All Done But the Wrapping!

Whew! After a marathon binding-sewing session yesterday I can report that the nephew quilts are ready for gifting.

Here they are, draped over the back of the couch. We've been having a delightful spate of gray and rainy weather here on the central coast, so this was my best option for a photo shoot.

Quilt for nephew #1, using most of my red/purple/brown scraps

Quilt for nephew #2, going for blues

Tuns out when you use blues you end up with a water theme, whether you plan it that way or not

Quilt for nephew #3, going for purples and greens





 

I hope you can see the quilting, at least a little. The Quilt Pixie totally saved my bacon.



 

Quilt for son #1, who said his favortie colors are blue or black



But, acting on the Quilt Pixie's recommendation, I gave him a zippy red backing.

It was touch and go for a little while. The Quilt Pixie lost power during one of our November storms and then had some techinical difficulties firing her magic quilting machine back up again. She finished up my last two quilts in plenty of time, though. It was so worth it to have the quilting done by an expert! Her recommendations on backing, quilting patterns and thread were all just right. She matched the quilting to the theme of each quilt, even down to finding a pattern that looked like neurons for the nephew who's getting his PhD in neuroscience.

Then it was up to me to stitch on that binding. I don't know how many feet of binding were involved, but it felt like miles. My hand sewing skills are not the finest, so my fingers are showing the wear and tear. Here's a tip you might find useful; human saliva contains an enzyme that dissolves the proteins in blood. Don't mention this part to the nephews though, OK?

In between quilts I sewed up a few other items for gifts, but I'll post about those later. Some of the recipients might possibly check my blog and I don't want to ruin the suspense.

Here's an idea for a last-minute gift though:

Get yourself a little bottle of glass etching cream, some Avery labels and a couple of paper punches, like the kind people use for scrap booking. Then pick up some cheap glassware. Cut little stencils from the labels and stick them on the glassware. Paint on the etching cream to transfer the stencils to the glass.

Bingo, you have etched glass. I've done little candy dishes, coffee cups, wine glasses and, like below, candle holders. The candle holders are kind of cute because the flame casts little shadows in the shape of the etching.