Where in the world....

....is I Quilt for Fun?

Good question.  And an even better question when I look at the last two weeks, is what have I been doing? At first, I thought -- nothing.  Then I decided it was more than nothing but two weeks of retirement is a lot of "free time" -- even with a part-time volunteer job.

1.  I have finally quilted this behemoth.  Hurray -- and the binding is sewn on -- just not sewn down.  So good to see Sadie Gammill again.

2.  I have been to Chicago to see dear friends.  Don't you love how quilting acquaintances morph over time into lifelong friends?  I'll be heading back at the end of the month to celebrate the naturalization of one of those chickies -- but will have a trip to Toronto to get in before that.

3.  I have started to learn to needle felt.  Thus far -- I have managed to make this cute "itsy bitsy" pincushion that has a center of incredible alpaca -- donated by my friend at Talotam Hollow.

4. I have quilted this darling quilt on Ethel Handiquilter.  It's a small twin and I have at least started sewing down the binding on it.  Love "ama's" generosity!

 5. I have started (and am halfway done with) a reading plan to read the New Testament in 30 days.

6. I have quilted one donation quilt for the hospital and made two other donation baby quilts that need quilting.

7. Somehow, I have managed to make a complete and total mess of my quilting room -- I mean a mess! I decided to adopt two rather large bags of scraps that were being auctioned at our local guild in order to raise money for Salvation Army Angel tree.  I am not sure why I think I have to save all the scraps in the world.  Some of these will go to Goodwill -- but you have to go through all of them and salvage what you can!

8. I've managed to watch a little of the US Open -- not nearly enough to suit me.  I'm hoping next week will bring more time to enjoy the last major of the season.  The downside is that this requires listening to John McEnroe and Brad Gilbert commentate (pontificate).  Sometimes I am sure my ears are going to bleed if they keep talking!

9. Last - and certainly not least, I spent one HOT HOT HOT day in the garage in order to make some tough decisions, organize a bunch of stuff, move a few things in the house that need further attention -- all because it was time to get Mr Iquiltforfun's car in the garage -- it has been almost two years since we moved and it seemed like time!  We did it!

I hope you have all kinds of fun things planned for this long US holiday and next week -- can't wait to see where the winds of creativity blow.  How about you?

Jan

Who would have thought?

Seriously, who would have thought that I would miss binding a quilt?

I just realized I have not put a binding on a quilt since December last year.  At least by hand.  I machine bound the two donation quilts each month. And I've missed it.

I have a lot of tops that are ready to be quilted (I counted at least 8 without giving it much thought).  That probably means there are more.  I know that's not many to most of you, but it makes me a little nuts to keep making tops and not finishing them.

Sadie (the Gammill that lives with MacQuilts) is in the midst of a home renovation and should come out of wraps soon.  I'll be anxious to get to Chicago and see friends -- and Sadie!

But, because of the generous spirit of a quilting friend, I have had the opportunity to use her HQ16 and get my feet wet with a bit of longarming. I have not done any since November! Some things come back to you -- some things take a bit longer.  I played around with a mystery quilt top that I am sick of and forced myself to finish. It's big.  It's heavy.  And it's QUILTED.  It will get a machine binding and be ready for donation when the need arises.  And it will be done!

Once I played around with Ethel (the HQ16) and got the hang of her, it was time to "go live" with a quilt I cared about. As an aside, Ethel is a sister to Lucy (a bigger HQ that lives with in the same home).  How wonderful is that -- two long arm machines!  One computerized and fancy and one a good reliable machine.  But I digress.....

Baby C's quilt is finished!  Quilted.  Bound.  And delivered - before she was!

I hope you are getting a chance to finish a project and smiling as a result of it.  I also hope you are as lucky as I am to have so many generous quilting friends.  Aren't they the best?

Jan

Done ... and done!

Another finish!  YIPPEE!  This is the wedding quilt that I fussed about in an earlier post.  This was a case of procrastination -- pure and simple.

 I'm thrilled to say the wedding quilt is bound, labeled, wrapped, and delivered.  Out of my house and off my list.  Considering they were married in mid-October, it's not exactly early.  But it's done and hopefully the bride will love it.  Her favorite season is fall and her color palette is autumnal.

 

This is from American Patchwork and Quilting (one of my absolute favorite quilting magazines!).  When I saw the cover and considered what fabric I had with me in our temporary living apartment, this was just what the doctor ordered.

I was able to get it assembled and made a quick trip to Chicago to visit friends and take advantage of one friend's generosity with her Gammill.  This one (and three others) were quilted in two days and then home I came since Thanksgiving was the following week and there were more boxes in the house to unpack (or hide).

I used a faux Minkee backing since winter is upon us here in the states.  Note to self (and all other quilters out there):  watch for after Christmas sales of "blankets".  About three years ago (or longer) we cleaned out Linen's N Things (about a year prior to their going out of business) when they had "blankets" on sale for about $12-15 dollars.  They were king sized and were two huge pieces of faux Minkee (not fleece) that were bound together. All we had to do was cut the binding off and we had two huge pieces of plush fabric with no seams.  I have two left and always keep my eyes out for sales at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Wal-Mart, K-Mart or any other home store that might be clearing out their bedding section.  They make a huge mess when you cut them apart (best done outdoors if you can) but it's so worth it.

I hope you're finding time to piece and finish any holiday projects looming over your head!  Jan