Finished!

  All four toppers are now done.  To the right is a picture of when I finished piecing the tops.  And to the left is a pictures of the backs after the binding was done.                                                         

                    

Backing # 1 - My Favorite.

                                      

Backing # 2 - I used this on 2 of the toppers.



Backing # 3.



Quiet Night

It was a quiet and restful evening.  I finished the binding on one more table topper. On to the last one!

Still Binding

Yes, I'm still hand stitching the binding down on the third topper.  It's almost done and then there will be only one left!

One More

I went to the Omaha Quilt Guild's meeting last night and saw Colleen Wise.  Her quilts are amazing.  Check them out here:  http://colleenwise.com/ 

It was funny how it worked out.  My friend Patti is working on her class reunion and sent a message to Colleen.  Colleen told her she would be in Omaha on March 8 to speak.  So Patti called me and we decided to go.  Loved her quilts. As she said, "We have our hands all over our quilts."  And that is one of the reasons that she has used the hand motif so much in her quilting.

I also have one more table topper done, only two more to go.

Binding

I have all of the bindings sewn onto the table toppers and have started to hand stitch.  I have been doing some more thinking about the spool of thread that was bad and I have thrown it out.  I decided it won't be good for hand sewing either, so to the curb it's going!  I did add  these to the bin as I won't try and use them in the sewing machine.  I may come across some more that don't have much left and will add those too. 

I am really getting into the Spring Cleaning/Organizing mood. I 'm going to start cleaning out drawers and see what has been stashed.  (A old habit that I'm trying to change.)

Amazing

It is amazing the progress I am making on my quilting now that I have good thread.  I completed the quilting on one more topper and have half of the second one done.  Hope to have pictures later.


Update, I had to go get even more thread, but I now have them all quilted and am making binding for them.  So far this year, I have now used up all of my Valentine fabric (with my kingsize quilt) and St. Patrick's Day fabric!

Where Does The Time GO???

Some nights seem like they are long and other nights, the time is gone before I know it.  Last night was like that and it seems that tonight is following along.  I did some quilting on my table toppers last night and also did some embroidery.  And before I knew it, the evening was over.  Tonight seems to be following the same pattern.  Did some quilting and some embroidery and I still have some chores to get done before bed.  I think I move in slow motion any more.  But I guess, slow and steady wins the race. 

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. 

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.

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.