Thanksgiving Greetings!

From our house to yours, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. This little family has a 7-lb. turkey breast going into the oven soon, and we will trim out the meal with many of the standards: mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, rolls, pumpkin pie. We might have some other stuff, too, but not too much.

This Thanksgiving finds our older daughter celebrating with her soon-to-be in-laws in Findlay. Our son and younger daughter are here for our small feast. The big family shin-dig will be Sunday at my sister's. For my husband's side, we will make a short visit to his dad's tomorrow.

No holiday is complete without the Peanuts gang, and the Thanksgiving special airs tonight at 8pm. I have the dvr set!

Have a Blessed Day!

It's Quilted!

Again, I must give credit for my wonderful friend Terry. She not only hosts us for frequent sewing days, but she also is dabbling in quilting for others. I've had her do several for me, and she just finished the t-shirt quilt I was working on last week. She's FAST! I assured her there was no rush, but by gosh, she finished it up in record time!

Thanksgiving-thanks for my quilting friend! *hugging*

Let's take a look at it, shall we? I've sure put my time in on this rascal. I am glad to be getting it finished!

I think it turned out great. The fuchsia and teal show up in these photos, so you can see what I was trying to describe in the last post.

I have zoomed in on the troublesome panel of small patches in the picture above. If I were to do it over, I would add a small strip under the row of 4 and not have them sitting directly on the setting strips. And that was what I did, actually, but I miscalculated. I ended up with a too-big panel. Taking off that little bit made it the correct size, so that is what I did. *smh*

I pieced the back with big pieces of the setting strip fabric and the cornerstone fabric. I love it! I hope the recipient likes it, too.

My plan is to make and attach the binding today, and then spend some time this holiday weekend stitching it down. I will see my brother on Sunday, at which time I hope to hand it off to him. I will request pictures of the recipient and quilt when it's given to her.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Sewing With The Girlfriends

On Friday, dear Terry had a couple of us over for a day of sewing. I tell you, if it weren't for my friends hosting these sewing days, I doubt I'd get very much done! I have been working on a t-shirt quilt that will be for my brother to give to his boss. It has been a bit of a challenge because I had to do some extra math --always a challenge-- but I did finally get the top together. I left it and a prepared backing with Terry and she will quilt it when she can.

The photo above is from a couple of weeks ago. I had the blocks laid out on the guest bed (you can see the blue Irish-chain quilt underneath). I direct your attention to the center of the top row. Because I didn't have enough big blocks to make a true 4x4 quilt, I used the small designs from several t-shirts and made a single panel. This panel gave me so much grief as far as math is concerned. Let's just say I did a fair amount of "un-sewing" on this panel.

The sashing strips are dark teal, and the cornerstones are deep fuchsia -- these are the company colors. I wish I'd taken a picture of the finished top, but I was just in such a hurry. So I promise I will take a shot when I get it back from Terry. I will have to attach and tack down the binding, and then hand it off to little brother, Mark.

Terry, poor dear, worked so hard on her project only to make a rather disheartening mistake. She quit after that. And I mean she quit. Period. Done. She chucked the whole thing.

This is Terry's workspace; she has her system all laid out. Can you tell from the pattern and the blocks that this is a quilt with teeny-tiny little pieces?? It would drive me nuts. She is so good about these sorts of projects though, and she was just zipping right along.

Then she saw her mistake. Can you?

Here. I've zoomed in on one pile. The newly attached strip when folded out, will result in two little black blocks side by side. That's not the way it's supposed to be, unfortunately. Also, unfortunately, she attached this unit to a lot of blocks. Ugh. I can feel her disgust, can't you? It happens, and when it does, it sort of takes the wind right out of a quilter's sails, doesn't it?

 JoAnn was having better luck than Terry. She had two projects and completed them both. First, she was using some FREE fabric that was given away at her quilt guild to make some pillow covers. Here's one; she made two.

JoAnn says these colors will work perfectly for some fall color in her family room. Nice, huh?

She is also getting ready for Christmas by making some mantle scarves for her many fireplaces. The one in her family room is 6-feet long. That seems ginormous to me.

We've stretched it out along our worktables. The fabric is striped with festive red and green stripes along with Santa and snow. She fussy cut two rows and attached them to make the full length. The green is what will lay flat on the mantle and will likely be covered with assorted decorations or garlands.

During the early afternoon we tuned the television to coverage of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination. Services were held in Dallas, with frequent cuts to people gathered at Arlington in Washington D.C. It was chilling to watch, and even though I was very young when he was killed, I do have snippets of memories of it.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Starting Tapestry

On Veteran's Day, when we all sewed at Sherrie's, I worked on Tapestry. I will have to go back and see how long it's been since I decided to make this quilt. I know I have written about it here, so I just need to take the time to do it.

My apologies for the wonky, out-of-focus picture. I found it in my photo files dated February of this year. This is the sample made up in Old Town Fabrics in Chillicothe. Dear Kelly showed it to me, and I was smitten from the start. My kids got me gift certificates for Mother's Day, so sometime after mid-May, I used them for purchasing this fabric and pattern.

Anyway, I had it all ready: cut out and diagonal lines drawn. I'd matched up pairs and was ready to start making half-square triangles as the sewing began on November 11.

Another wonky picture! I am posting quickly, and didn't take time to photo edit like I normally would. Hold you head to the right and you will see it correctly. (Lame!)

I need 36 of these blocks, and as of last evening at around 8, I had 32 of them constructed. I would have continued with the last 4, but the Buckeyes (basketball) were on, so I needed to get downstairs to the game!

I will continue with the updates  - promise!

Today in my 3 composition classes, argument essays are due. I will have little time for sewing! There will be much grading, instead!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Hand Piecing

I believe I have confessed in earlier posts that I do love to hand piece. Over the years I've completed maybe 3 large quilt-tops the 'old-fashioned way.' With the speed and accuracy of our new-fangled gadgets, very few quilters are willing to take the time to piece by hand. I find that it is perfect for evenings when watching TV, or when traveling. When the kids were younger, I took hand-piecing projects to track meets, and to work on in the car when waiting on them after play practice or whatever.

On one trip to Europe, I packed a zip-lock freezer bag with circles, needle, thread and clippers to make yo-yos. That was fun.

So, I do enjoy handwork.

Over the past several sessions I've had with my girlfriends in the Frankfort group, I've had my little box of 2.5" squares. Originally, I was strict about making 9-patches. After a time, though, I ran out of enough matching fabrics to get a decent 9-patch, so I switched off and began making scrappy 16-patch blocks. Here are some of my recent blocks.

I know you are wondering what I am going to do with them, and I don't rightly know at this point. I had given some thought to adding flying geese points to these blocks, thus making them the centers of stars. I still might do that. But, honestly, I don't really know. I will just make more, and let ideas percolate for awhile. I think we all do that, don't we?

Here are 2 recent 9-patches. They are such fun to make and go together so fast. I will definitely be making more. I don't yet have enough made for a good-sized quilt top, so I'll keep stitching!

Teaching at OU-C has seriously cut into my quilting and sewing time, so while these little blocks don't seem like such a big deal, they are about all I can accomplish with the limited time I've got. Now, I do have a couple of large quilts going, too, but I haven't been able to touch them this week at all. I had hoped that one would be ready for the long-arm by now. The other I think I will share with you -- tomorrow!!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Friday with the Frankfort Girls

Our regular group had an extra this past Friday with Terry's guest, her cousin's wife, Carol. She fit right in and could very well become an honorary member. If only Youngstown weren't so far away. Sigh.

So here are the things we worked on. We will start with Carol, who was binding a pretty quilt of fall colors.

 

 

Terry, too, was binding a quilt. And it is a whopper! She said it is very heavy, and that it would certainly keep them warm this winter. Isn't is great? I love the look of all that homespun; and it's on both front and back. She pieced the back with her leftovers, see the second picture, below, of the back.

 

 

 

Next around the table was Sharon O., who was working on her cross-stitched Christmas Stocking for the last grandchild. I've shown that before, but I haven't shown this - a recent finish she brought for show and tell.

 

 

This sweet little table mat is extra darling because of the eyes on the snowmen. They are made with snaps. Sharon had put out a request a couple of weeks ago for small black snaps. Now we see what she needed them for! Adorable!

 

 

The clutter you see above is my work for the morning. I had my little box of 2.5" squares, so I continued making 9-patches and 16-patches.  I have several pictures of these I am planning to share here in the next day or so.

 

Sheryll had yet another beautiful wool applique project that she was working on. If I ever break into the realm of wool projects, I hope I have half the skill Sheryll has - her stitching is absolutely impeccable!

 

 

The little parts above are a perfect example of her stitching. These "petals" will go on the round medallion shown below. All the parts are pinned in place. What a pretty finish this will be!

 

Last, but not least, JoAnn was also working on a wool project. Since she was literally just beginning it, I figured I would wait to take a picture. Instead, JoAnn had a show and tell - this pretty quilt top, which she finished this past week.

 

JoAnn has five grandchildren, and two granddaughters, so this will be for one of them. The fabric is so cheerful, and that center heart will be perfect for a little girl.

 

So there you have it - the update on the Frankfort Girls!

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 



Pam's Table Runner

I knew I had this picture, but somehow it wasn't in the text messages when I went searching for it. I contacted Pam, asking her to resend. And now I can show you her finished table runner!

If  you recall, I recapped the sewing we all did on Veterans' Day at Sherrie's house. Pam had a good start on this table runner, but had to leave around mid-day. She got busy at home, though, and VOILA! This is her finished project!

Short and sweet today, Folks!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Veteran's Day Sewing

For quite a number of years now, a group of us who once all worked together, have met at Sherrie T.'s house for sewing. It began as an over-nighter, and we did sew just about all night. But, we gradually got to the point that it was just too hard to recover in time to get back on schedule for teaching. So now we just start early in the morning and finish around dinner time. Becoming dull, aren't we?

 

 

 

First things first! The food! We show up for breakfast, and also have lunch. Everyone brings something and shares in the bounty. We never go hungry, that's for sure!

 

We all took time out to say hi to Sharon P. Her dad was having surgery in Cincinnati, so she wasn't able to be with us this year. Above is Pam, who was in the beginning stages of creating her table runner.

 

 

Susan and Hettie say hi as they are beginning identical table runners. They actually went to the quilt shop to buy the fabric for these runners.

 

Kay says hi as she shows us the Star Wars ruffle skirt she is making for her daughter's goddaughter.

 

 

Sherrie, our hostess, says hi while she quilts a Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt made entirely of leftovers. She plans to donate the quilt to a silent auction benefitting Habitat For Humanity.

 

The next bridal quilt this group makes will be for my daughter, Erin, who has requested a Kaffe quilt in mostly blue. So we played in some fabrics from my stash and Kay's.

 

By the end of the day, Susan had her table runner finished. It is a gift for newlyweds who will have black and red Fiesta dishes, if I'm not mistaken. Anyway, this pattern was very fast for Susan.

 

 

Pam could only stay for part of the day, but she was well on her way to a finish with her table runner. She did send a picture from home later of her finished project. I will have to find it and post it.

 

 This is Kay's finished skirt, with the notable exception of the elastic waist. She still needs to get the measurement from her daughter.

 

The two pictures above are a really neat note pad holder. This one belonged to Kay, and she had copies of the pattern to share with us! I can't wait to make one!

I didn't get a picture of Linda saying hi, and I apologize for that! Anyway, Linda worked on this wall hanging and began a second one after finishing this one!

 

The two quilts above are Kay's. She sewed on the bindings for both of them after finishing the Star Wars skirt. Kay pieced these quilts back in June at our Quilt Camp!

 

This wall hanging adorned the wall in Sherrie's family room. It is really striking, but she said it was quite a difficult project. Don't you love it, though?

 This table runner is also Sherrie's. She had just finished it. I love it! And it's with charm squares!

I haven't shown you what I worked on! Well, I will take some time to show you that soon. I've gone on for way to long on this post!

Happy Quilting, Friends!