Quick-like

Hey! I'm over at Shari's blog today sharing my favorite read from 2013. Go! Read! Come back!

Nice to see you again.

Popping in here for a short moment this morning. School was canceled for the second day in a row due to zero/subzero temperatures and I am soaking in every single moment I have with these girls. Of course, I might be regretting all the late nights and sleeping in starting at 6:30 tomorrow morning. But seriously, this break, even extended, has been a huge blessing. I have more to say about that, but I'll leave that topic for another day. Instead, I thought I would share the other two gifts I made this Christmas. Both were fast, just like this post is going to be.

First up, Myrtle the Turtle.

I made this for my nephew, Rory. I had pinned it back in the summer when I first saw the tutorial on the Purl Bee. I just thought it was so cute! The Purl's version uses Liberty of London Tana Lawn for the shell, but I went with a regular quilting cotton (one of the DS Quilts prints found at Jo Ann's a couple of years back). I used quilting cotton for the head, legs, arms, tails, too. The bottom is wool felt and the button eyes are vintage. It was a fast sew and I had just enough poly-fill on hand to stuff him up. Word is that he's well loved.

Next up, the tutu from Oliver + S Little Things to Sew.

I've been wanting to make one of these since I saw it in the book. Now that my niece is two and a half, I thought it would be a good addition to the dress-up box. Like the turtle, this was pretty quick to come together. I used five different colors of tulle, all of which were 54" wide. The pattern says that most tulles are 108" wide, but I could not find any myself. I consulted with Kristin, who has made a few herself, and she assured me that it wouldn't matter. She was right! Also, on her advice, I cut the tulle to 28" so that the final length would be 14" - not too long for a little lady, but with some room for growth. I ended up making this entirely on Christmas Eve morning - it took about 1 hour, start to finish, with the hardest/most tedious part being pulling the gathering stitches on the tulle. That said, I'd make it again in a flash. It was fun!

Looking forward, I have been thinking about last year and what is to come this year. I know that you all may be sick of year-in-review/resolution type posts, but I think I've got one (or two?) in me still. Stick with me. There's a quilt top that is almost finished and another one started so good, crafty things are on their way as well.

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