Progress - Santa Donkey Tree Skirt!

So sorry for disappearing for a while! I was on a much needed vacation (to Santa Fe which was amazing!!) and have just returned and am diving back into my giant pile of projects.

I'm slowly but surely I'm making headway on the Santa Donkey tree skirt! I knew I wanted to do something with big pieces and white sashing so I could really show off some of my favorite holiday fabrics and be able to highlight my Santa Donkeys and Holiday Boots fabrics. I have to say, I'm really loving the simplicity of it all and it sewed together super duper quickly.




I'm very inexperienced with free motion quilting. In the past, I've either hired out that portion of my quilt projects or tried them myself (which translates as: most of my attempts to date with free motion quilting have not ended well...) But because I really, really wanted this tree skirt to turn out well and I am determined to finally get the hang of free motion quilting, I turned to the ever-so-talented blog community for help.

As always the tutorials from Elizabeth at Oh Fransson! saved me from myself. So that's how you make a quilt sandwich without giant creases, lumps and bumps! I cannot tell you how many hours I have spent on previous projects crawling around on the floor only to end up with a lumpy quilt sandwich. Which of course led to a hot mess of a back once I got started on my quilting. But not on this project!! The back is just as smooth as the front. :)

And then there was the actual pattern for the skirt. I found a fantastic tutorial for a square tree skirt from Crazy Mom Quilts and have modified it to fit my design. Her instructions for the hole in the middle are genius.

I hope to finish off the project this weekend so will post pics when I'm done. Hope everyone is doing well!

Kitty mind meld

Do you ever have those days where your to-do list just never seems to shrink? I'm having one today. But I took a break a few minutes ago and looked over to see this. Kitty mind meld (oops, I just gave away the secret that I'm a bit of a Star Trek fan, didn't I?)

Just wanted to share the cuteness. Ok, back to work!

Urban Circus Giveaway winner + PJ pants

Thanks to everyone who dropped by over the last week to leave a comment about how you have been (or would!) using Urban Circus! It's always so much fun to hear about all the creative ideas you have in store. And to those of you who shared new pictures of what you've been making with the fabric in my Flickr group, an extra special thank you. What gorgeous and inspiring creations!

And now to announce the winner of the giveaway. Chosen by random, the winner is #89 Jennie who said: I would love to make a quilt for my baby granddaughter's room and a wall hanging for her brother's room with this delightful colorful fabric.

Jennie: Fat quarters from the entire collection are headed your way. I really hope your grandkids love what you make with the fabric and that you have a great time sewing with it.



I also want to share a pair of PJ pants I made for myself from the pink Elephants fabric. But since I couldn't model them and photograph them at the same time, you'll have to imagine what they look like. Here they are in an artfully arranged pile. :) A kid at heart, I just couldn't resist a pair of adult PJ pants from the pink elephants. They have quickly become my favorites. Why should the kiddos be the only ones who get to wear animal prints?!


It's a beautiful day here in Austin so I'm headed out to enjoy the rest of my afternoon outside. I hope everyone has a wonderful, wonderful weekend!

Giveaway - Urban Circus FQ set

One of my favorite parts of the day is checking my blog and my Flickr account for new comments and pictures. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to see what you guys are making with my fabric. The quilts, the bags, the clothes... SOOO cute! Lately I've noticed there haven't been as many pictures of creations made with Urban Circus though.



So I'm hoping that perhaps if I entice you with a giveaway, you'll post some more pictures!! Here's how the giveaway will work.

--Only one entry per person regardless of how many pics you post or comments you leave please. I want everyone to have a chance to win!

--The winner will receive a full FQ set of both color stories of Urban Circus. That's 8 FQS!!

--TO ENTER: Leave me a comment here (this will be your entry to win). Tell me either what you have made with Urban Circus (or any of my fabrics!) OR if you haven't made anything yet, tell me what you'd like to make! I will draw a winner after 9am CT on Saturday 10/16/10.

--Then if you have pictures to share, just head over to my Flick group and post your pics! I would really love to see what you've made!!

To get you in the mood, here are a few pictures of some recent creations from some very, very talented folks! (Thanks for sharing these!!)

Baby Kimono PJs
by dodgebutterfly.blogspot.com


Urban Circus Quilt
by xceler8one


Have a wonderful weekend!

Getting started on a holiday tree skirt

I've been trying to figure out what to make for the house at the holidays that can be festooned with cute little Santa Donkeys and Holiday Boots. And then I remembered that I don't have a tree skirt. Every year I end up taking a bed sheet and 'draping' it around the base of the tree. Which pretty much always looks like I have a wadded up sheet under my tree. So this year, I think a tree skirt is in order!

I'm just getting started on the skirt and frankly not really clear (yet) on where I'm headed but I know I want to do some squares with Santa Donkeys in the center and some other squares with some Holiday Boot hexies. This Chartreuse Kona Cotton is a perfect match and it happens to be one of my all time favorite colors.


I'll post pics as my tree skirt progresses. And the Santa Donkey and Holiday Boots fabric is posted for sale in the store. And if you've started any projects with the Santa Donkeys, I'd love to see pictures so make sure you post them in my Flickr group.