Holiday Frost

'Tis the season! Or soon enough, anyway, to start stressing me out. To explain, I have a love/hate relationship with the holiday season. I love the bright, shiny, sparkly bit of it along with the message of spreading compassion and love to our fellow man, love that part of it. But the part of finding the right gift, or decorating the whole house, or even being out near any shopping center during this time of year, makes me start to hyperventilate.

Time to stock up on chocolate and Diet Dr. Pepper to get me through the holidays!! :)


Now, on to the fabric! I don't have any holiday quilts in my house. Nada, zip, none. There is one sad, lonely little harvest-themed tablerunner, but that's it. This year, I wanted to change that and have been searching for just the right holiday fabric that conveys the holiday message, but could be left out into January as decor. And found it, I have!

Presenting Holiday Frost by Jan Shade Beach for Henry Glass Fabrics:

I love the simple color palette: gray, white, red, and a smidgen of green (very small, I think it's only on one fabric in the collection).

This print is my favorite, so I got it for the back! There's enough variety of different reindeer to keep it interesting.

And, to make it simple, I actually got this as a quilt kit. The one I'm making is on the right side.

I don't know when I will be able to get this done, but, by golly, it will be done this year! :)

Hexie love!

I went to a local quilt show a couple months back and two things happened: one, I didn't buy any fabric there (shocking news); and two, I came home with a kit for paper piecing hexies (it included this book, plus everything needed to make the projects in the book).  It may not be anything of note to you, but to me, it was a big deal, because ever since I  started quilting, I have adamantly said "No handsewing, of any sort." Why do that by hand when I can do it with my snazzy machine?

 

 


Then, the road trip happened.


 

And my little quilting world grew a little bigger with the addition of, and love of, paper piecing sweet little hexies.

The fabric is Sunnyside by Kate Spain for Moda and I bought a mini charm pack on a whim and it was just the right size for 1" hexies. I got through the whole pack and was looking around for more fabric, but alas, I didn't bring any with me :(

These are so much fun! And so very convenient to bring along with you if you need to go somewhere and wait for a bit and want to get some sewing done in the meantime.

Updates

Whew! What a crazy few weeks it has been! We took a trip to one of my favorite places:

Mukilteo Beach, WA

And had the in-laws in town for a week. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my in-laws, but after a couple of days of visitors, I get itchy to have my house back to its normal routine and state of messiness. We did get a chance to see a bunch of these, though:

Then, there was a recovery weekend to recover from all of our festivities, so needless to say, not much sewing has been going on. But, I have managed to sneak in a few minutes here and there (literally 20 mins. in between chores) to do some cutting and sewing on this sweet piece:

 

I'm not sure who it's for or where it's going, but it was a nice break from sewing something that had a deadline attached to it. The colors are so soft and soothing that I'm thinking it might be a great baby blanket for a girl...or it might look even nicer draped over my sofa :)

I should have pictures of the completed top on here soon, but until then, have a fabulous day!