CHRISTMAS Gift Giving!

This holiday tends to frenzy us all in different ways.  For those who love to make with their hands, we tend to find ourselves making long lists of all the lovelies we will make for loved ones across the land.  Not sure about you but I always fell a bit short getting it all done.  I do make some items for select loved ones and for friends along the way but not every year. 

Luckily if you have quilting friends, you can gift them with the gift of making something of their own for other loved ones in their life!  Win ~ Win!!

 

Sweetened Holly

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One year a couple of candy canes spilled onto the table in this shape and Ta-Da:))

 

Poinsettia 

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Who doesn't love the brilliant red that these festive flowers add to any space!
When I moved to Florida, I had some growing outside my house and was absolutely delighted!

COASTAL CHRISTMAS

 

After living in the tropics for many years, this is not as atypical as you might think!  Coastal Christmas was such a success that I resized it for embroidery workers.  Such a fun size!

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Christmas Shimmer

This fun pattern requires the most minimal of paper

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piecing in order to get the cool border points that I made by accident and could NOT recreate with piecing no matter how hard I tried!

The wall hang is only 24" square with instructions for a runner and placemats too for complete dining décor:)

 

 Blossom Swirls
My love of paper piecing revolves around all the variations you can achieve by changing the colors and the rotation of the blocks.  In Blossom Swirls I show you just 3 of the variations that are possible with this fun block.  Large pieces make it easy to follow.


 

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Whatever you decide to this year, have fun and give with love in your heart!

Make sure to pop over and see who else is blogging!

http://muppin.com/wordpress/index.php/the-2016-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

CONGRATULATIONS!

The winner of the magazine is Mary who wrote about spending more time in mixed techniques thanks to the blog tour:)  That is the fun of this- Inspiring quilters to try something new!

The winner of a free pattern is Dana who chose Coastal Christmas.  I love pictures of finished quilts-HINT, HINT, HINT:)

Now for a sneak peek to see how many of you come back to visit me:)



Pumpkin Star

This is one of my new patterns going to Market in less than 2 weeks.  I am pretty excited about this little cutie.

Have a great weekend.


NoveDecember...A new month (?) plus A POOKA

This has been the longest and shortest month and a half ever!!  I am going as fast as I can but not feeling like I am gaining ground. Do you ever feel that?

Top that off with living in Florida where the temperature and surroundings make it a bit difficult for me to get into the Christmas spirit.  All of a sudden it is 11 days 'til Christmas but the thermometer hasn't changed and it feels like a practical joke.....

I don't have all the days filled in yet but it is just a matter of time!
11 Days 'til Christmas
10 Movies choices
9   Dinners to plan
8
7
6   More gifts to wrap
5   Rooms to clean
4   Packages to mail
3   Quilts to hang
2
And a Pooka in the artificial tree.......

Here is POOKA. She is the other reason my world is a blur right now.  Most of you know that my Juni went to live with my older daughter this summer when she moved to a pet friendly apartment.
We were going to travel, etc. and we did take a wonderful trip this fall.  Mostly though, we are home bodies and I work at home so I missed someone to talk to.  Enter Miss Thing.  Jim says he has "always wanted one"....one what?  She is a soft-coated Wheaton Terrier and that face just melts you.

 PLEEEEEEEZE- just one ice cube!!!

Jim wanted to name her Crumpet but I wasn't in love with that.  I wanted Buttons (for my quilting) but he didn't love that.  This breed originates from Ireland and we looked for a Gaelic name.  Pooka in Gaelic means 'Mischievious Sprite'...Boy is that dead on!!  When our daughter met her, she told me we should have named her Fizzgig and I completely agreed but we couldn't talk Jim into it!!

Those familiar with this movie will completely agree too:)

Here she just looks like a teddy bear! We are completely hooked and in love even though our lives have been turned upside down.

So the tree may or may not go up this year.....

Remember the Steelers pillows I said I made for my daughter...here they are.  I thought I had shown a picture previously but didn't find it.  They turned out great.  For the Steelers lovers in your life, the cathedral window works perfectly!!

The pictures above and below are small 14" table mats that I made for the guild Christmas party as door prizes.  I used the Poinsettia from my Coastal Christmas to center onto an 8-1/2" center square and added a small border.  Then a friend had made me some embroidery blocks using Loralie Designs.  I was able to trim the extra, squeak in a sliver of red, and add the extra black back on for a cute little mat.

Lastly, I shrunk down my Jingle Penguin so that he was an adorable little mini that fit into a 4x6 frame opening.  Too cute!  I may have to make a few more of him!

This is a fat quarter bundle I treated myself to....Basic Grey's Jovial for MODA.  Not my usual Christmas color pallette but it just looked so yummy.  Now to decide what to make myself!! 

In case I don't get back here for awhile,
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Thank you for following my journey!
Robin

PS:  Don't forget to visit all the other creatives over on Nina's OFF THE WALL Friday

December Sale!



Coastal Christmas in Redwork
You may want to try it in applique too.

The December sale means that this new pattern could be yours for FREE!  Now through December 10th I am holding a 2 for 1 sale on my website:  http://www.nestlingsbyrobin.com where you will be able to see my new layout along with a few new patterns.  Buy one at regular price and get one of equal or lesser cost for free.  Make sure to tell me in the message field during checkout which Free pattern you would like or you can email me (email address is at the bottom of the HOME page).  I will double check when I confirm that I received your order.

Above is a brand new pattern that is a variation on my very popular Coastal Christmas applique pattern.  Here it is done in redwork and smaller, measuring 20" square. 
Don't forget to visit my Etsy store for a few wonderful last minute gifts and where shipping is FREE until the 10th.

MERRY CHRISTMAS from NESTLINGS!