I haven't had much time to sew recently so I was pretty happy to string a few hours together last week to make this mini for our quilt guild's holiday swap. The quilts didn't have to be holiday-themed, and truthfully I think this could stay up all year, but I was feeling festive so here it is. All of the little trees were improv pieced. I grabbed a bunch of rectangular green scraps and some Kona snow and just went for it. If you would like to try this, here is a very small, kind of limited, photo tutorial. My quilt finished at just about 21'' square.

Cut your green pieces into rectangles and match each one up with a rectangle of your background fabric. Longer, skinnier background pieces will give you taller trees and shorter rectangles make fatter trees. Cut the background rectangle in half along the diagonal to yield two triangles. Arrange the triangles on the green fabric to get an idea of where they will be. Flip the first one over and sew it to the scrap right sides together. Trim the seam to 1/4'' and press towards the background fabric. Repeat with the other side. (Note: My method only works for a solid background as there is no wrong or right side. You could still do this with a print background, but you will need to more fabric to ensure that you have two triangles that point in opposite directions.

Trim the trees so that there is at least 1/4'' on each side of the bottom points and at the top. You can even out the height of the trees after the trunk is added by sewing extra background fabric to the top edge.

To make the trunks, sew a strip of brown fabric (7/8'' to 1 1/4'' wide by about 8" long) between two wider (about 3'' x 8") strips of background fabric. Press the seams towards the brown. Cut this into strips of different heights for trunks. For this quilt, I made two different strip sets and cut each into 6 pieces. Sew the trunks to the bottom edge of the trees and trim the sides.

Sew some strips of background fabric on each side and between the trees to act as spacers. I put four trees in each row and then sewed the rows together. You might want to add more background fabric along the top and bottom - I found it was nice to have some more negative space. Now make a quilt sandwich and quilt as desired - I went with unevenly spaced horizontal and vertical lines using my walking foot. Bind in your preferred method and admire your work.

I know the photos are limited, so if you have questions, please ask. I will answer in the comments for all to see.

Merry Christmas

At this time of the year, fast and easy sewn gifts are my go-to. One of these items is a set of these super cute and simply constructed coasters. I can whip up a set of six in under an hour and they are perfect for fabric and batting scraps. With an assembly line going, a whole slew can be made in an afternoon. I'm over on the AccuQuilt blog today sharing a tutorial for how I made these. The tops are pieced with quarter square triangles and the bottoms are squares. While I could cut them with a rotary cutter and ruler, I love my GO! Cutter because it makes accurate cuts in no time. You can cut one set of six with one die and one pass through the machine! Who couldn't use a little more time at this time of the year?

You can find the tutorial here. If you make some, let me know. I'd love to see your version.

This December is calm and bright. And merry. So merry!

If you have seen my posts recently on Instagram, you know that I am taking time to list the things I am grateful for everyday. Inspired by my dear friend, Emily, this gratitude practice was just what was I was missing. Taking a few minutes to review what I am thankful for each my day has been the best reflection for me. I hadn't realized just how much I missed taking a photo every day and saying a few words about it, like I did for 5 years on Flickr. Although the gratitude practice that I am doing now is different, I believe it fills the hole that my 365 projects left. I did not realize how much I missed it (and habit! I still miss habit). Life is hectic and busy and messy and lovely and wonderful and loving and energizing and I want to feel it all, love it all, live it all.

Among the many things I am grateful for is this blog and all of you who read it. I don't say it nearly often enough, but I do so appreciate the time it takes to stop here, read my words, and comment on my posts. I love sewing and knitting and making things, and having people to share it with has been a wonderful blessing in my life. I love knowing that like-minded people are out there, following along. Thank you. Truly, I am grateful for all of you and everything you do to support my endeavors.

I'm not signing off for the year, yet. I do have some posts planned, but I'm soaking in every moment of this holiday season and don't want to miss the opportunity to wish the best. Whatever holiday it is that you celebrate, I hope that it is full of love, kindness and gratitude.

Merry Everything, Happy Always, my friends!