I finished the first block of the Happy Little Things Block of the Month. I just got back on Friday from North Dakota and have been in a sewing frenzy! I had a great time with the family but really missed my sewing space!

I’m doing two different versions of this quilt. With the first, I’m trying to follow the designer’s directions very closely. I’m making the appliques and doing all the embroidery as suggested in the center of each block. I’ve declared (to myself–no one else was in the room) that I will NOT buy any fabric for this quilt top. I might need to get batting, thread, and backing but NO FABRIC! I am some of the fabric is from the Spotted Line from Zen Chic for Moda. I love it and have a bunch of it. The rest of the fabrics are from Cotton & Steel, Moda, Dear Stella, and Riley Blake. I’m using “low volume” prints which just means small dots and checks and solids. I want the appliques and the bright colors to be the star of the quilt. And here’s the first block:

I added the applique and did hand-embroidery to add highlights per the designer’s instructions.

And then there’s the Christmas version. For this one I’ve gone with a color scheme of green, pink, red, and white. I started out with this fabric.

I bought it several years ago. It might be Cotton & Steel but I’m not positive on that. I love the colors. I love the reindeer. But I only had a small bag of scraps left. Wish it was still available.

Anyhow, I pulled all my fabrics that had pink and red in them several weeks ago.

Then I went to a quilt store in Bismarck last week. Took the granddaughters. I really didn’t expect to get any shopping done since taking kids to a quilt shop is usually like taking a bull to a china shop. But they loved it! I think they were actually overwhelmed with all the shelves of fabric. I handed them some swatches to match and they were on the hunt. I’m blaming them for all the money I spent since they helped me and allowed me to enjoy the shopping! Even the women that were working in the shop commented on how well the girls behaved!

All the fabrics go so well with my favorite little reindeer.

So I planned and designed and cut and pieced. And came up with this block:

No applique in this version. It is all pieced. Trying to get all those candy canes to go in the correct direction was a challenge, especially when making the center bow!

Anyhow, I love both of the blocks and number 2 will be out next week! I’m really looking forward to finishing these quilts!