This and That

I was a bit under the weather this week, but I had good company.

My faithful friends never left my side. Daughter #2 sent pictures of our big prickly pear cactus that is blooming in AZ.

How beautiful is that? And one of our newly planted cactuses in back has really taken off as well.

I started reading a new book. Wow, is it good!

Have a great day!

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Finish It Up Friday ~ Scrappy Strips

This top was on my shortlist to quilt because I just love it so much! I started with parallel lines.

When I had covered the entire surface, I removed the quilt from the frame, rotated it 90 degrees, and reloaded it. This is about as tricky as it sounds. Then I added lines in the other direction.

It’s worth the effort!

I decided a scrappy binding was the perfect finish.

I love this even more after washing! It has the puckery texture that I love.

And now it is hanging in my family room.

Have a great day!

Posted in Civil War Repro Quilts, Finishes 2021, Small Quilts, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Jack Skellington

You may remember my sewing days with my sweet DIL, here and here. She wanted to make a quilt for a friend that loves Jack Skellington. She found the perfect fabric and jumped right in hand piecing! During our sewing days, I taught her some rotary cutting skills and strip piecing on the machine. She did such a great job!

I brought her top back with me so I could quilt it for her. I decided to go with a large meander that would fade into the background to showcase her design.

I used a solid gray for the backing.

I love how it turned out! It’s on its way back to her so she can present it to her friend. I know he will love it.

I can’t wait until we can sew together again. She is such a sweetheart.

Have a great day!

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A Couple Small Finishes

I showed this little bit in the frame last weekend.

I did quick and easy random lines of stitching across it. Here is the back,

It just wasn’t screaming quilt to me, so I made another zippered bag.

It finished at about 12 by 6 inches.

I quite like this one. While I was at it, I grabbed another little bit I had stitched up years ago and finished it into a little bag as well.

I used part of a zipper for the loop.

This one is slightly smaller than the first. They are unfinished inside. I have no idea what to do with them, but at least they aren’t nagging me anymore.

Have a great day!

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Decisions, Decisions

I have my Scrappy Strips top loaded on the frame and I’m trying to decide how to quilt it.

I use a free app on my iPad called You Doodle to draw on my photos and try out quilting designs. Mr. Wonderful gave me an Apple Pencil for my birthday and that is wonderful for this.

Have a great day!

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Sew Kind of Wonky?

I’ve had two beautiful layer cakes of Heather Bailey fabric for several years now.

As soon as I saw this, I knew that is what I wanted to do with them.

I even had the ruler!

But they waited for years until I found the perfect fabric for the curved strips. I realized, I already had it. This is a top quality Muslin and it is the perfect color.

I cut my pieces and I was ready to sew!

Wa, wa, waaaaaaa……

Yuck. Not a quitter, I tried again.

Yeah, not much improvement.

For the third try, I used Kona Snow.

Better, not good. My improv curves were smoother. I’m going to go watch videos on this and try again another day. Or I could cut my losses and use the rest of these fabrics for a different project altogether.

Either way, this project is in time out until I return to AZ. Have a great day!

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Slow Stitching Sunday ~ Repairs

I got a lot of stitching done on this vintage top while we were traveling. But as I was quilting, I found a few more fabrics that needed replacing.

I left those unquilted.

Today, I’m going to fix those spots and fill in the quilting there.

I have 75% of this quilted. I hope to finish by the end of this month.

Have a great day!

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Multitasking and a Little Finish

I had extra batting and backing at the end of quilting the fence rail quilt I showed yesterday. So I found three small tops that needed quilting to make good use of it.

I wish I would think to do this more often. Since I was on a roll, I got some binding prepared.

And the first of those little quilts is finished!

I kept the quilting simple. Here is the back.

I’m loving my daffodils!

Have a great day!

Posted in Finishes 2021, Small Quilts, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Finish It Up Friday ~ Fence Rail

It felt so good to be long arming again!

This quilt is about as simple as you can get, but I love it.

The pantograph almost looks like cables across the surface. I used plain white for the back and it really shows off the quilting.

The binding looks black here, but it is really navy and matches better than it looks.

This finished at 60 by 84 inches. I used one jelly roll and 40 2 1/2 inch strips.

Have a great day!

Posted in Bed Quilts, Finishes 2021, Jelly Rolls | 5 Comments

Quilting!

I missed Friday, my long arm.

I was home less than 24 hours before I got a top loaded. I’m using this pantograph.

I’m loving it so far!

Have a great day!

Posted in Pantographs | 1 Comment