QUILT*astic

I told Matt that next time he has the brilliant idea of a massive sewing undertaking...he needs to tell me at least 4 months before Christmas...not three WEEKS before Christmas.

It was a huge project but I am SO happy with how they turned out.  Jody and Laurie were my saving grace with their quilting experience.  Jody did the embroidery on her fancy dancy machine AND came over and taught me how to machine quilt, and was very patient with me as I started Ella's.  Machine quilting is super cool and very pretty...and VERY time consuming the thread consuming!  There are a lot of "oopsies" in the loopty loops...but it is pretty good for the first time, in my opinion.  I used 3 spools of thread and 7 bobbins to finish her quilt.  With that said...and with only six DAYS until Christmas, I decided to just "machine tie" the boys quilts.  That allowed the quilts to be a little fluffier too.  Making my own binding tape was easier than I thought it would be, and after watching several youtube videos of how "do" the binding from start to finish...I was done!  I stayed up until 3 am on the 23rd and FINISHED with two days to spare!  296 square later...their gifts were complete.

Here are the finished products

Christmas night I LOVED finding the boys all snuggled up in their new blankets asleep on the couch after watching a movie.

and because I just can't sit still...I made these baby doll dresses for Ella's babies as a Christmas gift.

They were pretty simple and having them reversible gives her six dress options instead of just three.

You can find the tutorial/free pattern here. 

I think it is time to give the sewing machine a break.  But then again, maybe not.  Orders need to be completed.