Back to the quilts

 I am working on another UFO quilt challenge this year, although it is not going as smoothly as it did in 2013. As I look back on the first half of the year, I have finished 2-3 UFOs, but also made 3 lap quilts from the start. I quess I have accomplished something!

This one is a true UFO and part of a series of quilts of the seasons. It is for winter and I still have the spring one to quilt by hand. The summer one is hanging up now, and the fall one was the first one completed. It is from a quilting book by Better Homes and Gardens.

I am most excited about this one - I saw it on a Facebook page called 24 Blocks and fell in love. The creator there was good enough to include the source of the pattern. I checked on Amazon and found a used copy of the out of print book! :-) The small quilts on the clothesline are already completely finished. Just the quilting to do, of course!

The Wild Christmas Reindeer for Jingle Belles

This is so cool - my idea has been used for today's Jingle Belles Christmas card challenge. As a retired elementary school librarian, I love children's stories.

If anyone has found the post from Jingle Belles, thank you! I appreciate your time in looking here. Please feel free to leave a comment of sign up as a follower.

A few years ago I saw a suggestion on Pinterest to wrap up 25 holiday picture books and open one each day during Advent. I no longer have small children who would enjoy opening the "gifts" each day, but I missed reading the many holiday stories at school. SOooooo, I do this each year for me! I gather 25 (or more) books and put them in a basket by the tree. Each day or so I read one of them, taking my time with the illustrations and remembering why I bought it in the first place. Everyone of these books is special to our family and I look forward to sharing the stories with our next generation.

The Wild Christmas Reindeer, by Jan Brett, has been a favorite for many years. I love her colorful illustrations. The borders help move the story along and are not simply decorative. I have heard Jan Brett speak several times, and she said that there are so many ideas for a story that do not fit in the appropriate number of pages for a picture book. Using borders, she is able to write a longer story that still fit the picture book format.

I made this card 4" x 9", to fit a long envelope. I used my Cricut Expression and the "A Quilted Christmas" cartridge for the reindeer and Teeka. The book is a Spellbinders Nestabilities-Labels Seven.

The possibilites are amazing and I already have a card for another popular book ready.

Catcing up on Christmas cards

I was so exicited to make another Christmas card for the Jingle Belles group. Earlier this year they asked for theme suggestions and I mentioned children's Christmas stories. They liked it! This will be the theme on June 20th.

I am still behind on my Christmas cards and quilting UFOs, but we have been busy! It is great to spend weekends with family, we were able to take care of our grandchildren for three days, and activities just seem to go on and on and on!

I have always enjoyed "Christmas in July" and this year it may start in June - temperatures were in the upper 90s today. I will put on some of those snow songs, make some snowmen cards and try to keep cool.

I realized that I have made more cards than those posted here. Usually I am a few days past the deadline, so I moved on to the next theme.

Here are a few that I got completed for the various challenges:

I usually use cuts from my Cricut Expression on the cards, although some simply have decorative papers and stamping. In the last photo there are two cards made with vintage post cards for the recycling challenge.