Christmas Through The Year

I got my Christmas Through The Year hot pad done on Sunday. I love how it turned out. I used a new to me method of sewing the binding onto the back, then pressing it done in the front and sewing it done with a decorative stitch. I chose the same stitch that I had used for the rest of the quilting and it worked well as it was a flowing stitch rather than a straight stitch. I just had one problem almost right at the end where some of the backing stitch was showing through ; I had not pressed the binding done far enough. It was a tiny section, so I picked it out, redid it and it's done! Now on to the next one! Check out what others have done for Christmas Through The Year!

WIP Wednesday

I now have the blocks sewn together for my Christmas Rose quilt and I love it. I am use to the starts and stops of quilting that I do to fit in quilting with everything else in my life, but it is so nice to see a quilt come together. Only the border to go, and then it will be time to quilt it.  I am linking to WIP Wednesday at The Needle and Thread Network.

BBQ

Binding, basting and quilting! (Not necessarily in that order)

I thought I had better start showing some photos of my WIP. I have gotten so many amazing things lately, that it looks like I don't sew anymore! This weekend I took the time to work on projects promised for the end of April - my Christmas Through The Year and my UFO Challenge.

For my Christmas Through the Year, I decided to make a Hot Pad. This block is left over from Christmas Rose quilt. The way the pattern was written you make one extra block. Rather than putting it on the back, I decided to use it in this way. I used one of my leaf stitches for the quilting.  I used Spray Basting to baste it. One of the things I have learned when making it is to make sure I have enough thread on the spool. I thought there would be enough but there was not. I was almost done, so I used the bobbin thread at the top and put in a similar coloured bobbin at the bottom. I can barely see the difference.

I also quilt and bound my Tulip Table Runner which is my UFO Challenge for the month of April. I had a lot of fun with this one. My son helped me pick out the thread. He chose a pink variegated thread which works really well. This one I pin baste. It was also my first time binding angles other than 90 degrees. I found a great tutorial from Heather Mulder Peterson of Anka's Treasures.

DQS12 Received

I finally received my Doll Quilt Swap yesterday, and it was definitely worth the wait. Jennifer did a wonderful job thinking of my interests and putting together a beautiful quilt for me. Now I need to decide where to put it.

Lucky

I have been very lucky this week. I won a giveaway that Teri was having of some of her quilting magazines. Not only did she send me the magazines, she also sent me a couple of patterns, and a beautiful pincushion. I am thrilled to have received it all.

A special friend sent me this pattern for a Dresden Plate tablerunner. It is very sweet and definitely something I will be making.

My new header was made by Ariane. I like its springy feel.

This week I have been helping my son work on his Christmas quilt. He is determined to get it done. We have the blocks sewn into rows, and now we have to sew the rows together. I think I should have him learn to do the quilting as well. Then he could do it for me too. I hope you all have a lucky day.

Thankful

I received this beautiful needle case from Carly of Citric Sugar. It is so beautiful and so me.

 

 I have a habit of misplacing needles, and now I have a place to keep them. I had made a block for a quilt she was making and this is what I received in return, which to me is 100 % better than what I sent. Go to her blog to read about her amazing quilt. It is a very touching story.

Not my WIP Wednesday

No, this is not my Work In Progress Wednesday. It is my son's. On the Easter weekend he decided he wanted to do some sewing for me. Looking through my UFO's I found a couple that were good for him to work on.

He did a lot of the sashing squares for my Dresden Plate and Christmas Presents quilt. After that, he still wanted to do more, so I got out my Christmas Block squares.

He chose the arrangement for them, and sewed the first two rows together. He was so pleased to have gotten me so much farther ahead, and his 1/4 inch seam is very good.

In all fairness to my daughter, who declared that she had only made one small doll quilt, I reminded her that she had picked the pattern, fabric and arrangement of the fabric for this quilt we made for her a few years ago. That seemed to make her feel better.

I am linking to WIP Wednesday at The Needle and Thread Network.

One Thing One Week Challenge : 12

I was able to get my One Thing, One Week Challenge 12 done. I made a hot pad for a Pay It Forward. I had the top done. My challenge was to get it quilted and finished. On Wednesday night at my guild meeting we had  Brenda Sutherland from One Patch at at Time do a trunk show. One of the things she talked about was using your decorative stitches to do some of the quilting. I have done this frequently with the small quilts, household items and totes that I make, but I was not really sure if it was something done a lot. I was happy to have her encourage it, and I used my fancy stitches for the hot pad. My daughter thought I should use it for Easter, but I explained it was for some one else. This has become another one that I want to make for myself.

TNT Thursday

 

In the fall, I had gotten some Wiscasset Charm packs and started playing with them. After I had sewed one charm pack together I did not like the direction it was going in and set them aside. I found some other patterns that I liked better, and was trying to decide what to do with the blocks I had already sewn. I have a quilting friend who likes these colours and so I came up with the idea of making a sewing machine cover. I used the dimensions from this tutorial at Sew Mama Sew. I am really happy with out it turned out, and I now I want to make one for myself. I gave it to my friend this week, and I am linking up to Try New Things Thursday at Happy Quilting.