The Christmas Quilt!

I finished! With time to spare, too :)  Here's how my Christmas quilt turned out...

It's fabulous!!!!! I say every quilt I make is my new favorite. This one is no exception. Here's a close-up of a block, so you can see the quilting. My free-motion is getting soooo much better :)

I get a lot of my machine quilting ideas, including this one from Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie Studio. Her work is amazing and always inspiring!
And the back...

My aunt got this fabric at the thrift store!! It's a really soft upholstery weight gingham that she decided she probably wouldn't use after all, so she gave it to me. It was HUGE and perfect for this quilt backing! Plus, it makes it a little heavier, which is nice for a winter quilt.

We've already put it to good use.

My efforts to slow down, "say when" and relax have been successful and reallllly nice. Especially since my two-week break from my own school started this week. Nice! I've been knitting, quilting, reading, playing with the kids, cooking, etc... My favorite moment of this week: squeezing onto our little couch with my four favorite peeps and watching Man vs. Food. It reminded me of my childhood and how we squeezed onto our couch in the same way, every Sunday night to watch Star Trek. Then after a few years of that, it was Lois and Clark. Then Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Always with popcorn and Fresca :) Ah, the stuff memories are made of.