Merry Fibers

I never revealed my finished Tufted Tweets mini quilt. Do you want to see it? Drum roll please....

I added a hanging sleeve to this one so it can be used as a wall hanging or a doll quilt. This mini quilt and the others are now or will soon be available on my Etsy shop.

The other thing I've been working on lately is sewing bags. I used to make and sell many bags, but ever since my third child arrived it's felt more like a task than a pleasure. Here are the first bags I've made since July.  Believe it or not, I'm anxious to get started on a few more! The owl and bird bag have both been purchased but the little acorn bag and the bear bag are still available.

Finally, for those of you who live in the Twin Cities, I just took a bunch of children's napkin sets over to The Linden Tree in Minneapolis.

You'll also see two of my lap/toddler quilts at The Linden Tree. Remember these?

Please check out the store if you're in the neighborhood. Melissa, the owner, carries lots of fabric and beautiful handmade items by local artists and crafters.

Wishing you very happy holidays,

-Annik

Winter Wonderland or Siberian Labor Camp?

I had big plans for the weekend. My quilts and napkins were for sale at a holiday boutique.  I was hoping to stop in at the monthly Quilt-in to do some hand sewing. Bags were cut out and ready to sew.  Mother Nature had other ideas, though. Namely, a massive snow storm that left 17.2" of snow on the ground.

High winds caused drifting and packed the snow which made it very hard to clear off sidewalks and driveways - let alone streets.  Our city was brought to a standstill. Cars were stuck everywhere. Some people just gave up and left their vehicles in the middle of the street!

It took over an hour for this guy to get his car out of the middle of the street. He parked it in the wrong direction and left it. One of many.

I bet I shoveled for at least 4 hours this weekend plus about another 2-3 hours for my husband. The sad thing is, we're still not done as the mini van remains covered.

The kids had a blast playing outside, though. And now our backyard (which was previously flat as a pancake) has multiple sledding hills!  And I must admit that I enjoyed helping people push their cars out of our snow-packed intersection.

School was canceled today which never happens in Minneapolis/Minnesota, especially for a storm that stopped on Saturday night. Maybe I'll put the kids to work shoveling...

The Evolution of a Quilt

The evolution of a quilt in photos.

Started out as a wee bundle of fabric

Big print = big blocks

A sashing we will go, a sashing we will go...

The binding makes the quilt

My baby is all grown up

Mini Quilts Revealed

How was your Thanksgiving weekend? Did you get lots of sewing and crafting done?

We loaded up the mini van (despite the promise of an ice storm which made for slow and scary travel) and headed to Nebraska to visit the in laws for Turkey Day.  The kids love seeing their many aunts and uncles and cousins. I love having so many helping hands. It was a WARM and relaxing weekend. My lovely sister in law even helped me with my holiday sewing. Score!

During those many hours of football I managed to finish hand sewing the binding on the 4 finished mini quilts. Ready for the reveal?? Notice how my model (my oldest son, Alex) starts out enthusiastic but quickly becomes bored with his duties.

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While in Lincoln, I checked out the famous Cosmic Cow quilt shop. Is it really famous? Not sure, but every time I'm in Nebraska somebody tells me I need to check it out. So, I finally took the pilgrimage and Holy Cow - what a shop. I've never seen such a small space so packed with fabric but also so amazingly organized. Why didn't I take photos?? I was too busy having heart palpitations, complete with tunnel vision. I bought a bunch of Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope.  Photo to come.

FYI: my mini quilts will be for sale next Friday and Saturday at the Art on Garfield holiday boutique.