Five Santas

This is a favorite little wallhanging I display at Christmas. I found the pattern in Favorite Foundation-Pieced Minis, a 12 or 13-year-old book with 30 projects.

This was my first finished paper-pieced project. The ease of making it + the preciseness of those 1/2 x 1" flying geese sold me on the wisdom of foundation or paper piecing for some projects.

I don't trust my embroidery skills, so (shame on me) the eyes and noses are drawn with a pen. Finished size with the Thimbleberries fabric holly border is about 13-1/2 x 16 inches.


UPDATE-- I didn't know it was such a hard-to-find book. I see there are 8 used copies on Amazon, starting at $32.64 + S&H. It's a nice book, but I don't know if it's THAT great.

Tension problems vs. blizzard problems

There's no question which is worse. One is beyond our control, and the other is fixable. One can create a life-and-death situation, and the other is just plain frustrating.

The entire state of Iowa is experiencing a blizzard from last night through 6 pm today. Local weatherman just said that we have 11 inches of new snow -- but the gusts of wind up to 40-50 mph, plus the forecast of -11 degrees tonight -- that's just plain nasty.

Our home is warm, and I don't have to step outside for any reason today, but I'm totally frustrated. I have 4 or 5 quilt tops ready to be quilted, and I planned to do several this week. I do my own quilting with a Brother 1500. It's a work horse, and I enjoy using it, but it's not behaving today. Maybe it's reacting to all the straight stitching I did last month, making new curtains and pillow covers.

The tension is ugly. I quilted most of a 55 x 70" quilt last night, not checking the back of the Q until it was almost done. The machine sounded fine and I was just stitching along with my iPod playing music in my ears. Big mistake. The front looked fine, but much of the back looks like the photo. There are large areas where I have to take out stitching and redo the quilting. The quilt is now folded and put away -- I'll deal with it another day.

I'm listening to the alternating roar and groan of the wind, trying to ignore the blizzard outside. I'm adjusting the tension so my next one won't have to be a "do over."
Maybe I'll switch my focus and work on my Dear Jane. That would definitely be a more relaxing choice.

Maddie, Rocky, and the quilts

Granddaughter Maddie spent 4 nights and days at our home over Thanksgiving. She got an early look at the heirloom-quality Christmas present from her grandpa. This fall my husband built a rocking horse for her from walnut and ash woods, using a pattern from a company in Canada. (click on photos to see enlarged version). Maddie is only 15 months old and is a bit small for it right now--but give her several months.

She picked up the concept of rocking very quickly, but she kept trying to hold "Rocky" (Grandpa's temporary name for the horse) by the ears. Rocky is resting comfortably in an upstairs bedroom right now, as they didn't have room in their vehicle to take Rocky back to KY. (our son is in the photo with Maddie and Rocky)

I made two doll quilts for Maddie and her second cousin. They played with them a bit, cuddling and rocking little baby dolls. I sent one home with each of them. Thanksgiving was over way too quickly.

Welcome to December

Long time, no blog. Thanksgiving travel and meals and company are past, and now on to Christmas preparations and events.

This wallhanging is heading to a temporary home later today. I used a December "Button Ups" pattern from Joined at the Hip, but I added the border to it as one project in a "Finishing School" class at our local quilt shop a few years ago.
Our teacher, Betty, designed classes and projects around info in the book The Quilter's Edge" by Darlene Zimmerman. Great class and fun assignments. I learned a lot and tried a few things I would not have tried on my own.

One-Word Wednesday

Thanksgiving

Little girls, little cradles, little quilts

We're busy with preparations for company coming late Wednesday, followed by 3 days of feasting and family time. The house is nowhere near ready, I haven't gone grocery shopping yet, and there's still "stuff" to put away and menus to plan. At least I've finished the curtains in the living room. But I had to take a break and have some Grandma time.

Our granddaughter Maddie and her second cousin Kori will have their first holiday together as little ladies. Last Thanksgiving they were babies, but this year we'll get to see them play together. I'm pulling age-appropriate books and toys out of storage, getting them ready for the little ones.

Our daughters played with these cradles 30 years ago. My husband assures me he has no idea where either came from. One is definitely older than the other. Each cradle is about 10 x 19". I found a stack of leftover 9-patches from 1930s fabrics (3" finished) and made two very simple doll quilts. If two little girls are going to spend the day at the home of a quilter, they need some little quilts.

Back to clutter management and meal planning. I'd rather be quilting.

One Word Wednesday

SHADES

Round Robin sharing and a finish

I enjoyed a little group quilting this weekend, and some of the gals shared their round robin projects which were started in January 2009. Each time they only made a ROW -- they were not to be put together. It will be up to each owner to decide how she wants to combine the rows. The rows are just lying on the floor or a table in these photos.

Each row was 12-1/2" long and either 3" or 4" wide. Instructions reflected something about the month. January's snowball blocks were made by the owner; February, add a heart, either pieced, appliqued, or printed on the fabric; pinwheels in the early summer; ; just squares during a busy month; "quilter's choice" one month, etc.

What a smart project for good friends who might be short on time but want to work on something together.
As always, click on photos to enlarge them.

I finished my autumn/gobbler wallhanging (see previous post) and took it to its new home yesterday. Finally -- something bound, labeled, and done.

Working on new curtains for our living room today and tomorrow and for however long it takes to finish them. The clock is ticking -- Thanksgiving company coming for dinner in only 9 days !

Pumpkins and a gobbler

I haven't finished a project for way too long. All I show are purchases, past projects, plans, single blocks, patterns, and what others have done. Reorganizing and updating several rooms in our home is sapping my quilting energy and focus.

I hope that I've turned a corner. This isn't the best time of the year to try to get a lot of quilting done. In a couple weeks, we'll have Thanksgiving dinner for 15-18 at our house and overnight guests for several days. Two days later we'll drive 2-1/2 hours for another family meal.

The house isn't ready for company yet, and there are household projects galore to finish before the Thanksgiving festivities. But I have to squeeze in a little stitching now & then, just for me.

This wallhanging is 42 x 28 inches and is ready to be quilted. I found the pieced turkey pattern in an old Country Threads book. There are pumpkins and maple leaves everywhere. I just put these parts together for a Thanksgiving wallhanging. When it's finished, I'll take it to the office where I'd work if I didn't work at home. I'm gradually making a year's worth of seasonal wallhangings for them to display and enjoy. I have to HURRY and get this done and taken to its new home. I'll blink, and it'll be time to finish one for Christmas.

Dear Jane yellow star quartet

My Dear Jane quilt will have 7 or 8 colors of blocks. There will only be 4 yellow blocks, and you're looking at them.
I finished my 4th yellow star last week, the small star within a star. (the pale paisley star below) The center star is about 1-1/4" finished, and the points of that star are folded and sewn into the seams, not paper pieced.

I'm using different fabrics for all blocks, and the yellows are probably as varied from one to the next as any color I'm using. Definitely not perfection on these blocks, especially the 8-pointed star, but they're done!