Handmade Christmas Challenge - October

This month, I have been working on my Red and White Challenge quilt. I finally finished it! Hooray! Because it has a Christmas theme, I am also using it as my October entry for Sew Cal Gal's  "A Handmade Christmas Challenge".

I took a pledge in January on Sew Cal Gal's web site to make handmade gifts and decorations for Christmas. Those of us who took the pledge post them then link them up and get a chance to win a prize via a random drawing at the end of the year. I didn't enter for the prizes, but because I really like the idea of making some nice things for Christmas, either as decorations or for giving. I usually don't think of doing something like this until Thanksgiving, and then it's too late and I'm too busy. So I decided to take the challenge! (The prizes are really pretty cool, though, so you might want to take the pledge as well. It's time to get started, if you haven't already, if you really want to make those Christmas gifts!)

Well, here it is! 

Holiday Happiness

I had so many problems with this, as you will remember from my Red and White Challenge posts. But I'm really happy with the final quilt. I plan to hang it in my house for the holiday season.

I struggled with the tension on my machine quite a bit and had to rip some quilting lines (I really dread doing this, but it was necessary). I did like the resulting quilting, though. I can't believe the freehand free motion feathers turned out so well.

Feathers at top corner.

Feathers at bottom corner.

The other problem that plagued me was that a couple of the fabrics bled when I spritzed the top with water to remove the grid markings  in the middle of the quilt. (I used a water soluble blue pen,and had prewashed the fabrics, but the color still ran.) I was able to get the pink halo stains out, though. I tried mild soap and gentle cycle to almost no effect. Then, figuring I had not much more to lose, I pretreated with  Clorox 2, and washed the quilt in Tide with cold water and the regular permanent press cycle. Voila! Stains gone! I did a real happy dance!

Don't forget to check out Sew Cal Gal's site and view both the Red and White and Handmade Christmas Challenges. Lots of great things there!