My Design Wall

These were to be two different quilts. A string quilt and a strips and stars quilt.

I decided to combine the two. I put these up on the wall on Thursday.

 I think it needs a dark (read solid) border probably around 2 inches finished in between the strings and outer strips and stars border. I only have 3 outer borders so that will need taken care of.  My goal for this week is to just get the center string rows together. 

I also have loaded my Christmas quilt and that I want to finish quilting it this week.  I'm using bottom line in the bobbin and Connecting Threads, Essential Pro in the top, I think it's called "honey".

I did a piano key border and quilted the spine for the all-over feathers.

I 've started the feathers and am almost ready to roll the quilt forward for the 2nd section. 

The baby quilt is together. I really like it. 

I pieced the back with the leftover fabric. AFTER I made the binding!

To see other design walls in blogland, go here.

Almost another finish...

I quilted a free hand all-over swirly feathery flowery design, just winged it.  I figured the top is so busy doing something like feathers would just be a waste of time. 

I like it.

Morris (A 2010 Bl-a-Day quilt) 68 x 78

The back

 I spent about 20 stressed out minutes looking EVERYWHERE for the binding for this quilt.  I had it in my notes that I had made the binding, but where oh where could it be. It wasn't anywhere it "should" be but things have been moved around so much in the deconstruction/renovations that I was just looking in every drawer.  And then it hit me. Oh Ya, I took off that outside border and I had made the binding with the same fabric...and there it was sitting in a little heap on a shelf in the closet with the border pieces.   
So I found fabric that would work and made new binding and was getting ready to sew it on

 when I realized I didn't have a label made. So that's why I'm at the computer now, to make a label. I figured I have time for a little post before Paul gets home and it's time to do the dinner making thing.  yuk~!


I'm starting to think it's time to make some more Quilts for Kids donation quilts.  I quietly told myself at the beginning of the year that I would like to make 1 a month.  But I just made a bunch at the beginning of the year (5 or 6) and mailed them in and then got distracted with other things. It's time to get crackin' on those again...soon.




I've started humming Christmas carols....
I know it's horrible, but I have a good reason.  In between binding searching, and binding making and deciding on the borders for H. Whiskers'

(I still have to prep the final appliques for the borders)


I loaded my Merry Christmas Sampler top! 
It's a block-a-day quilt too and this one is for our bed during the holidays, It's also on my 2011 Goals list.
I'm going to do feathers on it, of course I am, what else would I want to do.  :)

(80 x 80)


Well, dang, hubby's home gotta go cook something scrumptious!


Fun times, fun times ....Life is Good!

Lots of sewing today and some Christmas ramblings

Christmas Sampler & Annie

I had just enough of that light green metallic to cut 4.5" strips for an outer border. 

Snowbound and other stuff

Snowbound is a flimsy.  After cleaning the house, I spent some time machine blanket-stitching the stars on the borders.  I had the 2 side borders sewn on and then watched the Pens game w/Meg. Then I went back down and finished the last 2 sides.



Meg came down to see it. Both her and her Dad really like this quilt.  They've actually come in and commented on it a couple of times in the last few days.  (so weird)

Yep, that's Meghan!  I think this picture shows the relief/joy (not in my getting the top done silly), but the fact that she's passed her first rotation/semester of Nursing School and only has one last final on Friday.  She's done so well that she could fail the final and still pass.  Not that she would ever think that way-  she's still going over stuff and studying. She wants an A.  But now that the pressure is off, for a few weeks anyway, I get my crazy, funny daughter back.

OK back to quilting stuff.

I pieced the backing for Snowbound last night and it's ready to go.  I took on 7 table runners a couple weeks ago, only one had a request of  before Christmas but I gave no guarantees. (this was right in the midst of my brother-in-law, Karl being hospitalized, and subsequently diagnosed with stomach cancer;  sewing/quilting priorities flew right out the window). 

Three of them were exactly the same, including the one with a deadline. So I got them all done over the weekend.  Quilting a small fill design is hard work-I always forget that. I did my Swirly Feather-flowers, small.

She picked up the 3 last night and was really happy with them (yea). 

*******

 I put up the 12 inch Christmas Bl-a-day blocks up on the wall last night, just in a random sort of way and I think I'm going to like it. 

Christmas Block-a-Days

I bought a light green Christmas fabric that has a little gold metallic in it. 

I'll have to audition it and think about sashing and borders perhaps-fun fun. 

This is another thing I learned with the Block-a-Days. I'm really enjoying the process of putting the blocks together.  It's a bit different than just reading the directions from a pattern.

Oh and one more non-quilting item.

Paul bought a snow blower!

We've always shoveled. I LIKE being out there shoveling, always have. And having 2 strapping sons willing to work for food helped a lot too. (yep, they've both moved out and I'm sure it had nothing to do with slave-labor chore issues.)

 However, after last years blizzard

you remember.... Paul was stuck at Pitt and I had to shovel out. Well after it was over I said why don't you get a snowblower...for your birthday...  

I know I'm like the best wife ever!!  :)

Well, apparently there were a lot of other really nice wives out there and all the snowblowers in the tri-state area were gone. 

I was quite amazed that when the snow started to fly last week, Paul actually remembered my offer from last year...

what could I do? I don't want to lose my nicest wife ever status. So he got one, sigh, another sign of our middle- agedness.  And the 'wors-er' sign is we're both pretty excited about it.

I, however, have not gone and stood in the garage looking at it.  I mean geeze, it's cold in there and the machine is ORANGE--yuck!