do this all by my lonesome!

Blocks from Anna.

Blocks from Francesca.

Blocks from my quilting sensei K and her mama.

Blocks from Sarah.

And these are five of the six that I've made. Today, I'll be piecing the blocks together, and I hope to have this basted and quilted really really soon! Isn't this going to be a fabulous quilt? I'm so excited to see it come together, and I'm so thankful to everyone who sent me blocks. (Thank you!!!)

I should also mention that I had a handful of lovely friends (Jenny, Deirdre, Renee) send me financial donations via paypal, which almost entirely covered the cost of batting and backing. So thank you to them too! I'm always amazed by the generosity of others. I know the world can be a really ugly place, but sometimes, it's not. Sometimes, people are just nice and kind and unselfish. And I'm really really glad to see that.

I'll post more updates as I get this lovely put together. I'm so excited to get it done and in the mail. I'd like to have it ready by Christmas. Fingers crossed!

FF: Sisters' 10 BOM Top

I really should be posting pictures of my finished Sisters' 10 quilt, but today, I've only got the top for you. I'm making this quilt for my husband for Christmas, but two tornado relief quilts have nudged their way into the queue, and my husband has graciously told me that any time the quilt is done is fine. (Which is really very sweet since he's been excited about getting his own quilt since January when I started the BOM.)

The quilt is a big one. 78" square, peeps. 78". And I am somehow going to feed this puppy through Agatha's throat space. I'll get it done, but I am fully aware that the largest quilt I've quilted to date is 60" x 80", so this one will be special.

The blocks were all very different, requiring a number of different components (HSTs, QSTs, and a few other tricks I hadn't gotten around to trying yet). The only problem I ran into is that I didn't purchase all of my gray solid when I first started piecing the top, and by the time I got to piecing the negative space, I realized that I didn't remember what kind of solid it was. I was pretty sure it was kona, so I tried kona coal. Nope. I thought it might be kona steel because I'd purchased some for a bee block, but I didn't want to order 2 yards and realize that wasn't it either. So I finally ordered a swatch of kona steel, which thankfully matched. Some people may have been okay with a close gray, but it would have given my husband heart problems. (He's an engineer.) The rest of the fabric is Center City by Jay McCarroll and a handful of unidentified solids.

I've yet to decide on how to quilt this one, especially the negative space, but I have a few ideas, and I'm excited to see this one done. (Eventually. Probably next year if I'm being entirely honest. Sorry, Husband.)

I really enjoyed participating in this BOM from Gen X Quilters, and I really appreciate AnneMarie for making it available to us. Thanks, AnneMarie! At this point, I won't be participating in a BOM for 2014 because I'll be in two, maybe three bees, and I don't want to kill myself. And that's really unfortunate because AnneMarie's Vice Versa BOM looks totally amazing, and I love the finished layout. (We'll see if I cave and do it anyway.)

Thanks for stopping by, Friends! I'm linking up with TGIFF at Quokka Quilts and Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts! (Also, can I just say, Happy 200th post to me?)

Finished Advent Calendar.

I know I showed you an almost identical picture a week or so ago, but I've since painted my clothespins and added numbers. Those numbers, man. It was impossible to find something locally that I liked that was in the right colors that wasn't going to break my wallet. So I bought those kraft tags for $3 and wrote numbers on them. It's not the awesomest, but you know what? I'm happy with them. I first painted the pins with hot pink spray paint, let them dry, then sprayed them with silver glitter spray. (And they look awesome.)

I purchased a new ornament for everyone in the family, and we started off advent by hanging them on our tree. I had a bear of a time deciding on twenty-four activities that were relatively inexpensive yet still relevant for two toddlers that taught them service and kindness but also allowed them to have fun and didn't require being outside in the cold too often. But the list is made, and we'll see how this year goes. (If you have a really awesome idea up your sleeve, please leave me a comment and share it with me!)

Happy December 1st!

Edit: Barbara asked me to share my list, and why didn't I think of that? Here is my list of activities for Advent. We are also reading a portion of the Nativity story each morning. This is in no particular order, and we will be recycling a few throughout advent. I should also mention that we aren't doing Santa with our kidlets, so that rules out a number of choices or makes them more difficult than I'd like.

• Hang up a new ornament
• Make red and green play dough
• Ride the carousel at the mall
• Read Christmas books
• Watch a Charlie Brown Christmas
• Sing and dance to Christmas carols
• Draw/Color Pictures for our friends and family
• Make Christmas cookies
• Decorate Christmas cookies
• Deliver Christmas cookies (yes, three days of cookies)
• Participate in a toy drive
• Have a visit with a special friend
• Visit Daddy at work and take a coffee break
• Drink hot cocoa
• Wrap brother's Christmas gift
• Go look at Christmas lights
• Fingerpainting
• Make a gingerbread house
• Ride the Christmas train at the mall
• Help Daddy make a fire
• Spend special time with Daddy
• Take a bike ride with Daddy (depends on the weather--will be replaced by snow activities if it snows)
• Write a thankful letter
• Take canned food and other non-perishables to the food pantry

So that's our list. I'm assuming it will snow at least twice, providing extra snow activities. I'm sure we'll read Christmas books more than just once. Ditto Christmas carols. I wrote down all of my ideas, and then used this list from Adriel Booker when I got stuck and couldn't think of anything else. When the kids get older (my oldest isn't yet four) we'll venture into new territory, but for now, watching the boys get all giggly about hanging their new car ornaments made me smile.

Churn Dash - 15" Finished.

Hi Friends! I really appreciate the response I got yesterday on my call for churn dash blocks. Hooray! I've decided to go with a 15" finished churn dash in hopes of getting 16 blocks for a 60" square quilt.  White background fabric (any kind is fine, but I'm using Kona White) and some sort of bright fabric to make a churn dash like this one:

(We had a brief spot of sunny weather, but as you can see, we are back to crummy overcast yuck.)

I know the churn dash is a pretty standard block, but here is a refresher course just in case. However! Before you start cutting your fabric based on the linked tutorial, those measurements are for a 12" block. To make a 15" finished block, you'll need:

Fabric A (aka, white background fabric)

• 5.5" square (1)
• 6" square (2)
• 3" x 5.5" rectangle (4)

Fabric B (aka, bright happy fabric)

• 6" square (2)
• 3" x 5.5" rectangle (4)

That's it! Easy peasy, right? Thanks again to everyone who is sending me a block, and I'll be sure to post progress shots as I get the blocks sewn together.

And because I couldn't wait to get started on something for the Washington, IL quilt call, I started piecing this top yesterday and finished it during nap time today. I saw a version of this quilt on Diary of a Madfabriholic, and I knew I wanted to make a version sometime. I didn't expect I'd be making one so soon! It's a Moda Bakeshop Tutorial by Katie of Swim, Bike, Quilt, and I used one pack of Sweetwater's Noteworthy with Kona Coal for the background. I feel like the Coal is a bit too dark, but I had a bunch on hand, and that's how things work in this casa.

This top came together in no time! I didn't get too scrappy with my stripes. Katie had recommended cutting the pieces into different lengths, but I was trying to conserve as much fabric (and time) as possible, so I cut a handful of strips into 2.5" squares and intermixed them with the 2.5" x 5" pieces. The one charm pack almost got me through the entire quilt, though I did have to throw a few random pieces of fabric in at the end--one at the top that is really noticeable, oops! Even still, I'm pleased with the quilt top. Now, sandwich, quilt, bind, then done!  That's take like...two minutes, right? Right.

Quilt Love for Washington, IL.

Hi Lovelies. Some of you may know that I live in the midwest, and recently, over 80 tornadoes hit the area. I'm okay, and my family is okay. Our house suffered no damage. In fact, the storm system that caused the tornadoes slid right past us, leaving us with rain, severe winds, and loss of power in some areas, but my community is fortunate to have our homes and our lives. (Thank God.)

I know that the holidays are a really busy time when it comes to sewing, preparation, Thanksgiving meals, and everything else that is on our plates, but every time I see footage of the shoot, I'm devastated by the fact that 1) these people's lives will never be the same again, and 2) their holidays definitely won't look the way they'd expected.

This morning, Faith of Fresh Lemons Quilts posted about a way to help that she heard about from Quilt Crazie. There is a local quilt shop in Washington, IL called Peddler's Way that will be taking quilt, pillowcase, and finished pillow donations. They've also included a list of other donations that would be helpful. (I started crying when I saw underwear and socks, I can't even IMAGINE not having those.)

I'm not sure I can put together an entire quilt from scratch, and at first I figured I would just make a couple of pillowcases, but *then* I had this thought that if I made a few blocks, and a handful of you all sent me a block or two, I could get a top pieced and a quilt put together quickly. I'd put a label on the back including everyone's names and where they're from so that the recipient knows that people are thinking about them from all over. Would y'all let me know in the comments if you're interested in sending a block or two my way? Be sure to leave your email address if you're a no-reply blogger. I would like them ideally by December 9th, with the hope that I can get the top pieced and in the mail by the following Monday. (Ambitious? Yes. But this cause is kind of worth it.) As for block details, I'm leaning towards a churn dash because who doesn't love a churn dash? If I can get 16 blocks, we'll do a 15" version. If I can get 25 blocks, we'll do a 12" version. I'd like a finished quilt of 60" x 60". (Or dare I say, even bigger than that? Or enough blocks for two? EEP! I'm getting ahead of myself.)

If you know of anyone else who might like to jump on board, please pass on the information from Quilt Crazie. You all are fabulous, and I'm so grateful to be a part of such a giving online community. Oh! And thank you!

SS: Lucha Libre Edition.

Friends, oh Friends. Today is an amazing Sunday Stash Update, and I'll be linking up with Fiona at Finding Fifth.

I have a few lovelies for you today, and something that is not lovely, per se, but totally awesome nonetheless.

Some Lizzy House 1001 Peeps. I absolutely love this line, and I have one of the other purple prints for an eventual dress for me. I thought this print would make an awesome border around the bottom of the skirt.

Summersault. It was on sale for $4/yard, so I may have scooped up four yards. I've loved this print since it first came out, but didn't have a plan for it, so I never bought any. But at $4/yard, I don't have to have a plan. I'll use it for backing, or more likely, another dress for me. (I want a dress for every day of the week. Good plan, right?)

And the piece de resistance, this Lucha Libre print from Alexander Henry. I know, right? Awesomeness. I never thought I would actually buy anything like this, but my husband absolutely adores the movie Nacho Libre, and now that I have the top of his quilt finished (I'll show you Friday), it's time to get a backing pieced and get this bad boy sandwiched and quilted. I only managed to get a yard because some other Lucha Libre crazy peeps snatched up the rest, but I think a yard of this is enough for greatness.

The Post-Op Patient.

My patient survived the surgery. If you missed my initial post, I made my youngest son a quilt. Two weeks later, there were two nasty (unexplained) holes in the top that thankfully didn't extend to the batting or the backing fabric. Here are the before pics:

I was more than a little grumpy. 

After reading a bunch of lovely and sweet comments, I decided to machine sew patches over the holes, hoping that the quilt's scrappy nature would allow them to blend it, or at the very least, not look absolutely terrible.

Following one suggestion, I decided to machine-sew the patches down instead of handstitching them. My youngest is rough and tumble, and hand-sewn patches just aren't going to last long. 

I don't usually pre-wash my fabric unless I'm using it for garments, but I had a feeling if I used unwashed fabric patches, it was opening up a door for shrinkage and worse problems, so I rooted around through my scrap drawer and managed to find that leaf print from my second quilt when I still pre-washed, and a navy scrap from Marie's backing, which was pre-washed by my long-armer because she was worried about bleeding.

And to be honest, I don't hate them as I was expecting to. In fact, my husband really liked the look of them and suggested I sew them all over the top. (I informed him that I was pretty sure this wasn't an isolated incident, and I would probably be performing future quilt surgery, so more patches are inevitable.)

I'm not as crazy about the back, mostly because I really liked the look of the diagonal lines, and those rectangles kind of wreck that for me, but it could have been worse. Handsewing the patches would have eliminated this problem, but again, the longevity of the machine-sewn patches outweighs the aesthetics. Let's hope there isn't any more quilt surgery in my near future!

Thanks again for all of your help and lovely comments. They definitely helped in the decision process, but also to make my heart feel better.

FF: Advent Goodness.

Hello Lovelies! With winter and dreary weather ahead, I am happy for the loveliness of the quilt blog community. Even if it looks yucky outside--which trust me, it looks yucky outside--I can look at the pretties that my friends have made and check out other quilters' finishes and be surrounded with beauty, even if it is only virtual. So thank you for being a part of that and being a part of my quilt blog!

Sorry to get all mushy there, but it had to be said! And while you may not have visited to hear me wax on about the importance of loveliness, never fear! I do have a finish for you today, and I'm pretty pleased with it, even if the yucky outside doesn't lend a hand to my very amateur photography skillz.

Bam! Advent calendar. I made a really really ugly one last year, which I didn't even use--no, you cannot see a picture of it--and I couldn't bear the thought of that being my only option again this year. I've been looking at advent calendar tutorials since the summer, and when I found one at Skip to My Lou, I knew it was the one for me. The tutorial was really easy to follow, the entire thing was easy to sew, and the most annoying thing about it was cutting all of the fabric and making the color combinations! (Which means, not that annoying at all.)

There is still work to be done, but finishing this a week before Thanksgiving gives me room for that. I wish I had room to spread the envelopes out more, but there just isn't a good place in my house for this. I'm not thrilled with the hanging utensils, but I knew I needed to get an eyeball on what this looked like before I committed to nails, and I'm glad I did. I need to spray paint the mish-mash of clothespins that I picked up for $1.25. I think I still have some chocolate brown paint lurking around somewhere...if not, I'm thinking hot pink, which probably surprises no one. Do I add numbers? There is no way I'm appliqueing them, and I'm trying to decide if it's worth hunting down the numbers (or a similar idea) that Cindy used. Or, I could not, and it wouldn't be too terribly hard to figure out what was what. And because it's less work, I'm leaning towards not. (Lazy, lazy, I know.) Conclusion = there is work to be done.

Now...to decide. To make stockings? Or not to make stockings? I really really think I should. But that means a lot of work and...*sigh.* It never ends, does it?

I'm linking up today with TGIFF at Never Too Hot to Stitch and Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts. See you there.

Quilt Surgery.

Today, I will be performing quilt surgery. Since I have never done this before, I'm a little nervous. Here is what I'm up against:

We arrived home from the grocery store this morning, only to discover these nasty holes in my son's new quilt. How did those even happen? I'm not sure, but I will say I'm super grumpy about them. I think the hole in the pink fabric could be contained, but the other? Not so much. I worry that I'm going to have to patch it.

Thoughts? Have you ever performed quilt surgery? Thank goodness this quilt is super scrappy, and the patch won't look too out of place, but still! I *just* finished this quilt.

FF: Marie in All Her Glory Edition.

The title should actually be Marie in All Her Glory, aka, welcome to Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday! My name is Audrey, and I'm happy you're joining me today for TGIFF. And I'm super excited to look at all of your finishes!

Today is probably my favorite Finished Friday to date. It's also my biggest, eep! Here is Marie!

Tula Pink's Prince Charming line came out around the time I started quilting, and I remember seeing those frogs everywhere and wondering what the fuss was all about. They were frogs, for goodness' sake! Then, I stumbled across some of Tula's Parisville line, and I about died. It. Was. Amazing. That started my Tula Pink obsession, and now, I love me those frogs! (It's kinda weird how that turned around, but whatevsies.)

I gathered the courage to commit to a queen size quilt in June 2012, cut the fabric in July 2012, finished piecing the top in March 2013, and sewed the last stitch of binding this week! There are lots of details in my eight kajillion Marie posts, but I'll give you a quick run down here: the pattern is Snowglobes by Tula Pink. The fabric is primarily Parisville by Tula Pink, with a bit of Prince Charming, and two additional prints to round it out. The background fabric is Bella Solids in Jade. I used a wide backing, Bella Solids in navy, and I bound this quilt using Kona in burgundy.

I knew quilting this quilt on Agatha was going to be unrealistic, and since I wanted this quilt on my bed eventually, I saved my pennies, then sent her off to a longarmer, which was a totally awesome experience. (I ran into a friend of mine when I visited home over the summer, and we got to talking about quilting, and she mentioned that her daughter was a longarm quilter. It was meant to be.) I knew I wanted feathers all over the top, and Sarah didn't disappoint. They are glorious!

I just can't help myself when it comes to pictures. This quilt is just so magical!

Thanks for indulging me. I always dreamed I'd have a handmade quilt on my bed, and that day is here! It's really been a fun journey, and yep, I can definitely say I've learned a lot.

Please please please link up your beautiful finishes below, and be sure to check out some of the others listed and spread some comment love. Makes sure you link back to this page, and that's it! Easy peasy! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Handmade Holidays

Are y'all following the Handmade Holidays series at Sew Mama Sew? It is serious awesomesauce, and I've already bookmarked a handful of tutorials. (Rocking Shoelaces, anyone?)

If you have been following, you may already know this, but my Sewing Tool Organizer Tutorial was up on Tuesday's Handmade Holidays post. Woo! If you're looking for something to make, but you aren't sure what, I'd definitely recommend this series. Yesterday, I discovered the awesomeness that is Wild Olive, and I'm sure before the month is out that I will be following several more blogs and considering several other projects! Yikes! Maybe this is a bad idea...NO! Except, it's a really really good one. Go check it out!

WIP: Wrap It UP.

I'm a little overwhelmed here at Casa HPQ. With the holidays far enough away that I feel like procrastinating, but close enough that I really really can't, I'm feeling pulled in different directions.

Sister's 10 blocks. I've added bits of the sashing, but I still have a long way to go. When this is done, it'll be for my patient husband who has been watching me piece these blocks since January! Poor man. He really should have his quilt soon.

Fabric baskets. Oh, the fabric baskets! (I sent a twin of this one to my partner in round 2 of the Fabric Basket Swap.) I made twice as many flying geese as I needed, so I suppose I had to have a basket too.

The boys' floor cushions are slowly coming to be. (My youngest is trying to help.) Every time I look at this, I think of the Cleveland Browns, which was unintentional, let me assure you.

And I'm slowly getting my advent calendar done! I've told myself I have to sew four pockets every day, and I have eight done. Yikes! Still a lot to do! I'm using this tutorial and template, and I'm really happy with what I have so far.

That's Casa HPQ this week. Please tell me I'm not the only one starting to freak out about Christmas! I'm linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. And now, in my bit of down time, I'm off to look at everyone else's lovelies!

Sewing Space.

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to win a print from Regina Lord of Creative Kismet. CK is one of the first creative blogs I followed, and her saturated color palette has always wooed me. I love love love her work. Like, I want to pick up a paintbrush and paint, which is kind of weird since I'm a fabric girl. But I also know that Regina has spent years working on her art and exploring different techniques and mediums, and me picking up a paintbrush is not going to automatically yield such glorious results, so I'll stick with fabric, thankyouverymuch.

But that's all beside the point. When I received my lovely print (thank you!) I knew I had to get it up in my sewing nook, and while I was at it, why not include some other fun things that would make me happy? Regina's work is the third from the left and reads, "Daydream Believer."

It's a happy spot. I seriously recommend checking out Regina's work at Creative Kismet or visiting her etsy shop because she is ridiculously talented and awesomeness. Though if you buy this print and put it in your sewing nook, I will call you a copycat. And if you hang it up next to a picture of me and my quilting sensei, K, well, probably don't tell me. I don't think I could handle that.

Hanging up these pretties inspired me to clean up my sewing area--which was getting a little intense--and snap a photo. The last photo I showed y'all was some time ago, and I've moved to a different, larger nook of the room since. The light isn't so good here, but sometimes in the morning, if the sun is up, I get a beautiful bit of light, and I've been enjoying that recently.

I'll be back on Wednesday with a WIP post since it's been awhile, and don't forget--and this is oh so important--COME BACK on Friday as I'm hosting TGIFF, and I'll have a super big (literally, it's super big) finish to share with you, and of course I want to see yours too!

SS: Holiday Edition.

Hi Friends! Holiday gift making has descended upon my house, and I've been cutting and piecing and planning like craziness. I know it will be worth it, but after spending an hour and a half at fabric stores the other day and only getting a portion of my supply list, I'm a little tired.

An hour and a half, ladies and gents. For that short stack. Okay, okay, I spent part of that hour and a half helping a friend pick fabric, and her cart had at least 15 bolts in it, so 25 fabric picks in 1.5 hours isn't terrible, right?

Cars. I'm making my sons floor cushions, and I knew I wanted car fabric that didn't annoy me. These are okay.

This stack is from the new ModKid line developed exclusively for Joann's. I'm actually using these three fabrics to make three different gifts, and I'm hoping hoping hoping I'll have a bit left over for me. I especially love that bottom print.

More from ModKid, but in the pink colorway this time. (I had to sneak in some pink somewhere, right?) Another gift, and again, I hope there is a little left for me! I really loved the floral print from this line, but it has a primarily white background, and white is impractical for what I'm making, so pretty vibrant geometric prints it is!

I took a brief glance at the dwindling bolts of Julianna Horner's first line, but I couldn't think of anyone who would absolutely love them like I do, and as I certainly don't need any more fabric, I behaved.

I'm linking up today with Sunday Stash #88 hosted by Fiona at Finding Fifth. You're going to link up too, right? Right.

FF: Baby Kenna's Quilt.

Remember this quilt? I made it a friend. This is finish four of six for my 2013 Q4 FAL list.

My husband has two very close friends that he's known for ages, and I love those dudes like older brothers. (Seriously. I call them both "Older Brother.") And both of them have pregnant wives who are due in the next few months. (And they're both having boys!) So what better to do than make them matching quilts? My moments of genius are sometimes too big to contain, what can I say? I have visions of the babies hanging out together on their baby quilts. Two cute babies! On two cute matching quilts! Squee!

I used Kona solids for the front, and the back is a jungle print from Imaginarium. It's a super fun print, and I'm glad I got enough for a quilt backing. I didn't get a photograph of this, but I topstitched around my label before handsewing it to the back. I'm so glad I did. It kept its shape a lot better, and also, I think it gives it a more polished look. I'll be doing that with my labels in the future. I bound this quilt in Kona black.

As for quilting, I mirrored the first quilt and did a double echo. I really do love this. Added bonus to making this quilt a second time is that I pieced it faster, and I was more accurate where my seams met up. Woo!

And here they are, folded up together. They use the same pattern and even some of the same kona solids, but the different bindings and backings make them look really different. The pattern is Northern Lights by Jaybird Quilts, and I'll definitely use it again in the future, especially when I need a fun and fast baby quilt!

I'll be dropping them in the mail sometime this week, and I'm excited for my "older brothers" to receive them. I haven't told either one that I was making them quilts, so they'll hopefully be super surprised and excited! And since they live about a mile away from each other, they should receive them on the same day. (Awesomeness!)

Today I'm linking up with TGIFF hosted by Quokka Quilts and Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts. Woo! (And do you know who is hosting TGIFF next week? Yes! That would be me! So make sure you come back next week to link up your super awesome finish!)