Dec. OMG: Dotty Christmas Flimsy Finish

Welllll....I started the year and now ended the year joining all of you for:

I set out to make this quilt last December but it didn't get done:

But this year, this December, I enjoyed transforming that pile of fat quarters above into this 

Dotty Christmas Finish:

This finish measures 48"x 68".

I would like you input on the backing. I put these choices in my 

Fat Quarter "Cart" and of course, want to take advantage of the fact they are all on sale:

  

Which one do ya think? They are a little blurry, but the red has words and the green has little Scotties.

Please feel welcome to comment to let me know what you think. And....thanks ahead of time.

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Best of 2017 Linky

I like participating in Cheryl's "Best of" Linky Party as it creates the opportunity and motivation for me to look back and see how my year of blogging has been. 

 My "word" for 2017 was JOY. I started out the year with an ambitious list of goals, but quickly realized I'd take a more joyful, laid back approach to my quilting. Our Winter was overwhelming and Fall was filled with family transitions, which as you know, included welcoming our new grand guy. Wierd how much can happen in a year huh. In review, I did finish six quilts and have been thinking about new ways to be creative in my studio and here on the blog. (Stay tuned) It truly has been a joyful blogging year with each of you as my "virtual quilting community". I am grateful for our friendships. Soooo, with that said, here is my best of 2017: 

First up, My MOST VIEWED post coming in with 696 views was my Classroom Quilt Finish.  Wow! Thank you for your continuous support of me as a second grade teacher.

Next, JACKSON'S MOST POPULAR POST with 717 views was when I asked reader's to take a quiz to determine What Dog Breed are You? I enjoyed finding out how many of you have a dog companion and what breed fit your lifestyle.

Next, is our LARGEST TUESDAY ARCHIVES PARTY. It was dated back in September and had 26 links. It was surprisingly our BAG themed party. Thank you for your continued participation in our weekly Tuesday Archives linky. 

We've had 178 linky parties so far...and many still ahead!

1. Each Tuesday I've posted a quilt theme.

2. I appreciate the time and effort you take to search through your quilting archives for old posts to link under the theme.

3. Thank you for visiting eachother.

 And remember you can find all our past themes in our Tuesday Archives: DIRECTORY Plus, I know Tuesday Archives is not your traditional linky party. As I prepared this post, I noticed that our weekly links have decreased by 50% compared to a year ago. I'm not sure if this is due to the rise in instagram and pinterest usage, but if you have any input to offer about our themes...please  email me with your ideas. And if you are new to my blog,  I'll hope you'll stop by on Tuesdays and join us!

And finally, I'll conclude with My Two FAVORITE QUILT Finishes of the year:

The first one is my Bloom QAL, made entirely from my stash!

The second, is my queen size Raw Edged Flowers and Nine PatchQuilt. 

It's always nice to finish a quilt that has been over a year in the creating isn't it. 

So there you have it: The 5 Best of 2017 here at Val's Quilting Studio. I want to thank all of you who have become my blogging friends over the past years.  I also want to welcome you if you are new to my ol' spot here in blogland. Please take a look around, and if ya are even a little bit inspired by what ya see, I hope you'll follow too. In the meantime, happy holidays to you all and thank you Cheryl for hosting this party. Click on the picture below to check out everyone participating and celebrating:

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Christmas Joy!

Our grand-guy is visiting with us until we bring him home on Christmas Eve.

His Poppi treated him to this special Reindeer pancake breakfast this morning:

He loves Rudolph this year and was over the moon happy! Nothing better than that to remind me of the true Joy of Christmas than to see it through the eyes of an energetic four year old.

He's of course, counting down the days until "Santa" arrives and in the mean time,

is keeping his Meme and Poppi hopping as they too begin to count down the days to Christmas. (LOL!) But having a little one around this time of year always reminds me of the true Joy of Christmas. I forgot how little ones find delight in everything we do and how they love to help. 

He's helped Poppi bake cookies and...

...they even enjoyed putting a Gingerbread Train together. 

(Of which Jackson ate half of it while we were at a Christmas party!!! Luckily he did not get sick. )

Heck!  I finally got him our of his Christmas jammies. I enticed him with a warm bubble bath of green and red glow sticks, as we returned from one of our Winter walks to the park down the street.

I have to note, that he and Jackson have been inseparable! This was both of them by 8:00 pm:  

As you can imagine, not much sewing this week, but I'm happy to have had my hand stitching to enjoy during our afternoon Christmas movie time. It's comforting to just sit and stitch as I rest in-between the energy spurts of a dog and a little boy that fills our home right now. 

I sure hope that the Joy of Christmas is filling your home in one way or another. 

We wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas.

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Tuesday Archives #178:Drunkard's Path

Hello! Hello! and Happy Tuesday Archives! 

The linky party that let's you rejuvinate OLD blogging posts.

. If you are new to our linky, click over the here to read the details about this fun, weekly linky party. (You can also check out all our past Tuesday Archives themes by clicking right here.)

This week's theme is: Drunkard's Path

I had to dig deep into my own archives, but I DID find the one and only Drunkard's Path I've ever made. In was in my Underground Railroad Sampler quilt I made back in 2014. 

There it is in the bottom left hand corner of my quilt. So as I sat to write this post today I found myself curious of this patterns history. I easily got lost for over an hour just checking out over 65 variations this pattern put together. Crazy inspiring.

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Baby + Quilt = So Sweet!

My daughter texted me this picture of our new little guy slumbering under his new quilt.

She said the soft minky is nice and warm, perfect for Winter nap times. He's one month old already!

Just one of those "ultimate moments" we quilters cherish. I especially appreciate that she knew I wanted a picture of him with his quilt and that she always uses the quilts I make for them. 

Sweet dreams little guy.

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

That First Snowfall

For some reason a skiff of snow seems to make all the 

difference in the world in making it feel like Winter.

We sat up and played cards last night and just watched it snow. Perhaps tonight we'll have a fire?

I love when it snows. I really do. It broke our ten days of a gloomy inversion and blanketed everything in a wonderful coat of white. Welcome Winter. We're glad you are here.

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

More Elf Fun!

Well, our Elf on the Shelf, Elvin, zip-lined his way through our 

classroom for his final visit of the year. 

My husband literally cracked me up with this creation: 

And at 3:30 TODAY this quilter starts Winter Break.

 I can't wait to fill my days with a routine of sewing, working out and visiting the grands. 

Stay tuned!

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Santa's Elves

I had an unexpected donation of holiday treats for our school backpack program yesterday and spontaneously decided to create little Christmas Stocking for each of our sixteen backpack kids. Luckily, my cooperating teacher leads a middle school "girls" club and before I knew it, my sewing studio was turned into Santa's workshop within an hour of school being let out.

These girls went right to work. Two tracing the stocking pattern. Two cutting the patterns out. Another assigned herself as the "Stocking Turning Outer" and another as the "Stocking Stuffer". 

They called me "The Sewer". (As if what I was doing was something absolutely amazing!) 

In less than an hour we had sixteen little stocking ready to go.

They were the best Santa Elves I've ever met.  These girls were refreshing and fun. They were present and in the moment. I was terribly impressed that not one of them were busy on their phone. I found their conversations to be silly and energetic. I enjoyed quietly listening to them chat among themselves as they assembled-lined the little stockings. This was just one of those unexpected times I got to witness one random act of kindness domino into another. Such a happy holiday moment. 

Thanks girls!

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Tuesday Archives #177: Designs by YOU!

Hello! Hello! and Happy Tuesday Archives! 

The linky party that let's you rejuvinate OLD blogging posts.

. If you are new to our linky, click over the here to read the details about this fun, weekly linky party. (You can also check out all our past Tuesday Archives themes by clicking right here.)

This week's theme is: Designs by YOU!

My thinking behind today's theme is for us to share our original quilt designs.

 My own "Oh  Happy Day" quilt is an original quilt created from a sketch. 

But many of you have created awesome quilt designs that have evolved into published patterns. You are welcome to share any of your designs this week as I'm hoping this week's linky provides an opportunity for everyone to rejuvinate and share pattern tutorials, sales and for some of you, even books published! Have fun! 

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Happy Mail Winner!

Remember to find happiness in the little things along the way.

Remember to steal as many hugs and kisses as you can.

 As I think:

Thank you to everyone for visiting my blog during the Virtual Cookie Exchange and to all of you who are my loyal followers/bloggy friends. Our blogs are certainly a happy spot in my life.

I have a happy shout out to Deb who blogs at Frugal Little Bungalow. Yep! Random Number Generator chose your number as the winner of my Happy Mail Give-Away. Congrats Deb!

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.