I finished something!!!

Yes indeedy. I finished a quilting project. I finished up the row by row I did with the wonderful ladies on QWHT. A big thank you to Michelle, Kymberli, Joyce, Frances and Marilyn for their contributions to this gorgeous creation.



We're working on a round robin now and I can't wait to see mine! I think it has three more stops before it comes home to me. Based on the ones that have come past me and the incredible work I know these ladies do I'm sure it's going to be beautiful.

Here's my next project ready to be quilted:



It's a log cabin Christmas wreath. I have no idea how I'm going to quilt it. lol. I'm sort of looking to do something other than in the ditch - which is what I seem to do mostly. But it's a bit busy for motif quilting. After I finish quilting it I want to add a big crushed velvet bow, either top center or on the bottom right corner. I was thinking of using pink but I might use dark green. I guess I'll just have to see what I can find and what looks good.

Now here's the update on the Double Irish Chain. It's a little over half done. It's seven blocks by eleven and I have seven by seven done so far.



I'm taking a bit of a break today to do some things around the house (don't you hate it when house work cuts into your quilting time?). I finally went out to the shed and dug out the fall decorations so that'll be my fun stuff amongst the cleaning.

Until next time. Hugs and stitches. Jody

Traditional Quilting

Well I have done it again - started another project. I had been looking at the quilts I've made and thinking about making some more "traditional" quilts for quite some time. Then I went to the local quilt guild meeting Monday night. The speaker did a trunk show and she had some gorgeous traditional pattern quilts. So I was inspired to get started on one. I looked through my magazines and books and kept coming back to the Double Irish Chain. All those tiny squares sort of intimidate me because I worry about getting them all to line up straight. But if you don't try, you don't stretch yourself and you don't get better. So last night I started a Double Irish Chain.

So you know when you want to start a new quilt you need two basic things - a pattern and fabric. The pattern was taken care of so it was on to picking the fabric. I found these and decided they were perfect.



Next was lots and lots of straight stitching to get strips.



Then you have to take all those lovely strips and cut them up.



But after you cut the strips up you sew them back together and end up with lovely blocks.



Well that's two blocks down - 61 more to go. lol. And since I only made one strip set of each formation there's still lots and lots of cutting and strip piecing. But in the end can you imagine the gorgeous quilt I will have!

Until next time - hugs and stitches.

Jody

Book Nook

I've decided to add a new feature to my blog and share some of the books I like. In the past I have had quite a problem with purchasing books. A few years ago when my bookcase was just too full I decided to donate some books to the Biblical Ed Center and the local public library. I gave away over 200 books and still had a nice collection of books that I kept. Since then I have been very careful about which books I choose to purchase and try to get most from the library.

There are a few series books that I will always buy - Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilt books top the list, then there are the Harry Potter books (no more to buy there lol), Debbie Maycomber's Cedar Cove series, MC Beaton's Death of A ......... (mystery series set in Scotland featuring Hamish MacBeth) and the Charlotte LaRue mystery series are not to be missed.

I am also interested in having a collection of books about the background of quilting.

While surfing on eBay one evening I came across This Old Quilt by Margret Aldrich. I like to look at the old quilts on eBay. Many are not in the best shape but can be simply lovely folded in a basket. And when I typed in old quilt this came up.



This book looked intriguing although the $20 price tag did not. But through a bit of searching online I was able to find it for $6.25 shipping included.

I haven't read it completely through but I've seen enough to know that it's going to be good. There are tons of pictures - an excerpt from the first Elm Creek Quilts book - some great artwork (Diane Phelan, Bob Pettes, Sandi Wickersham) and lots of stories.

I highly recommend that you look for this one at the library.

Until next time - hugs and stitches.

Jody