Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Hey!

Things are nice and quiet around here. I am on Fall Break yesterday and today and tried really hard to relax. I really think I succeeded :-) My darling little grandson was walking pass me and I noticed his knees showing when they shouldn't have---he had gigantic holes in the knee of his pajamers--so what does a good Mai do? Well she makes him some new ones of course. I dragged out my serger and dusted it off and made him not one, not two, but THREE pajamer bottoms. Joanne's had flannel on sale and I made him all three pair for a little over $4 a pair! It was really nice to sew clothing.

I had Guild last night and got some great "brights" from my secret sis. I feel another quilt coming on! I have already cut out a tumbler quilt with my GO! from
30's scraps so I am going to finish that one first!

I have also finished "Christmas Lights" the mystery by Bonnie Hunter that was in installments in the Quiltmaker Mag. It is really a pretty quilt! I am now in the process of quilting it---I chose a really complicated panto I purchased from the Electric Company. I really sorta wish I hadn't been so ambitions, but I am pushing on. The tension (of course) played havoc for the first couple of passes, but I think I have that solved now. Since the backing is busy, it doesn't look too bad. I will post a picture as soon as I am finished!

I am going to spend the rest of the evening knitting---October is almost done and my goal was to finish this pair of socks!

Have a great evening!

xoxo

Sunday, October 11, 2009

New Quilt!




As I might have mentioned, my sweet nephew and his wife were visitng. He shared with us that he is now a "Grandfather"---wow, I can't imagine that! At any rate, that makes me a "Great Aunt"! That calls for a quilt!

Yesterday I cut fabric for a simple "Turning Twenty" baby quilt, not the usual "cute" quilt for a baby. It only called for 9 fat quarters. I used my own handdyes and put together a pretty cute quilt --- at least I think so. The baby is a boy and the quilt looks really "modern" and contemporary, perfect for a boy. I used black and white check with an occasional bright square for the binding and pale baby blue minkee for the back (the only "traditional" aspect of this quilt). My machine (Harriet) acted fantastic, and the minkee quilted up wonderfully. The tension was absolutely wonderful----Gutterman serger thread--thank you! I quilted it in a bright turquoise, adding to the modern feel. I think I am going to make a full size quilt using the same pattern and my handdyes.

What do you think?

Hugs!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

What Have I Been Up To?

Although I haven't been posting, I have been really busy! My nephew and his wife were here to visit. I ALWAYS enjoy having them visit!! Although Vanessa isn't a quilter, she never minds hanging out at quilt shops with me. She also loves to shop as do I, and we always have a wonderful time looking for bargains (and we always do).

I also spent time fninishing quilting my two BOM's. I really think they turned out nice. There are some areas where I overquilted and could have followed the panto a little better, but all in all I am proud of my work. The tension was great -- I used serger thread :-) I have one more quilt I am going to load and also use a panto. I want to become better at that and since I "think" I found the tension "sweet spot" on my machine, I am going to take advantage before it messes up again.












I have also made a commitment to finish knitting my current pair of socks. One is already done, and as you can see, I am about 1/4th finished with the other one. If I complete it before the month is out, I plan to start on another one. I do enjoy knitting socks, I can do this while I watch TV and it makes me feel like I am not wasting time.



I have to put the binding on the quilts and then sew them down and I will be all done and can officially start a new quilt :-) Just a question---does anyone ever wash the quilt first prior to binding. I am thinking about adding rick-rack to the white quilt between the quilt and binding, but when I wash it, I don't want the rick-rack to fold up. Just a question---I probably will not add the rack after all.

Hugs! and have a great remainder of the day!