{Post 1,509} 1,860 Pieces Strong

This is pretty much what we have had all week. It didn't seem Christmas-y, but we had a lot of Christmas spirit at our house.  So busy that I didn't take many photos.

I have become friends with one of my blog readers.  She said she was going to send me a "few scraps" to add to my tumbler quilt.  Imagine my surprise when I opened the box below (and notice the promise inside the lid, which does NOT seem to be working).

I used some time this AM to add a few rows to the top of my tumbler quilt.  Here it is, 31 rows wide.  It now measures about 90" wide by 62" long.  I am shooting for around 108" long, so I am about 2/3 of the way there!

We are off this afternoon for a very quick turnaround of a vacation.  Even though we only have 2 children at home, one is a commuting full-time college student and the other is working 30 hours a week.  Today and tomorrow were the only days all 4 of us could go.  I am looking forward to some car sewing time and a wonderful trip.

Hope your Christmases were bright.  

Isaiah 9:6...For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

{Post 1,508} Keep Calm and Tumble On

Below is one of my favorite red Thimbleberries prints.  I came across 4 little scraps in my scrap box.  I pieced them together to get two tumblers for this quilt.  I only have threads of this left (bottom right corner of picture). 

You can see my ruler for cutting these in the picture as well.  I am using 2-1/2" tall pieces and chunks and cutting between the 5" and 2-1/2" lines for my tumblers.

This is a small section so you can see some of the prints close-up.  This quilt will be a little bit of everything.

Last, but not least.  Where I finished today...at 1,200 tumblers.  Twenty rows of 60 tumblers, measuring 40" x 90".  Nearly half way there. 

{Post 1,507} Nine HUNDRED Tumblers

The above picture is my wonderful husband and 900 tumblers.  Such an enormous number!  I am cutting down more scraps tonight.  They must multiply in my boxes.  I see one I am going to rip out and replace.  See it right near the center?  A brown one that should not be in the light position.  I can't stand it!

This piece of work is 30" wide by 90" long.  Last one I can take in this space, between my long-arm and my domestic machine.  

{Post 1,506} Tumblers Away

Got up to 8 rows in a hurry.  I have lots of these cut out.  I wanted to get to this point because I had a partial section of 4 short rows to add.

The section below is 16" wide by 90" long.  I am, really liking this.  This is 480 tumblers!

The following pictures are ornaments I have for auction on eBay.  My user name is whistlersmother10.  I thought the selvage ones would be especially cute for a quilting friend or a guild meeting.  The back fabrics are plain, so one could personalize them for gift tags or ornaments.

I got so much done today in my stitch den.  I cleared out a whole large drawer, tamed most of my shirts, and nearly got my cutting table cleaned off of things that have been marinating there for some time.  Whew--I feel good.

{Post 1,505} Quilty Update

Here is the back of a customer quilt I have been working on.  It's a white-on-white fabric for the back.  I machine quilted free-motion wonky feathers on it.  

Now that I finally have finished it I can start on a quilt I promised I'd finish by Christmas as a gift.  I will be spending most of today on that.

Here is my current leader/ender a la Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville.com.  It is the tumbler.  Mine finish at 2" tall.  I am cutting up every scrap I can find, willy nilly.  Funny thing about scrap quilts...the more you add, the more looks right.  A close-up, then a view from the end of my quilt frame.  It is 98" wide.

Four rows strong, and lots of bits and pieces ready to add on:

{Post 1,504} Thanksgiving Day Happenings

I set up the sideboard for desserts.  Apple pie, pumpkin pie squares, and two kinds of cookies.

Here is our table, ready for people.  I didn't think to take pictures of the most important part of the day--the people.  I was too busy tending to things.  But they came, they ate, they came back for seconds.

One of my home-made candle holders.  Fun memories of going to stranger's yards and asking if I could have some of their leaves.  I had my youngest two children do this.  Ha ha!

We had a family of four from our church with us.  Their two little girls are in our Sunday school class (we teach 2-5 year-olds).  The girls brought me flowers.  How thoughtful!

{Post 1,503} Isaac's Quilt

Every quilt has a story.  I bought the blue fabric for the 9-patches for this because I like the fabric so much.  You need to know that that is very unusual for me.  I have about 100 bolts of fabric at my house that I used to sell online.  Most are Thimbleberries.  I don't usually pick what I like--I just use what I have.  "Like" doesn't have much to do with it.  But I liked the blue.  So I made all the 9-patches, and they sat.

Then I decided to add alternate blocks of upcycled men's shirts.  I made one straight set with green and cream 9-patches for my BIL and his wife.  I set this one on point.

Here I am attaching the binding to the front on my Janome Memory Craft 6500.  This machine has served me well.

Here is my label.  Isaac (my baby--the son for whom the quilt was made) is very tall.  He is 6' 2" now, and seems to still be growing.  He wanted a quilt that he could wrap up in, up to his shoulders and over his feet.  This one is 81" wide and 109" long.  That should do it!

Here's my happy guy wrapped in his just-finished quilt.

{Post 1,502} Ornaments for Grandchildren

These are 5" by 2-1/4". They didn't turn out as professional looking as I had hoped, but they are TINY places to paint.  I ended up using my label maker to put the sentiment on the back.  It is teeny tiny.

I painted them cream so they would show up on the tree.  I got them at Hobby Lobby.  I already have some ideas for the next couple of years.

{Post 1,501} Past and Present Finished...Next One Underway

This is Past and Present.  It is a pattern from a book.  I have a runner made from the little leftover HSTs that I recently also completed.  This is so beautiful in person.  It is 58" x 70".  I am starting to make larger quilts.  We have 2 queen size and one full-size bed in the house.

Below is the quilt at more of an angle, so you can catch a glimpse of the quilting texture.

My baby boy is 6'5" tall.  He just turned 16.  I have had this quilt (below) pieced for a long time also.  Story of my life.  I added two more rows of shirt prints on the top and bottom to make sure my little nipper can wrap up at night.  This ended up being 80" wide and 109" long.

You can see it here before the borders were added.

I am using up some odd fabrics, so this is half of the backing fabric.  I took the pic so you can see my free-motion design.

{Post 1,500} Fourteen Finished

Fourteen Disappearing 9-Patch blocks finished.  This is about 50" wide.  This goes so fast.  I might finish it much sooner than I originally thought.  This is about 1/4 of what I need for a queen-sized quilt.  

This could easily be made patriotic (red and blue squares with gold accent squares) or Christmas (red and green with gold).  It is fun to use the charm squares because there is so much built-in variety.

{Post 1,499} Disappearing 9-Patches

I have made two of these blocks each AM for the last 4 days.  I like how they look when placed side-by-side.  I already have a quilting design in mind!!  That's way ahead of the game for me.

They are 13" square finished.

I ordered a few more charm packs last night.  Eager to see them in person.  Yes, I lead a very sheltered and boring life.  It's OK to think that ;)

{Post 1,498} Wonky Again

Started quilting my Past and Present 58" x 70" quilt top today.  I used Wonky Feathers from Pajama Quilter AGAIN...it's a personal favorite.  I am over halfway finished, and it is looking good...

This will be ready for couch use this Christmas!!

{Post 1,497} Two New Projects to Share, and a Kid

Here are two projects I am beginning.  I have two Christmas quilts to machine quilt, then I'm home free for my own projects.

This first one is Bonnie Hunter's leader/ender for this year.  These are tumbler/thimble pieces.  Mine will finish 2" tall.  I spent a couple hours one day trimming down scraps for this.  There is not a lot of variety right now because I only trimmed down blues, browns, reds, and blacks.  I plan to remedy that soon...after I machine quilt the above two mentioned items.

This is a larger item.  I hope to make it into a queen-size quilt...my summer quilt for our guest room downstairs.  The blocks are disappearing 9-patch.  By using the blue fabric for the center square, it will repeat in that position in each block.  The blocks finish at 13" square.

During one of my insomniatic nights, I came across the top for this runner.  It has been languishing marinating since 2011.  It is fairly large.  16" x 46"...for my Christmas table.

I stayed overnight at my daughter's Sunday.  Got to spend some quality time with this little nipper on Monday.  He has my chin (s) !!

{Post 1,496} Little Quilts

I felt like yelling, "Pinch me!  This can't be happening!"  Yours truly finally got to visit the Little Quilts quilt shop in Marietta, GA.  My first quilts were from their first book.  I think I made ALL the ones in there.

I spent quite a bit of time there, but I didn't see it all the way I wanted...I was in a hurry to get home, which turned out to be ironic since I thought I'd be home by 5 PM and it turned out to be nearly 10 before I arrived. 

Here is right inside the door...your first glimpse.  Wow--they have packed a lot in that little space!

A fall display:

Bought two kits at this display for the next two years' Christmas ornaments for my children.

The quilts over the window are minis.  Notice the pattens below on the left that are 8-1/2" x 5-1/2".

I bought the booklet that has the two quilts on the rod on the left...the pinwheel in the middle and Lu Lu's blocks next to it.

The landmark for verbal directions in Marietta, GA...the Big Chicken.  His beak constantly opens and closes, and his eyeball rolls around!!

Here is what I purchased at the shop.  If only you could see all the things I left behind but wanted to get!!

I have been wanting the Hunter's Star ruler, and I saw they had it just as I was walking out.  The Little Quilts pattern beside it was $1, and it has 2 quilts I want to make.  "Another Slice" was the one that accompanied the blocks hanging on the rod above.  Then the ornament kits.  

At the register, they had a treadle sewing machine drawer with fat 1/8ths in it for $1 each.  I got two for a blossom for my GFG quilt to commemorate the trip.

Then, last, but not least, 2 charm packs of 30's prints for a future quilt.  Because I don't have enough fabric.  Shhhhhh...

This shop is p-a-c-k-e-d with goodies.  I was so close to buying a stitchery kit and frame, but that would have added another $50 to my bill.  And it wasn't worth THAT much to me!  I should have taken a pic, but I was experiencing sensory overload, and it didn't occur to me.

The trip home was going great until I came up to 3 bad accidents in a row on the last little leg back.  It easily added 1-1/2 hours to the travel time, but I did arrive home safely.  I was just glad I wasn't IN one of the accidents.  

Typing the above statement made me think of this picture I snapped going through Atlanta yesterday in an area that has 7 lanes going the same direction at 70 MPH...

If one was a dozing passenger, that would be a frightening wake-up call!!

{Post 1.495} Surprise GA Trip

One of my daughters was doing a sign-painting class at her church Tuesday night.  I surprised her by driving over there in time for the class.  On my way down, I stopped at my son's house and picked up the other half of a bunk bed set to give her, which was another surprise.  She was REALLY surprised.  

I only took one picture of the class, and it is on my phone...and it is blurry.  But it was fun to see her in action.

I spent several days with her.  We had a great visit.  I love being with her and my grandchildren.  They are growing up so fast.  I want them to know me, and I want to know them!

Here are a few pics of the little nippers.  The first one was the night I arrived.  Keith is a little excited!  The others are at their house.  Yes, I made them the brown and blue quilt on the bed.  I called it the B & B.

The day I started driving down, I had a dentist appointment at 2 PM.  Made for a late start.  My son, Luke, who lives in Charlotte, asked if I wanted to meet for lunch before my appointment because he had the day off from work.  I said, "Of course!"  While we were looking at our menus, he commented that one of his favorite childhood memories was going to the dentist with Rachel (his sister) and I.  I thought that was strange, but he is a strange person at times (like we all are).  Then when we left the restaurant, he followed me to the dentist.  Then he came into the waiting room.  Then I realized he had made an appointment for the exact same time as me so we can continue the tradition.  We both got good reports!

I went to another daughter's house Thursday night to visit for a while then stay overnight.  We had breakfast together the next AM then I drove home via the Little Quilts quilt shop.  That deserves its own post.  Oh, my!!