{Post 1,048} New Light Up & Working

Our old light had two 25-watt bulbs.  The new one has two 60-watt bulbs.  Know watt that means?  Now I can really see the dirt on the carpet going downstairs!!

OLD:

NEW:

Can you see the difference in how much light is cast on the walls around the light??  Don't expect a carpet picture any time soon.  ;)

I was planning on starting the quilting on my Feels Like Fall quilt in the AM, but DH just dropped a bomb on me:  we are starting school TOMORROW instead of Monday.  Serious decrease in quilting time!

~Joan

{Post 1,047} Feels Like Fall Top Finished

The tiny flying geese for Feels Like Fall (all 300 of them) were pieced as a leader/ender project for a few months.  Fun!  

This morning I attached the last piece of the outer border.  I am getting ready to piece a backing out of light green flannel and get it washed so I can (hopefully) start the machine quilting tonight.  Have some new ideas to try out on this one.

The raw-edged appliqued leaves were my own idea.  

In other news today, my husband is going to install a new light for our going-down-the-steps area.  We have had the light fixture for a while, but today's the day it goes up!  

This one hardly casts any light, and it's UGLY.  It does work, so there's that.  Will post an update later!

~Joan

{Post 1,046} Etsy and eBay

This is a public service announcement.  I am selling some new books, patterns, DVDs, etc. on eBay and Etsy.  It is to help feed the hungry children of Shelby...MINE!

Take a look if you're interested in helping a worthy cause.  

I have the following:

I only watched this set one time and it is so easy to follow.  Usually retails for $40+ 

And soooo much more!

Here is my Etsy link:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/ShelbyStitcher

And here is eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/whistlersmother10/m.html?item=290769350169&sspagename=STRK%3AMESELX%3AIT&rt=nc&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649&_trksid=p4340.l2562

Leave a comment if you have any questions.  I have quilt kits made up with Thimbleberries fabrics, too.

~Joan

{Post 1,045} Hand Quilting Displayed

I took the plunge last night and UNquilted the 5 Baptist fans I had at the bottom edge of this.  Yes--I love them as much as the next girl, but I think it was too dense for this (that means it would take too long to finish!).

Here is a picture of my progress on this little number (42" square).  The first dark square on point is just lacking 3 leaves from being finished:

{Post 1,044} GFG DONE!

The Grandmother's Flower Garden is ready to hang on the wall!  Fresh from the magic that happens to a new quilt in the dryer!

From the diagonal line side:

The hexagon side:

The whole thing...29-1/4" x 32-3/4".  

I already have the dowel rod cut.  Now I need to wait for my son to come home to hack off the steel rod in the bottom pocket and hang it for me!

Finished is good :)

{Post 1,043} We're Quilting!

Ivy could come over and play today, so she started her machine quilting.  She carefully laid out the ironed backing, batting, and top.  She carefully pinned an all-over grid.  She carefully machine quilted in the ditch around the star inner border.  

Saturday we will *carefully* machine quilt diagonal lines in the blue squares.  She is a careful quilter.  I should know...I am, too, and I am teaching her!

I did NOT get any good pictures of Ryan receiving his quilt, but I did come across these two fuzzy ones that I just realized were on my camera card (obviously candid pictures):

I will have to get a better picture of him with his quilt, with him smiling.  He has a smile that puts the sun to shame.

Check out my secret blog for a new project.

~Joan

{Post 1,042} Ohio Quilt Progress

We got back from Ohio last night...sunburned, sniffly, and exhausted.  Glad to be sleeping in our own beds again!!  Be it ever so humble, there's NO place like home.  I like visiting others, but am always grateful to be back in my own little castle.

My son, Ben, drove all the way there and back, so I had plenty of time to read and hand quilt.  I read a whole book on the way up and a whole book on the way back.  I hand quilted for several hours MOST of one day there.  I went to Jo-Ann Fabrics 4 times!!  There isn't one near my house, but there was one 4 minutes from my parents' house.  I got a great machine quilting book.  I will be sharing from that later.

Here is what I got accomplished as far as the hand quilting.

My Grandmother's Flower Garden wall hanging is finished (the hand quilting, that is!).  I am going to machine quilt in the border (because one would not see it anyway) and add a hanging sleeve, hopefully today.

In the first picture, I had one row of straight line quilting to do.  Can you find the "space"?  It runs left to right (mostly) across the purple, red, and blue flowers.

Remember back when I couldn't decide which way to quilt it--outlining the hexagons or straight lines?  I decided to do both on this quilt.  

One of my sister's girls is a senior in high school.  I told her I'd make her a quilt as a graduation gift.  We went to Jo-Ann's one day and eliminated about 600 quilt patterns!!  She has no idea what kind of quilt she wants.  Then she saw me working on this and said, "THAT'S the kind of quilt I want!!"   I frankly told her what I told Ryan, "I love you, but not THAT much!"  I explained it was hand cut, hand pieced, and hand-quilted, but I'm not sure she got it.  

I also took the log cabin wall hanging (43" square) to work on, not having much hope of accomplishing anything on it.  Well, I not only quilted the stencil I had marked at home in the center, but I also quilted 3 straight lines in the creams and most of a leaf pattern I drew in the next row of darks.  Now I wonder, will I be ripping out the few Baptist fans I've already quilted at the bottom edge?  Probably!  I loved the idea of it being quilted with all Baptist fans, but the other goes soooo much faster and seems to be more in keeping with the quilt itself.

I will be posting another picture of the log cabin later today.

Today will be filled with getting things back in order here as far as stocking up on groceries, cooking, laundry, chiropractor visit, sewing...all the ordinary things of my life.  One exciting thing is taking Ben to Chick-fil-A to finish his paperwork and move ahead in his first job!

DH took Susie to visit his family in GA and will be back Sunday night.  Sure do miss them.