two quilts down

finished my teal ikea fabric "cheater" quilt (cheating because it's backed with a fleece, not really quilted):

and last saturday, karoline made this sunny, cheerful lap quilt. it's backed with black satin (that's what she wanted):

she still has to hand-stitch the binding on the back side, but then it's done. i'm so pleased that she wanted to make something. i guess we actually are influencing by example.

so we're already getting good use out of the new machine:

next up, a fairy costume for sabin's upcoming school play--she's playing a fairy in sleeping beauty.  these are the materials i bought to make it:

and i'm going to try out a few of the fancy stitches the machine can do and sew these felt flowers to a ready-made pillow case i bought in ikea:

stuff we've been making

stuff we've been making at our house lately:

quilts

roasted peppers

self-portraits

small stories made of stacked books

painted walls

snowmen

and homemade schnapps

(horseradish - dried apple, cinnamon & clove - fresh apple & cinnamon)

happy thanksgiving!

quilting again

it's snowing small snowballs outside and so i decided to make a quilt for the writing house, rather than do something otherwise constructive, like empty boxes or paint. and no, i'm not done with the lap quilt yet (the binding is a bit of a stopping point for me), why do you ask? 

on this quilt, i'm going to cheat a little bit, by backing it with a fleece blanket, rather than using batting and a neutral fabric on the back. i think it will enable me to finish it in one day. that's my goal anyway.

that's the fleece i'll use as backing right there next to it. it matches better in person than it does in this photo. it was fun to actually USE the writing house for laying it all out. i only used three different fabrics, but i think it works really well. i've got it all pinned together now and i'll start sewing it together after i run and pick up sabin.

what are you doing this weekend?