Top finished...

The Christmas quilt top is finished. I got the pattern from Bonnie Hunter's website. I love this pattern. It was so easy and so fast. I'm not even bordering it. I will put a black binding on it and call it good. It measures 66 x 90. The person it is for is tall and I wanted him to be able to cover completely. I'm glad for this to be done. I'm also putting fleece on the back and no batting. It will be cozy and not heavy. The fleece will be a novelty sports print. It is his favorite team. I like to make it personable if I can. Now I need to get busy with a baby quilt. A family relative asked me to make one. Her friend is having a baby. She needs it in 2 weeks. I don't know why I always say yes to these things but I do!

Quilt stuff...finally

I haven't posted anything quilty for a while and I finished the labels on these two quilts yesterday and took some pics. These quilts were made for my husbands Aunt. She is a nun and they do a lot of charity fund raisers. She sent me the embroidered blocks (done by her and a friend's Mom) and asked if I would make these into quilts for a fund raiser. No rush, just whenever. I got them last year around Sept. or Oct. and you know how it is, other things come up and these got pushed to the back burner a couple of times. But they were always in the back of my mind. My best friend and I worked on these together and we got them finished. We pieced them together and I quilted the smaller one and she quilted the bigger one (she had the harder job, that was a lot of blocks to custom quilt). I'm glad they are done and we will have to get them to her soon.

This is the larger one that my friend quilted.

Here are close ups of the quilting in the sashing and blocks. She uses a Juki TL-98Q sewing machine set on a table. It is hard to do some of these designs but she is getting good at it.

Here is a close up of the quilting in the border. I hope you can see it. It is quilted with e's and l's that have one echo stitch all the way around.

This is the smaller one that I quilted. I also use a Juki-TL98E set in my sewing cabinet. At first it was hard to decide how to quilt these. I knew we would have to quilt in the embroidered blocks but had never done that before. These were vintage blocks. That made me nervous but, I'm real happy with how they turned out. They are not perfect but they are quilted as my friend likes to call it "Machine quilted by Hand". Every block is different. It is not stitched by a machine so that they all are the same. You move the fabric and so sometimes it is not stitched exactly perfect. But you know what? It doesn't matter. The overall look is good and it is done! Sometimes I think that is the most important thing. To finish the quilt.

Here is a close up of the quilting in the blocks and borders. The border is quilted with e's that are echoed.

Here is a close up of the quilting in the sashing. This was something new to me. I did the small flowers and culi-cues. I usually do straight line quilting in the sashing. I like the way it came out.

I'm also starting to work on some Christmas gifts. I have a small table topper that has embroidery on it and some wool. I'm working on the embroidery right now and will get pics when it closer to being finished.

Every year I make a quilt for one of my in-laws for Christmas. I started this in 2001. The year I learned to quilt. The quilt this year is for one of my brother-in-laws. Making quilts for men and boys is fun and different. Using a different color arrangement to make it more masculine.

My friend is really good at choosing colors and knowing what looks good together so she will come and help me choose the fabrics, from my stash, of course. I'm really trying to use it up. Although, as much as I use it never seems to go down, instead it seems to multiply. Why is that? If anyone has any theories on this I would like to hear it.

These are some pictures from Christmas Eve that I didn't post about. My brother in law closed in his carport with roofing felt for us to cook outside without being too cold. We thought it looked dull so we grabbed some chalk and prettied it up. What do you think? We all got into the act, even the kids. It was fun.


See the pot of gumbo cooking in the bottom corner? It was so good! The snowmen look a little afraid that it might make them melt. Don' you think?

How about this little tree? It was so fun to just draw and not think about whether it was perfect or not. The kids loved the little gifts underneath. And the snowflakes were wishful thinking. I don't think I have seen a snowflake in this area for a long time. It nevers snows in the south. (well not never, there were about two times in my lifetime I can remember snow on the ground but it wasn't much and melted quick.)

I like this fireplace. Santa better watch out! He's about to get burned!

And here is a picture of my Nanny's feet. She always wears these flip flops. They are a special kind that she bought about 5 years ago and she swears she can wear not other shoe because they hurt her feet. She has bought many a pair over the past 5 years.She wears them year round and so this Christmas she had these cute socks to go with them. Very appropriate, I just had to snap a photo. Good thing she doesn't read my blog. She tan my hide if she saw this! That's all folk's. Have a great quilty day.

Quilt til your arm falls off...

Christmas Pics...

Here is a picture that was taken on Christmas Eve at my sister's house of my husband and me. We had a great time that night, lots of family and good food.

This one is to show you what I got for Christmas. I can't wait to start learning how to use it to design my own quilts.

My son in law on the left on Christmas Eve showing us his gift card. He also got one to the music store and it is already spent. He is learning how to play the guitar and needed some music books.

My oldest daughter and son on Christmas day. They look like they are having a good time. We all had such a good time. It is good that we were able to all be together on Christmas. My son has moved out and I miss him. My daughter lives next door and I get to see her more often but the house is much quieter with only one child at home. The day went pretty smooth (considering all the food prep and lots of family coming over). The company left around 3:00pm and we were able to settle down to watch a movie (Mr. Bean's Holiday, my son got it for Christmas).

My youngest son. See that grin. He got a DS lite for Christmas and a couple of games. He is very happy.

That is all I have for today. I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday and remembered the reason for the season.

Quilt til your arm falls off...

Decorating Christmas Cookies

Saturday we decorated cookies with my nieces and nephews. They will go home with the ones they decorate. They look forward to it every year but this year they tired of it only after about a dozen cookies. My husband and I had to decorate the rest. I had baked a lot of them this year.

Here is my niece decorating her cookies. She is concentrating very hard to get it just right. Her cookies look wonderful!

This is her brother with the sprinkles. Can you tell he loved them? He did a great job on his cookies and was even trying to tell the others how to do it like him. So funny!

This is another nephew. He liked drawing faces on his cookies. I told him is cookies would not be as sweet because they didn't have a lot of icing on them. He didn't seem to mind. He also did a great job!

Even hubby got in on the act. He did most of the gingerbread men. And that is my son(on the right) trying to keep up with him.

He has a way with the knife to get it just right. I tried but could not do it as well as him.

These are some of the cookies after they were done.

These are of the ones that I did. I used a toothpick to spread the icing in the center.

The counters were full. They were all over the place. The table also had a bunch on it. I had to let them dry out so I could put them stacked in there tins.

That is all for today. I have several things to do this morning. We are going next door to my sister's later today.

Quilt til your arm falls off...

Baking...

Yesterday I baked Gingerbread men and Sugar Cookies. Every year my niece and nephews look forward to decorating the cookies for Christmas. It started with my own children when they were younger and they still like doing it if they are around. They make a mess and it is a lot of work for me (easier is I would just do it myself) but they are making memories. And they remember every year and ask about it. This is the first year that I make the cookies ahead of time. I usually do it all in one day, the baking and they decorate, but this year I thought I would get a head start. That way I can sit with them and help them out. Usually I'm cleaning the kitchen after all the baking to make room for the decorating.

I didn't get any photos of the sugar cookies. I will take some pics on Saturday after they are done. Today I have an MRI scheduled for 11:45am. They are looking at my head/brain and pituitary to see if they can find out why I still have a full feeling in my ear. The fluid is all drained out because of the tube that was put in. The doctor has done a couple of hearing test on me and my hearing is 100%. He is not sure why I still have a full feeling in my ear. So I have to have an MRI to look inside. Pray that all will be fine and everything is in it's place and there is nothing in there that is not supposed to be there. I will probably not get the results until after Christmas. I'm not a very patient person but in this case I have no choice. I will trust God will take care of everything. Hope everyone is having a non-stressed holiday.

Quilt til your arm falls off...

Gifts and good friends...

This is a Christmas gift from my best friend. Isn't it lovely? She worked hard on this. The poinsettia in the middle and the leaves and berries around the outside edge and raw edge appliqué, which she loves to do. I love that the colors are not necessarily Christmas colors. I probably will leave this on year round. I just love it V. thanks again.

We had a Christmas get together, my friend and I, on Monday to exchange our gifts. We ate lunch, visited, ate chocolate pie, sewed binding on another quilt, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We don't get together often enough anymore. Our lives are very busy. It is a shame because we love to be together and to be able to quilt together is the best. It is just great to have a best friend that shares a love for quilting. We have lots to talk about always.

This is a close up of the star. The quilting in the dark green looks like reindeer antlers to me. She did a wonderful job on them. Need to go and clean the kitchen now. I baked cookies all day today for my nieces and nephews to decorate on Saturday. I will show pics of the cookies tomorrow.

Quilt til your arm falls off...

It's been a bit crazy around here...

I finished the Christmas quilt after much fighting with the quilting. I made a label which came out very good (not an easy task for me, my handwriting is awful). I sewed it on and then threw it in the washer (I always wash the quilts I give away, just in case something bad happens to it) and when I took it out it had bled. I think it was the binding fabric but was not sure. I tried several things to remove it, stain remover, bleach, but nothing worked. As you can see from the pictures below, it was pretty bad. All over the quilt. I called my husband on his way home from work to stop at Wal-mart and pick up some Rit Color Remover (if you are not familiar with this product, it removes color from white fabrics that have bled). The package said for a large load to use 2 packages so I followed the instructions. The quilt is a large one. It removed all the bleeding but it also removed some of the red color in the other fabrics. The red centers are now orange and several other red fabrics in the quilt are now brown or orangey. It doesn't look bad (a lot better than with the bleeding on it) so I dried it and wrapped it up last night.

You can see the pictures below are of the quilt after it was washed with the color remover. If you compare it with my last post you will see the difference in colors. Oh well, still a lovely quilt.

I also finished knitting my Step Mom's scarf/wrap but didn't get a picture of it before I wrapped it up. I will try to get a picture of her wearing it to show you how it came out. I wrapped all my gifts yesterday and they are under the tree. Now maybe I will have a couple of down time days before I have to start my baking. I have all my nieces and nephews coming over on Saturday to decorate cookies. A tradition started several years ago. It is a lot of work for me (they make a mess!) but they love it and ask every year "when will we be decorating cookies?" So I have to do it. Hope everyone is having an enjoyable Holiday Season. Bye now!

Quilt til your arm falls off...

I'm working on finishing some Christmas gifts today. I will be quilting on the log cabin quilt for my Sister in law. I was afraid it would not get done in time for Christmas. I had quilted it on my frame and there was something wrong with the tension. I found out only after I had about 3/4 of it done. I had to rip out all of it. So now I am quilting it on my regular sewing machine. It will take longer but I know the tension is good. I like the way it is coming out. The picture below is a close up of the quilting. Hope you can see it. It is simple and fast. I did a row yesterday now I only have 7 more to go. Hope to make a big dent in it today.

The picture below is of a scarf/wrap I am knitting for my Step Mom. I think she will like it. The yarn is Bernat Boa. I have not knitted in a long time. I am more of a crocheter. This yarn is like eyelash yarn, it is hard to see your stitches, but I love the way it is coming out. I could have crocheted on but I think that knitting is softer and more stretchy than crochet and I wanted it to have that soft feel to it. I just might have to make me one when I am done with this one.

Well gotta go get busy! Have a good day everyone. Only 12 days til Christmas. Anyone singing the 12 days of Christmas today?

Quilt til your arm falls off...

Fun Party...

I had a really good time at the party last night. Good friends, good food, great gifts. This is a picture of all the things I received last night. We are 13 people in the "woolie" group. We make (or buy) a small gift for each member and give them out at the party. I made felted soap for everyone and they seemed to like it and wanted to know how to make them. I told them I would give a demonstration later on after the holidays.

There is a lanyard with a little wool sheep on it, and a checkbook cover with bees and a beehive (everyones cover had something different on it), There is a small bag with a wool flag on it and it has my name embroidered on the back of it. The bag in the back has a wool sheep appliquéd on it. One of the members made us calendars and note cards with our sheep logo on it. Can you tell we love sheep? Everything was so beautiful and creative. You can click on the pictures to make them larger.

Here is a close up of some of the items. There is a measuring tape covered in wool made by my best friend, isn't it adorable. The sheep next to it is also a tape measure, you pull on the arm and the tape comes out. You can see the lanyard here and a pin with a appliquéd cardinal on it.

This is a close up of the checkbook cover and wool pincushion made out of scraps of wool roving. The pillow has the sheep and a star on top. She also put a label on the back with her name and the year. So cute. It is a lot of fun to exchange gifts and to see all of the creative flow that people have. It inspires!

The picture below is the last ornament I have to show you. My daughter made it in elementary school and has a picture of her in the center (can you tell it was the '80's). She has several ornaments made in school with her picture. These are very special to me. I can always remember what she was like when she was young. Those times pass so fast. Wish they lasted longer. Merry Christmas and I hope everyone is almost finished their shopping.

Quilt til your arm falls off...

More ornaments...

I have a busy day today. I have another Christmas party tonight. It is with my "Woolie" group. I have to make bread to bring and I need to get to it. I wanted to share some more ornaments with you. The one above was given to me last year by a "Woolie" friend. She collects old tins. She uses them to make plaster molds and sometimes fills them with cholocate. I love the look of this old santa.

This one is fairly new. I got it in an ornament exchange a few years ago. To me it stands for all things old. The teddy bear, rocky horse and bicycle wheels all things of the past.

This one was given to me by my best friend a few years ago for Christmas. I just love it. It represents the love of quilting we share.

This is one I bought. It is supposed to be left out for santa to use to get in through the front door. I thought it was very old looking and liked the thought behind it. I don't have small children here at home any more to share the story with but still it is fun to think about. We don't have a fireplace for santa to come through so it was appropriate.

Well gotta go...

Quilt til your arm falls off...

Promised Pics...

This is the panel Christmas quilt that I won at the auction. I (my husband) hung it on the wall last night. It looks very festive.

This is the pics of the teapots I won in the Christmas auction the other night. The white one in the front was made in England. The one in the back is Cloisonnes. My favorite is the yellow and blue one to the left. It is metal. I love looking at them. (Looks like I have a sheep collection growing also.)

Here are two more favorite ornaments:

The one above I made about 3 years ago. I love redwork and found this pattern in a magazine. You can't really see it in the picture but the outline of the bird is trapunto. I had never done this technique before and thought this was a small project I could give it a try on. I have three of them on my tree. They all have a different red border fabric.

This is about 10 or 12 years old. It is Noah's Ark in the whale. It is heavy and I love it. I am real careful with it every year.

Quilt til your arm falls off...

Late Start...

Getting a late start today. My husband and I had a dentist apointment this morning for a cleaning. It throws me for a loop when things happen out of the ordinary. I just caught up on the blog reading and I still have about a million things left to do today. I'm sure it is the same for everyone. So I think I need to get to it. But first, I had a great time at the Christmas Party/Auction Tuesday night. I bought a Christmas panel quilt (which I will take a picture of later after I hang it up in the livingroom). I also bought a basket of small teapots. I have an unexpected collection that is growing (you know the kind I'm talking about, the kind that you don't plan on but someone buys you a teapot then someone else buys you one, then they see you have two and assume you love them so it becomes a collection because after that people buy you more, then you think you have a collection because you do and you start looking for them to add more) anyway, they are small and I think so cute. Again I will post a picture later. For now I will post some pics of more ornaments for my tree. I hope you are not sick of them because I kind of like to look at them.

This one I got in an ornament exchange at one of the Christmas guild parties about 3 or 4 years ago. I love the embroidery work on it. She is sweet looking.

This one I made last year. It is made of felt and it was a set of 6. It is a little bag and I put money or gift cards in them last year. I like the colors and simpleness of this one.

This one is about 6 or 7 years old. The snowman is blown glass and the long swirl bottom is molded. It has already broken (one of his arms) and been glued back on. It is very delicate. I try to buy a glass ornament every year. My hope is that one year I will be able to put up the tree with just glass ornaments but for now I have alot of other ornaments I like. Maybe a smaller second tree somewhere will have to do later. Hope you enjoyed looking at my ornaments. Time to go.

Quilt til your arm falls off...