Finished Christmas Tags

I also managed to finish the Christmas tags before Christmas Eve. 

Once I got the right type of adhesive, I was a lot happier with the results.  Here are a few of the tags that decorated our packages...

I'm already thinking about making some for spring...

Finished Penguin Quilt

I finished the quilt the Friday before Christmas--but I've been a little busy since then.  Here is the finished quilt:

Christmas Tags

Ugh.  The last thing I needed right now was to start a new project.  Of course, I've started a new project.

While going through some of my books and magazines, I saw some really cute cards made from shipping tags.  And, since I couldn't find the gift tags, I decided to make some.

The first thing I needed was some shipping tags.  A quick stop at Office Max last night was all it took to find a package of shipping tags.

Once I got back home, I took one out and started looking at it, trying to decide what other supplies I'd need.

Soon, I was pulling out my scrapbooking supplies.  Unfortunately, it has been a while since I did any scrapbooking.  While the papers were all fine, some of the pen and glue sticks had dried out.  But, I found one glue stick that still worked.  And, away I went. 

I like the way the first two turned out for the most part...

Unfortunately, with the glue stick I used, there was a lot of warping.

Time to buy some more glue...

Penguin Quilt

A while back, I was looking for material to make a baby quilt for friends.  Specifically, I was looking for giraffes and frogs.  The first day out, I didn't find any fabric I liked...for that quilt.  But, I did find a pre-made penguin baby quilt, with matching fabric.  I managed to walk away from it that day, but later went back after I found the material for the original quilt.

When I went back, I bought the pre-made panel and enough coordinating fabric to make a decent sized bed quilt.  From the time I bought it until the time I had the top finished was less than 48 hours.  But, unfortunately, it sat for about 8 weeks.

Tuesday night, I decided to make the quilt sandwich--backing fabric, batting, and top fabric.  The backing fabric is a flat flannel sheet (with penguins, of course!) from a set that we can no longer use because the fitted sheet wore out.

Tonight, I began quilting.

I made decent progress, even though it is tough to quilt with that much fabric.  And, while the pre-made center panel is nice, it has a lot of natural puckers that I am trying to work out during the quilting process. 

Eventually, my shoulders told me it was quitting time.

I probably would have made more progress, but I lost about 45 minutes trouble shooting why the machine didn't turn on.  I eventually realized that the machine was on...the bulb is just burned out.

Finishing the Christmas Wall Hanging

Tonight, I decided to finish the Christmas wall hanging.  I like this concept:  buy the panels, sew the top, quilt it, and get a wall hanging up on the wall in time for the holiday...and all in the same year.

The wall hanging actually went together fairly well.  It took me about an hour to machine quilt it.  I am getting a lot more comfortable with machine quilting. 

Up next:  finishing a baby quilt for a friend or quilting the penguin quilt.  The baby quilt actually has a deadline, but I don't yet have the backing fabric for it.  So, it may be the penguin quilt....