Merry Christmas - Late

Merry Christmas!  As usual, I got distracted by all the holiday activities and blogging was not on my agenda. I hope you had a lovely holiday. The only thing missing for me was the snow. Still none here in Chicagoland but a girl can always hope . . . .

A few years ago . . . 

I mentioned in my Facebook group that we'll still be doing the KT Monthly challenge in 2025 as long as there's some interest. Read more about it in one of my previous blog posts. Pick a quilt from one of my books or patterns in my Etsy shop that you've been wanting to make for awhile and start working on it in January.  Choose your fabrics and make the blocks the first week. Take it step by step and try to make a little progress each week. One quilt per month. Before you know it you'll have a nice stack of small quilts.  

Here are a few suggestions - 

Simple star block surrounded by narrow borders. How cute and easy is this??

Rows and rows of flying geese.

Tiny four patches! 

Maybe get back to that Schoolgirl Sampler quilt you started . . . .

Another simple star quilt from my book Small & Scrappy.

Join us in my Facebook group for more quilty fun in 2025!

 

Peppermints and Pinwheels

Here's a repost from a few years ago of something I thought you might enjoy this holiday season - 

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One of my favorite treats I usually only indulge in around the holidays is peppermint bark candy. I'm sure there are places you can buy it all year long but, trust me, it's a good thing  that I don't see it much at other times of the year. I recently bought some packaged Ghiradelli Peppermint Bark squares while I was out Christmas shopping. Let me tell you they didn't last long and and so I thought I'd try to make my own. How hard could it be? There are all sorts of recipes if you do a Google search, and you can certainly take your pick, but basically it's layers of dark chocolate, white chocolate and crushed peppermint candy cut into squares. Very simple.

First, melt some dark chocolate chips (or use better quality chocolate if you care to) in the microwave in a glass bowl. Stir after about 30-40 seconds and again if needed. If you have a moderately powerful microwave, don't let it go for too long or the chocolate will burn and you'll have to trash that batch and start over. Ask me how I know. When it's all  melted, pour into a small square baking dish lined with wax paper up the sides. Smooth the chocolate with a spatula. Place in freezer for 20 minutes. Crush the peppermints or candy canes. Then, melt the white chocolate and smooth it over the hardened layer of dark chocolate. Top the soft chocolate with the crushed candy, pressing it into the layer a bit. Place in freezer for another 10 minutes. When it hardens, lift the wax paper out of the dish and break into pieces or let it soften a little and then cut with a knife into squares. Yum!

This got me started on a peppermint kick so yesterday, after I finished making the candy, I took out some red and light prints and made a few pinwheels. I know you all are still going crazy over red and white quilts after seeing and hearing about that exhibit in NYC. I don't have very many red and white quilts myself and it was time to do something about that. I didn't know where I was going with it but then sat down at the computer with EQ and designed a little quilt around the blocks I'd made. Turned out very "sweet"   if I say so myself.

And - it's for YOU!  Here's the free pattern you can download as a .pdf file. There's not a lot of time before the holidays get here I know but it's very simple so you can still probably get it done before Christmas if you have a little time and you're so inclined. Me? I'm also going to try to make it but I'm still trying to finish the  little runner I began last year . . .  .

Most of you probably have your own favorite method for making half-square triangles for the Pinwheel blocks, but if you're new to quilting and find that sewing triangles makes your blocks a little wonky, here's how I make mine.

I layer my two squares, right sides together. Draw a diagonal line across the back of the lighter square. I use this nifty Quick Quarter ruler I found years ago that makes the sewing lines visible because I'm just not that good at eyeballing it.

Chain piece your layered squares and you can whip them out pretty fast.

This is a tip I recently picked up for making your half-square triangle units even better.  After you sew 1/4 inch away from the diagonal line on each side of the layered squares, PRESS the units open before you cut.  The fabric does not stretch as much and your half-square triangles will not turn out wonky but perfect because the bias edges are stabilized.

Flip and press the other side, then cut on the drawn line. Works like magic and keeps your pieces from getting distorted.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas and Tiny Trees

Have you made any little trees yet? Everyone seems to be making these. Large or small, it's the perfect seasonal quilt project. My pattern is especially tiny  -  each tree is only 2" x 4" finished. 

My Facebook group has inspired me to get a few more trees finished this year. Each December I bring them out and add a few to the pile.  Then I decide to use some to make a couple of gifts or small projects. Before I know it I've used up the ones I just made and I'm back to where I started. This season is going by too fast! I need to keep going so I can have a larger tree quilt someday . . . .

There's a free paper-pieced pattern in Files in my Facebook group and there's also one on my website. There's another one using flying geese if paper piecing is not your thing.

"It's coming on Christmas, I'm cutting up trees . . . "   

Sew three trees together and add borders. 

Merry Making!