Semi-finishes

Just a quick post to brag that I've "mostly" finished two more quilts.

I finished the binding on my owl quilt for the quilt show, but I still have the label and the rod pocket to add to the back.

I've also finished about a third of the binding on the pink, white, and blue quilt. Again, I still need a label.

I'm refusing to look behind me or to my left where four more quilts are lurking, waiting to be bound and labeled. Just think, when I get those finished, I'll have finished seven (incluidng the baby quilt I finished last week) of the 30 quilts on my To Do List for 2013. YEAH! I have quite a few more very close to being finished. It'll be so nice to have a lot of projects out of my sewing room. And piling up on beds...and couches...and hanging racks...and the floors... Oh, my. No wonder I've been avoiding finishing them!

After I've completely finished these two projects, I think I'll step away from binding and work on something else for a while. Let's see. That leaves me 23 other projects to choose from. Which one will it be? I'll let you know when I decide... : )

Deb

A ribbon...For me?

No, alas, I haven't won a ribbon at our quilt show. Instead, I spent all day Saturday with some of my favorite quilting buddies MAKING the ribbons for this year's show. Our quilt show is April 12-13 at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Bentonville, AR, and the Busy Bees have been making the ribbons for the show since 2007. This year we decided to change the style.

 

We tried to go for something simpler, but... Quite frankly, these ribbons have been a pain!

 

Here is where we left off on Saturday. Each ribbon has two circles that will be attached to the streamers and buttons of some store bought ribbons that Mom spent hours disassembling. Thanks, Mom!

 

The third place ribbons will use the white and black ribbons. The fabric is a darling sewing motif that Sager Creek donated. I'm sorry I didn't take a close up photo of the fabric. Maybe I'll get one later.

The first place ribbons will be a combination of the two blue fabrics above. These fabrics came from my stash.

The second place fabrics are a lovely, deep red and a fun, primarily green and red check - also from my stash.

So what will the final ribbons look like when they're reassembled? Taa Daa! 

These are not completely glued together yet, so I couldn't get a picture holding one, but Mom and Diane are still working on getting them all finished. I'll be driving by tonight to check out their progress. Okay, and maybe I'll volunteer to help a little bit myself.

I'm afraid this is as close as I usually get to any of these ribbons. Winning is out of the question, but I am going to enter five quilts for fun...and judging (whimper)...be kind...

Back to sewing on the rod pocket for the fourth quilt. I still need to cut down my owl quilt, bind it, label it, and sew on a rod pocket. *Sigh* I haven't even sent in my entry forms yet... I'll get right on those. Tomorrow.

Deb

My latest distraction...

What did I put in my new organizer? Why, thank you very much for asking, Rachel!

Let's see... hmmm... 20 drawers....

• one large tape measure along with assorted small tools of a "fix it" nature
• a whole slew of free printed patterns, "store bought" Craftys printed patterns, and hand written instructions on how to do complicated "quilty" things (thanks, Mom)
• one purple feather boa (don't ask)
• packaged quilt patterns
• buttons
• needles - hand sewing only (my sewing machine needles are in my sewing cabinet)
• beads
• beads
• more beads - yes, I have LOTS of beads.
• small stencils
• extra pin cushions
• ribbons
• ribbons
• um, more ribbons - yes, okay, I have LOTS of ribbons as well.
• ummm...stuff
• more stuff...
• ...other stuff I can't remember...

Great. Now I'm going to have to go home and look in all of those drawers. I think I see a label painting day in my future. I have the paints and the paintbrushes. That's the good thing about shabby chic - after I paint labels on all of those drawers to remind me what I put in them, I can always sand off the labels and paint something else if I change the contents. Shabby chic is all about painting and sanding and looking used. Good heavens! By that definition, I'M shabby chic!

Well, this should help me put off sewing on rod pockets and labels for a few more days... Thanks, Rachel!

See you post paint-day!
Debbi

P.S. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Organization, lovely organization...

I just love organization. I could sit and look at organization for hours without actually feeling the need to get my hands dirty with it. That being said, I love to buy organizational tools. And look at them. And admire them. (Sigh) And, occasionally, to use them. I hope to do the latter with my latest acquisition.

 

I was at Hobby Lobby when I found this shabby chic paper sorter. At least I imagine that is what it is supposed to be. It is the perfect size for storing scrapbooking papers. Of course, that's not why I coveted it. I need it for STUFF! Quilty stuff!

 

 

 

I bought my new organizer last night and lugged it into the house and into my sewing room by myself (puff, puff!). It's not heavy, but I am, so it wound up being a struggle either way. : )  Of course, once I got it into the room, I needed help getting it into its new location. As soon as my husband got home, I conned him into helping me get everything situated to my satisfaction. (The above photo was taken before I got the new cabinet into place.) Isn't it beautiful? All of those drawers... (swoon!). Just think about all of the STUFF I can put in those drawers - all 20 of them! Okay, I admit it. I already had almost every drawer occupied before my husband even got home to help me move it (blush).

Of course, now I can't show you any part of the rest of my sewing room, as the corner over which my new organizer presides used to contain a four-high shelving unit. Everything on those shelves is now scattered throughout the room. Just a-lookin' for a home, just a-lookin' for a hooome... Ahem.

Of course, now that I'm "organizing" my room, I've managed to put off sewing labels and rod pockets on my entries for the forthcoming local quilt show. Do you think that little derailment could have been deliberate since I HATE sewing on labels and rod pockets? No, surely not.

But I do have a finish...!

I've finished sewing the binding on my niece's baby quilt. Yes, yes, I do still need to sew a label on it. I'll get right on that...

But in the meantime, have you seen my ORGANIZER?

Deb

Quilt show entries and misc.

Well, it's quilt show time again. Every two years we choose to deliberately stress ourselves out relive happy quilting memories trying to decide which of our creations is most likely to win a ribbon not embarrass us too badly in front of our competition peers. To that end, we spend countless hours agonizing poring happily over our choices and leave ourselves precious little time to sew on labels and rod pockets. Thus adding to the stress pleasure of the experience by running us ragged challenging us in the last few weeks before the show. Which is where I am now. Stressed. I mean, happily anticipating. 

 

I shared my show choices a couple of days ago, so here are Mom's. These photos were taken only to show the color of the quilts (for the entry registration), so they are definitely not the best pics. I'll take better ones at the show in April.

 

 Wall hanging

 

 Night and Day queen sized quilt

 

 Haven't the faintest idea what the pattern is, but isn't it beautiful? And big.

 

 Small wall hanging

 

 Lovely friendship signature quilt from quilting friends.

 

 

In her spare time (ha, ha), Mom agreed to quilt more of my tops for me. This is a good thing., right? So why am I sitting here feeling gloomy about it? Well, I now have FIVE quilts waiting at my house for binding. That's a lot of binding. I also have three more tops waiting for me to make the backings so that they can get quilted, too. Oh my. 

Didn't Mom do a fantastic job with her quilting? She's getting more adventurous every day. I guess my giving her so many quilts to practice on has been a good thing, right, Mom? Mom? Are you still there, Mom? Mom??????

 

Maxie presided over the taking of the photographs. Which is why I had to take wonky photos. I didn't want to make her mad by covering her, so I had to work around her.

The back of the quilt. And below are photos of the quilting taken from the back.

Maxie feigning disinterest in the whole proceedings. And yes, the quilt underneath her is one of the quilts currently waiting for binding, thank you for pointing that out. And here was me, thinking I had accidentally misplaced that one.

And just because I rarely post photos of my dogs, here is an old photo of two of my four dogs. Belle is the larger one in this photo. Three years ago she "found" a puppy who had been abandoned and brought the little one home. She named her new charge Muffin.

We told Belle she could keep her new puppy as long as she raised the baby as her own and taught her good manners.  

 

And so the lessons began. And the puppy grew...

 

 And grew...

And grew...

And grew. My, how quickly those young ones grow up, huh, Belle?

And then one day they turn on you! Run, Belle!

 

 

 

 A year later, these two were still the best of friends, even though Belle was considerably outweighed by her over-100-lb former charge. This photo was taken after a long, happy day demolishing their beds and strewing the remains all over the yard.

And, not to be left out, they were joined by their little accomplice in mischief, Butch (on the left).

  

 Sinnie gives his best disapproving glare. Baaad doggies!

And so the happy doggies (another old photo of Muffin at about half her current size) wander off into the sunset with their favorite human...

And Maxie wishes you all a good day. Meows to all!

See you soon,
Debbi

Owls blowing in the wind...

Yeah! Another finished top! I have finished my owl quilt top. **Beaming smile**

 

As you can see, it really needed the wind to blow some leaves and petals around a little since this photo shows how much the trees and owls are leaning. I think some blowing wind in the quilting will help make my leaning tree a little more believable. (If it doesn't, don't tell me!)

 

 

 Mom had the stupendous idea to add a dark border to the quilt. It actually helps to brace up the little feathered leaners and looks absolutely fantastic. I never would have thought of this. Thanks, Mom!

Mom pulled this beautiful, dark batik out of her stash and offered it to me. Very generous, since the fabric is gorgeous! Luckily for her stash, I had actually bought some of that same fabric! The photo above shows the pattern but not the actual colors. The best photo for the color is the top pic.

I decided to blow some petals and leaves off of the edge of the quilt and onto the border. I like it. Now to make a backing and get it quilted! Then on to the quilt show. (Psst...Don't tell the judge my owls are leaning. Maybe she won't notice.)

Believe it or not, I found three more UFOs this weekend. I'll have to add these to my 2013 list of To Dos. Sigh.

This quilt has been living on top of my freezer ever since Sinbad went through his "bad spell." This was a particularly favorite target of his. Now that he no longer feels like he has to constantly mark his territory, I can bring it back down and finish it. All it lacks is some machine quilting - I'm actually machine quilting this one myself! Which is why it's still not done. : / Machine quilting is not one of my favorite pastimes. Then a little binding and a label, and it'll be done.

This next quilt is a peacock quilt that I started several years ago for my aunt and uncle in California. They had just bought property that had some abandoned peafowl on it and were bemoaning the constant screaming. The peacocks' not theirs. : )  After a few months, a rescue group came and collected the homeless fowl and found them a new home. I wanted to make this peacock quilt for my aunt and uncle as a reminder of what they almost had to live with. ; )

The majority of the quilt top is this fun and colorful pattern interspersed with the occasional 14" peacock square.

For some reason, I could not get a good photo of the peacocks. They kept washing out. The color in the top picture is true, but I'm showing you this photo so you can see the design. The top is finished other than the borders. I just need to get it done and send it to be quilted.

And now there's this pile of shiny fabric. It's hard to believe, but this is my very first attempt at quilting. It's a crazy patch quilt that I have sewn together, but that still needs lots of embellishments and seam stitching. It's queen sized (what was I thinking?!?), so I'll still be working on it in the retirement home, I'm afraid.

I'll add it to my To Do list, but I can guarantee that it will not be done this year. Maybe, though, I can get a little more done on the seam stitching side if I don't  get too ambitious.

The good news is that I finished the binding and the label on this scrappy brick road quilt. One to scratch off of my 2013 To Do list. Yeah!

I also got back the quilt for my new great-grandniece who is due next month. I need to sew on the binding and it will be ready to post to the expectant mother. I'll have to take some photos of the quilting though. Mom really outdid herself with butterflies and dragonflies. My favorites!

Let's see, after that I have three more quilts waiting on binding... So many near completions. : )  Maybe I'll have more finishes to post soon. Wish me luck!

Deb