Some cook, I sew and write: creativity brings joy

I've been busy for the last couple of days and I'm going to show you the results of my labors because I'm so stinking excited to have pieced, backed, quilted, bound, and made a hanging sleeve for one of my quilt tops.  FINALLY! My husband has been giving me a hard time about all these works in progress (WIP), and I finally decided to select one that I could finish the most quickly.  So . . . drumroll please . . .  The Advent calendar!!! In the process, I learned to do a bunch of things in the process so I'm super glad I chose a small project to learn on! First, the quilting: I copied the quilting from Jenny Doane from MSQC  because it looked simple.   It was.  It took a little bit of time, but it was simple and easy. Then the binding: First I cut 2 1/2" strips from leftover fabric I had.  I only needed 4 strips.  In the end, I think I only used 3 strips.  Then I pinned two strips right-sides...

Yesterday's blog post was so lengthy that I didn't want to add one more thing, but that one thing was the last block before catching up to the Minecraft sew along. Enter this freaky dude : My husband plays hardcore, which means that you can be destroyed and the world you create as well in a single stroke of bad luck.  I guess the other way gives you multiple chances and maybe doesn't destroy the world you made?  My kids and my husband have enjoyed this game through the years although my husband is the only one who prefers the chanciness of the hardcore game.  My kids would interact with each others' worlds when they played although they tried not to mess each others' games up. Jim, my husband, tells me that you know when Enderman comes into play because the music (if you can call it that) sounds like nails on a blackboard.  Really pleasant, NOT!  So sinister dude, he is. Today is the day for the squid and it's already up at Seriously I think it needs ...

Last week (or maybe the week before that), I cut out a bunch of squares for a Floating Squares crib quilt.  Here is a link for the tutorial:   http://land.missouriquiltco.com/floating-squares/ .    I thought it would look so cute with these charms .  I admit that I may have fallen in love with the charm on the front!  It didn't hurt that the charm pack was on their daily deals list.  Yeah, that list is pretty much my downfall! However, I wanted a colored background so I crossed my fingers and chose some fabric yardage online (I think it was 1 3/4 yards).  It turned out to be a little stronger of a color than I wanted, but I think it still looks good. The cutting turned out to be the longest part of the whole process so far.  Here are the steps: 1.  Separate 30 charm squares.  I took out the reds and oranges because they seemed a little strong for the violet-pink.  These 30 charms (5"x5") will remain in a whole piece. ...