26 days to go

Lists, lists everywhere. 26 days to go till wedding day for my son and fiancé. Not a lot of quilting going on...hoping to get back to it after wedding. Still haven't figured out how to add pictures from my iPad ...will be back to my laptop, net time I post.

Pumpkins gone wild

Designed a quilt around the center panel, trying to play a bit more...ended up with a much larger quilt than expected. Trying to decide if I am going to trim the outer borders down or if I should just leave it large.

Home today to prepare for cooking Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. If you need some great cooking tips check out Ms Glaze's Pommes d'amour in the reading list on the right. Also check out the Lego quilt by lazy gal quilting. What a great idea for all those scrap.

Got a new camera for my birthday and will be trying to take photos of the quilt later today.

NW Quilt EXPO

Yes, I am still here...that a long story to come in a future post!  Spent last Saturday enjoying the NW Quilt Expo in Portland  I especially enjoyed Marjorie Post's Elephants and the several exhibits by book club.


Finished a Flannel Star this weekend and started to work on a fall pumpkin quilt.  I'm having issues uploading photos, so check back for more, later today!

Distracted

Not a lot of quilting going on around here, as my weekend mornings seem to revolve around a precious little boy hanging out with grandma.  He's now six months old and so much fun!!  I did make two minkie quilts for Christmas presents, but am still working on getting the binding on them UGH!

Here are some recent shots from our morning...he's learned to roll over, both directions and creep towards toys. Then it's time to crash on the blanket, so grandma can update her blog.  I'll be back to to quilting soon!

Asian Cranes FINISHED!

Decided on the more copperish colored fabric for the smaller borders.  Probably not my most favorite quilt ever...not really sure why. But it will great on my walls during the fall.  In my house I always have at least five quilts hanging on the walls and one to two over the stairway railings.  For several years, I've been working on having enough quilts to change them all out during different seasons or holidays.  That is how I started working on this quilt due to the fall colors and trying to find something to use the outer border fabric on.

Since I had plenty of fabric for this, I convinced my sister to buy an extra panel, when we saw them on sale this summer.  Now there is a pre-cut kit waiting just for her in my sewing room to make this same quilt, but with the gold smaller border next time she is here!

Enjoyed the long Thanksgiving Holiday, but little sewing due to a great visit with my niece!  I am so thankful for the many blessings in my life!

Someone has had a good mail day

My sister and I joke that good mail days are when we go the mailbox and discover a new quilt magazine (isn't it about time for a new Asian Fabric?) or when fabric arrives via mail.  So, I decided to try sending fabric from my stash, or from shopping trips, to my sister at least once a month. 


Well the first few times went off without a hitch!  She had some good mail days and I had fun picking out fabrics to share.  Recently, while I was at the local quilt store, I fell in love with this fabric!  Have you noticed that the majority of Asian fabrics tend to be on the dark to medium side?  It is rare to find a good light that is not overly busy.  Of course, having gone to Mt. Fuji the last time we were in Tokyo made this the perfect one to send to my sis.  However, this last envelope has disappeared in the mail...So someone has had a good mail day...sorry sis!


It has been a crazy month since I last posted.  Still having some health issues...am back to work full time, but come home exhausted, so not much quilting has taken place.    Decided to start this Saturday backwards from what I normally do.  I usually start with all the regular stuff... laundry, picking up the house, etc., and by the time the afternoon is here, I'm out of energy for blogging or quilting!  So, started today with this blog update, next stop my sewing room!

Accurate stich widths

Recently after working on several quick projects, I realized that my blocks were smaller than expected.  It didn't really matter, as they were simple square blocks or triple rail fence blocks.  However, before I started on my next project (Window on the World from Asian Fabrics #20)  I decided to double check my stitch width.   

Everything looked fine on my machine, the needle was in center position, etc.  Then I realized I had changed feet awhile back, using # 34 (Bernina), which I purchased after a Ricky Timms seminar recommended for machine applique.  The clear foot makes it much easier to see the edges and your stitches.  However, the width is 3/8 of an inch rather than 1/4.

So, switching back to my favorite # 37, I was quickly back to an accurate 1/4 inch seam allowance.  Isn't it amazing how a little thing like a foot can make such a big difference!

Not much quilting has occurred, as I am back to work full time and come home exhausted.  It takes the weekend to just catch up on rest and get the basics done...hoping to sew this weekend!