Ornament for this year is done!

I just finished making the yearly ornament for my daughter. This is the 24th year that I have made her an ornament.  Hard to believe that in all that time I have never not finished the ornament before Christmas. This year she has her own apartment and her own tree so she has all of the ornaments that I have made her over the years. I miss seeing them on our own tree this year. I had some real favorites among those that I made her.  Hopefully she is enjoying them in her own place.
So what is the ornament this year?  A trio of fortune cookies. The fortunes apply specifically to her and are funny.


I found the instructions on how to make these really cute ornaments on this website.
These were so fast and easy that I decided to make three of them.
Thanks for reading and have a great holiday.
Chris

The Challenge Quilts for 2012

I thought it might be fun to see all my challenge quilts for the year in one blog. Each of these was 12 inches by 12 inches.

Top row from left to right: Tribute to Van Gogh, Call of the Wild, Dancing Stones.

Bottom row from left to right: Granulation, Northern Sky Sandcastles, Days Gone By.

This was a fun year for challenges. I am thrilled that I completed each one. Each one was a challenge for one reason or another. Some I had a hard time coming up with an idea. Some were challenges to execute.  Of course most of them presented the usual challenge I encounter when creating a quilt….over analysis!

Now I should put a sleeve and label on the back of these so I can hang them in my sewing room. Thanks for reading.

Chris

Latest Challenge Quilt

With December being such a crazy month, I am amazed that I managed to get this challenge quilt done ahead of schedule. The word for this challenge was BY, BYE or BUY.

I decided to make a quilt called “Days Gone By.” I love old things like old buildings, doors, and windows. I printed a photo of an old cottage that we took in Ireland on a piece of fabric that I painted several years ago. The fabric was painted with seta colors in gray and purple. The image was printed on the fabric this past summer when I took a class from Natalya Aikens at Create NJ. I had no idea what I was going to end up doing with the image. I decided to use it for this challenge. Unfortunately it was not large enough so I had to add some borders. I tried making a really narrow inner border after learning how to do that in a class that I took with Gloria Loughman in September. That inner green border is only 1/8 in wide! I think adding the borders was a really good idea.

 Days Gone By

I noticed when I printed the image on fabric that it looked like a dog in the window. My husband says it is just a reflection, but I am going to pretend that it is a doggie!  What do you think?

Is it a doggie in the window?

Thanks for reading.
Chris