Puppy Dog Quilt

My last finish of 2010! I bought the two main fabrics from Hancock’s of Paducah thinking it would go with my 30’s reproductions. I think I was going to do a strippy quilt, but even though the fabric was shown with the 30’s prints they didn’t really go together well. The fabric sat in my 30’s bin for several years until this fall. I’d also held onto an email with quotes about dogs thinking I’d use them in a quilt some day. This summer my daughter write the quotes on muslin. I was thinking I’d use some other dog fabric, but I’m starting to learn that if I’m not beginning a project I’m excited about there must be something wrong with my plan. Well, the thought occurred to me one day to use the other dog fabric and things began to click. I wanted something easy to piece because this will just be a family room quilt. I only added the brown sashing because I felt something needed to separate the plaid dog fabric at the seams. It’s nothing fancy, but it has dogs and pinwheels and it’s done! Here are the quote blocks-

I’m looking forward to January. I always get a lot done at the beginning of the year. It may still be cold, but the days are getting longer and there doesn’t seem to be as many school and social activities. My youngest son is a junior in high school. He has his license, but we still like to be involved.  Next year – college applications! Yikes!

Happy New Year!

Some 2010 Quilt finishes

 For one of my sisters

 For my nephew’s twin girls

 On my daughters bed here at home – not sure if it is hers or mine.

We had a merry day at my parent’s yesterday. It was a relatively small gathering – just 16 of us. My sister and her family are coming for dinner on Thursday. I’m planning a simple meal – just ham and a few sides. We had planned to do it today, but snow was in the forecast. It keeps teasing us with flurries and now I hear snow will be later tonight. Oh, well. I’ll be better prepared on Thursday.

I just mixed up some bread dough – haven’t done that in quite a while. While it rests I plan to do some quilting on my doggie quilt and continue watching Cranford, a BBC program based on a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell. I had never heard of her or her writing, but the article compared her to Jane Austen. The program stars Judi Dench and I recognize a few others from Austen movies. I enjoyed the 2 programs I watched the other night and plan on looking for the book at the library.

This is the second time I've shown pics of Duke and my 13 year old cockapoo, Penny, is jealous. Here are a couple with her taken in October. They are the best dogs in the world (I know - you have the best dogs in the world, too-LOL).

Machine Quilting, More on Yo-Yos, and a Santa

Here is a sneak peak at what I’m working on. I think you can get a better look if you click on the image. I’m happy with how the quilting is going – a few wobbles here and there, but I can live with that. My daughter did the lettering and drawing.

I have a list of machine quilting reminders by my sewing machine –

1. don’t roll, but puddle the quilt (this was a tip from Patsy Thompson)

2. feet flat on the floor

3. shoulders back and down

4. relax

5. slow and steady -just like driving in the snow ;+)

Yo-yos are coming along. I played with them last night while watching Miracle on 34^th Street. The fabric circles start at 2 1/4", I turn them in 1/8" and they finish at about 1”. I just counted 151 yo-yos. Maybe I have enough for 2 garlands!

This is a Santa wallhanging my husband and I made as newlyweds in 1984. I think it came from a Family Circle magazine. I made all the parts and got frustrated with it when it came to putting it all together, so he finished it. I guess I wouldn't get much done without my family!
Santa's beard and the holly leaves are machine stitched. Putting it all together required stuffing and glueing onto 1/4" foam core. I stitched, my husband glued.

Sorry for the shadows and dark photos. Not sure what I'm doing wrong today.

My family is all here - oldest son arrived with his puppy last night. He's better with doing his business outside (the puppy, that is), but has acquired the lovely habit of barfing all over. So far he has gotten the living room rug, the family room sofa and a Christmas blanket. He better not get to the quilts! I think he'll be a great dog, but right now he is just a little too active for our older dogs. The puppy is a 7 month old beagle. My son said he read that beagles mature at 6-8 months. I think this one is a late bloomer!

Christmas Garlands

A garland made with a selvage and cardstock. As I recall, I made the 1^st “M” and it took so much effort that my daughter made the rest of the letters. I got the idea for this from a Mary Engelbreit Home Companion magazine.

A yo-yo garland in progress - I’m not sayin’ how long ago this was started! I think I’ll work on it when we watch Christmas movies. Typically, I don’t like to do handwork while watching a movie, but I’ve seen them all before.

I was looking at the Christmas quilt top from my previous post this morning while drinking my tea. If I do diagonal lines they won’t follow neatly because the sashing is a different size then the inner blocks. So, I was thinking of doing angel wings somehow (there are angels on some of the fabrics). A lot will depend on how I feel when this quilt comes to the top of the quilting queue.

I plan to start quilting a lap size quilt today. I’m really excited about it. I hope what I’m planning to do works and I will be done with it next week. Can’t wait to show you! Theme – dogs. Colors – blue and brown. Fabric age – main fabrics had been in my stash since 2001!

Peace, Love and Joy to You and Yours.

Christmas Quilt

I don’t have a finished Christmas quilt to show, but this is a top I pieced last February during our big snowstorms. It is made with 2 Vintage Holiday by April Cornell charm packs and extra yardage. I put it aside to think about how I wanted to quilt it. Now I’m thinking I might just machine quilt it with diagonal lines. Sometimes that is all that’s needed, but I’m open to suggestions.


Hope your Sunday was restful.

9-patch split and COOKIES!

I didn’t want to post two times in a row without a quilt so here is my nieces baby with his quilt. I started it last February and finished it this summer. It is Bonnie’s split 9-patch with a different setting. I used these same fabrics in a log cabin quilt I made for my youngest son several years ago. I was working full time then and it took me a few years to make. He would see me in my sewing room and ask if I was working on his quilt. He was about 5 years old then. Maybe it was more like 10 years ago. Oh, my! I felt so bad when I had to tell him no, I wasn't working on his quilt. I wanted to free-motion quilt it and didn't have the confidence. I finally took some classes and screwed up the courage to do it. It wasn't great, but it was done and he still uses it.

We have two cookie baking parties to go to tomorrow so no quilting was done today. We bring a batch already made and both hostesses (my mom and a friend) will have batters ready to bake. To my mom’s we take these pecan crescents (or Russian teacakes, Mexican wedding cakes) or as I like to call them – snowballs.

Cream together ½ cup powdered sugar and 1 cup softened butter. Add 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons vanilla and 2 cups finely chopped pecans. Chill 2 hours. Roll into balls or use a small cookie scoop to form balls. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

To my friend's party we bring these gingerbread babies to decorate.

Not the best looking cookies, but they are pretty good considering neither are chocolate!

My daughter took the cookie photos. She just finished a photography class for graphic design majors.

Snow!

It snowed! Just a couple of inches. My daughter is home -safe and sound.

A Christmas pig? Do you see his Santa hat? Too cute.