Merry and Bright

I have some Christmas sewing I'd like to share with you!

I made a Christmas 'stamps' mini quilt. These little fabric stamps are sweet as can be, and very easy to make--you just need some scraps, plain white fabric and a bit of fusible web. The tutorial by nanaCompany is here.

Rather than quilt the whole thing in an all-over design, I used the stitching around the image and the white pinked edge as my quilting. The two rows of stitches around all the stamps hold the layers together just fine. It lets the stamp images stand out more...and truth is, I just couldn't bear to sew through Santa's cute little face :)

It didn't turn out too badly for a first try. I'd like to do another, with pretty feedsack fabrics, to have out all year.

I pulled out all my happy red and green and Christmas-y scraps and pieced a pair of pillow covers for the couch. They're hand-quilted with red embroidery floss, and have a simple envelope-style back, in solid red.

 They're so bright and cheerful!

 More cute retro Santas.

And some more sweet little cottages (like these I made for fall; a link to the free tutorial is in that post).

"'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house..."

"The children were nestled all snug in their beds..."

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night."

I so enjoy Christmas sewing, but I'm done...and ready to move on to some quilts!

And now if I may, a couple cute holiday kitty photos:
This one from two years ago shows the typical Christmas shenanigans around here. All those ribbons and bows were in the bag when I left the room.

You better not pout, Gracie...

Thank you, friends, for reading and for leaving your comments, I have appreciated each and every one! I wish you all a very Merry and Blessed Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a 

happy and healthy New Year!

Lynn

Linked up to Finish it up Friday

Wild Cherry Quilt

Well, if any quilt can brighten up a cold, gray day, I guess this little one can. I love all the delicious shades of cherry, and the yellows and greens give it zing. You can read about how they all came together here.  Pardon the quality of the photos, hastily taken as I shivered in the wind and rain.

I like all its wonderful quilty texture.

 I was hoping to get this one finished sooner, but life happens--you know how it goes. And I always sew and hand quilt so much faster in my head. I'm sure you know how that goes, too. Truth is, I'm not good at sitting still for long. I can sit and hand quilt for an hour or so before I go stir-crazy. Some bloggers write how they hand-sewed the binding of their bed-sized quilt in one sitting while watching a season of 'Law and Order' or something...I wish I could do that, but I get way too squirrelly. So, I'm slow. But that's okay, it's not a race.

Speaking of binding, I take a shortcut: I trim the backing fabric so I can wrap it around to the front and use it as the binding. I've done this since my first quilt. I came up with it on my own, but a while ago I discovered this tutorial, which is very helpful for mitering the corners. I have bound two mini quilts the typical way (including hand-sewing the binding on the back), just to learn it and try it, but it made me so antsy to be done already...and antsy is not how I want to feel while making a quilt. I choose the backing fabric based on the binding I want, or I piece the back to give me the binding I want. I like my binding to be a little wider than standard, so I trim my backing fabric 1 1/2" wider than the quilt top (for this wall quilt, I trimmed to 1"), fold it over twice like in the tutorial, then machine-sew it from the front. I'm always pleased with how it turns out. Who says you have to make things the "right" way.

The backing, with all its colorful stitches.

It measures 34"x 37"

This is my first wall quilt; I've already started another one that I'll show you soon, and I keep thinking of ideas for more. I've long wanted to make one of Amanda Jean's ticker tape quilts (I've been saving my tiniest of scraps), and I really want to make one with Rossie's pebbles.  I like the thought of being able to change my wall art with the seasons or as the mood strikes me. So stay tuned ;)

Linked to Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday

Wild Cherry

You don't need me to tell you about how awful this endless winter of our discontent has been, how the snow drifts threatening to bury the house or snowflakes sticking to the windows made me feel suffocated....nope, not gonna rant; I've already done that, and so have you, I'm sure. But really, this winter did a number on me, and if it snowed one more time, I was going to curl up in a little ball on my closet floor and stay there until my tulips bloomed.

I needed to at least look at something cheerful every day, so quilting to the rescue! I started my first wall quilt, to hang on the wall across from the bed, to be something beautiful I see when I first open my eyes in the morning (instead of the white s--- outside the window [use the four-letter s-word of your choice there])

Here's how this quilt evolved: Once upon a time, I noticed I had a bunch of pretty deep rosy-pink fabrics in my stash. I gathered them together, thinking about what kind of quilt I wanted to make with them, and put them in the project closet...where they sat for about *ahem* three years. I'd go to the closet often to get and work on the quilts I'd given priority, and every once in a while I'd think about the pile...maybe add a fabric, maybe take one away...but still no ideas for a quilt design. At one point, I realized Rosy Pinks needed some lively new friends, so I introduced a couple yellow solids and a couple greens. Well okay, the party was gettin' started.

Late last year I began thinking about making my first wall quilt. Then I re-read Liberated Medallion Quilts by Gwen Marston (she is my absolute quilting idol, for her quilts and for her liberated approach to designing and piecing). I kept thinking, "That Amy Butler 'Love' fabric would make a great center medallion..." So all that combined with some serious winter blues, and I knew it was time to get crackin'.

Here's the finished quilt top, taped up where it will hang, replacing a large Georgia O'Keefe print.
(Georgia, I really like your work, but I've been looking at that big purple petunia since I had my first apartment. It's time to go.)

Hand-quilting it shouldn't take too long. 
Soon, my pretty, soon...

Linked up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

And Awaaay We Go!

Hello, and welcome! My name is Lynn. I sew and quilt and play with fabric in a little yellow house in a town in West Michigan. I'm a self-taught quilter (with the help of books and blogs), finished my first quilt in 2010, and haven't slowed down for a minute since then. I consider my style to be modern and prefer to work improvisationally, usually making things up as I go along, but I have a soft spot for the charming classics, so I often combine styles and techniques. And I love--need-- lots of bright, cheerful color.

I really enjoy reading sewing blogs; they give so much inspiration and a sense of community--I want to be a part of it, too! So this little space is where I want to show you what I'm working on, and get all excited about quilting, sewing and fabric, as well as a record for myself of what I make. I'm not always comfortable putting myself 'out there', and sharing like this to the big wide world is a little outside my comfort zone...but it's good to try new things, so let's see how this goes!

Okay, that's enough of me talking about me. Let me show you the biggest project I'm working on. (I'll save the other six quilts-in-progress for future posts!)  This quilt is called Sea Glass; I finished the top last year, but then I took a break to make a smaller red and white quilt for Christmas (I'll show you that one later in the year), so Sea Glass sat patiently in the closet, waiting its turn. After the new year, I finally basted and started hand quilting. It's a big queen size--hand quilting it is gonna take an eternity--but I'm half done, so it's getting there. 

I quilt like this, with no frame, just holding it draped over me and the chair.

This bright combination of purple, blue and green is one of my favorites.

If I leave it unattended for even two seconds, squatters move in.

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear your comments...and come back soon, I'll have lots more to show you.