37 days!
Oh my! How does Christmas sneak up on me EVERY year!
Maybe it’s because of quilting. Yep, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
It’s been that way since 2004 when I began quilting for hire – the mad dash of getting all my customer quilts delivered by 12/24.
Not to mention the usual (up until this year) 10+ days downtown Houston for Quilt Market and Festival – even though that is Oct/Nov it seems to be a part of the Christmas season sneaking up on me!
Now it’s secret sewing…. hence my “quietness” – quilts for my Spring 2021 signature collection with Island Batik are due before Christmas…two out of three are pieced….and they need to be quilted. Oh my! Tis the season!
But! I did get a little head start on my Christmas quilting, sorta. Back in the summer, while testing my new patterns, my quilting pattern tester Lisa and I decided it would be fun to “proof the pattern” with holiday prints…
Lisa made this small version of De Colores.
I made a row of Whirly Wheels – didn’t have enough of the fabrics to make the full quilt but it is perfect for a table runner.
Speaking of table runner – how about Simply Celebrate – it was made last year for Fall Market 2019 and the cover quilt just arrived home this last week after it’s “tour of duty” with Island Batik’s Trunk Shows.
Over the weekend I took a day off from my “secret sewing” to finish up Synchronized Swimming in Island Batik holiday prints. I am hopeful that it will be quilted sometime in the next 30+ days as I plan on using it as a tree skirt instead of a table topper.
If you look closely you will see where I didn’t sew the section that I will leave to be able to wrap around the tree – I decided this would be the best method to make sure I didn’t lose those points I worked so hard on! The idea is that the binding will go right up to the ¼” seamline as if it were the edge of a quilt, which it is. After quilting, I will cut out a circle in the middle. Oh, I hope I can get this done in 2020!
How about you? Are you working on holiday quilts? Need a little inspiration? What about an end of the year sale on the patterns featured above – and more!
Yes, you know me, there’s always more!
For example, I’m reducing the inventory that I generally carry to my pop-up shops…. namely, I have a grab-bag offering of my entire stock of Studio 180 Design patterns – the details are on my website!
And what would an end of the year sale be without lots of specials! Yep, why wait for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday when you can go shopping today and beat the rush!
Oh, and I forgot to mention a special reduction on my Land Locked Quilting Cruise™ deposit for May 2021.
Needless to say, I hope you will check out my website online shop.
Back to the sewing machine! I’ve got deadlines to meet so I can then focus on the holidays. Hope you are quilting today!
This is Karen Overton, The Quilt Rambler, dreaming of flip flops in the sand instead of a white Christmas!
PS That reminds me – we took our granddaughter to Galveston Island over the past weekend, her first time to have her toes in the ocean!
