Thimble finish

My little thimble quilt is hand quilted and bound and ready to put up or put away.  Finished size is 20-1/2 x 23" and I first wrote about it here.  After asking if I was making a thimble or a tumbler quilt, it's clear this is a thimble quilt.  The blocks are small, 2" high and 2" wide at the base. 












I finished quilting the Be Attitudes quilt in time for it to be pulled out from under the Christmas tree by DD #1.  I sent her home with her quilt, plus a label and the buttons that still need to be added.  I'm leaving the wording of the label up to her, as she and her sister both worked on the top and I quilted it.  I'm sure she'll have it totally done before the end of the calendar year. 

I've written before about a BOM that I'm working on with a local group of ladies.  It's Rocky Mountain Sampler, and I'm finished with 9 of the 12 blocks. We're getting instructions for two blocks per month, but I figured out how to make block #9 from a picture, so I worked ahead. 

Each block has a 6" center, and then HST and flying geese made from a random mixture of our selected fabrics are added = 12" block.  These are just stuck on my design wall, but you can see how the block corners will make a bold secondary design. 

I'd like to finish one or 2 UFOs before the end of the year, but I'm nearly out of time.   I have some WIPs I'd enjoy going back to.  Or maybe I'll start something new.  Oh, the choices!!   Wonderful quilty choices!!

Merry Christmas

courtesy of http://hubpages.com/

 Blessings to you 

and your family.

--and after holiday time with family and friends, may your needle and thread stitch merrily till the end of this calendar year.  

Last minute project

This "Be Attitudes" quilt top has been ready for quilting for a while.  (Art to Heart book by Nancy Halvorsen)  I'm hoping for a last minute finish before Christmas.  The maker of the top seldom reads this blog, so there's little danger of spoiling a surprise. 

The quilting won't take very long.  Many of the figures are rather stiff, where 2 or 3 fabric layers overlap, and I'm planning minimal quilting around them, just to hold the layers together.  I know she used a reliable, lighter weight fusible product, and I'm surprised how stiff it got.  If I at least get the quilting done, we can add the final touches later.  I'm not sure if she wants a hanging pocket at the top.  I forgot to ask (or maybe I just didn't listen.)

Not much quilting done in the last two weeks--actually, no quilting done in the last two weeks.  Husband's recovery from his knee replacement surgery is going OK, slowly but steadily.  As co-inhabitants of the bottom floor of our split level, he's often watching TV shows that I don't care to listen to.  And I've been hesitant to go "vroom vroom" with my sewing machine, as that will make TV listening difficult, and up goes the volume.

Solution -- and Merry Christmas to both of us -- wireless headphones.  Quite a few choices available locally.
I bought a pair today, and so far, they're working fine.  Comfort, clarity, and the picture and sound are synchronized.   But I know where the receipt is, just in case.  (Pardon the dark photo;  took it without DH knowing what I was doing.)

Gifts -- from me

a favorite from one of my new books

Such a convenient time of year.  If a quilter decides to add two or three more books to her library, she can disguise camouflage justify the purchases by saying these are gifts to herself.  I'm guessing I'm not the first to use this trick explanation.  

So -- I bought myself three gifts for Christmas. 





I've seen quilts all over blogland made from History Repeated and am anxious to try one or two myself. 

I fell in love with a small quilt made by Dawn (Collector with a Needle), and she generously shared the source of her pattern -- Great Little Quilts.  There are enough ideas in this +20-year-old book to make the purchase worthwhile to me.  Several copies are available on Amazon for less than $1 (plus $3.99 S&H, of course).

I'm probably most excited about Childhood Treasures, which shares 80 antique doll quilts from one lady's collection of 300.  Photography is by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and I found exciting little treasures, page after page.  No patterns included--just great photos, comments by the owner, and historical info about doll quilts.   One of my favorites is pictured above.  I think it's quirky and charming.  The owner thinks it was probably made by a child and pointed out the one square corner, along with 3 rounded corners. 

This owner of the doll quilts also collects doll clothes, and a few photos pair doll clothes with quilts from a comparable time period.   Sweet!

Busy, busy little trees

finishes at 42" x 42"

My scrappy little trees are finished.  I spent way too much time auditioning borders and corners and sashing.  This version is busy, but I don't mind.   It looks like quartets of evergreen trees spinning with peppermint pinwheels.  Very Christmasy indeed.  I used a lot of green scraps, many red and green 2-1/2" squares, and some red striped fabric that's been hiding on a shelf for too many years.

You can find the pattern for the tree block on Marcie's Patchalot Patterns site here.   There's also a gallery of other versions of her block. 

I may take out the center green square and replace it with one that's nondescript and hides in the middle of the four green strips. The plaid stands out a bit more than I'd like.   The red "Ho-Ho-Ho" fabric certainly is easy to spot.   

Maybe I'll get this sandwiched and quilted in the next few days.   No plans to go anywhere.  I'm at the beck and call of DH, who's recovering from left knee replacement surgery Dec 5.  Recovery is going OK.  He was discharged home on the 4th day after surgery.  I'm helping with a lot of tasks, and that dependence will decrease as he gets stronger and more mobile.

It's beginning to look a lot... ...

Trees on the Table pattern

I'm working on a red and green project, the first snowfall of the season has left its mark, and the Christmas tree is decorated.  It's definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

This little Christmas tree project is just begun.  The pattern is a free one from Marcie at Patchalot Patterns.  You can find a copy of the free pattern "Trees on the Table" here.    Marcie's original pattern calls for trees made from strip sets and is a 24" x 24" table topper.  I'm using strips, chunks, and crumbs, I'm making 16 trees, and I'll see where I end up.

Marcie's Q in Feb 2012 issue of Am P and Quilting

Interesting that my newest issue of American Patchwork and Quilting (Feb 2012) includes another pattern from Marcie.  She used Civil War fabrics, and it's another that's now on my bucket list.  The article includes a photo of an alternate setting that Marcie considered for her star blocks.

NOTE: For those of you who know Marcie, she recently lost her son. I'm behind on blog reading and just read the sad news.