Guest Blogging - Joyeaux Noel Ornaments

Hello, Friends!

Are you starting to get ready for Christmas?

I have a new quick and easy idea

for some pretty ornaments.

You can find a free tutorial for

Joyeaux Noel ornaments on my guest blog post

at Bear Creek Quilting.

I was captivated when I first saw photos

of French General's latest line of Christmas fabrics,

Joyeaux Noel, months ago.

When I saw them in person, I was even more drawn to them...

the palette is subdued, with an Old World vibe.

The vignettes are charming and varied.

They just call out to be made into something for sharing.

I made up a set of ornaments in no time,

and I plan to make lots more of them soon.

Please stop by to see how they're made.

I hope you'll make some lovely ornaments

this Christmastime.

{In light of the recent attacks in France,

these projects have even more emotional appeal for me.

My heart goes out to those who were lost or injured.}

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Big Finish - Winter Dresden Quilt

If you've stopped by my blog before,

or followed me on Pinterest...

or Flickr...

you may have caught a glimpse of my

Winter Dresden quilt in progress.

I joined the Bunny Hill Scrappy Plate Club

way back in January.

{Uh-Oh...I think I was supposed to have a finished quilt by...March 2012.}

I had the wisdom and foresight to make mine a Christmas-y/winter quilt,

so I set a goal that was more my speed...

to finish it in time for Christmas.

{I did it!}

This quilt was soooo enjoyable to make from the free pattern by Bunny Hill.

I had the most fun stitching the Dresden plates,

and I've got a couple of extras for making some matching pillows.

But for now,the quilt is just right for snuggling on the couch

with my little dog, Ginger.

I've had a few questions about how I quilted mine.

I use my regular sewing machine - a Pfaff 2040

that I've had for about 12 years.

I use spray basting to hold my quilt sandwich in place.

I almost never start quilting the same day as I spray,

and I don't have issues with the needle getting sticky.

I use the time-honored "fluff and stuff" technique.

I just focus on quilting the area under the needle,

not worrying about all the rest of it.

The first step is to stitch stabilizing lines,

in the ditch, with matching neutral thread...

along every border and sashing line

vertically and horizontally.

That leaves the blocks and the borders ready for

more creative free motion quilting designs.

I switch to invisible thread at this point,

so I don't interrupt my favorite fabric prints.

I made a petal design on the blades of the Dresden plates.

Then I stippled the centers and around each plate for every block.

{It didn't take that long, and I love how it looks on the back.}

For the skinny border, I just made a wavy line.

For the corners and the centers of the outer borders,

I drew a holly design, then traced it onto some Golden Threads paper.

I made 8 layers of the paper and stitched the design
on the whole stack at once,

with only the needle...no thread...to mark the pattern.

{See the holes making the design on the left?}

Then I laid the paper with the design on top of the quilt and stitched away.  

When I was done, I patiently picked the paper off.

{Yeah...right.  I had some tweezers, which helped.}

It doesn't show up a lot, but it's my favorite part.
Here is a view of the back.

To finish the border, I added my OTHER favorite part...

lots of free-form feathers.

{The Scrappy Plate Club pattern used scalloped edges,

but I kept mine straight instead, since this is a lap quilt.}

I like the binding print, which matches the skinny border.

I am just delighted with my new quilt, and the fond memories of 2012.

Linking up to Sew Well Maide's
TGIFF Linky party!

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