WIP: Many Projects, No Quilts

In preparation for the holidays I did a lot of things but none were quilts. Aside from the cleaning and food shopping in preparation for a Thanksgiving visit from my son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter, I also purchased and assembled our first non-real Christmas tree ever. It was an inexpensive selection from Walmart. The artificial tree cost is about the same or maybe less than the real cut one we would have bought and then discarded.

This tree is an experiment and I do not consider buying it as taking an irreversible path down the artificial tree fork in the Christmas Tree Lane. I will not feel too bad if I abandon it or give it away after the holidays and go back to a real one next year. (My husband may not agree.) Here are two out of the three sections assembled. This is a work in progress post, right? The fully decorated tree will appear in a December post I suspect. So far the assembly is not bad at all.  The box it came in was a reasonable size and I was able to save and store it in the attic.

In terms of sewing I did a couple simple projects. I made a Jungle Alphabet book for my 7½ month old granddaughter. I'd made one for her older cousin, Autumn, a few weeks ago. See my post for October 8th for photos of inner pages. Vivian's book is a bit different in that I added crinkly paper in the pages and in the little animals so they make sound. The critters are backed in a polka dot print that coordinates with the stripes on the inside centerfold scenery panel.

Here are the fronts of the other three of the six animals shown at the center scenery pocket panel. I did not use an iron-on interfacing or a Wonder-Under-like product in the animals as I did the last time. I was not sure if it would deaden the sound of the crinkly paper or if the heat to adhere it would change or melt the crinkly stuff, even though the crinkly paper is washer and dryer safe. The animals are printed very close to each other on the book panel. There is insufficient margin between them for a seam allowance. I pinked the edges outside an stitching line but wanted to assure the layers did not peel apart.

I did a fair amount of squiggly quilting around the outer edge of the animals just within the pinked perimeter. I left the animals somewhat puffy - and crinkly. Though not the tidiest, like the Christmas tree, it was an experiment. The monkey and the toucan are my favorites.

Today, I also began sewing on the two gusseted seat cushions for the window seat in our master bedroom that we are updating. I thought the rope images on the fabric I bought from IKEA were a real kick. I got the zippers inserted in the back gusset for one of the cushions and then realized this was too ambitious a project to take on with company due by the end of the day. It, too, will be continued later.

I am linking up to this week's Works in Progress at Freshly Pieced. I have to finish baking now so I will check others' posts later in the holiday weekend. Happy Thanksgiving!