November Fabric Usage

Brace yourselves. Worse than October, I brought in A LOT of fabric last month....

First a stack destined for Christmas gift-giving bags + a solid needed for Block Studies Collective this month + that top black and white stripe, which was stash-necessary, and I'd used it up on those black and orange potholders.

Knowing December would be busy, I treated myself to the Tara Faughnan-curated bundle for BSC. I committed to that a couple of months ago, so what can I say?

And then, after rummaging through stash for what I wanted/needed for the upcoming Merry Mix  Advent quilt along, I placed an order for several more solids. One downfall of normally purchasing half-yard cuts is that you don't have enough to really do a project such as this. Hubby and I actually worked together to choose colors for this quilt, so at least I'll be making something that coordinates with our other holiday decor and that we'll both appreciate. In fact, there were two of the lighter teals here (pictured below), so we could see which we liked best, so the other will go into the stash. And then that aqua star print was a bonus, since I'm liking that print so much. 

So yeah, that's a lot. I feel better knowing it all was (mostly) purchased for a specific project, but still. Hoping December is spent just using it up!

November Fabric Usage

Used up: 13.97 yards [10.17 projects + 3.8 recycled/donated]
Brought in: 19.25 yards 
Net: 5.28 yards

Merry Mix

In addition to the Oh Christmas Tree Advent embroidery project, I also joined in the Merry Mix mystery quilt-along with Melanie Meyer @mellmeyer, a quilt-loving friend in Germany. My goal is a throw-sized quilt top (54″ x 66″) that coordinates with our other Christmas decor. Hubby and I worked together to choose fabrics, finally selecting these five (l-r): Kona Pewter and Quicksilver, Kona Emerald, Bella Solids Scuba, and Kona Wine.

I don't remember ever doing a quilt-along this quickly, so I'm excited for it and concerned just a bit about keeping up. But, the more community the better, right?  That said, I've successfully completed our assignments for Day 1 - some fabric cutting....

and Day 2, our first blocks!

I just received Day 3's task, and I see that quarter circles are involved. Uh-oh!

Oh Christmas Tree Advent

Though I know I'll be a little jealous as I see folks opening and sharing their sewing-related advent calendars, I decided that I'd instead, join in an advent stitch-along, and chose the design by Stitchdoodles. 

Based in Gloucester, UK, I went ahead and ordered the printed 100% ivory cotton fabric panel, which came backed with a calico fabric stabilizer. Each day, directions will be released for stitching one particular tree. 

I'm going to use my own thread stash, so I'll figure that out as we go. I'm thinking mostly greens and teals, and maybe a variety of threads - perle cotton, Aurifil 12wt and embroidery floss. But then again, we'll just see.

I did stitch tree #1 right on schedule using Aurifil 12wt for the tree and floss for the trunk. I'll be back periodically with status updates!