PICKLE DISH ALMOST DONE

Almost done with my pickle dish quilt. It's from Kaffe Fassett's Quilt Romance book that my son, Adam and his wife, Jenny gave me for Christmas last year (which seems so much longer ago than that with all the work on the quilt.) The fabrics are different than his suggestion and I wasn't sure it would turn out ok, but wow!! I love this quilt. It's for me to use while sitting in my chair. It took forever to make the pickle dishes, but it was fun watching them come together. It's backed with a flannel that's got pink ladybugs on it :)

Originally blogged about the pickle dish progress in May. Not sure exactly when I got the border on it, but below is the top before that. It's been sitting around after my daughter "sandwiched" it because I was so intimidated about quilting it. Had wanted to free motion it, but so far I've just done some decorative stitches across and up and down it, plus around the main body and the border. Then I sewed on the binding and now am handsewing it down. Not really sure how much more quilting will get done on this...have thought it might have some handquilting using pink pearl cotton. Don't think free motion will really work because it's a bit puffy in places. Already there are a few goobers, but thankfully it's mine and I can live with that.
Here's a couple pictures from the previous post showing parts in process.

All in all, this is one of the most favorite things I've ever made. I've sewn for 55 years now, and have done some sorts of quilting off and on during that time, but the first real quilt I ever made is probably the one for my son about 20 years ago that I designed and then handquilted. Before and after that I made a lot of pieced quilts that were usually tied, designed a family history wall hanging, made a lot of wall hangings and other little things that were quilted in one way or other. The first time I did a quilt that felt like a real quilt to me, though, was the one for my husband that I put in the bloggers quilt festival last may. I am still so proud of that, even though it was longarmed by my dear friend Shirley. Then I did the spider quilt for a friend and love that. The next one was the Marabella one for little Olivia, which is in this last festival. This is my next quilt that I really, really love. All of these required a lot of work following directions--not always something I do well. They also required a lot of figuring the puzzle of a quilt. Since I've always loved puzzles that is one thing great about quilting. Can't believe my journey this last year or so, but it's been such a great one for me. As said before, quilters are so great--they give, they love to share, they're creative (even if all they ever do is follow exact directions), they're neat people. Thanks to all who share with me, all who express appreciation for my comments about their work and who admire mine. What a great world--too bad the whole world doesn't quilt--think it would bring peace a lot faster.

Well...have a great Christmas if I don't post again. And thanks again to all who visit and express a comment. Joy and Peace

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!

On top are the parts for one of the blocks that will go in the Snowbound snowman applique quilt. It's a different block than came with the directions and definitely in different colors, but I like it a lot. The next picture shows how I ended up sewing the two parts to make the pinwheels...kept having trouble with the seam allowances underneath bunching up, so remembered Mom used to use paper under finer materials sometimes and it worked well. Just tear away the paper carefully and easily! Just used computer paper. I'm not so sure I ever want to make more pinwheel blocks but sure think they're cute! I got the directions for this block from the 301 Country Christmas Quilt Blocks book.

It's the same book that most of the blocks I'm using for what I call my Christmas Quilt--creative name, eh!! These are the three sections for it. Most of the fabric is Kate Spain's 12 Days of Christmas fabric. It's not the most artful arrangement, I know, but I'm hoping by the time I get all the borders on, it will look better. Whatever, though, it'll be a fun quilt to snuggle under with the girlie girls and boyly boys--hopefully this Christmas! So many different blocks and techniques to chat about and maybe make up stories about.

Surely know I'm not the only one in the midst of lots of projects! Have been working on Christmas for quite some time and having lots of fun doing it. Except for a few things I've bought, (some to go with projects) everything is homemade this year and no one is getting unfinished gifts. That's a biggie in my family as for years I would wrap up unfinished things and give them. (I know! Crazy, but that was me) Now, if it's not finished for Christmas, hopefully it eventually gets finished and given for another holiday or birthday. At least I've gained some wisdom in my old age! At this point, almost every present is finished or very close to it...needing a couple buttonholes, a bit of extra hand sewing, etc. There is one project that's not been started, but hopefully will be soon. It needs a bit more input from the recipients, though.
These are adorable "grab" bags made for the twinnies. Aren't they the cutest? Pattern was on All People Quilt with a bunch of darling bag patterns http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/projects-ideas/bags-pillows/free-bag-patterns_ss11.html I made three regular sized ones and three half size for girlie girls. These bags could probably be reversible if you carefully sewed the lining shut. These particular ones are the reverse of each other. Fabrics are adorable, so thought twinnies needed them both.

In the middle of all this, someone needs a quilt just for them Thankfully, I have this lap quilt top done, so it's just a matter of sandwiching it, quilting and binding. The blocks are from Amy's Creative Side blog : http://amyscreativeside.com/2010/06/14/simple-sampler-quilt-along-details/ Of course, being me, I changed things around a lot. Think I explained before that I wanted blocks to be half size, but didn't know how to do them properly until DL told me how, so there are a lot of different sized blocks. Like how they float, though. It's a priority so expect to get that into major production tomorrow. The top is one I was sure would stay at my house, but somehow it needs to go to hers and I'm okay with that. I'm sure a large part of my being able to do that is reading all the inspirational things others have posted about giving for one reason or another. I love quilters--they're super cool, giving people. Aspire to be that sort of person...not always easy for me to do!

The last picture is a bit fuzzy, but of a fun thing my dear friend Shirley, gave us the other day...a baggie full of pretzels dipped in melted white chocolate and then in what's called firecracker glitter--HOT and sweet at same time. Super fun idea that would love to replicate for Christmas. Sailor Girl Gourmet in Washington State sells the glitter.