Sandwiched

I got the other three toppers sandwiched and all of them have been stitched in the ditch.  Tomorrow comes the fun part, quilting shamrocks. :-)

One Totally Down and Three To Go

I got the binding all sewn down on table topper number one.  It was snowing lightly and I had the gas fireplace turned on.  All cosy and warm, so nice.  It was one of those moments I dream about when I'm in the middle of work or some other project that has to be done. 

Thursday and Friday

I'm playing a little catch up as I didn't blog for a couple of days, even tho I was working on my toppers.
Thursday I went to the fabric store and bought backing fabric for two of the toppers.  I only had enough large pieces for two. (I know, it's pushing it to say that my 15 minutes was shopping for fabric, but that is what I had to do.) 
Friday night I made binding and did got it sewn on one topper and started hand stitching it down.  I wish I had all day to work on my projects, but work just keeps getting in my way. Plus this week I have had a cold, so I wasn't as focused as I would like.  I did a lot of early to beds and not much sewing.

New Church Quilt

A group of us met at the home of a fellow quilter, Carol, and started sewing our new quilt for this Fall.  Every Fall there is a quilt auction to raise money for Missions.  So we are making another Nickel Quilt from the "More Nickel Quilts" book.  It is the one featured on the front of the book.  These scrap quilts turn out so neat with the the different fabrics we use.  Next month I'll be sure to take my camera to get some pictures for you.

Cutting

Since I finished the one table topper, I spent today cutting up the leftover backing into squares and strips.  I also have trimmings leftover from my king-size quilt and I sat and ripped out stitching so I could cut that into squares.  I didn't want to add those items to my scrap bag of cutting.  I've been trying to cut up leftovers as I go. Part of my attempt to be more organized.

Relaxing Sunday

It's been a rainy, relaxing Sunday.  I went to church, worked on my table topper.  Then my husband and I went to the Durham Museum in Omaha, NE.  We went to see the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition.  It was very interesting.  We also poke around the permanent exhibits.  We came back home and I finished quilting the 1st table topper. On to the next three.

More Quilting

In the end, I decided not to take the shamrock out.  I am doing them in the outside border in addition to the corners.  I didn't think you could see the stitching very well, so I set the template on top so you would have an idea.  Quilting on these lines are taking me a lot longer than I would like, but I am liking the way it looks.  I think only this one is going to be quilted this way.  The others I'm going to do the shamrock in the corner and meander the borders.

Quilting

So I've been trying to come up with some design for my table toppers.  I used the 4 leaf clover design in the center of the topper and traced it on template plastic.  I then quilted this design in the center of one of the corner blocks.  I tried using it in the outer border and I don't like it.  So I am in the process of taking out that stitching and I think I just use a meander stitch in those borders.  I think I'll like that better. 

Back On Track

My routine has been out of whack the past couple of days.  First we had company on Tuesday.  I couldn't very well ask them to wait while I did 15 minutes of sewing. (Although the thought did cross my mind.)  And last night I'm blaming on the weather.  We have had beautiful days with 50 to 60 degree heat.  It was hard to put my mind to sewing.

Tonight I'm back on track.  I did my stitch in the ditch quilting on the table topper.  Still trying to decide what else to do.  In the mean time I'm going to get the other 3 toppers set to quilt and stitch in the ditch on them.  I'm sure by then they will be telling me what else they need.

One Sandwiched

I have one of the table toppers sandwiched and ready to quilt.  Now I'm trying to decide how I want to quilt it.  I am going to do some stitch in the ditch and then......?  I don't know.  I'm going to surf the net a while to see if I can come up with any ideas. 

Two More Done

Finished two more table toppers this afternoon.  Looking at these as blocks, with the right fabric, these would make up into a great baby quilt. Or, with a few more, a nice throw.  Now onto the next step, sandwiching and quilting.

Quilt Day

Last night I worked on my table topper and today was Quilt Day for Quilts From The Bluffs.  I cut out two quilts.  We had a great lunch of shredded beef sandwiches.  It's been a fun day and the day isn't even over!

Sewing

My sewing tonight is unrelated to quilting.  My husband and I are going to a fundraiser Saturday night and I had to work on project for it.  We are decorating a snow woman and I had to add some ribbons to a couple of items we will be using on her.

Birthdays

Birthdays when you are young are so exciting.  As you age, they seem to come around too fast.  I have to share my birthday card from my grandson.  It looks like he had a fun time making it since he used stickers, stamps and markers.

I received some fun quilting books from my husband.  Quilting/sewing tonight will be checking out the new books. ;-)

Schedules

My schedule was different tonight.  I normally get my hair cut right after work, but I missed my appointment last Monday due to weather.  So it was rescheduled for tonight at 6:30.  Came home from work and did some sewing on the bonus block I showed you last night.  Then left for my appointment.  Back home and I'm not sure how much more I'll get done.  Oh well, at least I got something done.

Bonus

I have an added bonus from making two table toppers.  I had all of these half square triangles left from the flying geese blocks.  I think I might make another table topper with this.  I'll just add a border.  Or two.  Or not. I'll see what happens.

Another Topper

I made a second St. Patrick's Day table topper today.  I know I have a couple more kits that I have purchased and I can't find them in my stash. I'm on a mission to find them as they go together very fast.  Wish me luck!

Another Confession

I have another confession, I didn't do my 15 minutes yesterday.  But I did lots today to make up for it! 

First, this morning I went with my friend Jeanine to A Quilting Place http://aquiltingplaceomaha.com/
and I signed up for a class, as this is the year I am BONDING with my long arm quilting machine.  I have dabbled at it, this is the year I get serious.

Then I came home and finished piecing this table topper using a pattern from Prairie Star Quilts.  I decided that my St Patrick's Day fabric has been in my stash long enough and it was time for it to become something.

UPDATE:  I see that I have one block sewn in wrong. Guess who is ripping and resewing?

UPDATE #2:  It's all fixed and ready to go.  I lucked out on where this happend, I didn't have to rip the whole block apart.

New Project

Yesterday I started a new project, a table topper for St. Patrick's Day.  I took this picture and I hate the way the white background turns yellow.  (I forgot to turn on my true color lamp.)  I cut out some more pieces tonight to go with this.  I love the Internet, I found the four leaf clover in free clip art. The bonus, it was just the right size.

IT"S DONE!!!!!!!!!

 Here are the first pictures.  Notice how nicely it covers the box spring on the king-size bed?  And how it wraps around the pillows?  

And a close up of some of the fabrics.  I have AmandaJean at
http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/ to thank for this wonderful project.  Check out her tutorial for the ragged squares quilt.

I feel kind of lost now that this is all done......

Computer Illiterate

This is the front

This is the back.

 Worked on my binding today since we had a snow day.  I'm almost done! 

I did take a little time to make this mug rug as I wanted to enter in "Sew I Quilt" blog's mug rug contest.  BUT, being the computer illiterate that I am, I couldn't figure out how to get my photo to her.  You can't just add it to her Flickr set and I couldn't find any button on her blog on how to contact her.  So I'm sharing this with you and then I'm going to go make some hot chocolate and enjoy it!  (The mug rug is reversible.)