En Provence Mystery Quilt - 2017 Finishes #28

Yes, I finally got this quilt done!  It came back from the long arm quilter last week, and I got the binding on it within a couple of days.

This is a close up of that border that makes the points of the stars look like they are floating into the border.  Really a cool look.

I chose to do a the binding in the same print as the pink stars in the quilt.   I think it makes the quilt pop.

Again, the weather is not cooperating with me for picture taking, but here it is laid out on my CalKing sized bed.  See, I told you it was a big quilt!

This is a close up of the backing.  Remember, I found it at an obscure quilt shop, and felt it would work perfect, as the colors of this print are all in the front of the quilt.  The print is from the fabric line "Downton Abby" by Andover Fabrics.

Since this is being gifted, I had enough fabric of some of the scraps to make a couple of pillow cases. I like to make French seam pillowcases there are may free patterns out there on the web, especially on the All People Quilt site, where they are doing a 1 million pillowcase drive for different causes.  You can find out more here.

Here are the finished pair of pillowcases.  I made them for decoration to go with the quilt, and not to be actually used to sleep on, unless they choose to do so.

Warmest...

Size: 88" X 88"

Fabric Lines Used:  Scrap Stash 

Pattern: En Provence Mystery Quilt 2016

Designer:  Bonnie Hunter

Long Arm Quilter:  Carol Logan Nelson

Year Began: 11/2016

Year Completed: 04/2016

Leftover NFL Prints

I have, left over from some holiday sewing, some Pro Football team prints.  I decided to make up some pillowcases with them and put them on my ETSY site.  I had three team prints, and enough to make a set or a pair from each print.

Baltimore Ravens:

Seattle Seahawks:

Dallas Cowboys:

There are a zillion free patterns out there on how to do these pillowcases with french seams, just google it and choose one that works for you.  Many of them claim you can make one in 15 minutes, but it takes me about 25 minutes including cutting it out, sewing it, and pressing it properly.   My biggest tip for you would be to use the Clover Wonder Clips.   They hold the rolled top step of making the pillow case so much simpler and speeds up the rest of the project.

Warmest...

Post Christmas Pictures

Please note there are a lot of pictures.  I can finally post the pictures of all that I made for people this year.  If you remember, I did lots of pillow cases to use as wrapping paper.  The pillow cases matched the blankets I made.

These are for the three children that are a part of our family:

Here are the matching blankets

The pink and blue blankets were made with "Frozen" flannel and backed with matching fleece.  The black blanket is fleece on both sides, and it's matching pillowcase is an Army print, because his dad is in the Army, and it had the colors of the black fleece print.  I heard back that the kiddos went home and put them on their beds and asked to use them to have a "camp out" in the living room.  

The quilts that I gave my sons were received with awe and wonder too!  They both said they love each quilt that was specific to what they enjoy, and that it meant a lot to have something that will last and can remember for years and years.  They have all put them on their beds and are just delighted!

So nice to hear they not only liked them, but are wanting to use them all the time.  I couldn't have been more happy this year!

Warmest...

Making Christmas Progress

I am making a little progress every day.  I am so excited because I will have it all done by the fist or second week of December.  No stress of working right up to Christmas Day.

I finished the Dallas Cowboys quilt for one of my sons:

This is a close up of the quilt with the backing and the binding all done.

Here it is folded and ready to go into the matching pillow case to be used as the wrapping paper.

I used the same "piano blocks" for the top part of the pillow case, and one of the lighter colors for the middle band.

I know it is hard to see the quilting on the back of this quilt, but if you enlarge it you can see I traced the stars on the front middle panel.    I came out really nice and I think he will really enjoy it.  The size came out to be approximately 50" X 68".  A good size for a throw quilt.

Next up is a octagon tabletopper that I made for a neighbor of mine who has a couple of cats that she adores.  The center has all kinds of cats getting into Christmas mischief.  

This picture shows the backing I used, and I also used it for the binding, as I always like to do a diagonal type binding if I can.  I quilted it doing a straight line method of outlining the octagon shape spacing the lines about 3/4" apart going around continually.

I took some time out of sewing to get some canning done.  This last summer, my chickens were giving me about 9-10 eggs a day.  Way more than we can consume.  So I stacked up about 14 dozen in our spare refrigerator, to can at a later date.  Fresh eggs need to rest for quite a while, about 6 - 8 weeks, in order for them to peel without half of the white parts staying attached to the shell.  When canning eggs, they need to be perfect without any craters or cracks in the white part.  We canned them in a red chile flake and peppercorn brine this year, giving them the red color.  The men in my life eat them like candy.  Me, no, not so much.  

Warmest...

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

This year, I am getting into the Christmas mood earlier than in the past.  Not sure why, but it is better than being Bah Humbugish?  Right?

Anyway, I hung up my Christmas Wreath wallhanging that I completed last week, on the corner wall in my office corner.

I have also been making wrapping paper for gifts on my list.  I started it last year, making pillow cases for the wrapping paper, because the cost of good wrapping paper is almost the same as fabric.  I now refuse to pay that much for paper when I can get fabric.  Just sayin'.  

Here is a peek for the kiddos gifts:

Quite awhile back, I posted about working on this quilt, and it went to my son's apartment, because his girlfriend gets colder that he does, and he wanted to know if I had a quilt I could send his way for her.  Now for Christmas, I want to get her a gift, so I dug out my scraps to the quilt and had enough to make two pillow cases.  

Another one checked off my list!!

Warmest...

Trio of Pillowcases

As you have read in a prior post, we have three little ones in our lives, and this will be our first Christmas with them.  It has been a long time since we have had little ones around the Christmas tree.  My husband and I are reining ourselves in, making sure we don't go overboard, so we kept it simple and got them one gift on their list.  But I wanted to do something other than wrapping paper, because one of the gifts would be awkward to wrap.  So I remembered that pillowcases have been used to wrap these type of bulky gifts.

So, I made a trio of pillowcases that will serve two purposes.  First to be used as their wrapping for their presents, and second, for use as a pillowcase that will be special to each one of them.

Warmest...