oops

So I broke my rule already -- I started another quilt.  BUT this one is a gift, with a deadline.  So it will be finished before the end of the year.   Some friends are getting married at the end of December, a date they chose in part due to uncertainty about what 2017 will hold.  And as I process my jumble of feelings at the end of this year, making them a quilt out of a rainbow of colors to celebrate love has seemed like something I can actually DO.  And so I picked fabrics, and cut strips. 

Using the scrappy trip tutorial from Bonnie Hunter, I quickly sewed strips together and then sub-cut, pressed and sewed again.

And in what seems like no time, I have a quilt top!  The scrappy trip is the only quilt pattern I have ever made more than once, and I still love it each and every time.  Now to get it basted, quilted, bound and ready to be gifted. 

I actually used my sewing machine!

Although I've been on a HUGE hand-piecing binge lately,  I decided it was time to try to finish some old WIPs and actually use my machine for a change!  My Juki was my graduation gift when I finished nursing school, and it is such a joy to sew with.

My Juki - look at that throat space!

I love starting new projects - the excitement!  the possibility!  the excuse to buy more fabric! 

But I can also be kind of terrible at finishing those projects.  So I've decided to start a system where I have to finish two quilts for each one that I start.  I got the idea from Jodi at tales of cloth and I'm hoping it will work for me - so far, so good!  Especially since I really only started this plan last week.  hah.  

So I got out my bin for my Christmas scrappytrip quilt, finished sewing the blocks and put the top together!  I LOVE this top - a collection of ugly Christmas fabrics that all come together in a riot of color that I affectionately call my christmas on acid quilt :)

My goal is to have this basted, quilted and bound by December 1 - time to sort through the leftovers to see what I can piece together for a back!