Teeny....Weeny...Hats!

Merrrrry Christmas to all and to all a good.......hat? Yes! Santa is bringing "teeny weeny hats" (name that Muppet Movie from which I stole the quote for bonus points!) to some teeny weeny preemies this year, and I'm acting as elf. As in I'm makng them all but letting the fat man take credit. No wonder Hermie wanted to be a dentist! I kid, I kid. :)

But seriously - once my spontaneous Christmas quilt was finished my fingers were itching for something else to make. And just as spontaneously as the quilt came about - so did a plan to knit a preemie hat to include in each of my family members' gifts this year and then donate to the NICU in their name. Though it would be my preference, I know that switching to an only charity gifts system in my family would NOT go over  well. So I decided to play within the system and do a little of both. And I loved makeing these little guys - so quick and satisfying! I hope they add comfort to some sick little babies and their tired and worried families.

a Christmas Quilt is a Bowl Full of Cherries

So I made a Christmas quilt. I totally wasn't planning it but somehow I was at the fabric store and a bunch of Aneela Hoey's Cherry Christmas prints jumped into my arms and somehow made it out the door with me. (I did pay for them!) And a few days later I was making myself a Christmas quilt. Backed with minky.  Could it get any more cozy? Only when shared with a wiener dog and a cup of chai latte.

I used a quilt as you go method on this quilt - I think there are a few different types. The type I used (and I basically just winged it without looking at many instructions - as per my M.O.) was to quilt each individual block onto batting and then piece the quilted blocks together. Once I had a completed, quilted top I basted it to the minky backing and then stitched in the ditch along my block seams. In the end, I don't really think it saved me much time and the whole thing was rather bulky to stuff through my machine on account of the thick batting/block seams. This would be a good method to use if you wanted to do some really intricate or complex quilting that you felt you couldn't accomplish when quilting the piece as a whole with a regular sewing machine. But I think I'm done with this method for a while - didn't seem worth it to me.

But making a Christmas quilt totally was worth it! Randy is in love with it and it may be the warmest quilt we have ever owned. I plan to take it out of town with us over Christmas to brighten up our hotel room. In the mean time we are snuggling up underneath its cheery warmth while watching Christmas movies, drinking Chai lattes, and stroking our wiener. :)