Christmas in October

 It's not quite Halloween yet, but it felt like full blown Christmas in my sewing room this weekend!  My Alexa was streaming all the Christmas tunes and I was channeling my inner elf to make some headway on these buffalo plaid Christmas quilts for my kids.

I finished cutting the green and white one, and jumped right into piecing the strips.  It's coming together surprisingly quickly...I'm loving the strip piecing method!  Now, I'm just working on sewing the rows together.  It's been awhile since I nested seams, so I was a little nervous about it, but it actually went well.  Except for the time when I stitched the wrong row and didn't realize it until I was pressing the seams open and had to go back and rip out the ENTIRE row...but who wants to talk about that?!  

When nesting seams, the most important thing to keep in mind is that your seams need to be pressed in opposite directions.  With this quilt, it was super easy because the pattern directions tell you to always press the seams to the blender fabric (which in my case is the green tree fabric)...this results in your seams automatically being pressed in opposite directions.  Then when you sew your rows together, the seams should fit together perfectly...I like to slide the seams together with my fingers and then place a pin on either side of the seam to prevent it from shifting as I sew.  It takes extra time to do all that pinning, but the end result is beautifully matched seams.  Which is why it really stinks when you stitch the wrong row after spending all that time nesting and pinning your seams! Lesson learned...

I love these buffalo plaid quilts so much that I decided today I need to make one for myself too!  I love sewing for my kids, but I don't often sew for myself.  I played around with some different fabric options on the design wall and decided to stick with the Sweet and Swell line by Urban Chiks.  I love the peppermint and plaid prints...so festive and fun!  

Now I feel like I need some real life elves to help me get these projects finished by Christmastime...or just to cook dinner, fold laundry, and clean my house while I sew! :)