It's that time of the year again when I am finally finished with classes, long arm quilting, trunk shows and writing to attempt some of my own Christmas preparations. 
By no means am I complaining the "quilting" world has been excellent to me in 2019. Thanks to all who have booked me to teach or do trunk shows and to those  with whom I have had the privilege to quilt their quilts.  Also, Thanks to QUILTsocial who has hired me to write their blog posts x 4 weeks this year.  I say it all the time, I love my job and it does not feel like a job.
I just wanted to share what I have been up to for fun this time.  It is not all quilting related but it is definitely crafty/cooking/quilting prep for the Christmas season.  See my photos below:

I made the above wreath out of loop it yarn and $store brush trees, so easy! 5 minutes to make seriously, maybe I will post a tutorial later???

We made some gingerbread houses for upcoming Christmas decor and just for fun. Can you tell by the look on my crazy husbands face and the smile on mine that this was an absolute hoot.  Everybody else's gingerbread house stood up tall and mine is so crooked and goofy looking!  I'd say it probably matches my personality.  But never mind, we had so many laughs.

I have made 3 sets of the above double ended oven mitts for add ons to gifts as I absolutely love mine.  The free download for the pattern is available here.

I always joke in my Free Motion Class that practise makes perfect and that students should be giving everyone a pot holder for Christmas so that they can practise their free motion stitches.  I was not kidding :) the above is one of mine.  Practising meandering/warming up my fingers. For the above pot holder as you can see I just used a 10 x 10 square from a gorgeous Christmas panel that I had.

That's all for now I am sure I will be getting into more crafty trouble before Christmas get's here and will share ideas as time goes on.
Until then, stop and listen to the music, enjoy the season and just breath. 🎄

Hi everyone, I hope you are all staying warm while we are experiencing our January freeze. "Out like a Lion" "In like a Lamb", maybe there is hope for February?

I have been suffering today with a cold and decided to stay home and get my January mini quilt done-better late than never!  
The picture of it is below and it is a landscape quilt, kinda artsy and showing January, cold and frosty as it is right now.

The process of making this quilt was really very simple and completely by machine.  I started with a simple line drawing shown below:

Fabric was then cut out based on the paper templates:

The fabric parts were all sewn together with a tiny zig zag and matching thread:

My quilt is now ready to be sandwiched with 2 layers of batting, to show texture on the quilt:

My feed dogs are lowered and a free motion foot is put on my machine and trees are free motion stitched:

More trees and snowflakes in the sky are added along with swirling winds and texture lines in the snow:

Stay warm and stay safe on those roads and challenge yourself to make a winter landscape!❤️

Have a great Monday  and check out my blog posts at QUILTsocial.com all week for great info on tools for longarm quilters' ❤️

Like everything in life stuff changes and I personally embrace this change as I purchased a Bluprint annual membership not too long ago and have been really enjoying it. 

Why this change?
Craftsy has been around for the past 7 years with great success but like all things in business, things morph and change and effective January 8th  Bluprint.com can offer us all more crafting categories and expert guidance on to fit everyone's skill level and schedule with expanded categories including life style and fitness as well as all of the previous craft and art categories.  To summarize it's kind of a bigger platform to consolidate and expand upon learning more!

I have been enjoying all of my new Bluprint classes while still being able to access my Craftsy previously purchased classes and products! 

Some notes below from Craftsy Co- Founder and CEO of Bluprint John Levisay:
Everything you loved about Craftsy & more
The Craftsy experience you know and love — with affordable
supplies and accessible classes — is staying the same, just under
the new Bluprint name. Beginning Tuesday, January 8th, you’ll
be able to:
•Watch all of your previously purchased classes
•Buy individual classes to add to your library
•Order project kits + high-quality supplies
•Access all of our new and current content for one low monthly
or annual price

That's it in a nutshell folks.  I am excited to see what new additions and enhancements are made to Bluprint.com in the future to make our crafting and lifestyle experiences even more exciting!

Have a great Wednesday! ❤️

Christmas has exploded all over my house and it has even spilled into my bathroom, 'tis the season to show off your Christmas quilts.
​Have a great day today and take time to enjoy this beautiful time of the year ❤️