Christmas Gift

I've slowly been working on a few Christmas gifts.  This table runner is one that I showed a peek of a while ago.  It was my second free motion quilting project.   I was happy with how the quilting turned out.

I used some 5 inch charm squares from Wiccaset and Portebello Market both by Moda.  I thought the colors blended well.

If you wanted a plainer look I think you could turn it over and use it with the  other side up too.

I had it folded in my hand sewing bag waiting to get the binding finished so it wouldn't lay flat!  I hope the recipient likes it.

A Little Fabric Shopping

I belong to a Piecemaker's Club.  It is held at my favorite local quilt shop--Willowcreek Quilting and Gifts in Kalona.  It meets the first Wednesday and Saturday of the month.  Each month new fabric and patterns are shared along with members sharing things they have made.  I don't really know anyone who goes on Wednesday nights, but I enjoy going.  Anyone want to go with me???

Different projects are also offered.  I still don't have my first project completed, but that will be on my list after school is over for the summer.  This month we started a "Buck a Block" project.  It will be 12 blocks, so it will be a year before it is completed. I chose two fabrics to start with.  This one will be shades of my favorite color--purple.  I'll share pictures once the first block is done.  I have a hard time getting to the meetings, but the last two that I've been to I have won $10 each time sharing my things.  So, this week I spent the gift certificates, used a coupon and added a little of my own $$ to purchase a few things.

I have been admiring the Nature's Notebook by April Comell for Moda since it came out.  I'm not sure yet what I will do with it, but I had to have some!  The jelly roll is Strawberry Lemonade by Me and My Sister Designs for Moda.  The colors would make a great little girl quilt, or a springy wall hanging, table topper, table runner, etc.  I have also been wanting this purse pattern.  You will see me carrying one soon! (only in different colors for summer)  And then there is the table runners pattern.  I like making table runners.  Since I have been learning and trying more and more different patterns I like to do small projects.  That way I see a finish and know if I'm good enough for a certain design before I try something larger.

I also purchased my new sewing machine at this store.  When I bought it they mentioned a workbook that would be nice to have.  Of course it cost extra.  So, I bought it too.

I have studied poured over it and I know that I will be using this often!

I am headed to my sewing room right now to spend a few hours.  Yah!

Happy Birthday, Grandson #1!

Hard to believe, but Payton turned 9 on Thursday. I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday! He is a little farmer. He started identifying different brands of tractors as soon as he could first talk. He loves football, soccer, and wrestling. Payton is VERY social. He loves people and he loves to talk. He is a great big brother and a wonderful grandson.

Friday night Payton had some friends overnight. They all came down and had pizza, then we showed them a movie on the big screen at the high school. Bud pulled out the stadium seating and they thought they were in their own private theatre! The two younger boys did their best to keep up with the big boys.

I can't tell you what movie they watched as I was in front of the computer. You see, we bought Payton an MP3 player for his birthday. I wanted to download some music for him, so he could listen to it right away. The guy at the store said it was just drag and drop, but he was WRONG! First of all it wasn't compatible with my Mac. So, Tasha tried to download some and she couldn't get it. So while the boys watched the movie Trilby and I messed with it until we FINALLY got some music downloaded. Funny how something that can be so easy can take so long to figure out. I'm sure one of my fourth graders could have figured it out in a flash!

Next Sunday we will celebrate Payton and Grandpa Bud's birthdays along with Thanksgiving. Everyone will be here for dinner on Sunday.

Saturday we made a quick trip to Younkers for their big sale and then a quick trip to Joann's for supplies, then I spent the rest of the day and all day today sewing. Since I'm making Christmas gifts I can't show what I made. I will show you some fabric that I started with--two charm packs from Moda--Wiscasset and Portabello Market--and some fabric for the backing and binding from JoAnn's. With a little batting I completed two gifts with some charm squares left over! Now I need to figure out what I can do with those.

And here is sneak peak at a project. I used fat quarters from Joann's for this one.

I'll have to post all of the pictures once Christmas is over.

I also worked on a redo project, but for the life of me I couldn't find my rusty stars. Once I find them I can post a picture of that.

I have another busy week with conferences, tutoring, etc. Have a good one!

A Fall Table Runner For Me!!

So, I've been working on a fall table runner for myself. This time I decided to follow a pattern, something I don't do very much of. I usually just look at something and then make it the way I think it should be made. I decided I needed to learn to follow a pattern so I could move on to more complicated things. And I have joined a quilting group that meets once a month. For this group I have a pattern to follow.

Anyway, I bought the pattern and then splurged on the fabric. I used Gobble, Gobble by Sandy Gervais for Moda. I bought two charm packs and happily I have about 3/4 of one left over for another little project!

For the backing and binding I used Flowers and Berries Pumpkin from the Gobble, Gobble line.

I don't usually spend this much on fabric, but I have admired the Moda fabrics for a long time and this time I just decided to go for it!! Now, if I were to sell this no one would pay the price I'd need to have even if I didn't get paid for any time.

I learned two new things doing this project. I know it looks easy, but nevertheless I did learn! One thing that gave me some problems was the points. I just couldn't get them to seem to fit right. I had them all pinned on and repinned twice. I then decided to sew on the three at the end and then knew it wasn't right. So I went in to Willow Creek Quilting and Gifts where the Amish girl that works there(sorry, I can't remember her name) looked and looked at it. We finally decided that I should cut them down some. So back home I went to take them off again and cut them down. After sewing and pressing I still wasn't sure they were right, but I kept on going.

I machine quilted it again with just some straight stitching. I've tried the free motion quilting and I just can't get the hang of it. That's a goal for the future.

The next thing I learned was a new technique for cutting continuous bias binding. I followed directions(or so I thought), but I knew as I was cutting that it just wasn't going to work. So I went to youtube to find a video tutorial which helped tremendously. Again, back to the drawing board. Sure enough the

directions were right I just didn't follow them correctly.

Then I was ready to put the binding on. This again was a new experience. With the points I needed to stitch to each point, back stitch, clip threads, fold the binding over to make

mitered corners FOR EACH POINT!

Using bias binding works best for this because

it has some give to it.

All in all, it was a good learning experience, and I will probably use this pattern again.