Something for Santa

Here's a little peek at something I've been working on for Christmas. I started it at the retreat and have a little more of the piecing to do. I'm not sure how far I'll go with embellishing it. The pattern I'm using has some applique and needlework included but I may make some modifications. I love the holly/peppermint fabric.

And before anyone is amazed by how on top of things I am to be getting ready for Christmas, let it be known that this was going to be gracing our home for my sweet little girl's first Christmas. She's three now.....I had all of it cut before she turned one but had stopped because when I was ready to cut the last part (the binding), I got stuck. I didn't know whether I should cut it on the bias or straight. So I put it away until I could figure it out. Now, I'm not sure why I was wondering that but I must have learned along the way that bias binding is for curvy edges. It was obvious to me when I pulled it out to work on again. But I still haven't cut the binding. I just got started sewing.

In the process of sewing, I discovered that I have either put back on my original non-1/4 inch foot or my 1/4 inch foot is not really a 1/4 inch foot. I decided to leave it on and continue as I was so that it all turns out in the end but I discovered it when one of my borders turned out too long. I was also getting frustrated that my corners were not aligning. One of my lovely new friends inspected my project and decided I was overcompensating in my attempt to make the seams match so they were overlapping a bit. UGGG! It's so hard for me not to pull that seam ripper out of the little box it sits in. I'm going to keep going carefully and keep learning and live with my progress and little mistakes. I crave that precision piecing though that I need to to some more intricate work.

I may try to just do my piecing with my walking foot on so that the fabric feeds evenly on both sides. I think my mom does this and several of the other gals at the retreat do the same thing. But I really like using the edge of the foot as a guide so I'll have to experiment a little