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.