It's a Wrap...2010 that is.

Well here we are...another year just about gone.  It has been a year of a lot of change for us.  We have moved into Julia's old house (her new abode is attached), rented out our house in Exeter Twp to an awesome family, and finished all the remodeling of the old house.  We are very comfortable here.  I asked Lynn after he was here a few weeks did he want to stay or go back to our house.  His answer surprised me - he said he wanted to go back - then he qualified that with "to get the rest of my stuff".  Too funny. 

The photo is of my new quilt work space.  At the old house I used the dining room table for all of the sewing and the huge breakfast bar for all my cutting.  Plus my ironing board was in the kitchen in front of the stove so I had to remove it every time I needed to cook.   The new space works just great for me.  Each "table" can be folded down to the wall when not in use and there is more shelving to the left as well as a stationary table.  The taller table on the right is for cutting and layout and is set high enough for me to stand comfortably.  My ironing board is to the right of the high table.   I love the compactness of my workspace.  The shelving holds all my quilt books & magazines as well as all the tubs full of fabric or supplies.  Once I had it all planned out my wonderful contractor buddy was able to put together the drop tables and hang all the shelving.  He proved to me that the tables were strong enough by sitting on them...he weighs about 180 lbs.  That should be strong enough.  Once I had this wonderful work space I just had to get a new sewing machine as a Happy Birthday to me...I love my new Babylock Quest Plus.

I had to go to plan "B" for Lynn's Christmas quilt surprise.  I waited till he was in the kitchen making breakfast then laid his quilt top on his bed.  Once he returned to take a shower I knew he saw it when a very loud WHOA erupted from down the hall.  He loves it.  Now I need to find a machine quilter to finish it off.

Wishing you all a safe and Happy New Year.

FINALLY

This evening I finally finished the last border on Lynn's surprise quilt and now I can take it to the machine quilter for the next to  final step. 

I had some delays in the past few weeks as Lynn was around the house way too much.  On his last fishing trip 2 weeks ago I thought I had it made.  That was until I pulled out the red material I purchased for the final border, laid the edge of the quilt on it before cutting...and hated it.  Okay I thought, just go find another red fabric that has the right tone and a small, but not flowery, pattern on it.  It wasn't till yesterday afternoon that I was able to sneak in a visit to Hayloft Fabrics in Morgantown while I was supposedly running other errands.  It was only a slight detour from the other errands.

So today he left at 6:30 AM to hunt with a friend and I thought I had all day.  So I wasn't really Speedy Gonzalez.  I got the border cut, sewed two sides...and Lynn showed up around 11:00 AM.  The quilt was laying on the ironing board...WAH!  When he went looking for a drink I quick covered up the photo parts so that it looked like just a lot of different colored fabrics in the process of becoming "something".  We worked on the Christmas tree and some outside lighting before lunch.  He went out into our fields to hunt this evening till dark so I had enough time to add the final two border fabric strips....WHEW!

So now I need to invent some "errands" on Monday to visit the machine quilter.

A very pleasant surprise was the comments on the American Quilters Society on Lynn's quilt.  They requested photos of quilter's Christmas quilt projects so I sent one of Lynn's quilt that I had posted here.  The person monitoring their Facebook page commented "This is a great idea! Nicely done, too."   WOOHOO that made me great.

Finished for Thanksgiving Dinner

A reversible quilt tablecloth made from 9 of the homespun fabrics that I purchased on the 18th and 3 print fabrics.  The pattern is a modified Soduko pattern.  We can use the homespun side with our plain dishes and then flip it over when we want to use the Friendly Village dinner set for holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Housekeeping

Today was a housekeeping day.  Hemmed a couple skirts for the dog shows that I have been putting off for weeks.  That helped clean up the work space a bit.  Then visited the sewing machine dealer who sells cones of thread for nearly half price.  Picked up 3 cones and some extra bobbins.  I needed some dark red thread to quilt the tablecoth that I made from the homespun stash that I purchased last weekend.  Hopefully I will finish it this weekend and can get a photo.  Then off to Obie's Country Store in Goodville for fabric to finish Lynn's quilt.

About Obie's - if you are ever in or near Goodville PA you MUST see Obie's.  For many, many years I believed the sign that declared Obie's Country Store, then someone clued me in that the place is stacked to the rafters with fabric...mostly quilt fabric.  Today I found Obie's even more crammed than usual.  If you can't find something to love you may be color blind...LOL.  I did worry about an avalanche back in the corner where the reds were stashed, but I made it out alive.  And the prices are awesome.  I picked up some 108" wide medium dark blue marbled backing at $6.99 a yard.

Off to a dog show tomorrow.  Wish  me luck.

Progress on Lynn's Surprise Quilt

With Lynn gone fishing for the day I was able to make some serious progress on his SURPRISE quilt.  Added the pillow blocks and the gold border.  Only a red border to go before it goes to the machine quilter.  Looks like I may finish it for our anniversary in early December or at the least by Christmas.

The light blue that you see below the gold border on the right hand photo is part of my quilt.  I try Lynn's on the bed to judge what is needed next since there is no pattern for this quilt.

All of the photos are of our dogs that I was able to scan and transfer onto a special fabric/paper that is colorfast and washable.

Now I need Lynn to take one more trip or long day away so I can finish the border.

ps - if you know Lynn, please don't mention this.

Just Thinking

I find that many days are spent in just thinking, er planning, about quilting.  I have all these gorgeous fabrics and I just keep planning what I will do with them in the future. 

Then , of course, I go out and buy more for a different kind of project.  Today, while running routine errands (bank, wine store and library) I just happened upon the Village Library's annual book & bake sale.  I cleaned them out of quilt books for $5.00 and two kinds of cookies for $1.00.  Oh, I'm such a big spender.  Then I just happened to drive an extra 10 miles to a local craft store and stocked up on 12 different homespuns.  I think they will make an awesome table cloth with placemats.

I don't particularly like kits as there are usually one or two fabrics that just don't do it for me.  Part of what I love about quilting is choosing my fabrics.  Sometimes it starts with just one particular pattern that knocks my socks off.  After that one fabric I enjoy finding complimentary fabrics to fill in a quilt.

So for the last two days I have been "just thinking".  Tomorrow I work on Lynn's special surprise quilt as he is going fishing and I will have 12 hours to work.

Dalmatian - under construction

This quilt is still under construction.  I need to quilt and bind it for my friend Nancy R who is really excited just from seeing emailed photos.  I love the blue background as the "photo" really stands out.  If you click on the above picture it will enlarge...remember to stand back to get the full effect of the photo.

Since I still have lots of black and white I may try another one of Nancy's photos.  Or maybe a Liver and White Dalmatian.  I am really enjoying these dog projects.

Congratulations, You are a Prize Winner from the September FabShop Hop!

Just as I signed off from the previous post I found this notice in my email inbox.  Wow, a second place win...can't wait for the package in the mail.  Hope it's not blue fabric.  LOL

If you are a quilter or a crafty sewer you may want to check out http://fabshophop.com/.  A new hop is coming November 15th and they can be very enjoyable at any time of day.  Many, many virtual fabric shops that you can visit in your pajamas.

A New Addiction

I find that I have developed a new addiction.  It is still in the quilting world, but I have been focusing on photo quilts of dogs.  The first one finished is from a portrait of our German Shorthaired Pointer Penny that I took several years ago.  A close up of this 18" by 20" is shown at my "About Me" on the right.  Interestingly you have to view these photo quilts from a distance as the close up confuses the eye, but at a distance the picture emerges.

On another note - I shocked myself today when I decided that I should sort my stash of fabrics by color.  I thought that would make it so much easier to find colors for dog quilt #3.  It did, but I now know I have an overwhelming amount of blues.  Guess that means I will have to do a "Blue Dog" quilt in the future.

There also seems to be an awful lot of fabric...maybe they breed and multiply when I turn off the lights in my workroom.  ;-)

Tomorrow - the Dalmatian quilt in progress.