Elf Hats

I'm just a couple of days late to post this - I hope no one minds! These photos had to wait until after my sister's birthday - I didn't want to spoil her suprise.

My Friday finish for the week (well, last week actually) is a quilt I called Elf Hats. When I started it, I had this in mind:

But when I asked my 8-year-old son if he would lay the blocks out for me, he did this:

…and everyone that I showed it to liked it so much better. Here is the finished quilt, complete with green stripey binding.

My inspiration for the quilt came when I was playing blocks with my youngest son. He had stacked these two together and I immediately thought of a little elf with his hat on wonky.

I created my own template for the hat blocks, made one block and then decided to change the template to a paper piecing pattern – I hated dealing with all of the bias edges. The paper piecing goes quickly, and it gave me freedom to add a few variations. Here are some of my favorites:

A tiny elf hat for the smallest elf in the group:

A wrinkly elf hat for the little elf who doesn’t like to iron:

A tipsy hat for the elf who is always in a rush:

And two fancy hats for the elves that like to stand out in a crowd:

The finished quilt measures 68 x 80, and in this photo you can see the great green striped binding and the cute snowmen backing. (It’s from the Be Merry collection by Riley Blake.)

This project was one of my Joy in the New Year Challenge projects, so I get to cross it off my list! Two down, six to go!

man oh man

It's a long shot, but boy do I hope they pick me. (Click on button for link)

I must warn you...

I must warn you....making these things can be addicting. Here's a little digital paper crafting link for you to enjoy!

To see the ones I've made already, search for Andy in Provo, UT

Sew & Tell Friday

I've been up to my armpits lately in paper piecing!







I've been working on a new quilt for my 8-year old's bed, (don't tell him, he doesn't know) using some scraps and FQs that I received from my MIL. A large stack of navy fabrics have been sitting ever so patiently in my closet, just waiting to be used. Now they're all pieced together into blocks, waiting to be sashed in white and sewn into a quilt top. Hopefully by next Friday I'll have a Friday-Finish-photo of these same blocks bordered in crisp white Kona Snow. (Man do I love that stuff. I should ask Santa for a bolt of it.)




The second paper piecing project (say that 3 times fast!) that I've been working on this week is a Christmas quilt top. I can't say anything else about it though, because it's a gift for my sister on her birthday. I'm counting it as a Friday-finish though, because I completed piecing all 80 blocks just last night. Whew!



What have you finished this week? Head over to Amylouwho and participate in Sew & Tell Fridays!

A Quilt Along & a Giveaway

The ladies over at the Block Party Blog are starting a Quilt Along and kicking it off with a giveaway. Go and check it out! It will be fun to see what blocks they come up with for the quilt along. I'm always looking for fun new ideas.