I’ve had a busy quilting day today – my friend Nicky and I spent the day cutting and sewing a quilt top for our friend Diane, who quilts our big quilts with her long arm for Sunshine Linus. It’s amazing how much you can get done when one person is sewing and the other ironing and pinning.

It’s also a great opportunity to catch up on all the news and goings on at each other’s place. My husband made us toasted sandwiches for lunch so we didn’t have to stop for long – isn’t he a darling?

I have a list of quilting things to do over the Christmas break – least of all to bind a number of quilts that are awaiting my attention. I do enjoy binding quilts, it’s such a nice feeling to hand sew the binding down and then enjoy the finished product. Some quilters don’t give enough thought to the way they bind their quilts and often the binding is the first thing to wear out on a quilt. I like to double my fabric for extra strength and I like to use the bias join method for joining the binding together. Using this method means that it’s impossible to tell where the binding starts and finishes.

Last Sunday I posted an article explaining some of the Pre Cut fabric packs that are popular at the moment. Here’s the link if you’re interested:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art182223.asp

I’ve posted a Christmas message to all my readers on the forum – here’s the link: http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/848365#Post848365 perhaps you’d like to leave your own Christmas message.

Now for the goodies for this week. Because next Wednesday is Christmas Day, I won’t be posting a newsletter, so today I’ll be giving you a double supply of goody sites to browse through over the next two weeks. Please Enjoy!

http://www.sew4home.com/projects/pillows-cushions/designer-pillow-knock-offs-fairfield-tufted-multi-color-pom-pillow more pretty pillows to make

http://www.sameliasmum.com/2013/09/life-is-better-with-friends-mini-quilt.html?spref=bl cute little wall hanging here

http://shecanquilt.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/quilt-as-you-go-joining-blocks.html a great tutorial on quilting the blocks first and then joining them together.

http://rockthestitch.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/apple-lunch-box-free-pattern-and.html absolutely gorgeous little lunch box

http://shecanquilt.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/sewing-curves-is-not-hard-seriously.html sews curves without pins – yes you can!

http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2013/9/15/mollys-sketchbook-myrtle-the-purl-turtle.html sweet little turtle softies

http://badskirt.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/japanese-x-and-scrappy-quilt-tutorial.html this is a cute little block to make

http://www.sewingdaisies.com.au/sewing_daisies/2010/01/sew-hip-joli-bag-completed.html a cute little cube bag to make

http://gogokim.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/cathedral-window-pin-cushion-tutorial.html I might have had this one before, but it’s so pretty I think seconds is called for!

http://www.freshlypieced.com/2012/07/christmas-tree-skirt-in-july.html a Christmas tree skirt

http://bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com.au/2009/10/waverunner-info-post-save.html a modern wavy quilt – gotta give this a go.

http://www.freshlypieced.com/2011/05/hexing-around-block.html here’s a different focus on the hexagon

http://www.15minutesplay.com/2012/01/while-back-i-made-camo-block-using.html love this little tutorial on making fabrics into great looking stars

http://www.madebymarzipan.com/?x=2038 I made one of these when my two were little, and they worked terrifically, especially when there was no high chair in sight.

http://www.animals-photos.net/if-it-fits-i-sits/ not quilting but cute, cute, cute!!

http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com/?p=1456 a simple but very effective foundation pieced block to make

http://shecanquilt.blogspot.ca/2013/01/new-leaf-bee-block-blog-hop-ohio-star.html this block would make a stunning quilt

http://moonstitches.typepad.com/photos/tutowlrial/index.html a very cute little softie owl to make – or a flock – whatever floats your boat!!

Well, dear readers, these sites should keep you occupied for a while over the Christmas break. I do hope all’s well at your place and I’ll be back to say hello in the New Year.
Cheerio for now

Judie Bellingham, Quilting Editor
http://Quilting.bellaonline.com

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com