The Top is Finished . . . It's time to Quilt!!

Just before Christmas, I finished up the one more Super Scrappy Triple Irish Chain block (tutorial here)  that I needed for my quilt top.   And of course, I totally had to sew all the blocks together then (even if that meant I was up a little late on the 23rd wrapping presents ;)  It is so exciting to see the top all finished!!   (please excuse the poor photo, we ended up with a White Christmas that is still being added to so this is a sewing room floor shot)

And then or course, it got set aside the last few days for Christmas celebrating.  We had a very Merry Christmas and enjoyed spending hours and hours just chatting with family, watching the kids play with toys, and eating lots of yummy food.  And yes, the Charming Handbags were a huge hit with my nieces :)

And now, its a new day . . . and I am ready for some serious Quilting Time!!  I have a  fun idea in my head and I can't wait to get this on the long arm and get quilting.  Just need to make lunch, and then nap time for the littles kidlets and play time for the older kidlets is going to equal Quilt Time for mom ;)

What about you . . . Do you have an After The Holiday's project you have been anticipating??

Linking this Quilt Top Finish to Sarah's and Amanda's :)

A Very Quilty Merry Christmas

Yesterday on Instagram, I saw that Bonnie Hunter was doing a Quilty Christmas Projects Link-up and I thought, how fun!!!  I don't know if I have ever done a Christmas Project Round-Up post, and what better day than Christmas Eve ;)  So here it goes.   These are the Christmas Projects you can find here at Happy Quilitng.

I made 3 Christmas Projects this year . . .

First, O Christmas Trees.   For more fun pics, I blogged about this quilt here.   And if you want to make your own, the tutorial for this quilt can be found here.

Second for this year, my Simply Modern Monochromatic Stockings.  Finally, we all have matching stockings, yippee!!!  For more fun pics, I blogged about these stockings here.   And if you want to make your own, the tutorial for these stockings can be found here.  

And the final Christmas Finish from this year, My Christmas Fat Quarter Fizz that was made with the Fat Quarter Shop.     For more fun pics, I blogged about this quilt here.   And if you want to make your own, the pattern for this quilt can be found here. 

Now, how about some Christmas Finishes from Yesteryear ;)

In 2012, I used my all time favorite Christmas Fabric, Countdown to Christmas from Sweetwater, to make this Spinning or Spiraling Christmas Quilt.  I blogged and wrote a tutorial for the quilt right here if you want to know more ;)

Also, in 2012, I made this Christmas Ribbons Throw, a variation on a Jelly Roll Race quilt ;)  It is fast and super fun.   I blogged and wrote a tutorial for this quilt right here if you want to know more ;)

And in 2011, I made this Christmas Traditions Advent Calendar.   It is a super fun way to get in all of your Holiday fun.   I blogged about the calendar here and if you want to make your own, you can find the tutorial for the calendar here ;)  

Then pop back another year to when I was first finding the online quilt world.  In 2010 Amy Ellis was hosting a Beginners Sampler Quilt Along and I made a Christmas Version.  So fun!!!  For more fun pics, I blogged about this here.  

And then pop way back, to when I was just learning to quilt, and ya, it took me a year or so to make one (funny how that has changed) this Christmas Around The Year quilt was the first quilt I ever made.   (Not so much of a beginner quilt, but I learned a lot)  It was given to my Mother-In-Law in 2005 and seems only appropriate that she recieved my first quilt as she is now my day to day go to in all things quilty :)  I didn't have a blog when I wrote this quilt so it's just a picture here ;)  

And that just about wraps it up.  Yup, my first quilt ever is the last one to be shared ;)  I have to say, I am so glad Bonnie did this little linky.  It really is so fun to see all of these in one place.   I hope you find a quilt or project you like that you want to whip up for next year ;)  If you do, I would love to see it.  You can add pics to my flickr group here or email me pics at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com.

So that is my little Christmas Project Round-up :)   And now I best go round up the kids to go sledding.  

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday!!!

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day

It's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day . . . let's have some fun :)

First, we need to announce the winner from last weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway!!   The winner of the $30.00 Gift Certificate to Discover Fabric  is . . .   Number 104. . . Congrats Anita!!   I have emailed you :)

    

    

    

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Southern Fabric!!   Southern Fabric has it all and right now they have it on sale during their 12 Days of Christmas Celebration :)  Today's special . . . all Jelly Rolls are $25.00 and under :)  Be sure to pop on over and check out this and  all of the other Christmas Specials!!

   

And the Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is for a $25.00 Gift Certificate to Southern Fabric!!!   One lucky reader is going to get an after Christmas, buy what you didn't find in your stocking shopping spree!!!  

You have two entry chances, the second being optional, and please leave a separate comment for each.  All Entries are welcome, including International Entries.  Please just be sure to leave an email address if you are a no-reply blogger ;)  

ENTRY 1 - Simply leave a comment that tells me your 3 favorite words to describe Christmas Time :)     Mine would be Family, Peace, and Joy

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Southern Fabric love. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter,  Pinterest, Bloglovin, or You Tube.  You can Sign up for the Southern Fabric Newsletter (middle on the right of the page) ,  Follow Their Blog, or you can Visit the Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Southern Fabric Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, December 30th when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Christmas Time is Family Time

We had such a wonderful weekend!!!  Our family traveled up to Salt Lake City for our annual Extended Powell Family Christmas Party and our Immediate Powell Family Christmas Party.   I am so grateful that we don't live across the country anymore, so that we can be home with our families for the Holidays.

At the Extended Powell Family Christmas Party I was able to give my Grandparent's their new quilt that I shared on Friday.    Yup, I think it is safe to say that Grandma was quite surprised ;)

This is my Grandma's you shouldn't have look ;)  I love it when I get it because it means she loves it!!!!

Yup, it was a winner all around.  I can't begin to explain how grateful I am for these 2 people.  I am so happy that they loved their quilt.  Really, this is the part of quilting I love the best!!!

The next day was the Immediate Powell Family Christmas Party.  Sadly, I forgot to take any pictures until the end of the day and it was packed.  We normally sled, but as there was no snow, we played ball at the gym and then swam and swam.  Then we had a "Do You Want To Build A Snowman" party for the kids, a huge and amazing dinner, and then we ended the evening with a trip downtown to see the lights at Temple Square.

We decided to take the Trax down so we wouldn't have to fight the traffic.  Best idea ever!!!  The kids had so much fun on the train ;)  And that gal that looks just like me, it's not me,  its my twin sister ;)

I can't begin to explain how much I love these people.  I am so blessed to have such an amazing family!!!     And we managed not to lose any of them in all of the huge crowds of people.  Bonus ;)

And all the above is because these 2 fell in love.   My cute Mom and Dad ;)  Love ya!!!

The kids loved the lights.  The whole night was filled with "look at those", and "Oh, those are my favorite".   it was such a reminder of my own childhood that filled my heart with joy.

I have gone downtown to Temple Square to see the lights since I was a little girl and I am so very grateful to be able to pass this special tradition and the special spirit of this place on to my children.

Truly, it was an amazing weekend filled with lots of Family and lots of Love!!!  We missed my little sister and her adorable family but maybe next year they will get to visit.  Then we can all be "Home for Christmas".

Wishing you a very Happy Holiday Quilting Kind of Day!!

Happy Trails

It's Done!!!  And with 24 hours to spare ;)  I am so excited to share with you Happy Trails!!!   Back in September, I asked the gals from the Bees Knees group if they could make me Outdoor inspired blocks to make a quilt for my Grandparents new Motor Home.  My Grandparents love to camp and when I saw the not so inspiring bedspread in their motor home, I knew just what needed to be done.

The group had no guidelines on size or design.  Just think outdoors and create.   I am blown away with their amazing blocks and was so excited to put them all together.   Excited and a bit nervous.  Bringing all those blocks together all improv style is a bit out of my comfort zone.  I kept wanting to sketch it out on graph paper.  But Barbara kept encouraging me and I managed to get the top put together without having to draw it out.  Yippee for trying new things!!!   I wanted all the blocks to stay obe on the actual bed, and not hanging over the sides of it, so once they were all pieced the quilt was a little long and skinny.  So I added some skinny borders on the top and bottom and some wide borders on the sides to make it queen size.

Not surprisingly, it was a little hard for my little symmetrical mind to be okay with different size borders. I always have to push myself to do things Asymmetrical.  But I kept reminding myself that I did it for a reason and it was going to be okay.   And when it came time to quilt, I decided I needed to take advantage of those extra wide background space :)  So I made some templates, traced them in my disappearing marker, and quilted my Grandparents Names into their sides of the bed ;)  And suddenly, I wasn't so stressed about the different size borders, I loved it!!!

And speaking of quilting . . . I really had some fun with this one.  I used my favorite 402 Pearl So Fine Thread by Superior Threads on the whole thing.  Isn't it awesome how it creates such a perfect compliment to the background and totally blends in with the blocks ;)  For the background, I really got into this one and had so much fun.  I think this might qualify as "quilt grafatti".  There are swirls, paisleys, leaves, pebbles, curly cues, and tendrils.

And on the blocks, I used arches in all of the squares and triangles, and then some basic meandering and outlining to highlight the character blocks.

I used ribbon candy and just simple back and forths in the blocks made of strips.   I just love the way it creates so much movement in the blocks.  

I could seriously show you every block in this quilt . . . they are all so awesome.  But I will finish with this one and not make this the longest post ever ;)   I made sure this winded up in the center of the quilt, because it just summed up my Grandparents so perfectly.  Love it!!

I can't wait to give this quilt to my Grandparents tonight :)  Thank you a million times over to all of the amazing gals in the Bees Knees group.  You gals are the best and I so appreciate your amazing creativity.  The quilt is exactly what I hoped it would be thanks to each of you ;)

Linking this finish up to Sarah's and Amanda's :)