Quilting!

So it seems that this will be a rather quilt-y kind of year!  For starters, the International Quilt Festival is coming to Cincinnati!  While I am toying with taking a day off work to take one of the classes that are being offered, I may just go to browse and look around with the other ladies from the sewing circle.

Next, I am finally taking my turn to host the sewing circle meeting this month, now that we have a house and are mostly settled in.   I am looking forward to it and depending on how DS behaves, I may host it a couple more times this year.

Third, I hope to finish the quilt for DS in the next couple of months.  I have all the pieced blocks quilted, but I just have to decide on a design for the setting squares and the borders.  I think I will do an internet search for quilting stencils and try to find something.

Fourth, I am working on a little quilted advent calendar.  It is just the right size to take on trips to visit DH's family.  I found the panel at Joann's and thought it would make a nice family tradition to start next year.  Growing up, I always enjoyed it when Mom bought an advent calendar or when we got out the Jesse tree.   So, I decided to combine the two traditions and make little Jesse tree symbols that fit in the pockets of the advent calendar.  Each day of December, DS will have a new symbol to take out of the advent calendar, we can read the Bible story associated with that symbol, and then hang it on the Jesse tree.

Fifth, I have decided to join a quilt block lottery. This will give me the chance to have some different, small projects to work on each month when I need a break from the other projects I have going.  Also, if I am so lucky as to win a group of blocks, I can turn them into quilt for one of our guest beds/air mattresses.  When we were planning on having DH's family spend the night, I realized that we do not have nearly enough blankets so a block lotto quilt might be just what we need.

And finally, I have found one of the cutest ever pieced baby quilts in a new quilting magazine that I got.  If I get the motivation to finish DS's quilt, I'd like my next project to be something a little smaller than twin size.  Of course, by that time, I may have found another really cute pattern to use instead.