Ribbon Quilt Gifted, Longarm Room Upgrade, and Getting Ready for Christmas!

It’s December people! December. Now that we have two little girls (Violet is 2.5 and Isa just turned 1!), that means a lot of Christmas shopping has been going on around here at The Quilt Idaho. Blake and I have been exploring Poshmark and Mercari to find great deals on gifts to make our Christmas budget stretch.

My big gift to myself this year was some much needed, new shelving in the longarm room which Blake assembled for me. I’m excited to have my stash, tools, and office supplies all organized and visible which is important if you plan on actually using up what you have! This has been a long time coming. We still have one more of the three shelves to assemble, but.. you know… kids.

The shelf is a Kallax from Ikea in the new larger size. I debated the white or the wood color. I love how white shows off the colors of the fabrics, but opted to go with the wood theme since we are up in the mountains.

Oh my! Violet likes to help her daddy put stuff together! I can’t believe how much shes’s grown even in the couple of months since this photo was taken.

Okay, like I said earlier, I am aware it’s December, but a few (several) weeks ago I finally got to send out the finished ribbon quilt to my cousin with breast cancer. I used a modified version of the Easy Ribbon Quilt Pattern by Missouri Star Quilt Company with pink batiks and white Grunge as the background. It was satisfying to receive the thank you from my cousin and hear that she felt very loved when she opened the surprise.

I completed the quilt at the Nampa Modern Quilt Guild first guild retreat at Trinity Pines near Stanley, Idaho.

Pictures of people receiving gifted quilts are my favorite! So satisfying!

I like to use decorative magnetic gifting boxes to gift quilts. They stay closed, are cute, and can serve as storage for the quilt should the recipient need to put it in a closet or some place. I usually use some leftover fabric strips to tie it shut if going through the mail. I fold the quilt so that the backing is on the outside with the label at the top. That way when the recipient opens the box, they first see and read the label, but then get to unfold the quilt to see the pattern. You can get these at Joan Fabrics and TJ Maxx.

Okay, at least we are caught up through the end of October now. Isa’s first birthday was a few days ago and after her birthday dinner at our favorite local Mexican restaurant, Blake wanted to take the girls to the Scentsy HQs in Meridian, Idaho to see their yearly light display. It’s always fun to walk around through the lights, especially through the popular light tunnel. I’ll end the post with these trippy photos from the evening!

Violet felt the need to stop at each section to point our the colors. At least she’s practicing, I guess.

Isa enjoyed the extra fun for her birthday and was adorable in her oversized winter gear.