Monday, August 28, 2017

Back to Quilting!



I've been on a quilting hiatus.   We are selling our Somerville house and have already moved into a 3 bedroom apartment.   Here's what my sewing room looked like 15 days ago (I have since set up my machine where the computer is).  Before it is really done,  two cabinets will come from the house, which probably won't happen until late October.

Note the scissors on the chair - not ready for sitting in!


You can see there are quite a few projects in plastic storage containers, fabric is on shelf - not organized.


But, we were planning on spending much of August in Maine, before the move was to happen.  We found a place we liked and as there are few 3 bedroom apartments, we jumped on it a bit early.  The good thing was it got the process going.  The bad thing was, it was earlier than I envisioned!  So, we moved contents and left some furniture to make it all work for the showing, but that furniture includes two storage units for fabric and files.  

However, here comes the good news:  I put together a quilt top - oneof my UFOs for 2017.  




So fast, and as I type this, I am planning to sandwich today as another border is already on, but I really wanted to get a blog entry on this quilt.  



Friday, August 11, 2017

Pets on Quilts 2017!

Didn't think I'd have a post so soon, but its pets on quilts day.    It's sponsored by Lily Pad Quilting and has lots of prizes, but, of course, you must follow the rules!

Here is a picture of my labradoodle, today, after his grooming.  Percy is 9 and has Austalian lines.  We have had him since he was a puppy and love him to death.  You can see a picture of him as a puppy in my About Me page.


The quilt he is on was my first quilt - all hand pieced and quilted.  I love it an use it often.  You can see we are sleeping on a mattress on the floor - downsizing problems.  I also made the knitted afghan many years ago (like early '80s).

Just in case you think he is perfect, here is what he likes to do on the bed....




Linking up to the Pets on Quilts



Tuesday, August 8, 2017

A finish during the season of downsizing!



My 2016 row by row from Alewives Fabrics in Damariscotta, ME  is finally done!  I had the top done at the end of June and really thought I would have quilted it sooner, but it took awhile.

I love to go to Alewives Fabrics.  Rhea and her crew have great fabrics, samples and patterns.  They are quite busy in the summer season but her enthusiasm carries throughout the year!  Rhea worked at Cambridge Quilts (where I also worked) when she was attending school in Boston.  Her design and color sense are always spot on!


I really enjoyed quilting this.  
  • For the outside border, straight lines
  • For the inner border, a wavy, rounded zig zag line
  • For the sky and grass/hills, a wavy line.


This shows you a close up of the binding.  I used a method I have used before and really like it from Sew Fresh Quilts.   My only problem was I was really close on fabric and kept praying it would work - measuring it out was not an assurance that turning those corners would make it.  In the end, I had about 6" of binding left - a little too close for my liking!

It's  a simple table runner and I'll use it in my Maine cottage.  I was thinking of hanging it over one of the doors in the upstairs, but I might need 4 to do that, so I will think about that and what I have left of other row by rows OR repeat one.

In the next week or so, I'll regroup on my UFOs.  First, I must register two quilts for our guild in the fall (and finish one of them).  I am really slowed up with the move, and my primary sewing study is a disaster.  My goal is to have room to sew by Labor Day weekend.  


Linking up to:  Wednesday Wait Loss