A few more to wrap up the year

Since I was taking advantage of Margaret's great quilting services I decided to get a few old UFO's out to her. The problem was that none had backing and some still needed work.

Determined to get her the quilts before the New Year I dragged Brenda and GP, who were here on vacation to my local (30 minute away) quilt shop to pick up some 108" backing for 3 quilts. It was a partial success since I got full backings for 2 of the tops and yardage to piece another backing.

I found a wonderful cranberry textured fabic for the Stack n Whack with lattice sashing you see here:

I made this one when I got bit by the Stack n Whack bug back in 2000.

I think every quilt I made that year was designed by Bethany Reynolds.

I found a wonderful Purple fabric that I had to piece to back this other Stack n Whack. I was a bit nervous sending this one out since I am a bit superstitious and I had designated this top for my daughter's house - seeing that she is not yet married I had issues finishing it before she could use it (it has a jungle theme and very much a child's quilt)

Here is an old pic I found of a Show n Tell before I had added the borders (That's me in the White shirt), you can see the fabric yardage on the seat next to me.

Finally, I had to add a border to this old mariner's compass quilt (also designed by Bethany in the book Stars a'la Carte) before I could get it out the door.

I had kept the background fabric tucked away for 9 years becasue I knew the piece needed a border and I had to use the same fabric. I actually did not think the borders would make such a difference and was amazed that it did.

The piece just looks... finished!

Margaret sent me a sneak peek at the quilting on this one and it's going to look fabulous!

I also added the binding for a small Wallhanging Brenda wanted me to finish for her. She put in the final stitches while here.
So in total I pieced two backings (one for the Pumpkin Patch and another for It's a Jungle out there), Added sashing to one quilt (The Pumpkin Patch), bound two quilts (the RWB and The Pumpkin Patch), added a binding to a Wallhanging and added borders to the Mariner's Compass piece. Add to this the help I gave to my daughter in getting her quilts ready to be sent to Margaret and it was a busy month in the quilting dept.

I think I'm ready for 2010!! Bring it on!!

It was a Quilty Christmas

Another quilt that was given this year was The Red White and Blue. This one had been completed back in August, but I had not gotten around to quilting the piece.

I sent it off to Margaret Gunn and she had it back to me in time to bind it and give it to my sister, Jessica before she went off to PR for the holidays.

Here it is bound and ready for it's new owner:

I put a flannel backing to it since Jessica's biggest complaint is that it's not warm enough.

I used some left over charm packs to join the backing

And make the binding..

Margaret did an all over pattern with some Stars thrown in which was exactly my vision for this quilt. After a quick wash the stars became scruffy giving it a more cuddly feel.

I love this one. I'm sure it will be well used.

First finish of the month was weeks ago...

I just never got around to posting about it. I was actually planning on going lite on my quilting this month because I had tons of work to do but it seems I was able to squeeze in more quilting than I had thought and the first thing out the door was the Gobble Gobble project that I was keeping under wraps.

The Pumpkin Patch was started a few months ago with a few Charm packs of the Gobble Gobble line by Sandy Gervais. Fell in love with this line back in the summer and I knew someone that would enjoy a quilt made from this fabric.

I decided on doing a disappearing nine patch using the design Rachel made over at The Moda Bake Shop.

Back in November I had pieced all the blocks and cut the sashing.

This month I added the final sashing  and completed the top.

Well, if the quilt was to be a Christmas present I had to get moving on the quilting and I was not feeling very quilty (I hate quilting the top!). After a few days I realized there was no way that this one was getting quilted for Christmas and since it wasn't going to get to it's home on time I decided to have someone else quilt it or me.

The problem with getting in queue for a quilting service is that the waiting lists are so long. But I just luck out!
Perusing my bloggy friends I came across a post by Bingo Bonnie, a fellow Texan that had a quilt recently quilted by Margaret Gunn from Mainely Quilts of Love. The work looked great and Bonnie mentioned that she was taking in quilts for prompt quilting. Not just that but she was having an introductory special during the months of November and December. When I emailed Margaret, she was available to quilt the piece and she was going to get it back to me by Christmas!! OMG! I was soo excited!

Not only did the quilt arrive in time...

I sent her just a rough picture of the pumpkins I was thinking about using as a pattern and she incorporated it in the quilting.

The quilt was beautifully finished with an overall pattern that gave it the look I had in my mind

 Here is another pics of the quilting...

 

 I bound it with some extra yardage I picked up on my last trip to my favorite Pumpkin Patch.

 

 Brenda who was visiting Texas with GP this Christmas was able to take it home to snuggle under it during her long New England winter.

Although the special introductory sale is gone with the new year her prices are still very low and her work looks wonderful!! you can find her info and prices on her blog, Her regular website does not reflect her online pricing, you can find that on her blog.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Last weekend we bit the bullet and got out the holiday decorations. My nephew and sister will be spending Christmas with us and she called earlier in the week to make sure we had our Xmas tree up by the time she arrived. It seems my nephew, who is autistic, wanted her to pack her tree for the trip over...uuum..she lives in New Hampshire. He would be mighty upset if there was no Christmas tree out and ready when he arrives on Tuesday. So we put our back to it and put up the tree.

The worst part of the process are stringing the lights so this year I strung the lights in sections so that I could pull the tree apart come January and leave the lights on. Next year it will be a breeze.

The best part.. Pulling out the decorations.

Some pieces are heirlooms, like this candy cane which decorated my parent's tree for many years before mom decided to go with a more stylized look and was going to discard these childhood memories. I snatched them up and was lucky that everyone thought they were an eyesore and no one wanted them. I have a piece of all my Christmas pasts hanging on the tree every year and they have now become a piece of my daughter's Christmas past.

There were several Gingermen in the same collection.

Since my daughter was born I have always put up a Christmas tree and every year we try to add an ornament or two. They can get donated from friends or get hand made but every one is cherished and gets a chance to hang on the tree.

My daughter has taken over decorating the tree over the last few years.

She does a great job but she hates the stringing of the lights too.

She was telling me that she needed to avoid certain ornaments to keep her sanity.

Like these:

This nativity scene has pieces no larger than an inch in height with the baby spans no more than 1/2 an inch. The problem is not so much the size but the fact that it's a nativity scene and she feels compelled to recreate it on the tree. It's no easy feat to find so many branches together so that the scene remains intact. This year, the mini ornaments took a rest and did not make it to the tree.

Most of the ornaments made it on the tree this year before we put the Garlands up.

We do a few wooden garlands before putting some wiry stars in place.

Then a bit of tinsel and finally the star.

Definitely a fun time putting up the tree this year. Our Nativity set gets laid down but baby Jesus doesn't show up until Xmas morning. It's my way of keeping focus on what Christmas is all about. I had done this for many years but it wasn't until a few years ago that my daughter (then 19) realized that the baby was missing from the mangier (sp?). She went nuts! Thought Pepper (our small dog) had eaten it and we would now have to run to the vet with her. We had a good laugh out of that one.

Anyway, the decorating isn't finished yet, we are waiting for our own interior decorator to arrive on Tuesday with GP and Pepper, who now lives with them, so she can put the final touches to the place. Can't wait!!

December's to do and looking toward 2010

I honestly don't know what I'll be completing this month. It's Christmas, it's the busiest time of year at work and we are getting some special guests this month that I want to enjoy; so I don't want to firmly commit myself and yet I have several Must Do items on my list.

First is wrapping things up on my Gobble Gobble quilt.

With all the blocks completed and the sashing all cut, it's just a matter of just sewing it all together. I expect this one to be completed with no problem.

I also have a binding to put on a wallhanging that Brenda made. I already cut the binding and just need to attach it. It's a sample for the shoppe and she has a generic pic on the site right now but I must say, that pic doesn't do it justice. 

I decided not to join my Schnibbles group this month. They are making Tuffets and with other things on my plate, I decided to skip this month. I'll be back for sure next month since I am loving how the Schnibbles give that immediate gratification that sometimes we miss.

Now just because I'm taking it easy this month doesn't mean I'm not thinking about things to come! Yup 2010 is around the corner and I'm already commited to several more months of Schnibbles. But also I'm thinking of making a few of Miss Rosie's bigger projects....

Like this True Blue Pattern I fell in love with in Houston!

I also bought a few other of her patterns recently and posted about it in November. I'd like to make at least 6 of these quilts in 2010. I originally thought I'd make one a month but there are sooo many beautiful quilts out there I have to give myself some wiggle room to make a few others. Like this one:

Yup. I just finished collecting all the red prints I'll be using for this quilt. I plan on picking up the background for it this weekend. I couldn't find the background used in this picture (out of print Moda?) but I found a great cream paisely print from Kim Diehl's Molly's Meadow collection. I hope they still have it at the local quilt shop.

I also have a few quilts I'm eyeing from my stash of American Patchwork and Quilting Magazines...

These could keep me busy for several YEARS!

Anyway, I'll post more details on my projects come January, I'm just jumping ahead of myself.

Oh! I also have to get ready for my quilt retreat in January! Need to decide on my project and cut my fabric so that come the time, all I need to do is sit and sew!

I want a Cowboy...

My quilt guild is having a potluck later this month and those with surnames in the I-P sections are charged with making main dishes. So I was off to find an interesting dish for my fellow Texas quilters. what other place would I go but to visit my trusty friend The Pioneer Woman. Is she your friend too?

Everytime I go to her site I want to go visit her and find me a cowboy like her Marlboro Man.

Yeah, if you look at it down to the nitty gritty details you would say "No Way!!" but the simple life, where hard work and dirt under your nails is the norm... Well...  I think I would love that.

So today I'm adding a Cowboy to my wishlist. Hey, I already live in Texas!