Its' Christmas time

Thank you all for your kind thoughts on my ankle. It is still really tender to the touch, but I am no longer walking with a visible limp! And the swelling is almost imperceptible now. I think dancing my be out this weekend, thankfully, I doubt the company Christmas party has any dancing anyway. Last I heard we were playing games. Makes sense for a game manufacturing company.

If you are interested in what we are promoting as the hot new game of our line up, head over to Amazon and check out Telestrations. I have played it with friends and it is just as funny as the reviews make it sound. It is even funnier when playing with someone who can't draw--the results are hysterical. Plus I like that everyone is engaged the entire time. I hate waiting for my turn to play.

Assuming that you are done with your shopping and your house is decorated, you are way ahead of me! It is beginning to feel a little like Christmas... spending 40 hours a week at the office has kept me from decorating as I would in years past. I got a few boxes with the girls Christmas houses down from the attic before Thanksgiving, but I haven't gotten back into the attic since to get anything else down to start decorating.


Thankfully, when I went up there last month I got down my Christmas quilts I made over the last 2 or 3 Christmases. This one is a Santa that is very loosely based off a pattern that my mom and I converted so that we could strip piece 5 of them at the same time. That is 5 for her and 5 for me. So we spent a couple of days, and pieced and quilted 10 of these Santas. I have since given the other 4 away, but it is nice to have one to remember the fun of getting togerther.

The tree is batiks knotted onto a flat dowel tucked into a pocket with a star velcroed on top.
We added yarn hair, belt buckles, and a 3 dimensional beard to give him more personality.




This next one is another mini quilt. It is 9" square to rest in my little mini quilt frame. I have a Christmas Star/Poinsettia that I designed that I have put in there for the past several years, but last year I decided I wanted a quilt to soften up the display of Nativity Scenes that I put out each year so I shrunk and tweaked a pattern to make it fit in the little square.

And finally the last quilt I want to share is one I just finished... with the intention of giving it away. I joined the Pay it Forward challenge in May and have just given the first quilt to a new home. This one is going to my friend Sarah. God has blessed her with 4 kids–3 of them boys. So I wanted to make her something soothing, that she wouldn't feel obligated to keep out since her home is small and I didn't want her to feel overwhelmed with more things within. It is so much fun making something for someone else because with every stitch you think of that person and how much you care for them. Her daughter and my eldest are "best friends" so it was truly a blessing that she signed up for my challenge.


For this quilt I followed a tutorial on Moda Bakeshop. If you aren't a regular visitor, then you are truly missing out. They have all sorts of ways to use the precuts of fabric that are so popular now.
This pattern was originally to be used with a layer cake (10" squares), but I fudged the recipe, and used a charm pack instead. The piece were very tiny, but I love to create little masterpieces.
This quilt finished at about 2 foot square, perfect for a table topper or a small wall.


I am still looking for 2 more participants in my pay it forward challenge if you want to participate, sign up in the comments, you just have to commit to making something handmade for 3 others within 6 months or a year.

Kami