Mixmaster Manchester Precut Sew-Ready Quilt Kit

I had a goal to finish all of my in-progress quilts before New Year's, and I was SO CLOSE to meeting that expectation I set for myself. This quilt kit I purchased from myfabricaddiction.com a few months ago, and loved it because it came with a few different patterns I could make with the same set of blocks. I've made a similar version before, so I thought I would try this design, which started at the bottom right corner and worked both vertically and horizontally. I'll be honest, it took a lot more brainpower than I thought it should making sure the columns and rows were correct each time (it was a growing pattern, so I was constantly counting!) and I didn't really like having to build one small row/column at a time. There was no way to put it together in sections. Even though I was completely random with my block choices (I don't know the effort it would take to try to plan it out carefully) I ended up with the same fabric repeating in a certain area (which is WILD to me because I literally just grabbed and sewed, and since it's going together one at a time I sewed all 19/20 columns/rows and then attached them). I can't say I'll do this one again, but I learned a lot and am glad I did it. 

Before quilting- 

Here it is at the end of October as I put each row/column together one by one. I set it aside once finished because I couldn't find the perfect backing fabric. The last time I went to my local fabric store I found a great green and white floral wideback that was great. 

Floor Turtle

 I saw a Tiktok about keeping a floor turtle in the kitchen for quick spills, so I had some time this afternoon to make my own. I used a washcloth for the back and some leftover fabric for the turtle itself. Super easy, if a little messy, but not bad for a first try with no pattern! I made his tail into a loop so I could hang it up, but I'll probably just leave it in the floor by the fridge. 

Bookshelf Quilt

 This project was a labor of love! I started making my little sister a quilt featuring her favorite books back in November as a Christmas gift. After getting a list of books from her, I screenshotted and photoshopped each book to look like it was sitting on a bookshelf. Then, I used my Brother Printmoda Fabric Printer to print the pieces out. I found a couple images of frames online and photoshopped her pictures into them as well. 

Then, I started and stopped about 15 times, removing hundreds of stitches because it just wasn't going the way I wanted. I decided to get her something else and would finish the quilt when I had time and the magic I needed to get it done.

Fast forward to December 23. I got a notification from FedEx that her present was delayed in the mail and wouldn't arrive before we left for my mom's house. I couldn't show up with no gift for my favorite little sister! So I buckled down, after finishing my mom's Christmas quilt at 11:30 pm, and pulled out the dozens of pieces I prepped and got down to business. I have no idea what time I finished the quilt top, but knew I needed a very simple digital pantograph because 1. It's the middle of the night and it needs to get done and 2. the pieces are so detailed the Internet suggested horizontal or wavy lines that are separated enough to blend in and not ruin the look of the books. My main goal was that there were two quarter-size faces of her I didn't want to stitch over (spoiler alert: it did). I learned a ton while making this and will definitely know how to improve should I make another one in the future. 

Anyway, I also didn't get a picture before gifting, but here it is. I managed to finish at 4:40 am, just in time for my husband to suggest we go ahead and make the drive to my mom's because he was awake for the day and I could sleep in the truck. I still haven't reclaimed my sleep schedule, but she absolutely loved it!

And here is a picture of my 13 year old puppy, Elsie, hating dressing up but loving all the family snuggles! 

Swoon Christmas Quilt

 I made my mom a Christmas quilt for her bed and didn't get a photo before I gifted it, but I saved the pattern so I could make another. This was a pre-cut quilt kit from My Fabric Addiction which I have loved getting pieces from because it takes away the worst part- cutting fabric. A lot of times they have sales, and I got this one half-price! I purchased the backing they had (108"- my favorite!) so this quilt was super easy to put together. I love the old fashioned fabric vibes (Riley Blake) and used a loose berries-on-a-vine pattern from prostitcher. 

My New Favorite Bright Tula Pink Quilt!

 I used another pack of half-yard fabric (plus one fat quarter bc I messed up the border piece and happened to have an extra of that fabric) and the absolute cutest fabric from Tula Pink to make this quilt. Once again, I used a pattern from Sassy Sunflower Quilts.

I can't get over the colors. These pictures do it absolutely no justice at all. It's so cute! 

The bunnies!!! 

And here's what it looked like before quilting:

Small Ocean Quilt

My goal over Christmas break was to learn some shortcuts on my longarm to make quilting more fun and give me a better quality end product. This one uses ocean fabrics from a half-yard pack I picked up at my mom's local quilt store, and the absolute perfect backing I found at my local store. I purchased a huge prostitcher design for this one. It's so cute and I learned a lot!

Here's a bit of a close up. It's SO cute! 

Animal Animal half-yard quilt

 Shopping with my mom over Thanksgiving, we went into her local quilt store where they had half-yard packs of fabric that came with a quilt pattern. I knew I had some kid gifts to make for Christmas, so I picked up four of them to try it out. I should've went ahead and purchased backing fabric at the time, but that is a weakness of mine, thinking I'll go back and choose later. 

Anyway, here is a cute pattern (all of them are from Sassy Sunflower Quilts) using Animal Animal fabric from Ruby Star Society. 

Here it is before quilting. I chose a half-circle pattern. 

Waterlily Lap Quilt

This is a quilt top I made over the summer and finally finished this weekend. I quilted it over Thanksgiving break but just couldn't make myself do the binding until now. It's so vintage! 

And the back! 

The fabrics for the patchwork came in strips I put together and sewed into blocks. 

Here she is, waiting for months to be completed. 

Craft Fair

Each December I set up a booth at my local high school's craft fair to sell random things I've made throughout the year. I don't have a lot of pictures of things I make, but here is my setup at the end of the day. I took my leftovers to school, and ended up with a few ornaments, 1 cutting board, 1 serving tray, some earrings (I had a TON) and some paperless towels to take home. I didn't sell any quilts, but didn't expect to because of their price point. I didn't sell all of my door signs, but I don't take those to school, just the things I can set on the counter. 

Christmas Earrings

Here are some of the Christmas earrings I made to sell. The bows on top were a hit.