I'll think about that tomorrow

Last night I was playing with my sweet Sweet Sixteen and wanted to make some progress on this quilt (scroll down to see the square quilt). I last posted when I was quilting the center, but I had no idea what to quilt in the border.

I do most of my thinking when I drive, and I have done a lot of driving in the last few weeks (New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey...). During those long drives, I finally figured out how I wanted to quilt the border.

Using my Handi Quilter Circle Templates, I stitched the spine for the feathers and then stitched the feathers. I used InvisiFil thread from WonderFil. It is a 100-weight polyester and quilts so beautifully!

I finished the border after 10pm last night and took a photo:

I wasn't sure if the quilt was done or not. There were a million questions running through my head:

• Was there enough visual interest in the border?
• Should I have used a contrasting thread?
• Should I restitch the spines and circles using a thicker contrasting thread?

My head was spinning with questions and I decided to imitate Scarlett O'Hara and think about it tomorrow.

Tomorrow is today.

This morning I woke up and hung the quilt outside on the laundry line to get a look at in in proper daylight.

Here is what the quilt looks like this morning:

Sometimes the proper light can make a world of difference.

I think the border is done. I am so glad I waited a day to make this decision. If I had added contrasting thread and didn't like it, it would have been a bear to un-stitch.

Now for the binding. Maybe I should add some piping? I'll think about that tomorrow.

A quilt in need of a home

Last fall I was in New Hampshire teaching longarm quilting by day but by night, my humble hotel room became my most divine sewing studio. I pieced the center of my latest quilt in that hotel room.

I added the border when I got home and threw the top in the "to be quilted" pile.

I basted this sweet thing on my longarm with a large loose meander, and then quilted it on my Sweet Sixteen.

The basting worked beautifully. Not a single pucker on the quilt. I felt so smart!

Then, I had to remove the basting. Hours days weeks later, I pulled out the last of the basting. I felt much less smart then, and my fingers hurt!

What is your favorite basting method?

Finally, though, this quilt is finished:

It currently has no home, but I do have a few people in mind.

Check out Crazy Mom to see what other people have finished!

A gift and a finish!

In January, I went away for a quilting weekend with my girls. As always, we ate, quilted, and laughed a lot. I love spending time with my quilting girls!

One of my friends, Isobel, made me a yummy quilted bag:

Tiffany blue!

Isobel probably has the highest level of technical sewing skills of anyone I know. The fact that she used those skills to bless me with this bag humbles me.

As I was looking at the bag, I kept thinking it looked familiar. She showed me the pattern and I realized that I own that one (Amanda's Purse).

After the retreat, I went to my box of patterns and it was not there. So I looked on my shelf of patterns and it was not there. Then I looked on my cutting table. And my bookcase. And every other surface in my sewing room. Nothing. Days later I was in a box checking out some half-done project and I found the pattern. Why it was there I do not know, but it is so exciting to find something that is lost!

I pulled out some lovely limey scraps from my stash and pieced up this purse. I decided to show my Sweet Sixteen some love, so I quilted the purse on my baby.

If you quilt your quilts by pushing fabric through a machine, you need Machingers Quilting Gloves. Yes, you really do!

I decided that lime green fabrics deserved some whacky quilting:

After installing a zipper, discovering that the zipper was broken, and then un-installing the zipper, I finally finished the purse (serious amounts of time elapsed):

I have different applique projects in my two lovely bags. I will think of my darling Isobel every time I touch either one.

My sweet Sweet Sixteen

I declared Sunday a work-free day. That is rare for me.

What did I do on my day of non-work? I quilted, of course.

I found an old applique block made from the leftovers of my Hidden Star Sampler:

I showed this quilt when I appeared on Quilt It! Did you see that episode? I had so much fun filming with them and I love how the show turned out. They made me sound much smarter than I really am!

Back to my Sunday sewing: I pieced the appliqued block into a small quilt (approx. 20"x 20"). I layered it with cotton batting and wool batting. I went to my lovely Sweet Sixteen and fitted it with a super-fine needle to accommodate my 100-weight thread.

I did a little bit of this:

and a little bit of that:

Question: do those gloves make my hands look fat?

Answer: I do not really mind if they do since I would not quilt without them.

I did not finish the quilt, but here is the progress so far:

Can today be a non-work day, too, so I can keep working on this little quilt?

'fraid not.

Oh the weather outside was frightful

This morning I was scheduled to teach a home-machine quilting class at the Quilt Basket. It was snowing and my students called to cancel. I found myself awake, showered, dressed and facing an unexpected full day at home.

What's a girl to do?

Wanting to squeeze as much as possible into my first snow day of the season (I was out of town for our big snowstorm last October), I:

• made French toast from my home-made wheat bread (no photos, but yum!)
• cleaned out the refrigerator and freezers
• made five dinners for the freezer for hubby to eat while I'm teaching out of town
• made Pho Bo (a Vietnamese soup) and veggies for lunch

• finished a present (photo will be on the blog after the gift is given)
• finished listening to Crossed by Ally Condie (meh)
• played with my sweet Sweet Sixteen

A simple overall leaf pattern will finish this quilt nicely:

I'm not a huge fan of winter, but I do love a snow day!