{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 ;)