I couldn't sleep this morning...

...so I got up and made some fabric postcards!

I dug into my Christmas fabrics and selvages to make these cards.  I wonder who I will send them to???

These three have addresses and stamps on them and are ready to mail.

This quilt is a Christmas gift for someone who does not read my blog. It is in the mail and on its way to its destination already. My quilt holder is my Dad.   Thanks, Dad!

This is the first spinning 4 patch quilt that I have ever made. It has flying squirrels and maggots on it. (The fabric is Australian and the flying squirrels are actually some sort of marsupial and the maggots are a delicacy that some people eat. I don't think I want any on my dinner plate any time soon!)

I worked on the borders for RRCB again this week and I am just about done...Pictures soon.

Sewing on a Saturday

I spent much of yesterday sewing at my dining room table. I worked on my spinning 4 patch quilt, adding sashing to each spinning 4 patch. The blocks are not sewn together yet--this is a project for later in the week.

The "red" borders are actually a coral colour. When the quilt is done, I will take a picture of it outside and the colours should be better. I have a piece of the fabric used for the 4 patches for the outer border.

Here is my "Spinning Squirrels and Maggots" quilt made from some very interesting Australian fabric. I still have to add a label, but this one is basically done--ready to give to someone for Christmas!  Yes! It is only June, and I have one of my Christmas gifts made!

Thanks again to my handy quilt holder--my husband.

Yesterday, this chipmunk was scampering around our yard. He must have found something good to eat because his mouth was bulging!

I have a table runner just about done as well. I will post a picture after I get the binding on.

Flimsy Finish!

I put the borders on my "Spinning Flying Squirrels and Maggots" quilt today. I had purchased extra fabric to use for borders. This flimsy is ready to go to the quilter's except that I don't have any fabric for the back yet. :-(

I also finished quilting my fall table runner and sewed the binding on. About half of the hand sewing is done on the binding--I will finish it tonight and post a picture of the finished runner tomorrow. I went out to the local sewing store (NOT a quilting shop) and bought some bright orange thread to quilt the children's charity quilt. I will work on this project later this week too.

Sewing with Christine

This is Daisy.
And, this is Piper. Piper and Daisy are Christine's dogs. Last Friday afternoon, I went to Christine's house and we worked on our Carolina Christmas quilts. Daisy and Piper supervised. Daisy licked my toes and my legs while I sewed. Mostly, they slept on the floor near us.

Christine and I were both working on Step 3 and both of us finished off the sewing for this step. Here is Christine's red and neutral chain behind her sewing machine.

And here is my orange and neutral pile.
I cut my chain apart and made a neat pile, ready to trim off the bonus HST's (I am just going to put them into a zip lock bag and bury them, out of sight!) and press.
We are getting together again later this week to sew step 4. Our homework this week--trimming and pressing step 3 and also cutting out the pieces for step 4.

I got my spinning squirrels and maggots blocks sewn together last week and found the material I had purchased for the borders. My UFO goals for this week--put borders on two quilts (Fractured Squares and Spinning Squirrels and Maggots) and finish off my fall table runner. If I have time, I can always quilt my children's charity quilt from a few posts back as well. Lots to do!

By the way, my selvage sewing stool cover is featured on the Selvage Blog today! Take a look!

QNIC at Jacqui's

Last night, Karen, Jacqui and I had a QNIC (Quilting Night in Canada) at Jacqui's house. I started this spinning 4 patch quilt last Summer and never finished putting borders on all of the 4 patches. Last night, I finished off the blocks and then put them up on Jacqui's design wall to see how they would look! This quilt will be called Spinning Flying Squirrels and Maggots" since the fabric I used for the 4 patches has these critters on it. It looks so benign from far away but when you get a close up view, it is a different story! I will work on sewing the blocks together over the next few days.
Jacqui worked on a black and white quilt that will be a wedding gift for a wedding later this summer.
Karen is making a table runner from a charm pack for her Mother.
After snack time (delicious blueberry bread with fresh raspberries and blueberries on top), I played with the bonus HST's from my Carolina Christmas quilt that I am making with Christine. I am thinking of making a mini sampler quilt with all of these 2" HST's. Here are a few potential blocks...

Spinning Squirrels and Maggots Quilt Progress!

I went to Jacqui's house last night for a little QNIC (Quilters' Night in Canada) and worked on the borders for my spinning 4 patch--spinning squirrels and maggots quilt. All of the purple blocks are done but I am still working on the blue blocks. Here is a sneak peak at how this quilt is going to look when it is done. I have a piece of the original Australian fabric that I started with to use for the border. Others at QNIC were also working on Spinning 4 Patch quilts--one was done with cat fabrics for the quilter's daughter for Christmas and the other was a charity quilt for cancer patients at our local hospital. This method of cutting and sewing the blocks makes for very interesting quilts!

Maggots and Flying Squirrels!

Yes! The title is correct! I went to a quilt class last night at Jacqui's house. She designed a pattern she called the Spinning 4 patch and I went to the class. We were to purchase a large print fabric with 4 repeats. I purchased my fabric at Cherished Pieces in Tillsonburg--it is a wild Australian print with bugs, maggots and flying squirrels on it!! Jacqui wondered if this would be too wild for her pattern...

I cut out all of the squares, and started to sew them together...
WOW!! They look great! I think my "Spinning Squirrels and Maggots" quilt will be very interesting. Jacqui still thinks people should not look too closely at the fabric.

Here are a few close ups of some of the blocks.

And, here is a picture of all of my blocks--32 in all. Now I just have to figure out whether to put them on point or straight with sashing... Check back to see what I decide to do. This project may have to go on the back burner for a while so I can finish "Christmas Lights" and I also need to make some PJ's for my twin neices' birthday gifts.
I will post the final results of the voting on my Christmas Lights settings in my next post.