Christmas Rush

Well, not really. It is December, after all, everyone is busy.  I've been happily content in my studio since returning from Houston--no tax classes or staff meetings to attend--wow, it feels so good to have that part of my life behind me.

First up is my "must do" for today--attach the sleeve and binding to our guild Raffle Quilt:

Celtic Solstice Fanfare--pattern by Bonnie Hunter, used with her permission

I have 10 days to get the quilt completely finished to show at our December Guild meeting.  I'm hoping the crowd will be pleased.  We asked for fat quarter donations of those bright fabrics, added one primary background and I am happy with how the colors came together.

Then I am eager to get back to the latest Bonnie Hunter Mystery:  Grand Illusion Mystery.  I was not going to start this until the mystery was revealed but got sucked in by all the great units people were showing on Facebook.  I have limited myself to half the units in each clue, in case I decide not to make the full 88" x 88" quilt. 

The four Double Diamond units at the top are step 2, some folks have had difficulty with this one.  It's a great way to learn to improve your piecing, making units that are less familiar to you.  The bottom shows four units from step 1.  We don't know how these units will go in the final quilt--I'm just playing with design here.

Then there are these Christmas quilts I have to get done:  12 Days of Christmas in Red and White:

This pattern is from Temecula Quilt Co.  Every other day from December 1 to December 24 their blog will have the directions for each simple 3" block.  Day one has one piece, day two has two pieces, etc.  They did this pattern in 2010 and I made two then.  Now I am in the middle of three more, using fabrics left over from my Red and White--By the Numbers quilt.  Simple yet a sweet Christmas quilt. 

At night I am hand quilting my first baby quilt for our grandbaby, due June 2015--at least I'll have the baby quilt done on time:

Another pattern from Temecula Quilt Co:  Little Letters.  This was easy and fun to make in between all the other things I've been working on the past month.  In January the kids will find out if she's a girl or a boy, and I'll do the binding then, pretty purple if it's a girl, wild green if it's a boy. 

That should keep me busy this week.  I'm linking up to Bonnie's Monday Mystery Link Up and Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday.

Have a great week--Let's Quilt!

Barbara