A Rainy Day in September

It's a rainy day in Pennsylvania and I just finished a project, so I'm taking the time to take the pictures and update the blog. The Star Wall Hanging was made from a kit from Fons and Porter magazine. It is small, but took quite a while to make because of all the small pieces. I quilted it on my Bernina copying the quilting shown in the magazine as closely as I could. I'm not good at designing the quilting myself, so I just copy what I see. The second project is a Rose Tote Bag that I'm donating to the Rose Society. We will fill it with gardening or rose items and donate the filled bag to the Penn Cumberland Garden Club for their Benefit Auction in November. I'm working on some little Halloween tote bags now. Love to sew on a rainy day (also hot days, snows days, and beautiful days!)

Lots of Projects

Yesterday I went to the Pennsylvania National Quilt Show. It was a nice show and I bought a few small projects. I bought a Schnibbles quilt pattern and a Charm Pack to go with it. I bought a kit that makes 4 tree-shaped Christmas napkins. I bought some more fabric to make comfort caps for Brenda, and I bought a quilting stencil. The stencil if for a UFO. It is a Folded-fan quilt made by Donna Poster. I have quilted it "in the ditch" and now I am hand quilting a fan pattern in the plain blocks, with a pearl cotton. I think it is working out very nicely. I'll post a picture with this blog post when I have one block quilted. I also have fat quarters to make some Halloween goodie bags.

Love, Love, Love This Quilt

Because this quilt was a Block of the Month, I was willing to tackle something that I would probably never have taken on as an entire project. Each month, one of these beautiful Star blocks showed up in the mail and it was only a few hours to complete one. They were each so beautiful that I could not wait for the next one. After 12 months, I opened the "finishing kit" to find that there was one more LARGE star in the center, then a sashing with stars. By this time I was so excited to see the finished quilt that I worked on it until it was complete. Then I took it to Laurel Cook, an excellent Longarm quilter, and she quilted a custom design onto the quilt. Each block is quilted to match the pattern and the borders and sashing each have unique, custom quilting. I think she did a lovely job of bringing out all the details of the quilt. The Block of the Month is the 2009 Designer Mystery Block of the Month from the Fat Quarter Shop www.fatquartershop.com. The fabrics in the quilt are the Glace Collection from 3 Sisters by Moda.

Finished a Batik Pillow

I bought this batik fabric a couple of years ago at Hershey Quilt Odyssey. I thought that it would make a nice pillow, so I quilted around the design and made an envelope pillow case. Came out very well and very easy.

Well, I couldn't do it

My plan to do no sewing until after Labor Day did not pan out. One evening when there was nothing to do, nothing good on TV, and I didn't even have a good book to read, I decided that not sewing was a bad idea. So far this month, I've gone on two day trips, read several books, gone to the movie, did some cooking and gardening and gone to visit family, but there is still time for sewing. It seemed crazy to not allow myself to sew. So, I've finished a little "cheater" quilt. My sister wants this one, so I'll give it to her. I think it's very cute!

Batik Panel

I bought this Batik Panel at the Hershey show in 2008, I think. I never finished it until about two weeks ago, when I got it out and quilted it. I really love the way it turned out and now it is hanging in the powder room. Much better than laying in the UFO tub. It feels great to get things finished.

Quilting Vacation

I have decided to take a month off from sewing/quilting. I love it and become so obsessed with finishing things that I don't do other things in my life that I also love. I am going to read, visit friends, entertain, cook, see some movies, take walks, and other vacation activities. I have finished several projects before my hiatus and I'll post those pictures soon.