Last Year's Christmas Quilt

I still don't have a picture of this that I am happy with. I've tried some inside, some outside, etc. Here is the best I can do. This is called Cozy Christmas. It is a large throw. All red, green and cream scraps. Each tree is made of one fabric, but all the trees are different. It was finished last year, but I realized I don't have a picture of it on my Web Shots album.

~Joan

New Camera, New Learning Opportunity

Do the learning opportunities ever end? This is a close-up PICTURE of the quilt I am unquilting and then hand quilting. Learning?? Learn to do it the way you want the first time to save time. Learning? Learning to use a new camera that is at one time a blessing and a curse. Our former camera went missing on our Thanksgiving holiday. I did not want to buy a replacement because I am just like that...reluctant to part with a penny if I don't need to!!

So last night, my new camera arrived via my very helpful and thoughtful daughter. I read through the manual. I know that's a stretch for some of you menfolk out there. I charged the battery for 5 hours as instructed. This morning I took some sample pictures. Aarrgghh!! Lots to learn. I will need to work on the focus and some other features.

In the picture above, the foreground is the finished way-I-want-it-to-be part. In the background you can see the machine quilting in cream of loop-de-loops. It makes the quilt stiff, and I don't like the green dots that are the bobbin thread showing. Live and learn, my friends.

Now that I have a camera, the blog posts are bound to be plentiful.

Have a great day,

~Joan, off to bake tons of cookies and breads for gift-giving

Why Quilts?

Above is a quilt I pieced and mostly machine quilted last year (the spots are sun spots). I did the applique in the two end segments and hand-quilted a cross hatch around them. This is not the applique that was on the original pattern...I did not care for the original very much.

In the quilt center, I used cream thread and machine-quilted a loop pattern all over except in the red 4-piece squares on point. I hand quilted a square within a square in each of them. I used the same print for the backing as the binding...a dark green with red leaf shapes.

Just when I thought the quilt was finished, I realized that I could not be happy with the machine quilting. I could not for the life of me get the thread tension perfect so that the cream did not show from the back (on the dark green) and the dark green bobbin thread did not show on the light cream fabric on the front. Although it seems like it will take forever, I plan to unsew all the machine quilting and hand quilt diagonal lines on it. I've already done a corner. It's going faster than I would have thought it would. If I don't do it, I'll forever be plagued with a quilt with dark green "polka dots" of thread on the front and cream ones on the back. I don't care if it takes another whole year, I've made up my mind.

Above is a close-up of the border. Because I haven't seen my camera since we went to GA for Thanksgiving, I'm at the mercy of my sons. I am using their camera, and I cannot crop pictures. That means you get the view of my jumper edge and grey fleece slippers. You're welcome.

I used a holly printed cream for all the background. The green chains and the quarter-square reds are all scrappy. If you've been reading here long at all, you know that scrappy is my favorite!

Now on to the title of this post..."Why Quilts?" I've had a few adventurous readers suggest that they'd rather hear about my family that my quilt-making. They think that would be more interesting. Well, maybe it would.

I started a blog a little over a year ago. My initial reason was because Bonnie Hunter made me, LOL! I was participating in a mystery quilt she designed, and she forced me at rotary cutter point to post pictures of progress on my (then non-existent) blog. Once the mystery quilt was finished, I started sharing about the rest of my full life...children, DH, recipes, couponing, etc. I didn't want anyone to think that all I did was quilt. Because of the nature of blogs (being public and all), I didn't want to reveal too much personal information. That is the main reason that I don't post much about my children. The other is that most days I feel like I'm floundering as a wife and mother and don't want the world to know about it. But now you do.

~Off to join the masses once more...Joan

Christmas Quilt

This is my foyer this Christmas season. I finally finished and hung the blue nativity quilt. I've had some write and ask where the pattern came from. It is a commercial pattern, but I can't find it to see what the name is or the publisher. I changed it from the original just a bit. There were supposed to be small stars down both sides and across the bottom. I just added more blue squares and the embroidered panel across the bottom to give glory to the King! I also wanted the center star to be more prominent. I'm not sure you can see it in the picture, but I quilted rays coming from the baby's head and an "X" in each of the squares. This was my first needle-turn applique project. I liked doing this a lot.


Here's a close-up. The colors aren't as bright as they look in this picture.

Focus on the real meaning of Christmas this season.

~Joan

Haven't Saved $1,000,000 Yet!

We are still making shopping mistakes, believe me. I didn't post about our PPPD (per person per day) spending last month. For those who have been waiting with bated breath...

You can look back here for past months. I am learning to cut back on numerous small trips and still save money. We are still hosting record numbers of guests, which we greatly enjoy.

PPPD for October...$2.55

PPPD for November...$1.97

I'm satisfied with that.

~Joan

Blue Nativity Quilt Mostly Finished

Voila! I figured if anyone was showing a family member the blog world, I'd like to be known for actually finishing the quilting on this Christmas quilt. My brother-in-law astutely pointed out that I made this LAST year. Thank you, Chris. I had the embroidered panel done at a local store, and it was not finished until 12/24/07. Makes it difficult to squeeze in that last 10 hours of hand quilting and binding before hanging it in 11/07.

But, Lord, willing, I will put the binding and hanging sleeve on this and have it finished for decorating 11/08!!

Hope your holidays are filled with wonderful memory-making moments.

~Joan

Still In Stitches

I have been ill since Tuesday night. I had made the comment that I didn't know what it would be like to stay home for 24 hours--it seems like I spend so much time running errands. Well, wish granted! I haven't left the house since Tuesday! I won't bore you all with the details. Nothing major, just cold symptoms in debilitating proportions.

A friend sent me this cartoon, and I thought it was hilarious.

I'm hoping to get enough strength to prepare for and go on a pre-Thanksgiving trip to GA with my DH and children. My cough is keeping me from sleeping well, and I ache all over from the forcefulness of it.

~Joan