Two Tops I Meant to Finish Last Month + A Batting Trick

Our snowy January weather (including an e-learning day) has been the perfect excuse to stay inside and sew.  I'm enjoying the quieter days and getting a lot done!  I wish I could have taken my finished quilt top photos outside, but with roughly 18" of snow on my deck it's just not possible right now.

My postage stamp quilt!  This quilt top is huge and turned out exactly as I envisioned it.  My 5'9" son is standing on the left and the bottom is still dragging on the floor (his little brothers are standing on the couch to hold their parts up).  I've ordered some flannel to go on the back and when it gets here my longer quilter is going to baste it for me. I'm planning on straight-line quilting it myself, but I don't have the pins or space to do the basting.  My son has already claimed this for his bed!

I had all the blocks for my Rainbow Blossom top finished in December, so all that was left was to sew them together.  This one is a more manageable size and I basted it myself.  I buy my batting in rolls and when I rolled it out to cut a piece off I noticed that the cut I made last time was not straight at all.  As I looked around the basement I spotted a yoga mat and inspiration hit.

I lined up the short edge with the bottom of my batting then carefully cut along the edge of it.  A perfectly straight line without marking or measuring.  So easy I can't believe I never thought of it before.

This quilt has 23 pieced elements, which are nice places for starting and stopping.  It's easy to give myself 30 minutes to quilt just one bit (like the seashell above) in between other chores.  I currently have 3 elements completely quilted along with all the background areas around them.  I'm doing swirls in the background because they are my favorite with an occasional loop-the-loop when there's not enough room.

And that's where I'm at!  Off to play a couple of board games with the kids and then sneak in a little more quilting when they go back to video games.  I hope you are staying warm and cozy if your weather is rough like ours!