December beginnings

Now that Thanksgiving festivies and fooding are over, I'm starting to recover from my sewing spree of making jumpers for the two little ones.  Marley got her jumpers yesterday and Caki will get hers this weekend.  The mommas and I went shopping on Black Friday and picked up enough fabric to make each of the girls four jumpers.  They'll match since I purchased a yard of each fabric but that wasn't the reason for the large pieces, it was just easier to choose the same fabrics for both girls and cheaper to purchase enough for two dresses since it takes less yardage that way.  The three dresses above are Caki's.  There's one more but it's not quite finished.  The photo below is of my practice jumper on its little darling.  I had no idea where to start, so I started in the middle--size 4 was way too big for these little sweeties.  I ended up using sizes 1/2 and 1. I hope to make a few more to add to my Etsy shop. 

Today I raced home to work on another Carpe Diem pillow since I sold a second one on the Etsy site.  Obviously the lady I traded with during the holidays did not "purchase" her pillow although I shipped it based on her promise to make the purchase and give me a good review.  Anyway, since she didn't make the purchase, the pillow remained on the site, for sale.  And I made a sale!  So, instead of disappointing a customer, I decided to make another one.  I've cut out the pillow form and the letters and adhered them to the fabric.  Tomorrow I'll finish up the pillow and box it up.  It will get shipped on Wednesday, if all goes well.

This weekend I'd love to work on the newest quilt project.....a disappearing four patch that I'm making with batiks.  It looks so difficult but it's absolutely simple.  Stitch up a four patch and then cut it twice in a straight line in both directions and move the new pieces around.  I'll post a few pics so that you can see how simple and fast this block is.  I'm loving the look and texture that the batiks give.  I've had these five inch squares for a while.  I bought them at Aunt Nell's in Tioga but didn't have enough for a large quilt, so I just left them alone.  The last trip to Borne Quilter in Lafayette gained me a few yards of neutral cream-colored batik--perfect to calm down the squares and tie everything together.  If I have to purchase more fabric (let's hope not!) I'm going to buy more of a beautiful purpley-blue that is just stunning and use it for borders or to make a couple of blocks that I'll scatter around the quilt.  I think I have enough but if not, I've got a plan.  It's a good thing the LQS keeps batiks in stock.  Most of my four patches are already sewn.  It won't take terribly long to cut and sew them up.  I can't wait to see the whole top, but I've got to finish some of these smaller projects first.