A couple of finishes

I'm still down quite a bit after my foot surgery, but I get my stitches out this afternoon. Yeah!

I'm still on crutches for another three weeks and in the boot for another two months. My heel is raised right now, but I expect to have the wedge gradually reduced until my foot is flat again in the next couple of weeks. Soon, I should be able to get back to machine sewing. Yippee!


In the meantime, I finally finished binding another of my Christmas quilts. I'll have to take a photo of this with its new white binding. It turned out nicely. I still need to make and attach a label before I can call it finished. Maybe this weekend... At least it's done in time for Christmas this year. Only two more of the Christmas quilts to finish up. : )

 

 

And before my surgery I finished my Stashbusters quilt (photo below). My lovely neighbors took such fabulous care of my kitties, dogs, and chickens that I gave this quilt to them in thanks. I did not get a finished photo of it to show the beautiful black binding or the lovely quilting that Mom did on it, but I was in a hurry to get it to its new family. It was well received, so I hope it will be well loved and well used. 

Classes began again for me this morning, so I have to get back to work. Have a great day everyone!

Debbi

 

End-of-year finishes!

With only two days left in the year, I am using my time to best effect by attempting to finish as many of items on my To Do list as possible. And just watch me go! I finished two more tops and a binding this week alone. AND I have lots of pictures.

First, adoption news. My first Christmas quilt has found a new home! Thankfully, it is with the person I actually had in mind when I made it - my sister. If she hadn't wanted it, it would have gone to a niece or nephew, but I'm glad she liked it. I so seldom make calm quilts, that it's nice to have someone who appreciates them when I do.

Here are two photos of the finished quilt. I am a firm believer in doing whatever I want on the inside of the quilt because I can always fix it with borders if I need. to. I was not in love with the inside of the quilt, but this is a perfect example of a time when the perfect border makes the perfect quilt. In person, the multicolored patches don't really stand out as much as they do in the photos. Thank you, Sister, for liking my first Christmas effort.

I also completed the top of my fourth Christmas quilt. Okay, the second and third Christmas quilt tops are STILL loud even with borders, but they're meant to be. This fourth top is completely different. It actually has a pattern to the 36-patch blocks.

First, I want to show you pictures of my guest room bed. I put different quilts on it, and I LOVE the way they look.

Anyway, now to cover the bed with my new tops. Here is the latest Christmas quilt thrown over the top of my pretty blue scrap quilt. See what I mean about a different look to the 36-patches?

I love taking far off pictures of this quilt. A person can get dizzy looking at it for too long. In fact, I had so much fun looking at the dizzying aspect of it that I forgot to take photos of it from the side, so there aren't any where you can see the entire borders. I did take a couple of photos of the corners to show you. The bottom right and top left corners follow the same pattern as the first three Christmas quilt.

The bottom left and top right corners reversed the colors of the rest of the border. Kind of neat, huh?

Next finish. I used the leftovers from the quilt that I made for one of my sisters-in-law to make this baby quilt. Since that sister-in-law is about to become a grandmother again (and I a great-aunt again!), I am sending this quilt to my niece. She is due in March. I am positive that my sister-in-law said that the baby is a girl, but maybe I'd better verify that before I mail the quilt, huh?

 

 

These are a few of my favorite things (or at least my favorite fabrics)... At Stashbusters a year or two ago, we were given a pattern for a Brick Road quilt. Most of us made the quilt top, but I was the only one who hated mine. Everyone else's was beautiful! This was one of my first attempts at a scrap quilt. Unfortunately, I tend to get carried away when choosing fabrics. I used the fabric below to choose coordinating fabrics, but I chose about 20 too many and didn't stick to a recognizable color theme. I used the fabric below to chose all of my coordinating fabrics and colors.

 

 

I also used my absolute favorite fabrics. Just look at the some of the gorgeous fabics I chose for this quilt. All of my favorites are in here!

Below you can see how the inside of this quilt turned out. Ugh. There is no symmetry, no order, no unifying theme! I've had this top shoved into a corner out of sight since I made it. But thanks to Dogwood Guild's "Git 'er Done" challenge, I have until next Saturday to check off projects on my lengthy To Do list, and this was one. I had to finish it. I had to design a border to save my favorite fabrics from the dustbin.

In the photos below, you'll see why this large lap quilt is now one of my favorite quilts ever. I decided on a floating border to pull out the fabrics from the brick road and let them stand out on their own. I do need to correct a color flaw in the photos though. The border background is not black. It is actually a super dark purple with ultra small, slightly lighter purple squares. It's a gorgeous fabric, but it really doesn't photograph well in my lighting.

 

Doesn't it make a nice frame to calm down those internal colors and draw the eye to the outside? I didn't care in the slightest that the corners didn't quite match. The slight break doesn't seem to be a problem. Now I can love my favorite fabrics again -  they weren't wasted afte all. Don't you just love a happy ending?

 

Finally, I hope each of you had a terrific Christmas or other holiday season. We were able to visit, briefly, my sister and her family on Christmas Eve, but had to return home after just a couple of hours because of threatening weather. Living four hours away from each other makes visiting a little more difficult than I would like, but it was great to see everyone (except for her husband, who had to work that day). We'll catch him next time around when we don't have to leave quite so quickly.

 

I must say thank you to Maxie (my tuxedo kitty) who spent a great deal of time the two weeks before Christmas helping me wrap presents. Okay, so mostly she ate the wrapping paper and sharpened her claws on my brother's gift once I had it wrapped, but still, that was the most help I got with the wrapping!

 

Gratuitous kitty photos:  Sinbad (orange) and Tessie (tabby) enjoyed the space heater in my sewing room.

 



A little more reluctantly Sinbad shared his pad with Maxie. They never curl up together, but will sit side-by-side as long as they are facing opposite directions. Go figure.

Well, I still have more unfinished projects to tackle this week. For those of you who enjoy celebrating the New Year, please be careful and celebrate responsibly. I wouldn't want to lose any of you!

Until later,
Debbi

Healthy me and healthy computer!

After three months, I can finally breathe, think, and move freely again. Hurray! Just in time for the holidays. Who could ask for better timing? And now that school is out and I have a working computer again, I can resume posting. Hello again!

As you know, while I was ill, I focused my limited attention on lots of Christmas quilts. I'll show you pictures of two of those today. I am still working on the borders for one of them. Since I'm finally feeling better, I decided to concentrate on finishing the last two owls on my owl wallhanging so that I can enter it in the quilt show in April. I'm only one-half of an owl and some embroidery away from having the top finished. Another hurray!

On to the photos now.

Here are the borders of the second Christmas quilt. As you can see, I used the same three border design on each of the quilts. I wanted a continuous theme tying them all together.

Unlike the first Christmas quilt, I abandoned the alternating 36-patch and 12" block design. I kept the 12" blocks and sashed them with the 2" blocks. This allowed me to feature 20 blocks of different Christmas prints I had. I blush to admit that I hit the Hancock's 50% off Christmas prints sale and now have dozens more prints. I'll be making Christmas quilts for months to come!

The same quilt with a view of the corner borders.

This is definitely the busiest looking of the four quilts that I've made so far. But everyone who knows me says that it most matches my personal style. I guess I must be loud and colorful!

I dont' have pictures yet of the third quilt I made, but I'll get some for the next posting.

In the meantime, here is are some in-progress photos of the fourth quilt. I returned to the 36-patch and 12" block design again, but this time I decided against a random, scrappy look and went for a pattern. I had these blocks laid out while I decided on layout. I didn't have enough snowman fabric to alternate blocks, so I decided on a repeat pattern instead.

I laid out about half of the quilt so that I could sew it together the next evening after school.

 

When I returned home the next evening, This is what I found. At least my kitties left some of the pieces in tact.

Here were the rest of the blocks. It's a good thing I love my kitties too much to get upset with them over their creative spurts. Again, later I'll show you photos of the finished quilt. This is the one that is awaiting the last two borders. Hopefully, after Christmas...

In the meantime, I've returned to work on my owl quilt. As you can see, I needed to finish the owl on the lower right-hand branch.

Here he is all finished! My last owl is actually supposed to be standing on top of this owl's head. I have its feet, body, and wings sewn on. I'm working on its head today. I hope to have it all sewn down by tonight. I'll still need to embroider some eyes on a couple of owls and add a broken branch beside my falling owl, then I'll be all finished.

 

Thanks to Sager Creek Quilt Shop in Siloam Springs, our Stashbusters meeting last Thursday went very well indeed. We had our annual Christmas cookie exchange. As you can see, we had a great turnout with many delicious cookies to share. Thank you Cliff and Pam Goggins for hosting our meetings at the shop! 

And my usual gratuitous kitty photo. Sinbad has rediscovered winter bliss in front of the space heater in my sewing room. I only leave the space heater on when I'm at home. I don't take chances with fire hazards. It's enough for Sinnie. He will reluctantly share his warm blanket with one or more of his sisters, but I usually find him basking alone. Happy kitty!

I'll post more photos of the other two quilts after I get some packages wrapped. And hopefully, some photos of a completed owl quilt top!

Until then, enjoy the holiday season.

Debbi

Third Christmas quilt finished!

On Sunday, I finished the top for my third Christmas quilt. That's all three tops sewn in a month. Whew! I don't have any pictures to post today, but they will be coming shortly (too busy grading papers as we near finals!).

Our Stashbusters assignment was to use our stash to complete one lap-sized quilt, using 36-patch blocks (2 1/2" squares) and 12 1/2" blocks. I used variations of this theme on all three quilts, so they don't all look alike, but they are all very similar. Unfortunately, I failed miserably on the "out of your stash" part of the assignment. I did pull strictly from my stash for the first quilt, but I had so much fun making such a simple, no-thought-required project, that I kept going - which meant more stash needed. : ) I hit Hancock's 50 percent off Christmas fabric sale, Joanne's 30 percent off Christmas fabric sale, and Sager Creek's 15 percent off Fabric Buyer's discount. Needless to say, I may be making Christmas quilts for the next several years! (hee-hee!) Oh, and by the way, I found that the best way to use more of that fabric is to ignore the lap-sized part of the instructions as well! My second quilt is actually more like a queen-sized. The first is definitely a full, and I think the third one is as well, although I haven't had a chance yet to try it on a bed. I don't dare actually measure it for fear of finding out just how bit it's gotten! Oh well, some of us need more blanket than do others. SOME of us have to share with our husbands and four cats! And SOME of us have husbands and cats who actually HOG the covers! I wonder if everyone has the same challenges I do when trying to curl up under a quilt on the corner of the couch to read a book in peace? I guess that just means that I'm loved. *Happy sigh*

Off to grade more papers tonight!

Debbi

Happy Thanksgiving! On to Christmast!

I missed posting on Thanksgiving Day. I hope all of you were too busy enjoying family time to have time to look at blogs anyway. I certainly was. And no, I did not try to get in on the special holiday sales. I'll wait until the prices are higher but the crowds are thinner. : ) I'm not fond of getting trampled!

I have been busy, though! I've been Christmas quilting almost every day. I'm still working (slowly, it's true) on binding my first Christmas quilt. Yesterday I finished my second Christmas quilt top and today I'm one sleeping Sinbad away from finishing the third Christmas top. I lack only the last border, but Sinnie has my sewing chair, and of course, I never interrupt a kitty when he/she's sleeping. ; )

In the meantime, here are some photos of my progress in the last couple of weeks. Below is my latest owl. Again with the light eyes, I know. I only have two more owls to go - now if I'll just sit down and get them done! I guess I just don't want to actually be finished with this project. It has been such fun!

Below is the border fabric I chose for my second Christmas quilt. Isn't it nice and rich looking? I love large, bold patterns.

Just like my first Christmas quilt, I included a small strip of the chosen border, then insert a smaller strip of a contrasting color and finish with my wider outer border. I think it's a fun look.

This quilt was supposed to be a lap quilt. I think I missed. : / This is the quilt laid out on a full-sized bed. It hangs off the edges. I think I overshot my mark. *Wry smile*  Again, I used 12" finished blocks, but this time I used my 2" finished blocks as sashing. Each large block is a different Christmas fabric. Can you tell I love Christmas fabrics?

Yep, a trifle larger for a lap quilt!

Below, the other side, including my How the Grinch Stole Christmas fabric. In the photo above, you will see my Land of Unwanted Toys fabric. Those were two of my favorite children's Christmas shows when I was a child. Oh, who am I kidding? They're still my favorites! Along with It's a Wonderful Life. Ah, Jimmy Stewart. *Sigh.*

Now that I'm in the mood for cinema, I think I'm going to go watch a movie with my husband. I doubt that it will include Jimmy Stewart (I suppose that would be too much to hope for), but it should be good. I rented an award winning foreign film. It's recorded in German with English subtitles. That should drive my husband crazy!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving leftovers! I'll post again when Sinbad stirs, and I can get some more done on my latest Christmas quilt top!

Until then,
Debbi

Back to sewing...

Aren't antibiotics wonderful? My husband and I are both finally feeling semi-well again. That means that I can get back to some serious sewing!

Mom quilted my Old-fashioned Christmas quilt for me last week, and I got the binding sewn on this weekend. Now I just need to to hand-sew it down. I took pictures of the process and would like, later this week, to post it as a tutorial. I know that most of you already know how to bind a quilt, but I also know that some of you are newer at quilting and might like to see a method that may be different from yours. If you're already familiar with my method, I'll be writing other posts later. I don't have time to post the tutorial today, but I hope to tomorrow!

Anyway, since my cats took over my sewing room again while I was working on my bindings this weekend, I took the opportunity to work a little on my owl wallhanging again.

I had reached this point on my little girl owl before I got sick.

I was able to finish off her eyes and beak last night. Okay, so her beak looks a little like she flew into a window and bent it, but oh well. The eyes may be a little light again, but I'm not changing them this time! She'll just have to have light blue eyes. : )

I picked out some fabrics last night for my next owl. I have two left to applique on. Hopefully, I'll have some more progress to report tomorrow. Until then, happy sewing, and I'll work on that tutorial tomorrow (cross my fingers that I'll have time!).

Deb

Halloween - Day of the walking dead...

Day of the walking dead. That description hits close to home right now. My husband and I have spent this entire month feeling like the walking dead. I'm still trying to overcome the bronchitis I got after the laryngitis went away, and my husband was just diagnosed with walking pneumonia. Ugh. We're both waiting for our antibiotic prescriptions to kick in. Needless to say, I've done no sewing lately.

I did, however, find enough energy last weekend to finish my Christmas quilt top. It's currently at Mom's, waiting to be quilted. Then I'll have a second project staring accusingly at me, waiting for me to bind and label it.

I was not sure how well I'd like my Christmas quilt after I got it started, but after I found the right border fabric for it (Thank you, Sager Creek!), I've decided that I really love it after all. Amazing, isn't it, how every quilt seems to go through an ugly teenage phase where we quilt parents are never sure if we've raised the poor things right and if they'll ever find someone to love them? And then they grow out of their quilt acne into beautiful, friendly, and (more importantly), lovable quilts. How relieving. ; ) Anyway, here are a couple of photos that I took as I was attempting to finish the quilt.

Below is a photo taken when I was trying to iron the completed quilt top. It doesn't look all that great when you just see the middle - you have to see the completed quilt with its borders on to lessen the busy look of the fabrics. By the way, the lump in the middle? That lump is the reason I had to stop ironing.

Tadaa! If you could see under the quilt in the photo above, this is what you would see.

No, I did not put the quilt on top of Sinbad then try to iron him. : ) I was ironing first, and he snuck under the top all on his own. I went from a nice, flat ironing surface to a bulging, moving surface. When that cat wants warmth, he wants warmth!

I don't have a photo yet of the entire quilt - I'm waiting until the quilting is done before I take a completed picture; however, here is a sneak peek at one of the corners. Now, how old-fashioned is that fabric? Isn't it wonderful? Since the 12" blocks are old-fashioned scenes on a cream background, I needed a quiet, old-fashioned border to calm the quilt down and pull everything together. Tune in later to see photos of the finished project after it's quilted. 

Hopefully, I'll be feeling better soon and can post more often again. I really need to get back to sewing! So MANY projects! In the meantime, here's my gratuitous kitty photo.

Sinbad says Boo! And have a great and safe Halloween! Meow!

Until later,

Debbi