Originally Posted by Katia

I am a fairly new quilter. I've been sewing since I was little, 5 or 6, but only started making a few quilts this year. And I am not one to start of with the easy stuff, or take a lot of classes. I dive in with both feet, sometimes I belly flop, sometimes I glide right through.
I started sometime this spring, I think. It has been a whirlwind.

I made up my mind that I wanted to make birthday quilts for each of my girls, two daughters and a daughter in law, Christmas throws this year. My oldest grandson asked me for a blue quilt last year for Christmas. That was my inspiration to learn this new skill. I also decided to make a quilt for each of my kids and their spouses as well. I also wanted to be done by the first of December. So I am down to the wire. I wanted December to make some other fun things to make for the grand kids.

Well, The planning was fun, the buying was even more fun. And so far I am doing pretty good. I finished the birthday quilts and they have been given and were loved. They all have late fall and Christmas birthdays. They asked if I would do Halloween next year. I finished my grandsons blue quilt. I hope he loves it as much as I do. I did it in all batiks with a tiny bit of green thrown in for interest. I used that quick jelly roll method and quilted it with a deco stitch. I also finished one of the Christmas quilts, the one for my son and daughter in law. It is not huge, more of a throw then a bed quilt. I did that with the After Dark collection from Connecting Threads in the braid pattern. I think it turned out pretty good for a beginner.

I have the other two done but just the tops, still have to finish, but that should not take too long. I did the last top today. Cut it out and sewed it together all today. I did decide to add to the sides, it is just too skinny, but I love the colors. I could not decide on a pattern so I made my own. It is with Asian fabrics, with peacock colors.

Oh, we also invited my SIL to come have Christmas with us. She lost her husband two months ago and does not want to be home. So I wanted to make her something cheery. I used the Canning Day collection, from Connecting Threads and I loved the colors. I bought nine charm packs and just cut them in half and sewed them together in what I think it is called a rail fence pattern. Nothing fancy, but I think it turned out pretty good. It is happy and cheery. I hope she doesn't cry when she opens it.

So now I have three to quilt and bind. But I think I need to take a day off. My right arm and hand are very sore. I don't remember getting sore from sewing when I was younger. It kinda ticks me off. But at least I am getting close to getting this all done. Of course I have a ton of other projects I want to do before Christmas. Why do we do this to ourselves, or is it just me?

I will try and put up some pictures of my finished projects. Hope it works. These are the birthday gift Christmas quilts. I will post the rest when I get them finished and pics taken.