Slow Sunday Stitching

I finished the bindings on two projects today while watching my Warriors beat the Rockets despite Steph's newest injury.   What a team!

The first project is a table runner.  My friend Nancy and I bought the kits for this runner when we were in Nebraska for the Jo Morton Retreat in November.  We spent much too much time and money at The Quilted Moose in Gretna thequiltedmoose.com but I just love that store.  The center panels are hand appliqued and embroidered.  The pattern is called Blueberry Harvest Runner by Pieces to Treasure in NSW Australia.

 

 

The second finish for today is a baby quilt that I plan to give to my Granddaughter's nanny upon the arrival of her first baby.  Although Caleigh is now 8 years old, Julie has stayed close to the entire family and we are all grateful for the great love and care she provided when Caleigh was a baby.

 

This was made with a charm pack using the pattern in Simplify by Camille Roskelly. 

It feels wonderful to have finished something.  I tend to work a little bit on a large number of projects, so I often don't have the satisfaction of a finish.  Maybe I should do one thing and finish it before moving to another--NOT!

On My Design Wall

I've been flitting about from project to project, so my design wall has lots going on.  Left to right I have my Tumbler leader-ender project which has become more of an add-a-row-a week project.  Next I have a project from Primitive Quilts and Projects (Summer 2014) magazine.  I need to get some pearl cotton in red and gold to get this moving along.  Does anyone know if embroidery thread works for wool applique?  The small applique pieces are from Old Voices New Impressions.  I'm late to this sew along but enjoying it just the same. My birthday present to myself was the Latimer Lane BOM from Red Crinoline quilts.  This is so fun and right up my alley--small pieces, reproduction, and a sampler to keep me from being bored with the same old thing.  On the right are my Temecula Circa 2016 and the first block of Barbara Brackman's Western Women sew along. 

This bottom quilt was gifted to my girlfriend's daughter at her baby shower yesterday.  As soon as the shower was over, she went into labor.  It is made from mostly recycled shirts (thank you Bonnie Hunter)  I'm subbing today and Thursday, so it will cut into my sewing time, but I have to work to support my fabric habit!

This Week in the Sewing Room

It has been a very productive week in the sewing room thanks to lots of wet weather.  I finished the last two blocks of my Stars in a Time Warp sew along with Barbara Brackman and got the top pieced together.  I love the simplicity of this setting, and thanks to Lori at  Humble Quilts, I  even know how I want to quilt it.  I learned so much from this journey through different antique fabrics.  I made all but one of the blocks from fabric in my collection.  I even had the setting and border fabric as well.  Two of the blocks didn't fit on the quilt top, so I will incorporate them into the back.

Today I'm working on Sunday Slow Stitching and will be linking to kathysquilts.blogspot.com.  I'd like to get this quilt out of the hoop by the end of the month and start on the Stars in a Time Warp.  We'll see.  Rushing the process takes away the joy, don't you think?

Allietare Mystery -Top Complete

This is one of my very favorite Bonnie quilts.  It is not overly busy and I adore the color combination.  I'm kind of sad to see the process end.  I just love looking forward to the weekly clues and trying to make time to keep up with them.  I'm going to have this one professionally machine quilted with an overall pattern and definitely want to do the scalloped border.  

Even the weather cooperated today.  It's been dreary and raining for days, but no complaints here. After the drought we've be having here in California, every drop is a blessing.

I'm trying not to start many new quilts this year.  Yeah, I know, you've heard that one before and not just from me.  I do have to make three baby quilts and a retirement quilt.  I'm going to try to do all three with fabric on hand.  I have many UFOs and at least 20 tops that need quilting.  I don't need to add to that list. 

I'm thinking of donating some tops to someone who will quilt them for charity.  Do you know of such a person?

Austin Bluebird Complete

I just finished my Austin Bluebird quilt.  I think this might possibly be my favorite quilt.  I enjoyed every step of the process.  There is something about a sampler that keeps it from becoming tedious.  I hand quilted it, and it was fun to pick different quilting patterns for the various blocks.  It is hard to tell from the pictures, but hubby was just  a little too short to hold up the quilt.  I needed my 6'4" son for this one!  I don't usually do kits, but I loved this quilt the moment I saw in on the Minnick and Simpson blog.  It was my birthday present last January and I was so motivated I finished it within the year. 

I'm linking to Kathy's Slow Stitching, as there are many hours of slow stitches on this baby.

Country Roads

I'm embarrassed by how long its been since I've blogged, but I finished my Country Roads mystery quilt and want to link with Lori at Humble Quilts.  Maybe this will give me the push I need to keep up with this blog. 

This is the third quilt I've made along with Lori.  I love her sense of color, so I never really change mine from the original.  I find these are some of my favorite small quilts.

Lots of Slow Stitching

I've been doing tons of hand stitching for the past month.  Between binge watching episodes of Madmen and many hours of traveling by car, I've managed to finish a few things.  The first is my scrappy pink quilt.  I started hand quilting it in October and finished this week.  I did an overall Baptist fan in the center of the quilt and an old Amish design in the border.  I hope these photos capture the quilting.  I just love the texture and softness that hand quilting provides.  To me, there is nothing like it.

 

 

 

The second finish is a very old (over 10 years) quilt that was 2/3 quilted.  I don't know why I lost interest when I was so close to being finished (does that happen to you?)  It was the project I drew from my Jo Morton Yahoo group to finish this month.  I used a silk/poly blend batting that was heaven to quilt through.  Unfortunately, the pictures don't show that hand quilting very well.

 

 

I'm prepping some applique to take on the road and finishing up a mini quilt also.  Hopefully I'll have more to show next week.