Merry Christmas to Me

My house is not in the least decorated yet for Christmas. No tree yet. No outside lights. No stockings. My husband's too quick to remind me that the wreath that hangs outside the front door, which had Easter eggs on it (gasp!) was only taken down 3 weeks ago. I am vowing to make after Christmas easier by not over-decorating this year. But I have pulled out a mini quilt I made 1-2 years ago which I really like -- my Kaffe version of a partridge & a pear tree. And I have done the almost unthinkable at this time of year. I have decided to keep a table runner that I actually made for someone as a gift! Oh, Eeee Gads - this is awful, isn't it??! I just got it almost finished, and decided it was time for the quiltmaker to actually have a nice quilt too.
All the fabrics were bought (well, selected - Handi Quilter actually did the buying!) in Utah on my Handi Quilter retreat. They are all Asian prints with a gilding. Generally this type fabric does not appeal to me a whole lot, but when I finished the runner, I decided it looked holiday-formal, and that it should stay right here in my home. Afterall, next year we will have that nice, new dining room table to put it on. Plus it reminds me of that fantastic & magical trip. This year it is on my smaller buffet because the dang table is covered with Thermodynamics crap (and the usual fabrics!).

The quilting is simple, so as to let the fabrics be the focal. I copied part of the design I used for the mini wall quilt to use on this runner. I love the minimalist look which does not just scream Christmas. That's handy since I'm not diligent about removing those pesky holiday decorations right after the holiday!

I still have a pear stem, a bird's beek & eye to applique on, but it is mostly finished.

Here's a peek at the back. I couldn't bring myself to using the gorgeous Asian print for the backing, where the quilting wouldn't really show. It's just a brown Bella solid I had.

Now, this is causing quite a stir because I now have another person that I will have to shop for, and we all know how much I HATE to shop, especially now that winter is really here.

Another of Santa's offerings have come a little early this year too. OK, "he knows when you've been bad or good"...so no lies. I went shopping and opted to stock my stocking early myself (a wise woman never leaves this job to her husband or she'll get only kitchen gadgets and underwear!). There. I have purchased a few new templates. There are 2 rulers for making the cathedral windows for my Italian floor quilt (and just because I have really wanted some of these !!), and the other one is also for the same quilt, and to make insanely little circles...or curved cross-hatching that actually results in perfect little circles!

After not receiving any comments a few posts ago when I said I was adding yellow and orange flowers to this quilt, I assumed that the rest of the quilty world thought I was just nuts, and that you were too polite to say so. As you can see, I have mostly finished the addition of these flowers, and have done some pencil coloring on them to add lighter areas to the petals to give the flowers some dimension. I will shade the darker areas, and make petal definition with stitching.
I plan to add a few tendrils in a brighter green for the flowers, and perhaps add a flower bud or two on each corner. But you get the general idea...

My initial thoughts are mixed. I definitely love the added flowers, but know that this will be a total pain in the ass to quilt! The best things in life are always a double-edged sword.

Now I need to investigate whether I can still scallop the edge of this quilt, or if I have appliqued too close to make this feasible.

Think Spring

It was a frigid 1F this morning. Today seems a bit late, but then rather appropriately cold day to show the table runner (17"x44") I made for my mother-in-law for Christmas. It was from a Moda pack of charm squares Lisa gave me last summer. I had originally wanted to do something for myself with them. I really love the butterflies and tulips, but it was crunch time in December and I really needed a Christmas present too.
The quilting is overly simple, almost insultingly so. I should have done it on the longarm, but wanted to use the varaigated King Tut thread I had, and had never tried this on the longarm. Blah, blah, blah, long story, I opted to simply stipple it on the domestic machine. Only a good quilter would know what it could have been.

Not sure if my feeble embroidery shows, but under the birdies (which my MIL loves to watch), it reads "Think Spring".

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I have had a steady stream of quilts to finish up in late December and this month. I did this one, despite not having a good picture of it. The T-shirt quilts are challenging, kind of like quilting a slinky. Once you get it pinned to the leader, it just pulls back in. I wanted to scream ! Takes a bit of TLC to get to lay flat and square. On the plus side, I did not have to do anything complicated for the quilting so it did quilt reasonably fast.

The rest of these are quilts I have done for other people. The brown one was tedius, and made per the customer's request. I tried my darndest to talk her out of parallel stripes, but she didn't want to budge. They weren't easy. I'm not sure what is up with the raw edge "bits" down that stripe, but I think they are supposed to get scruffy when it is washed. It does have an interesting texture :-)

Here's a fun child's kaleidoscope quilt all in jungle animals. It quilted up cute with the gold thread and the swirls. The backing is purple so the quilting shows nicely.

And another quilt belonging to the lady who owns the brown stripes quilt...She requested this swirling cloud all-over pattern that I freehand. It is in a variagated rainbow thread.

My week has been crazy. My class started Monday. It always takes a couple weeks to get the students engaged and really working, but my schedule has resumed. No more lazy holiday mornings. I started an online class running for the next 3 weeks "Quilt Wisperer" taught by Carla Barrett aka Feathered Fibers. It'll be humbling I am certain, but I hope to look at quilts and how I may quilt them differently. If you look at some of her quilts, you'll drool for sure though!

I have also made up a sample of some things I can quilt for a local quilt shop. They won't refer me to clients until they see this. Nothing like buying and "wasting" 8 yards of fabric just to impress/show one person! OK, sarcasm aside, it was a pain to squeeze this into the current schedule, but it will come in handy to show clients what the many patterns can look like on ugly tan fabric. To better show what I am up to as a longarmer, I have also pieced some swap blocks into a top and have quilted away at this for the last 2 days. It has different quilting for each block, and pretty sashings and a feathery border. I will show this to the shop too (when it is off the frame!!). That is tomorrow's task: finish it. Then I have 2 Crayola Challenge quilts to quilt, one which I have, and one which is due to arrive Friday. Can you say "They both must be done by next week"??? Yikes!

Time to run and do kid pick up, dinner, and all that other yucky stuff which fills my days.

Some Christmas Projects

I couldn't show these before Christmas for fear that the recipients may see them. And it is kind of a no-brainer who they were for if they happenned to see them.

This is my neice Alyssa, with her new fairy quilt. I did her a pillowcase for her birthday in November, but I don't think she had any idea a quilt was in the works. It's bright. BRIGHT. I had a local woman, Mary Dacey, do the machine quilting so that I'd ensure it'd be finished in time.
My mom got the 60" table runner, as requested back in the early summer. I don't think she expected it though. Perhaps nobody really expected that I actually listened when they subtley made requests. Her runner has 8 matching dark blue napkins too. I learned that the mitred corners look great and are not that hard to do. Use the iron! The fabrics are some great ones I got at a local quilt shop. It's hand quilted too.

Here's a picture of a table runner I did and sent to somebody. It was a big quandry whether to actually give this one away or not. The piecing took a long time and is exactingly perfect, if I do say so myself. I love the Provincial style fabrics. In the end, I let my husband decide if we kept this or gave it away (actually, he chose between this runner and another I was working on and have of course NOT finished!). I am really bummed, which sucks because it's not at all in the spirit of Christmas, but the recipient of this lovely runner sent us something with no appeal whatsoever, and just like every past year, has yet to even say thank you. Oh well, next year this runner will be for me!

My brother met his wife when his submarine stopped in Japan, 10 years ago. The sub was enroute to home port in Hawaii. She was working civil service on a Navy base there doing occupational therapy. Within a year they came back stateside and begun planning a wedding. Since about 2000, they have been living in either NY or CT, and we have visited frequently. We watched as they had 2 girls, that are now 4 and 6. At the end of this month, they are being transferred to Italy for 2 years. She used to travel a lot before they married. So, for my brother & sister-in-law, I made these placemats and napkins in pretty Japanese fabrics, to help remind them of where they have come from, as they venture out into their new life. I just love how they came out. The napkins are in the parasol Geisha girl fabric. There is also a table centerpiece that I failed to get a picture of that is a hexagon with the parasol girls that is done like a kaleidoscope. Real cool. I was kind of in a funk on Christmas and did not get pictures. That's a pitfall to my character...I love to make the great presents but the holiday itself stresses me out so that I cannot really enjoy it. I often just get frustrated and upset that other people do not put the forethought into presents that I do. That's life...

Ask Hubby?

I did what I probably shouldn't have done. I asked my husband which of the 2 runners he liked best, without his knowing who the other would be given to.

He, of course, chose the one I wanted to finish & give away for us to keep.

Hmm...or more appropriately, Humphhfff!

I quilted and added the binding to the more French-looking runner, but still think that I may hurry & finish the other one too. Feeling a bit nostalgic about the choice, I think I want to make my final selection with completed projects.

5 weeks to go (or 4 since this must be mailed) and at least 4 other projects needing completion, I really ought to get off this computer and work/sew!!

Need Advice

I have been doing a lot of sewing of Christmas presents lately. Pardon the lack of blogging, but I have not wanted the potential recipients to see what they may get. I have one item, though to share. Last Sunday I got up 2 hours before my house normally rises to finish this table runner.

It's not the best picture, but the fabrics are lovely, and it has a French Provential feel. Upon completing it, I immediately fell in love and almost decided I'd keep it for myself. It matches our dining room really well. OK, so now I'm back one step on getting ready for Xmas.

Step 2: Redesign another runner for this person. Here's what I have so far. It still needs to have a few more leaves and the flowers appliqued on. Again, a bad picture but you can get the idea. The flowers will be shades of cranberry and plum.

So here's my delimma...Which do I keep and which do I give away???