Ready for Show and Tell!

I just finished the last stitch on the binding of the 4th quilt that I have bound this week, just in time for show and tell at my guild meeting tomorrow night. I got caught up on a lot of old TV shows that we had recorded over the past few nights as I sewed. I will put pictures of the last two quilts on my blog after tomorrow night.

Now, I must get going on the inchie ornament swap and get it in the mail by the end of the month. As well, I need to work on some Christmas gifts. I am also hoping to do the next Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt "Carolina Christmas", although I think I am going to pick a different colour scheme than red, green and gold. I will have to go digging into my stash to see what I can come up with.

2 down, 2 to go!

I am going to call this Mahone Bay Stars--I purchased the fabric in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia at Suttles and Seawinds. Two of the four quilts are now done! I just have two more bindings to finish and I will have 4 items for show and tell on Thursday... That's one per night. I guess I know what I am doing for the next couple of evenings.

Back from the Longarmers...

Earlier this week, I received the phone call I had been waiting for!!!! My quilts that had been at the long arm quilters were done and I could go and pick them up!!! Here are a few sneak peaks at the quilting on some of them. All are custom quilted with designs that the quilting lady and I came up with.

The first one has a beautiful big feather in the middle,

and lovely designs in the borders too. This yellow and blue quilt has an overall pattern in the center section and neat little swirls in the narrow blue border.
This little table topper was made from the leftover triangles from the star quilt above. It too has feathers on it.
The last one has large flowers and leaves, as well as baskets of smaller flowers.
Binding these quilts and getting labels on them is my next sewing goal, after the birthday pj's are made. Speaking of which, I need to go and sew so the pj's are ready for the birthday party this weekend.

Bye for now!

Two more tops, ready to quilt!

I purchased the fabric for this quilt while on vacation in Nova Scotia two summers ago. I added the borders this afternoon and now it is ready to take to the quilting lady. The backing for this quilt is the same as the wide border. I think I may use the dark blue for the binding.




Last Fall, I took a workshop with Heather Stewart and made this "Cobblestones" lap quilt. Tonight, I finally added the borders and it is now ready to go to the quilting lady to be quilted. I have purchased green flannel for the backing.







A friend and I are getting together tomorrow night to work on a charity quilt top for local children who are in foster care. We have done our initial cutting and will work on sewing pieces together tomorrow night. I am on cutting and ironing detail and she is going to do the sewing.

My Weekend Projects

My goal for the weekend was to finish up some borders on a few UFO's so that I can take them in to the long arm quilting lady to be quilted. I don't have my sewing machine back yet so I am using my mother's sewing machine. When I first plugged it in and ran it, it sounded like metal grinding on metal! Not a pretty sound! I went to the local sewing store (not a quilting store!) and purchased some sewing machine oil. I took out the manual for the machine and found the oiling instructions. I had to pop the top off the machine and oil 15 spots and then turn the machine on its side, and oil another 10 spots. I opened the side door and oiled some more. I turned the crank and spread the oil around a bit before trying the machine again. It runs very smoothly now--it's amazing what a little oil will do! This machine is totally mechanical--no computer chips in this baby. My mother had it in a wooden cabinet but I don't have room for the cabinet so I took it out. It will be my spare machine for emergencies such as this (my machine in for servicing!). My mother was not really a sewer--I talked her into buying a sewing machine and taking lessons just so there would be a machine in the house for me to use when I was a 8 or 9 years old. I used it a lot more than she ever did. I made a lot of clothes on this machine and I also made my first quilt on it.



I am working on borders for the Island Star quilt that I showed you in an earlier post. I added a dark blue narrow border and then when I put the yellow material I had purchased for the wider border beside it, it was too bright. I bought this material for the backing and wondered if it would look ok for the borders. What do you think? Do you like this or should I go out and buy another piece of yellow?
I made the table topper above this weekend on my mother's machine. It is made from a Moda charm pack called "Pine Creek Crossing". I plan on appliquing something in the corners of the border but I have not decided what that will be yet. If you have any suggestions, let me know.

I started to sew the borders on my cobblestones quilt, but no pictures yet as they are not done.

Today is My Birthday!

Today is my birthday. We had a big family dinner here this afternoon to celebrate with my favourite dessert--Apple Bavarian Torte. My husband gave me this bag on wheels for my sewing machine and supplies --I can use it when I go to a quilting workshop or retreat. There are pockets for all of my supplies and tools as well as a big compartment in the middle with straps to hold my sewing machine in place. it even comes with a bungee cord to strap a plastic tote on the top! My MIL went to her local quilting store and bought me some fat quarters which are in the pocket in the first picture.


I used to use a big suitcase on wheels to bring all of my stuff with me to a workshop but it was hard to get in and out of the car because it was so big. My husband said he saw one of these bags in a quilt store and wrote the name of it down into the "notes" section of his blackberry. He ordered it on the internet from the manufacturer. I can hardly wait to go to a workshop or retreat so I can try it out!
Yesterday, I put together the middle section of my Island Star quilt. I just have to add the borders now.

Working on my projects...

I signed up for a Spring Table topper/table runner exchange at the Quilted Table Yahoo group that I belong to. This is the charm pack I have chosen to use for my recipient. I have her name and address. She is from the southern US. I will have the table runner/topper to her by the end of March. I have not decided what pattern to use yet.
I was out every night this past week so I did not get any sewing done until this afternoon. I worked on my "Island Star" quilt and finished putting the blocks together as shown below. I actually sewed the centre section of the quilt together but have not taken a picture of this yet so I will have to post it later. I have a dark blue narrow border and a wider yellow border planned. I hope to finish off this top this week in time for show and tell at my quilt guild meeting on Thursday night.
I hope to finish my Cobblestones top before Thursday night as well. I have started to make 4 Valentines fabric post cards too. Lots to do this week!!!