Weekend Progress

I had a lot of fun in my studio this weekend.  I worked on my January goals and remained focused.  Maybe there is hope for me yet!  I added both the borders to my twister quilt.  I am very pleased with the red border I chose.  I decided to also piece the backing so it would be ready to quilt.  I haven't made a quilt this large in a long time.  I used up a large piece of black fabric and some of the fabric that didn't work for the border.


All I have left on my January goal list is 10 Farmer's Wife Tutorials.  I hope to get those done this weekend at the library quilt retreat.

Stop over and visit Judy and see what other people are working on.

No Show Quilt Binding

I did a little demonstration last night at quilt group on No show quilt binding.  This was new to me because I am not a garment sewer.  To those that do garment sewing, you probably call this facing.  I basically used this super fabulous tutorial with great photos.  I quilted this quilt last year and it has been waiting for me to figure out the binding.  It is all ready for hand stitching and a hanging sleeve.

I plan to hang it in my studio to add a little color.

Right is sometimes wrong

 When I started this quilt, I didn't think I had anything in my resource center for the border.













 I found this fabric and I thought it would be just perfect for the border. As I got ready to cut the borders for this quilt, I thought I would hang it on the design wall first.

This is what I saw when I hung it on the design wall.  Yuck!  I didn't like it.  I am not sure if it is because it is too busy or if there is too much white.  Either way, I knew right away it wasn't right so I didn't cut it.

Back to the drawing board I went.  Funny thing is, the first thing I did was go to the computer and look for another one of those perfect pieces of fabric.  I found a few that I thought would work, but I decided to go to my studio and look before I made the purchase.   I found this piece, and I am much happier with how it looks.  It is red with a subtle black pattern.   It is all pressed and ready to cut this weekend.

It looks like the white will become part of the backing or used in another project.  I love the fabric, but it just wasn't right for this project.

Addendum to the Parade

I guess these projects were late to the parade, but I found them so I wanted to add them to the list of unfinished.

 80. Postage stamp blocks.

 81.  Lodge Quilt - Debbie Mumm pattern

82.  Raggy bricks pattern

 83.  Raggy Squares pattern

84.  Twister wall hanging (just needs borders)

Still working my plan

I am working from my January tasks.  I knew I was a list person, but my list of goals seems to be helping me remain focused.

I have the borders on the flannel top, AND I have the backing pieced.  For the last 2 years I have had on my goal  list to use up my flannel.  I failed miserably!  I have too much and I seldom pull it when putting fabrics together for a project.  This top was made from scraps, but the borders and backing came from the flannel mountain.  I can't notice a difference in the stack, but it is a start.  I have been looking through magazines for patterns that look to be flannel friendly.  If you know of any great patterns for this, drop me the link(s)


I think I will go ahead and quilt this even though it isn't on the goal list.  That will leave me with just 2 more tasks for January.

Tonight's task will be to measure the twister quilt that I pieced in 2012 at Shipshe and cut the border strips.

At one time I tried to work on my projects oldest to newest.  That really didn't work for me.  I am trying to pick projects for the month that I feel inspired to work on and go from there.  The flannel scraps are from at least 10 years ago, so they are properly aged.

My kids are always fighting over the flannel quilt that has the Thinsulate batting.  I plan on putting Thinsulate in this one too.  I love the loft and the warmth.  It is very similar to the Dream Puff from Quilter's Dream.

Somehow my helper managed to rest his head on my backing fabric as I was arranging the pieces.  You can see he is hard at work.

ISE X-mas Party 2012

With the kids back in school, I had a little time today to edit some pictures.  I wanted to post the ISE Christmas party photos.  I don't care how many pictures I take, there always seems to be one or 2 people who sneak out of my photos.  These are just a few of the stockings that were made for the nursing home.

 Several people were not able to attend the party, but that didn't stop the Christmas cheer. These three lovely ladies even posed for a picture.

 I just love the expression on Barb's face when she received her special grocery bag.  I think her expression tells it all.

This is such a great picture of Eleanor and Sharon












Everyone looks the best in this photo except me.  I just wanted to let you know that I took one for the team.

To complete the night, I had to dump all the scraps that were gifted to me.  It was more than one table full.  Thanks so much.  I have used several things from these piles.  It will be fun to see who claims their scraps when they see them in a project I have completed.

Design Wall Monday

I finally made it to the sewing studio and turned on the machine.  All that exposure with the UFO parade made me want to finish something.  If you missed the parade, there is a tab at the top to see all my unfinished projects.  I did find a few more yesterday that I forgot to photograph, so I will be adding them so my list is complete.

I saw on several blogs people picking a word of the year.  I thought this was a great idea, and my word for this year is "FINISH".  This applies to lots of things in my life, not just sewing.

On the January goal list was to quilt my Valentine Spicy Spiral.  It is now quilted on the design wall.  I have several other things on the goal list for January, but I am happy to check this one off.  I also found a home for one of my UFOs.

I quilted my second Spicy Spiral pattern with a pantogram.  This wasn't on the goal list, so this is a bonus completion.



















This is a customer quilt that I took in recently.
The quilt is made of all different ties that belonged to the customer's Grandfather.  It is a gift for her Grandmother.  I thought it might be troublesome, because none of the ties were stabilized, AND they were all made out of different fabrics - from tweed-polyester-silk.  To add to the assortment, the backing was some type of ultra suede.

I am happy to say I had no mishaps and I had perfect tension.  I did light custom on it with minimal SID

I also quilted a baby quilt.  It was quilted with an all over pattern.

I also wanted to post about a fabulous Christmas gift from my husband.  I had briefly talked to him about one of these long ago, and much to my surprise, he pursued finding one.  This is much fancier than the one I would have purchased, and I love it!!  Since you saw my dark side of UFOs, this is my organization tool for 2013.  I love how each project is easily reached.  The trays are large enough that I can keep all the pieces organized.  It was such a thoughtful gift.

Thanks for stopping by.  Stop over at Judy's to see what others are working on.