Secret Sewing

So much of my recent sewing was of the secret variety and I just could not risk sharing here as I didn't want to spoil any surprises! Today, however, I can share a few things.

For my mother, I made these two pillows. The fronts are pockets and into each one I slid a paperback book. I saw this idea on Pinterest awhile back, and the patchwork was done with Christmas prints. I wanted Mom to be able to have the pillows out year-round, and I recalled that back in the spring when we attended a quilt show together, she was exceedingly fond of all the quilts made with 30s prints. It was a no-brainer to make her pillows using my scraps from the 30s stash. These took no time at all to make, and I can see a matching lap quilt coming along someday to complete the set. 

And at last, I can show you the finished wall hanging made for DD2. Emma had asked for this over a year ago! I bought the fabric, finally, this past April while at the Canter's Cave retreat. I began sewing on it at our Veteran's Day event in November. The final stitches were taken on Christmas Eve! I quilted it this past week, and hand-tacked the binding down. From all indications, Emma really loves it, and I am sure it will be hanging on her wall immediately. I hope it will lay flatter than what this picture is indicating. Being folded into a box has made it look somewhat misshapen.

Christmas continues with us as we are soon heading out for my f-i-l's for the day. DD1 and her husband will be joining us there.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Making Emma's Wall Hanging

Friday turned out to be a very productive day for me, as Sherrie held her annual day of sewing on Veterans' Day. We are not an unpatriotic group, but the sewing  has very little to do with Veterans' Day. She began hosting us on this day because we Frienzies all had the day off, and thus provided a good time for fellowship and sewing. Several do honor Veterans in other ways at other venues; we certainly don't forget to pay tribute to our brave service men and women.

Deciding which project to work on was a bit of a process, because quilters always have several options, don't you know. After a bit of deliberating, I decided to devote the day to working on DD Emma's wall hanging. She asked for this over a year ago, so I have really procrastinated on it. It was forever taking a back seat to other things that came up for my attention.

I have written about this wall hanging in a couple of earlier posts. Click here for when I bought the fabrics (scroll way down) and here for when I made the HSTs. I also described the drawn-out design that Emma tweaked and approved. With all this advance work done, Friday's job was simply to sew the whole business together, which I thought I could accomplish in just the one day.

Let's get to the pictures, shall we?!? (Good grief, I do go on at times.) I will walk though my progess and explain a bit as I go. Below, are the first 5 rows. I was unsure about how to construct the wall hanging, and knew that doing the Eleanor Burns' method of chain piecing would become complicated, so I opted to do just a few rows at a time. That plan worked out pretty well; this section of the top 5 rows was my early-morning focus.

I then moved on to the  middle section, shown above, which was harder to keep straight as this is where so many more triangles came into play. Keeping them going the correct direction (I followed our drawing in the link above) became a real challenge. I think only one HST might be going the wrong way, but do you think I care? Not in the least! *smile*

By late afternoon, I had the lower section of rows together. As I packed up at day's end, only the top 5 rows were actually sewn together. The remaining rows were stitched, but not attached. You can see the gaps in the photo.

Later Friday night, I made myself go back to work on it. My ususal tendency would be to ignore it - procrastination is my M-O. However, I am happy to report that I attached all those rows, added the top and bottom borders, gave it a healthy starch and press, and VOILA! I have the top done!

Emma loves it. We are currently deliberating our quilting option. I like the idea of vertical lines of quilting. What color thread? I am considering black or clear, mono-filament thread. We shall see in due time.

I feel very good about finishing this long-standing WIP (work-in-progress). It was one of 3 main goals I had for this month, so to have it together is a big deal.

Yes, I did sew with friends; I will bring you a few of their projects in an upcoming post. Stay tuned!

I will link up today with Beth at Monday Making; she is desconstructing old work shirts and turning them into quilts - something I am very familiar with!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Mid-Month Crunch

Having been sick for two weeks, progress on my sewing and quilting to-do list has been woefully lacking. Now that I am feeling almost entirely back to normal, the goal will be to try to tackle that list with gusto from here on out to month's end.

So, first, I have made all the triangles for Emma's wall hanging. They were easy-peasy with the help of Thangles papers.

The stack of HSTs; probably made a few too many.

Our sketch of what it will look like.

Pressed HSTs measuring 2.5 inches. 

I would like to continue working on the wall hanging, but another list item is also screaming for attention: the October UFO. Since tomorrow is a sewing day with Sharon, I think I will devote the day to working on it. One good, long day of sewing could accomplish so much on that deadline, and it would feel really good to see yet another UFO bite the proverbial dust.

Which means that continuing to work on Emma's wall hanging will wait patiently off to the side for a day or two. I am determined, though, to finish both this month, so it won't be waiting for long.

I am linking up today with Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt.

Happy Quilting, Friends!