A Finish at Last

The project I’ve been machine quilting for months is finally finished.  The design is by Jill Finley and was a project that grew out of a workshop we had with her in March of 2014.  It was a good project to practice quilting feathers.  I hope whatever goes under the needle next moves along at a quicker pace!😊

Playing With Scraps Again

I’ve been dumpster diving at retreats and the Club House; begging, purchasing, and swapping, remnants with friends; and diving into my own stash.  Time to get busy making some more bow tie blocks.  Here’s what I have so far. 

The hardest part of making these units is trying to figure out how to press the seams.  I thought I had it sorted out by twirling seams so they would nest.  Then I laid two blocks side by side according to the pattern only to find that results in a very bumpy join.  I think the best solution will be to press seams open.  The bow tie units finish at 2 inches.

Slow Sunday Stitching

My goal is to have the binding finished on this quilt by Wednesday so I’ll have a project for Show and Share at our Guild meeting.  It’s going to be a push, so there may be some binge TV watching in my future.  If I feel like I'm stressing my hands too much, though, the project will have to wait for another meeting.

After an extremely wet start to November, the days have turned sunny and pleasantly cool.  The insects have been going bonkers over the blooms on our bottle brush plants.  I was surprised to see this shot captured a bee in flight as well as the butterfly I was aiming for.  They were both after the same blooms and the bee kept pestering the butterfly.  I noticed that she was not in the least intimidated and stood her ground.

Linking up with Slow Stitching Sunday today.

Hexagons!

It’s been a while since I posted a progress report on my hexagon piecing project based on a pattern by Edyta Sitar.   All the center diamond units are complete and I’ve added a couple more rosettes. 

Two of my Christmas cacti are in bloom.

And, I’ve been busily cutting up perfectly good fabric so I can sew it back together again.  These are some cuts I received in a scrap swap with a friend.  I’ve got a wonderful collection of batiks up next.

Back From Houston!

I received an invitation to accompany a friend to the Houston Quilt Festival this week and stay as a house guest at her daughter’s lovely home.  What a treat it was. 

I was so busy absorbing the sights and sounds of the event that I took very few pictures.  This prize winner, however, took my breath away. 

I didn’t come home empty handed by any means.  I made two purchases, both of them extravagant.

For several years, I’ve wanted to see if I could find a really good fitting thimble.  My hands are small and it’s not that easy to find ones that are comfortable.  

Here is what I came home with.  This thimble is made by TJ Lane.  It is sterling and has a lifetime warranty.  The price hurt, but the thimble feels wonderful on my hand.

And, this little girl followed me home too.  For some time, I’ve wanted a retreat/workshop machine with a good blanket stitch.  I love my vintage straight stitch machines.  They are still my favorite for piecing, but often they don’t meet workshop requirements.  The machines I have that do meet those requirements are heavy, bulky and difficult to remove from their cabinets.  After lurking at the Janome booth several times and peppering the representatives with lots of questions, they reduced the price three times to one I was willing to pay.  

Good thing hubby is at the ranch for a few days and I don’t have a lot of commitments this coming week.  

I’ll use the time to make friends with her and consider re-homing one of my vintage machines to free up storage space.

The trip to Houston was fabulous, but exhausting.  I’m not used to big city traffic (thankfully my friend handled the driving), the crush of humanity, and sensory overload that you encounter at Festival.  If offered another chance to go to Houston, I would grab it in a heartbeat; but I’m looking forward to some recovery time.