This was my Guild library project for November. I loved that part of the hanging was done as English paper piecing and then it was finished with traditional background and borders.

The English paper piecing was done in Christmas fabrics so, rather than using the Welcome Home lettering that the pattern suggested, I added the word Joy.

When I quilted the piece I used a Slip and Sew product and I think the results were quite good.

I used a holly template when I quilted the outer border but, because of the pattern in the fabric, it doesn’t show well on the front.

If all my other projects are ever done I’ll borrow this book again; there are many other projects in the book that are quite stunning.

This was my November contribution to the Mini Meez group. The pattern came from an old magazine that is no longer in print. Each month we are allowed to take home one of our leader’s magazines (provided we’ve returned the previous one). I had this particular magazine for a few months, but I knew I would eventually get around to making this pattern.

These miniatures take a surprisingly long time to create, but they use up very few material scraps.

When holidays roll around I often make the same pattern three times – once for each family. This year I decided to make three different projects and it was much more enjoyable (and perhaps more work).

Boo (from Word Play Quilts)

As part of my commitment to the Guild Library I volunteered to review a book each month and make a project (or a part of a project) from it. Since I needed a Hallowe’en pattern, when I found this in one of the library books I killed two birds with one stone by reviewing the book and giving the project to Christy.

There were no real patterns for the letters; I just looked at the picture and cut fabric pieces and put them together in the form of the letters – very improvisational. I have enough trouble when I’m following a pattern so I’m not very comfortable improvising. I had a terrible time getting the letter “B” to work out. The piece originally had a black border but when I saw it displayed at a Guild meeting (prior to quilting it) I decided to change it for the green.

Hallowe’en Blades (adapted from Christmas Bells)

I have a much larger project that calls for curved piecing so I started on a much smaller scale with this pattern. I swapped out the red and green fabrics called for in the pattern for four different Hallowe’en fabrics.

Kathryn will get this one. She has a glass cutting board on her counter and these squares fit nicely under it to give her kitchen a seasonal (whatever the season) look.

Table Runner (from Fresh Quilts magazine (Fall/Winter 2014)

I had to hunt to find the third pattern but when I did I knew right away that it would fit Elizabeth’s table very nicely. It was easy to piece but the quilting took a long time. There were a lot of spider web ends that needed to be buried.

This Debbie Caffrey pattern was worked as a Mystery Quilt workshop run by the Guild and led by Kathleen O’Malley. When I picked my fabrics I chose colours from the same line (Simpatico by Maywood Studio) so the colour contrasts worked well. The neutral shade was from the Dear Stella collection (Dots). The cutting took a long time, as did several of the steps involved in making the blocks. After the first block was finished it was a rather boring because there were no surprises. I omitted a couple of the borders in order to end up with the correct size for the dining room table. I fully intended to free-motion quilt this but chickened out at the last minute. I opted for some stitch-in-the-ditch and straight lines. I like the way it looks, but it resulted in so many ends that needed to be knotted and buried. Lesson learned!

I purchased fabric on sale to use for the backing; it will look good if I need to turn the tablecloth over to prevent fading from the sun. I think the backing gives it a very “fall” feeling, but Pat thinks it could work as a Christmas cloth.

This is one (of six) of my 2015/2016 Guild UFO Challenges. Until I present it to the Guild and have it checked off my list I’ll hang it over the railing to keep it safe from spills .