November Bonus

I couldn't resist getting my Temecula Quilt Company "Secret Santa" top quilted. 

I used the same meander pantograph that I used for my 4" x 5" Anthology quilt. 

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 I don't do a lot of Christmas decorating anymore, but this quilt will be a little spot of holiday cheer on the sofa--so cute! I should have made a Burgoyne Surrounded quilt a long time ago....
no half square triangles to square up, mostly strip piecing, and scrappy--what's not to love?!?

It looks like there are a lot of pieces in each block, but most of it is done with strip piecing (instructions HERE) and goes together super fast. 

For the backing, I used a Judie Rothermel black and cream piece (that I've had in my stash for a while) since all my background fabrics in the quilt are lights with black prints. I think I purchased this fabric as a background for an applique project. I have no idea what that project was at this point, so I'm happy to use it up on the back. 

With a little luck, I may get a third quilt finished before December. I'm determined to clear my design wall before the new year! 

November Finish

Some sweet friends helped hold up my quilt so I could get a photo--this is a really long quilt! 

The 4" x 5" Block Anthology quilt was my One Monthly Goal for November. 

I used a meander style pantograph to quilt it....

...and a silver gray Aurifil thread that blended into everything very nicely, I think. 

A label, of course! 

This month's Patches of Blue SAL block is the sleigh.
I have decided that I want my quilt to be a "year round" blue and white quilt, so I am leaving off the snow flake applique and subbing a different block from the book for the sleigh. 

I decided on the  Oak Leaf and Reel block which was too large to fit into the space, so I shrank it down a bit using my printer. Then, since the space is a rectangle, I made more stars (there are other stars around the quilt)  to fill up the space on the side. This is the final block, so now I can start putting everything together--can't wait to see how it will look!

Linking with One Monthly Goal HERE

Mid-month Update

It boggles my mind to think we are already  half way through the month of November and Thanksgiving is coming up next week--wow! 

On Tuesday our guild had a workshop with Pat Speth of Nickel Quilts fame. This is the block I finished in class. It was a really fun day and so interesting to see what project and fabrics every other quilter chose to work on. 

We were given many project choices and I opted for Sunny Lanes. It will be a donation quilt once it's complete.
I had a layer cake that I had won several years ago and calculated that I could cut the squares into quarters and have all the dark "nickels" or charms needed for the twin size quilt. Unfortunately, after starching and pressing, the layer cake squares only measured 10" x 9.75". Ack!  I had to dig through my stash to come up with some coordinating fabric. These aren't really the colors I have a lot of in my stash, so it was a bit of a struggle. The good news is that the parts of the layer cake squares that were too small to cut into nickels will be used for the border in some way. 

My Summer Circles aka Arctic Circles is almost finished. It will get one more round of black elongated hexagons. 

I'm all caught up on the Secret Santa clues from the Temecula Quilt Co. and can't wait for the next one coming tomorrow. And.....

SPOILER ALERT......

I think I may have cracked the secret--what do you think???
I hope I'm right--I've wanted to do a Burgoyne Surrounded quilt for ages! 

November Goal

I seem to have been on a piecing binge lately, and there are a lot of choices to be my November completion goal.

There are three options on the design wall. Town Square with the blue house border, Twilight with the tiny stars, and my French General version of Sanjou.
(Sorry about the sun spots in the photo, but it it so nice to not have clouds for a change that I had to open the blinds wide.) 

It would be quite a feat if I could get Mrs. Billings quilted this month, but..... 

......I am most taken with my 4 x 5 Anthology quilt. I got the final borders on it yesterday and dug through my stash to figure out a back for it last night. I'm making it my November One Monthly Goal to get this one quilted and bound!
Linking with One Monthly Goal HERE