I found these fabrics at www.spoonflower.com. At this web site you can design your own custom fabric and if other people buy it too, you get 10% of their purchase.

Wouldn’t the fabrics above make a cute steampunk look layered with a black underskirt?

What is steampunk? Wikipedia says:

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Specifically, steampunk involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century and often Victorian era Britain—that incorporates prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them; in other words, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc.

A Steampunk-Themed Photo:

It’s Saturday and I’ve finally got the chance to trim the points from the columns for my Pastel Braid quilt that I sewed Thanksgiving weekend.

I used colored plastic strips to stick to my ruler to mark the correct line to I align with the center points so that I cut all the tips exactly the same.

The next step is to sew the four columns together, but I discovered a problem. When I was ironing as I sewed the strips into columns, I didn’t pay attention to the direction of the seams. (A quilter usually knows better than that!) I should have alternated, one column with seams up, and the next with seams ironed down.

I tried ironing the seams the opposite direction on one column, but with the tips already trimmed off the stitches are coming out at the ends of the seam. So I am having to pin all my seams (which I hate, I rarely use pins.) flipping the seam allowance on the back as I go. Oh well. It's not like I never had to do that before…

I found another wonderful, quick, and easy Christmas quilt on the Moda Bake Shop blog.

The beauty of this quilt is that it can made be from pre-cut 10" charm squares (Moda calls them Layer Cake Squares). That makes this quilt super fast to cut and piece.

The instructions are available HERE from the Moda Bake Shop blog, or you can view and download a PDF version HERE.

No sewing at all  yesterday. I did go into the sewing room and look around longingly, though. Today’s plan is to sew a few strip sets, and at least one set of 9-patches.

I’ve noticed that there are a lot of 9-patch block swaps online. I’ve been in several, and have kicking out blocks down to a science. My most essential tool (after the rotary cutter) for cutting the 2 1/2” strips is my Shape Cut Ruler by June Tailor. This approximately 15” square of plastic has slits at 1/2 inch intervals. You lay the ruler on the fabric and slice a foot of fabric at a time. Incredible time-saver. Plus, since you don’t move the ruler at all, the cuts are more accurate.

I’ll post more photos soon…