Going To A Show

I finally finished up this wallhanging:



It's called Going To A Show and it's to put my quilt show pins on. Two of my favorite pins are not actually from shows but from a store in Gaithersburg, MD that I went to with three of my dearest friends.

The fabrics I used in the flowers are fabrics from the quilt I made for our bed for when we get our bedroom repainted - which looks like it probably won't be until next Spring - which is just fine because the quilt probably won't be finished until long after that. lol. It's a queen-size Trip Around The World that I am handquilting. I'm echo quilting each square and there are hundreds (and hundreds and hundreds lol) of them.

I'm still working on Tasha's quilt (which is also putting the TATW on hold) and I'm beginning some blocks for a swap - hopefully I'm beginning them tonight. My favorite Yahoo group is doing a snowman swap. I'm really looking forward to it. I haven't done a swap for so long.

But if I want to get something started I need to get off the computer and into the sewing room.

Thunder would like to say hello but he's a little tired now:



We haven't give the long worked on quilts to the dog. He has his own quilts (yep - two of them). He's laying on Joe's bed with his head on Joe's quilt (that is actually store bought) with the quilt Timmy's sleeps on over him.

Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

Quilt-a-thon!!

Well as much as a working wife and mother can manage I have been having a quilt-a-thon here lately. I have been staying off the computer and using my computer time to sew.

But first I needed to get my sewing area cleaned up. Since Christmas is over and Rodger is still off work we are doing some things around the house. We're planning to paint our bedroom this Spring so I'm looking at the changes I plan to make then. So I started with my sewing corner. I don't have a separate sewing room but we are blessed with a large enough bedroom that I can use a corner for sewing.

First I moved my rulers and cutting mats. And then Tasha came across this great piece of luggage that I had forgotten she had. It was my mom's so it's from around the 60s. It's a medium sized round case. It's not in the best of shape but it's great for putting quilts in. Most of the quilts in it are older baby quilts.



The quilts stacked beside it are mostly yard sale finds with one or two from eBay thrown in.



So here's how it ended up. Rodger gave me the chair for Christmas. I have a bad back and he said as much time as I spend there I needed a better chair (I was using one from the dining room). The wall hanging is the one I made to put my show pins on (be sure to check out my high tech fancy quilt hanger. lol.)



Once I was all set up it was time to quilt. At Christmas I found out my niece was having a baby - in January. So since January is almost over I decided I really ought to get moving on this quilt. I normally do very simply baby quilts. I want the quilts to get used and if they are too fancy I'm afraid they'll end up in a box in the closet. So I did a charm quilt. I knew the baby would be a girl but I didn't want to do the typical bubble gum pink you see for baby girls. So I did rosey colors and mossy greens. I did something different with this one - a totally random placement of the fabric. I think it looks nice (Rodger doesn't agree with me lol). Every thing went along fine until I did the binding. Since the quilt was very simple I decided to put the border on with a decorative stitch. What a nightmare. I didn't like the way it looked but taking it out was awful. I must have spent at least two hours pulling those stitches out. I decided to redo it with a straight stitch and even that gave me trouble. But I am happy to say that I finished it up Sunday night. And not a moment too soon because I got an email this morning that Rebekkah was born Monday morning.



With all the problems I had with this quilt I didn't get as much done on other projects as I would have liked. However I did get one block done on the log cabin I am starting. The first block actually. I got a great Judy Martin book for Christmas and the Kentucky Home pattern is the one I'm doing. I only got one block done Sunday but I got four more done yesterday and when I get finished here I'm going to go do a few more. I'm loving how this is turning out.



Well I'm off to get some more cleaning and sewing done. But before I go Thunder wanted to say hello. He's a bit tuckered out because he's been playing in the boys room.



Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

recent quilting adventures

I'm so new to this blogging stuff that I have no clue how to add more than one picture at a time without them ending up in a row along the top. So that leads to another post today.

This is the most recent quilt I finished. It's a flip flop quilt that is very lightweight. I didn't use any batting and tied it. It's the first thing I've done an entire top with machine applique. I enjoyed it and I'm happy with how it turned out but I do need more practice.

Starting Up

I've decided to jump into this blogging stuff. I'm hoping to post about my quilting on a regular basis. I'm working on a variety of projects right now and really have the urge to finish something up. I think my target project is going to be a lap quilt I've done in 30s repros fabrics. This one is very special to me because the fabrics all came from my friends. I'm on the best Yahoo group on the web - Quilter's Who Homeschool Too. These ladies are like my sisters and I feel like I've known them all my life. We were doing a 30s repros swap that I really wanted to participate in but we were going through a rough patch financially so I stayed out of the swap. Well these wonderful ladies knew how much I wanted to play along and so they each sent me a fq of gorgeous 30s fabrics. Did I mention they're the best? lol. I have a great backing fabric picked out from the Aunt Grace Signature Line II group that has pictures of Gracies all over it. I figure it will help to remind me of my "sisters" who sent me the fabric for the top. Hopefully it won't be too long until I can post the finished project.