Design Wall Monday–December 31, 2012

Not much has been going on around here over the last several weeks. 

I still have Margie’s quilt hanging there waiting to have the background quilted and I still have part of the border for my Great Granny quilt hanging there.  I know, it’s sad, very sad.  To see what others have on their design walls, click on over to Judy’s Patchwork Times blog. 

I also have this laying on my cutting table.

My husband and I are headed to New York next week so I’m thinking I’ll make a few “Click-it” bags to take as gifts for some of the girls in the family.  We’ll have to wait and see how ambitious I get this week. 

I know for the rest of the country this doesn’t seem very cold but here in my little corner of the world it’s cold, very cold. 

Brrrrrrrrrrr! 

I hope you each stay warm, safe and happy this New Year’s Eve.

Enjoy,

Wacky Devine Nine

Yesterday Emily and I quilted a Wacky Devine Nine quilt (minus the border) that was made a while ago.  Shelli (my daughter) and Emily (my granddaughter) made the quilt top as a gift for a baby girl born a to one my Shelli’s co-workers.  It’s not exactly a typical baby quilt but it matches her room and is definitely one she can grow in to. 

The challenge for us was quilting it using minky on the back.  Did I mention, I have one of the original, really old Handiquilters.  After talking to my sister, Melinda, for technical advice.  Em and I got started and immediately had a problem with skipped stiches.  After another call to Melinda we changed the needle for the second time, added thread conditioner to the thread and replaced the bobbin, we were successful. 

And look at how wonderful the back is.

It turned out so snuggly and soft so I’ll definitely use this again for the back of a quilt. 

We still have to bind it but, hey, they don’t need it until Wednesday so we have oodles of time, LOL!

Enjoy,

Pillowcases for Sandy Hook, CT

Yesterday Emily and I made two pillowcases for the children of Sandy Hook.  I’ve been reading about the effort to collect 600 pillowcases all over the blog world so we wanted to contribute.  We made one for a little boy and one for a little girl.  In our rush to get them in the mail yesterday I neglected to take pictures but this will give you an idea.

This was the main fabric for the boy’s and here’s a very small glimpse of the girls princess pillowcase.

They both came out really cute and hopefully they will find they’re way to some children that will love them.

You can read more about the effort on Bonnie Quiltville blog.  Here’s the address where they can be mailed if you’d like to participate.

Quilters Corner, 312 Danbury Rd., New Milford, CT 06776

Enjoy,

What’s been bugging me!

Have you ever had something that bugs you but you don’t do anything about it?  You know one of those little things not really important just a little thing that bugs you.  Well this one has bugged me for years.

I have a wonderful sewing table made by Koala.  I love it.  But it has always had one issue that bugged me.  It came with a clear acrylic insert made to fit my Pfaff.  You would think being clear would be a good thing but it really didn’t work for me.  The glare and the color underneath made it sometimes difficult for me to focus on lining up and feeding the fabric though accurately.  I would fix it by either laying a piece of paper underneath or laying a piece of fabric under there. 

Finally I thought, Why not paint the underside of the insert.  Since I couldn’t decide what color to paint it, I finally decided to simply frost the acrylic by painting it with frosted paint and it worked beautifully. 

I forgot to take a before picture but here is an after.

I love it and it was such an easy fix. 

I have the same problem with the inserts for my SewEzi table.  No problem, I have a spray can of frosted paint that will fix it. 

Enjoy,

Design Wall Monday–December 17, 2012

Once again I have one of my dear friend Margie’s UFO’s quilt on my design wall.  This is another quilt that I am committed to finishing on her behalf.  The only thing that it needs is background quilting, binding and a label.  It will then be ready to be auction off to benefit a charity. 

I’m going to just relax and meander away to my hearts content. 

To see what others have on their design wall check out Judy’s Patchwork Times blog. 

Enjoy,

I Sewed–Yea!!!

For some reason I really haven’t managed to do much sewing but today I changed that.  It’s not much, just a little zippered bag, but it’s made and it’s cute.

And here’s the inside.

Hopefully I’ll get my mojo back and get some more sewing done.

Enjoy,

Design Wall Monday–December 3, 2012

On Halloween I posted a picture of a quilt made for me by my friend Margie.  At the time I told you that she had suffered a massive stroke and was fighting for her life.  You can read and see the quilt here, it’s gorgeous.  What I didn’t tell you is that my dear Margie lost that fight, Halloween night when her family removed her from life support.  Needless to say November was a very difficult time for all of us in our friendship group.  I can’t begin to tell you have devastated we all are. 

Margie’s daughter asked my friendship group, The Wednesday Wacko’s, to go through and disburse all of her sewing things.  She wanted us to have whatever we wanted and then donate what was left.  Margie, like so many of us, had way too much “stuff” as well as fabric, thread, kits and UFO’s.  Several of us took one of her UFO’s to finish for her.  This is the one that I’m planning on completing. 

I good portion of it is completed and the rest of it is prepped and ready to be hand stitched down.  I don’t have the pattern and I’m sure there are still some things missing from the border.  If you know what pattern this is, please let me know so that I can finish it properly. 

To see what others have on their design wall, head on over to Judy’s Patchwork Times blog.  

Enjoy,