Quilts, Bags and more... an update.

Just because I haven't had time to blog, doesn't mean that I haven't had time to quilt! First things first, right? I mean, my kids do need some attention, not to mention their education... and food... and bathed... Oh, and then there's my hubby and my job. No, I'm not a busy girl. Not at all. If I had to choose priorities for myself, quilting might come in just ahead of eating (and possibly bathing), but the reality is- I have a family and I don't think they'd like it if I stopped feeding them! (And of course, there's that whole homeschooling thing with the kids. :) Anyway, my point is, blogging gets put right down there on the bottom of the list at least until life gets a little less hectic.

I had a little extra time today, so I thought I'd give you a quick peek at all the things I've been working on the past couple of months. 

First up are a couple of baby quilts that I made for some friends. The first is a Dr. Seuss quilt. I appliqued the circles on the front using the Bigger Perfect Circles and randomly pieced the back. This is my first attempt at free motion quilting, and I have to say, I'm pretty happy with the result. It took me the longest time to figure out how to get my machine set up right and get the tension right. I finally found a tutorial that suggested not lowering the feed dogs and setting the stitch length to zero. (I can't remember the tutorial, or I'd give credit.) This worked perfectly. Only a tiny bit of tweaking on the tension, and I was ready to quilt!

Dr. Seuss Quilt {no patter, appliqued circles, free motion quilted}

Dr. Seuss Quilt Back

For this next baby quilt, I used a diamond ruler and pieced it in diagonal rows. I used my quilting to resemble argyle. I love the dinosaur fabric on the back. This quilt was fairly simple and quick to make. 

Argyle Baby Quilt {my own design}

Do you remember the bag I mad for my mom for Mother's Day? Well, she wore it out and requested another one! This bag is a great size. She uses it to take to Bible study and can also carry her laptop in it. This bag only requires 1 1/2 yards of fabric and I always have extra batting hanging around, so it's really inexpensive to make. I might have to make another one for myself! This time, I added some interfacing to make it more durable. The handles are still a little floppy for my liking, I'll be reinforcing them next time.

Mom Bag #2 {tutorial from here}

This is a pic of the Dresden name tag I made for myself for the STLMQG. Nametags are required for door prizes, and who doesn't like door prizes? This turned out much larger than I expected. I had never made a Dresden before. This was fairly easy to make as well. The center circle is an iron on transfer made by my fabulous hubby.

Dresden name tag with iron-on center

These are some of the Christmas ornaments that the kids and I are making this year. These were super easy. I bent the thicker wire around a star shaped cookie cutter and the kids wrapped them with the thinner wire. We are making two other kinds of ornaments this year, they're not finished yet. I hope to get them posted next week!

Hand made wire Christmas Ornaments {inspiration from here}

Finally... This is the Tula Pink Parisville fabric I won at the STLMQG raffle at today's meeting. I'm just a little excited about it! I plan on spending the Christmas season daydreaming about what I'm going to make with it and then get to work in the new year! Yay!

Well, that's what I've been up to. All that I can show, anyway. I have one more quilt I hope to finish up this year and a couple of Christmas presents I'm working on. Oh, and I don't want to forget the pillowcases I have been making for the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge that the Quilt Guild is participating in. I forgot to take pics of the three that I have already made before I turned them in, but I've got 4 more to finish up. I'm also working on a new quilt pattern that I hope to start sometime next year! Whew. I'm ready to enjoy the holidays!

Merry Christmas!