Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Finally ... A Finished Project

It's been a fairly long while since I've actually finished a project. I've started many. The deadline was looming on this one, however ... the baby is due January 3rd and the baby shower was Tuesday. The sewing part of this quilt was VERY fun and went very quickly. The hand quilting was, however, tedious and time consuming. I could have knitted a blankie in the time it took me to hand quilt this one. Perhaps it would have been quicker had I actually known what I was doing. Balancing the laptop and watching youtube videos on hand quilting while trying to master the technique was a bit challenging. By the time I finished this quilt, I think I had pretty much mastered the theory of the technique, although I can't say that the stitches are exactly uniform. And uniformity, I believe, is the desired outcome.

Still, this blankie was very fun to make and I find myself contemplating the next quilting project. I plan, however, to check out machine quilting services for the bigger projects and save the hand quilting for table runners and other smallish items.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Catalog Love

The Garnet Hill Christmas Catalog just arrived and is filled with so much happiness I can hardly stand it. This catalog is my all-time favorite ... and I get lots of catalogs. How can you not love this felted wool Christmas tree skirt?

Wouldn't that be a fabulous winter knitting project? It reminds me of all of the felted items I saw at the Münchner-Freitheit Christmas market last year. And as long as we're talking about felted treasures, how cute is this game?


Wouldn't that be fun to make for a special little someone? These elf Advent calendars are also very sweet, with little pockets to hold the day's treasure:

And wouldn't you just love to wake up Christmas morning snuggled under these fluffy sheep?

Love Love Love