Figgy Pudding Tablerunner

I quilted and bound my Figgy Pudding Tablerunner today (and quilted another smaller one that still needs bound) and am pretty happy with it...I am not going for perfect, but done and am glad I enjoyed doing it! My new machine has me spoiled already and I can see I will be learning more about quilting and trying new things in the future. This tablerunner is already at home underneath two laptops on our antique table. The other runner needed a rest! Next one will be about three more squares long because the table needs a bigger one and I apparently can't eyeball it and get it right..lol!

I also did some cooking today and made homemade Chicken Dumpling Soup from my mom's recipe. Took a picture and uploaded it to Tastebook where I have typed in about 100 recipes but only have pictures of about twenty or so because I always forget to take the pictures! Despite the fact that I mistook Red Robin seasoning salt for chicken bouillon this soup tastes great!

My Fun Tablerunner is DONE! Quilt History, Bluework and Blocks

This morning I got the binding made and machine sewn on!

Then tonight while watching "A Lesson Before Dying" which I have seen before and read the book...(still sobbed, sigh) I handsewed the binding down. I love the crazy lemon backing! It is already under my laptop while I type and the cat is laying on one end of it. Yay for one done UFO!

I also got the binding made and machine sewed on the A is for Adiminaby...so soon I will hand sew that too. So relaxing while sitting in front of the telly. (I have always wanted to use that word, lol).

Randy and I made a run out to JoAnn's where I picked up some blue DMC floss and pearl cotton thread for bluework...one of the gals at the quilt history group told me to get #412 (or at least that is what I wrote down) but upon getting to the store I saw that there wasn't a 412 slot much less thread! So then I wasn't sure what to get and there were no books I could find to tell me and the staff didn't even know what bluework or redwork was! So I took a chance and got 412 (which I most likely already have upstairs!) in case I just didn't have the number right. Then I saw Perle cotton--the only blue one was 823 so I got that too...it is WAY too dark. A navy really but I am sure I will find a use for it. Meanwhile I just did some quick internet research and discovered that bluework is 797 (dark blue) or 813 (light blue) according to at least one source, while other sources listed them and 798, 312, 824 and 311 Perle cotton and in case you want to know for redwork DMC 498 (turkey red) or 321, 304 and 817. Now you may be curious just what bluework I suddenly am undertaking...my quilt history group is planning to do a few of these Colonial History blocks each month since Roberta (fabulous quilt historian in our group) has a quilt with them on it. She is drafting up patterns for us though some are hard to see on her quilt and even in this picture I found online. I can't make it much bigger without a lot of distortion so...the first block she is having us do is the third row down, second block in.

It says "One Penny" on it. I am not sure what the significance of that is, it looks like a coat or arms or emblem but google didn't tell me much. It will be fun to learn more about colonial history while stitching these up (if I like it lol). I was thinking that Mackenzie (my 16 year old son) might appreciate the end product which maybe wil be done in time for his graduation in 2.5 years. He is a son of the American Revolution on his dad's side and loves history so I think of anyone he would enjoy this quilt. Ruby Short McKim was the designer of all this redwork and apparently her granddaughter is recreating and redistributing her patterns but hasn't gotten to this one yet. http://www.mckimstudios.com/04treasures/quiltspecial/quiltspecial.shtml

I have it all traced out here.

I also got the block together for next month's quilt history class as much as I can since I am supposed to do some stitching in the center "Zoe's Trunk Quilt History" and a design picture. I am thinking about leaving out the pictures and enlarging the words. I don't want to get too crazy, lol. The block is called "Double X" and was designed by Marie D. Webster, Brackman Block Number 2179. Here it is on the design wall...will straighten it out when it gets sewn together!

And we voted and decided that there would be all three of these choices every month (a pieced, a bluework or two and then the ladies). I am not real experienced with applique as we all know but decide to give this one a try. Not sure I will do one each month for two reasons...1) I am not sure I will be great at applique and I have other applique stuff to do and 2) I have no idea who this one would go to when it is done. Not my daughter's tastes, nor mine or anyone I can think of! Some of the gals were really smitten with doing this one though! Well if you stayed with me all the way to the end of this post you are a true friend! Happy quilting!

Accounting for my UFOs

Someone else posted a picture with lots of boxes of quilts in progress and asked us about how many project we had going on. So I thought I would take stock of things and post some pictures in case you didn't read my blog when I started these projects!

These are my star blocks from my online group's star block of the month challenge. I truly enjoyed the challenge, but find getting all these different size blocks to work together an even bigger challenge! I need to just bite the bullet and buy some black fabric and just put them together. I really want to use the blocks, not just have blocks, but I am a pattern girl...I follow the pattern better than I do my own thing. Funny because that isn't how I live my life in other areas!
This tablerunner is just waiting for me to find and make binding and get it on there. I quilted it on my machine already though this picture isn't current. This one is for me for under my laptop...right now there is a flag tablerunner, lol. This is from this past fall but it got pushed to the back of the pile while I was doing Christmas presents and then I just sort of forgot to do it! I plan to get moving on this one this weekend.


Bargello Seaons, this is from my Quilt University class last Spring. I love all four of these and planned to put them into either four wallhanging that I can change with the seasons or one quilt that I can fold over with the current season showing for my quilting studio. They aren't exactly the same size and I got really stumped with how to combine them...so I think I will do wallhangings so this UFO gets done! Not sure if I am brave enough to quilt them myself though. See this is what holds me back!

Walk in the Park (Quilter's Home) is all set except I need to doing the sewing/applique on the gorgeous blocks and then put it all together. I love how this quilt looks so far and I am afraid to mess it up! I think this one is the oldest UFO I have...it is from December 2007!
And of course this is my most recent UFO, A is for Adiminaby. I have it all hand quilted with little x's now and yesterday I bought the binding fabric. So this weekend I plan to get that attached so when I have time I can hand sew the binding on this one too.

I guess I can consider this one a WIP and not really a UFO since I am actively working on this Double Delight Mystery from Bonnie's Quiltville site. I absolutely can't wait to see this one together. I picked up a few more light shirting materials and another pink at the quilt shop last night since I was running short to finish step 3!

I also have squares and hexagons for I Spy (still collecting) and Flea Market Fancy Squares but since nothing but the cutting is done I won't count those! I also have my daughter's slightly started cat wallhanging. She finally was interested in sewing so we got all the stuff for the project and just didn't get time to finish it. I am hoping she will come visit this summer and we can work on it together.

This means I have five (or eight if you could the Bargello separately) UFOs and one WIP to get moving on...two should be almost done by the end of the weekend. Thanks for challenging me to access what I have and think about getting them done. I don't like to have them lined up...I am a finisher! So how many UFOs or WIPs do YOU have going on?
Wish me luck because I have to take the Arizona Educator Proficiency Assessment test tomorrow! I have been studying for it all week and hope to pass the first time through!

A Little Bit of Sewing Going on!

Today I added another border to the QOV quilt I made a week or so ago. It has little flags on it and is actually leftover from some patriotic tablerunners I made four of several years ago (it was the backing) and I still have some left! I think I bought it right after 9/11 when I felt more patriotic than almost any other time I can remember. Which reminds me that I took my daughter's girl scout troup (I was leader then) and my son and partner at the time to the fairgrounds on Sept. 16th and we participated in this picture below. We are on the left outermost row of the "U" in red, white and blue (with sashes atop). We were so helpless to do anything for those who lost loved ones or who still didn't know about their loved ones, so we did this and it helped us cope. I guess remembering this in July is pretty appropriate.
Also, I am donating this QOV to Alycia and her girl scout troup in Colorado http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/ she has offered to quilt it (Thanks Alycia!) and will send it on to the soldiers in the unit she and her awesome girl scouts are working with! Oh and I snapped a picture of this postcard photo I have which is by T-BO Studio.
I was motivated to make this little tablerunner after seeing a picture in a blog of a simple tablerunner that was so cute! I have it all together and pinned to a crazy lemon backing but am scared to try machine quilting it because I never am too good at that, but I will give it a shot...practice makes perfect. I need to work on my purple wallhanging quilting too...
I am participating in Quilt Talk's ABC swap again. I picked B for beachballs and it arrived yesterday and is so cute! I also picked A for ants and am waiting on that fabric. There are three different groups so I will get back two different sets of blocks!
I just wanted to show you how meant to be we are in this house...(btw we are finally closed on it!) Kathy and I went and picked out paint cards in Wisconsin and decided we wanted this shade of blue in our bedroom (matches the bed quilt) and check it out next to the wall color that was already there...kind of creepy huh? All of our stuff goes well with the paint these people chose! The yellow in the kitchen is not exactly what I would have picked and the vibrant blue in CJ's room is a bit much but the rest of the house is amazingly as we would have done it!