Catching up on my Rows

 

I finished Rows 5 and 6 yesterday except for the edges at the top and bottom, they are cut and will just take a few minutes to add on.  Since I was almost out of bobbin thread I decided this was a good place to stop for the day  I can’t believe I made that many little flying geese!  Lori’s method really worked there was very little trimming to do and they were mostly perfect.  I can’t say they were all perfect but, definitely close enough to work.  I made an extra mug without knowing it and I put the handle on the wrong side of one so I am holding on to it for a future mug rug.  These all went so fast, I actually sewed together the geese in the morning, they were already made and trimmed the day before, then I went on a shopping trip to Walmart which was surprisingly empty, came home and planted about 100 bulbs, cut and sewed all the mugs and it wasn’t even 9:00 yet.  Since I live in outer Mongolia a trip to Walmart is no short jaunt and sometimes turns into an all day trip so I was surprised it wasn’t dark yet and that I still had time for planting bulbs when we got home…all thanks to the short lines at Walmart.

The next row is a row of leaves which seems so appropriate since this is the view from my cutting table right now.  I am trying not to think about the work that comes when they all fall, though I did discover that the blower we have in the garage is not as noisy as most and I might just find it quite useful and it vacuums too so that might make cleaning up those leaves a whole lot easier!   

I just remembered that I need to make a Christmas runner for my buffet and finish quilting my Christmas table topper…guess those leaves will have to wait!

Keep sewing along!

Ferne

Row Along Progress

The weather outside is frightful here with wind whipping and cold rain falling so I got sent home from work yesterday.  I took advantage of the time though and stopped at the grocery store to get what I wanted for our little Thanksgiving dinner and whipped up some homemade rolls and squash soup, then I added 2 rows to my Bee in My Bonnet Row Along project.  I love this project but, had only gotten 2 rows done and was really wanting to get to the apples.  I was well disciplined though and did the wavy row first and got it added then I played with the apples.  I was having so much fun I almost forgot to eat my soup which turned out delicious and the aroma of homemade bread was in the air reminding me to eat, thank goodness.  My apple row is not attached yet, but that might be a project for tonight after work.  The next row is all flying geese and Lori has a new method for us to try that will make it quick and easy then I can move on to the current row of mugs that look like lots of fun and I will be caught up!  My favorite block in butterfly row and the apple row are both red…I have been told that there is red in every quilt I make…I had no idea I had a thing for red…   I am pulling fabrics from a box of 5” squares that has been hanging around for a while now, it feels good to put them to such good use.

 I love this project and am thankful that designers like Lori Holt share their talents with us!

Enjoy your Holidays!

Ferne

Update:  She is now on Row 7 so I am 3 rows behind…guess I will be doing a little catching up this week!

Inspired by Anka’s Treasures

This was going to be a runner for the buffet and the pattern was inspiration from a book  by Heather Mulder Peterson called Favorite Quilts from Anka’s Treasures.  The name of the pattern was Candy Apple Blossoms and she had appliquéd some flowers in the white section, but I am thinking I will leave it and quilt some feathers in there instead.There are several patterns in this book inspiring me right now, but I picked this one and spent yesterday working on it while it was hailing and raining out.  It didn’t look quite right as a runner, but moving blocks around led me to this design which fits nicely on my little table.  Now it is ready for quilting…deciding what to quilt takes me longer than the quilting so it might be a while, but hopefully it will be done for the holidays!

Well, since I started this post last week I have gotten some of the quilting done on this piece, but got stuck on how to quilt the colored logs and the border.  I am thinking of either quilting in the ditch or cross hatching for the logs and I have a curlicue design in mind for the border.  Hopefully this will soon be bound in black and done in time to grace my table for displaying some Christmas baking!

The rainy weather has had me on quite a roll of finishing up old projects and I am loving that it is also giving me more practice on my quilting.  I finished up this piece that I started a few years ago intending to make a round pillow, but it changed into a table topper.  I finished the embroidery and quilted it and I really like how it all turned out.  It is reminding me that even though the weather is wintery Spring will be back before we know it.

I also pulled out this  table topper that I bought as a kit at the Quilt Market in Des Moines last October.  I had so much fun quilting it with wintery designs that I made up as I went I played with threads too.  I made a chain of mittens and quilted earmuffs on the snowmen  I still have to tack that binding down, but that should be finished in an evening of hand sewing.  I prefer to use double thick fabric cut on the bias if possible for binding and sew it on at 3/8” then I fold it over and hand sew it on to the back of the quilt.  This is the method that has worked out the best for me.  I cut my bindings at 2-1/4” wide.  (I am posting this here as a reminder to myself).  I have 3 little quilts sitting right now waiting for me to hand stitch the bindings down and it feels so good to have gotten this far with them all.  I am very glad that I have learned to free motion quilt because it is helping me to finish all the projects that I started a few years ago and now I can look for new projects to start!

Looking forward to new beginnings!

Ferne

Zippety Do Dah!

 

About 3 years ago I won a jelly roll of Zippety Do Dah by Sandy Gervais and went right to work piecing this quilt then we bought this house and moved and life just got busy and it got put in a box.  Recently though I have been doing a lot more free motion quilting and trying to get all my pieced tops quilted.  I had never made a back for this, but had put all my scraps and extra blocks in a bag with the top so I went to work making a back which I now like even more than the top.  I ran out of that beige fabric though and had to try to match it as close as I could at my local quilt shop.  I love the scrappy look of it.  I had planned to donate this quilt to a cause and might still do it, except that my cat as fallen in love with this quilt and has been sitting on it as I move it from pile to pile while I am working on it.  He likes quilts, but I have never seen him get as attached to one as he has this one.  I am surprised he wasn’t on it in any of these pictures.  I put a navy binding on it and still have to do the hand stitching on it. 

It feels good to be getting all these things finished up.  I have even started and finished a few new small projects thanks to feeling more confident with my quilting abilities.  I have wanted to make this sunflower runner for a few years and recently I just went for it.  The pattern is from the book Skinny Quilts & Table Runners from today’s top designers by Eleanor Levie in 2008.  I had it pieced in a just a few night time sessions and quilted it in a just about an hour.  It is taking me longer to hand sew the binding on than anything else, but I love the process of doing that last finishing touch.  This will go on my buffet that recently got refinished.  The sunflower runner will be for fall and next I will work up something to take it through Christmas.  Runners are a nice size project to work on and actually finish up.  I love doll blankets for the same reason and follow Kathy Tracy’s Small Quilts Yahoo group.  That is a very active group and lots of info and blocks are shared there.  They do exchanges and Kathy posts free patterns on a monthly basis.  It is a great place to learn and develop friendships. 

And this is why I love to quilt!

Ferne