TABLE RUNNER & HAND QUILTING

I need a break from cleaning bathrooms, so I thought I would do a post. I finished this table runner this week. It is the same as the one I made for my desk, only I added a blue border to make it a little bigger. This can be my patriotic table runner for the summer. I love the inner red border with the little airplanes on it. I got it because DS#3 is a pilot in the USAF. I want to make Jonah something out of the fabric - maybe a bib. I don't know what else I could make for him with what I have left over.

Last night I started the hand quilting on my tumbler quilt. I decided to try fan quilting and I think I like it. This will be my TV watching project for a while with other projects in between.
You can see the backing fabric in the lower left corner. It's not the prettiest, but it looks like reproduction and it was cheap (I think it was $2/yd!!!). This will probably be a wall hanging, so it won't show anyway.

I am marking as I go, kind of. I am following Tonya's tutorial for fan quilting. I am using round canning seal for marking the smallest curve and then using my little finger measurement to roughly mark the following curves as Tonya suggests in her tutorial. I like it that she says it doesn't have to be perfect! Hee Hee! I'm not very good at perfect! I'm using brown quilting thread. I debated using beige or gold, but the brown looked best.

Don't do too much cleaning over the weekend!! I won't, I'm sure!

MEMORIAL DAY

Remembering those who have died in the service of our country and for freedom.
Thinking about our son serving in the middle east right now and praying for his safe return. He just missed his baby's first birthday.
Hoping that all the others who are serving will be safely returned home as well.

GRANDBABIES AND FIRST BOM

Jonah turned one yesterday! Unfortunately, he's in Wisconsin. I think he liked the cake!
Abigail gets her first meal of mashed carrots! What a cutie!! Unfortunately, she lives in Florida!
Here's my first BOM. It was from a quilt shop in Arlington, TX, that is out of business. The fabrics are all Thimbleberries. A friend of mine and I participated in this BOM - it was the kind where you pay $5 for the first month, and if you bring the completed block back the next month, you get it for free. It was a number of years ago, so I don't really remember how much I actually paid for the blocks. I sewed this together in sections, quilted the sections and then sewed the sections together and slip stitching the backing together. I decided that I didn't like this method of quilting. This was the biggest quilt that I had every quilted by machine - and I think it still is the biggest. It's twin size.
Here is a small runner I made for this desk. I have been wanting to make something for this desk for a long time! It might be my only finish for May. I have lots of WIPs though. Hee Hee!
I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and appreciate the sacrifice of many for our freedoms.

FIVE (?!?) BOMS

I can't believe I'm participating in FIVE BOMs now. Here are the some that I just completed:
Gail Pan's Christmas BOM, Willowberry's stitchery BOM...

Below are the first 2 months from the LQS Just Stitchin's BOM. They are doing it in brights and pastels, so I joined both of them!!! The fifth one is "A Tisket, A Tasket" which I haven't done for this month yet. Before I started blogging, I had only participated in one BOM at a LQS and it took me a long time to get that quilt finished. (I'll have to post a picture next time). It always seemed so hard to do a block a month. But now, it seems a lot easier. I guess I get lots of motivation from other bloggers. Thanks, everyone!
My DH had hernia surgery a week ago and I have spent a lot of time stitching while he lies in bed recuperating. I stitched 3 of these flag quilts. I still have to put the border on before I can sandwich them. I also made 2 small log cabin table runners, which I forgot to take pictures of (next post).
I have been working on this tumbler charm quilt for a while and I am going to add one more row to what you see below. It measures 38" by 36" now. I'm going to hand quilt it since it is all hand pieced. Any ideas on quilting designs? I was thinking of simply stitching 1/4" inside of each seam. Another idea would be the fan quilting. What do you think?
This is a cross stitched quilting picture that I did before I really got involved in actual quilting, but was thinking about it a lot.
Another weekend almost gone! How come they're so short???

I REMEMBER MAMA AND DADDY

I was thinking about both of my parents more than usual this week, because Daddy's birthday was May 7, and of course, today is Mother's Day. Both of my parents were born in 1911 and they were married for 65 years. Daddy was almost 90 when he went home to be with the Lord, and Mama was 92.

Do any of you remember watching the TV show in the 50's "I Remember Mama?" That was my Mom's favorite show at that time, probably mostly because we are Norwegian. It would be fun to see some of those episodes again, but I don't think they are available.

Mama loved to embroider and these are a set of pillowcases she made, but never used or gave away. We found them in her drawer after she died.
Look at all that satin stitching!! I would never want to do this pattern because I'm not very good at satin stitching. And the edging is all hand done blanket stitching! Up until the last few years of her life, she always seemed to have some embroidery to work on. She made several of those cross-stitched quilts - I'm not sure how many, but I think the one she made for our wedding gift was the first one. I'm sure it's because of her example that I have always loved to sew and embroider. Not that I haven't had dry spells, but I've always enjoyed many kinds of needle work.
I received this cute little pin cushion from my Secret Pal at work! I had never seen one of these before and it is really clever how the thread is held on by a strip of seam binding. How handy!
DH had hernia surgery on Thursday, so I was at home taking care of him. While he slept, I worked on these log cabin blocks. I made 60 of them
This is a doll quilt that I finished a week ago. I like how it looks on my rocker!
Yesterday I received a phone call from my DS#3, who is in Iraq now. He called to wish me a Happy Mother's Day. He has just been promoted to Major!!!

I hope all you mothers have a wonderful Mother's Day!

THIS AND THAT

I got up early on Saturday morning to go to some garage sales. I didn't have to set the alarm, because I usually wake up at 5:30 or earlier anyway. When I saw this old rocking chair, I thought they would want quite a bit for it, so I was shocked when they said $2.00!!! It didn't take me long to decide to get it (1/2 a second).

I have been wanting something nice on my front porch and they also had this rocking chair for $2.00, so I grabbed it as well. The red milk can was at another house for $2.00. I had a very good day at garage sales!
This wire egg basket looked interesting and was only $1.00.
These butterfly blocks were made by my grandmother, probably in the 1940's or 50's. I guess she only made these two. Maybe someday I will make more so I can have a butterfly quilt .
Besides working on hand piecing my tumbler block rows together, I have been paper piecing these stars for a project that I don't want to tell about yet. I'm not very fond of paper piecing and I seem to have to unsew a lot when I do it.
Another week starting. Hope it's a good one!