Two Pillow Finish

This past week I’ve finished up two Christmas pillows. 

Katie of SwimBikeQuilt posted a modern Christmas tree wall-hanging/pillow on the Free Spirit blog this week.  The tutorial was easy to follow. 

It was amazing to see how the texture of the straight line quilting changed the total look of the Christmas tree.  I decided to bind the pillow after adding the envelope back.  This gray polka dot fabric is one of my favorites. 

This Ho Ho Ho pillow is straight from the book “Pretty in Patchwork Holidays” by Quilt Dad.  I am giving away a copy of the book and 16 fat quarters here, and there are a few more hours to enter the giveaway.

The fabrics are mostly Connecting Threads and a few favorites from my stash thrown in.

I used Finca Presencia Perle thread size 8 to quilt around each letter.  I didn’t have an embroidery hoop at first, but I bought one after doing two of the letters and it made the stitching a lot easier.

The Santa buttons were the perfect finishing touch!

The pattern suggests using linen for the back, but I substituted this cute bird fabric I’ve had in my stash.

So now I think our living room is sufficiently decorated for the holidays!

What have you been working on?  Any Christmas projects?  Linking up to Finish It Up Friday on Crazy Mom Quilts.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Giveaway Day!

Would you like to win your own copy of the book “Pretty in Patchwork Holidays” and a pack of 16 fat quarters?

The book is by John Adams, aka Quilt Dad, and it contains 30+ different holiday projects by talented quilters such as Monica Solario-Snow.  This cute pillow caught my eye immediately.

The fat quarter pack is an assortment of 16 fat quarters from Connecting Threads called “Technicolor Christmas.”

This is the pillow I made from the book with the same fat quarters and a few fabrics from my stash.  I will do a post about making it later this week so we can get to the GIVEAWAY!

My friend Kelie and I have organized a new online quilting bee called Make It Modern.  This is a fast-paced bee that lasts 6 months instead of 12 and each bee member makes 2 blocks per month.  The theme is modern!  Modern fabrics, colors, and designs.  And it involves a prize every month and multiple prizes at the end of the bee.  We have sponsors already lined up! If this bee is something that you think you might be interested in, check out the Flickr page and fill out a Google form here.   The bee and alternate spots have been filled!

Ok, now to the really important part!  Here’s how you can enter to win the book and fat quarters.  Open to US residents only.

1.  Leave a comment  telling me if you’ve ever participated in an online bee and, if have a spare moment, any advice for making it fun and a great experience.

2.  Get an extra entry for being a follower, new or old.  Just leave a comment telling me you signed up with Google Friend Connect on the right hand side of my blog.

And check out all the other great giveaways on the Sew Mama Sew blog.

Good luck, friends!