Happy New Year! Hope you had some nice Holidays. I’m just so happy we had a white Christmas this year in Montreal. It’s just so nice with all that snow outside. It had been a few years we didn’t have that much snow in the winter. I was missing it. It is perfect for playing outside with the kids.

Did you have time to do a bit of sewing lately? I didn’t make much sewing gifts this year, compared to last year. But, I did manage to finish up the HST Pillows for my stepparents.

I was really happy to give them on Christmas day even thought they had seen part of it in progress. I decided to do swirl quilting on both sides and put some red piping using fabrics by French General like in the HST. And I went for an envelope closure as suggested by some of you. Again I put to practice some free motion quilting that I learned from Angela Walters in her Craftsy class and her book. I used grey thread. It matched perfectly the back. For the front, I was hesitating between a grey or cream thread. I went with the grey one as I didn’t want the thread to contrast with the prints in the HST. But, I’m still unsure whether this was the right choice. My quilting is far from being perfect and it really shows off. But, I really like the textures that it adds to the pillow.

Here they are in my stepparents newly renovated living room. The colors are perfect. I really like the small touch of red on the piping and in one of the triangles.

I also made a few cup cozzies for gifts. I used the template by Jeni Baker from In Color Order. However instead of doing it using a patchwork, I used some quilted felted wool leftover from last year’s Christmas Stockings and some Christmas prints for the lining.

I didn’t sew much in the Holidays either, but I did work on a new baby quilt. Both the top and back panel are done. I photographed it two days ago in the snow just behind our house.

It’s a design of my own and I’m really satisfied with how it came out. I had some Kona in Pond and Sage left from my Wonky Kites Quilt and I thought these colors would be perfect for a little one. For the back, I had a print that coordinated well with both.

 

It’s Tidbits by Kari Ramsay of Fresh Cut Quilts for Henry Glass & Co. I originally had planned to make the patchwork where the two sage strips cross using prints. But, then I liked how solid colors added to the simplicity of the quilt. So, I use some Kona in White, Peridot and Green Tea in combination with the Pond and Sage. My original idea was to dispose them in a way to mimic a plaid pattern. But then I started playing around with the squares and  I came up with this pattern which I really like.

I’m thinking of calling it Crossing Roads. Would you be interested in making one? I could write up a little tutorial with all the material needed and the sizes of the pieces to cut. The quilt is 36″ by 48″.

And what about you, did you do some sewing for gifts or in the Holidays?