THREE FINISHED QUILTS AND A SNOWMAN

I finally got the binding sewn on my "Over the River and Through the Woods to Grandmother's House we Go" quilt!  I hung it on the wall and should have taken a picture of it before doing that because it was kind of hard to get the right angle and lighting from where it hangs.  I think we used to sing that song around Thanksgiving time in grade school.

"Over the River and Through the Woods"

 Then I finished a Christmas rail fence quilt that will be donated.  I cheated and folded over the backing for the binding and then sewed it on top by machine.  It sure went a lot faster!

The backing fabric was given to me by a friend.

Another Christmas quilt that I will keep and this patchwork fabric was also given to me by the same friend.  All I did was back it with some flannel that I had on hand with no batting and I quilted it with straight lines on the diagonal.  I really like this fabric, which is already pieced together and sold by the yard.

My sister has a snowman like this and I had been wanting to make one from an old bed spread.

This is the program from the Houston International Quilt Show that I got when they sent my quilt back to me.  My quilt, A Civil War Remembered, is listed on page 39 under Texas Guild's Award-winning Traditional Quilts 2014.

Tomorrow will be a baking and cooking day and on Thanksgiving we will be going to DS#1/DIL's home for our Thanksgiving dinner.  Unfortunately, our DGD has to work on Thanksgiving, as the stores are all open now on Thanksgiving.  I liked it better when stores were closed.  :-)  And our DGS won't be coming home from college for Thanksgiving, but we'll see him at Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my quilting  and blogging friends!

TOP OF "OVER THE RIVER" FINISHED!

Yesterday morning I was so happy to have sewn on all the borders of the "Over the River and Through the Woods" quilt top.  I laid it down on the floor and something didn't look just right.  I took a picture of it (it was still dark outside, so the picture isn't very good) and finally it dawned on me.  The right border was sewn on the wrong way!  The geese are supposed to fly around the quilt clockwise and not going up on both side borders.

So, last night I undid that border while watching the recording of Masterpiece Theatre and this morning I sewed it on the correct way.

DH held it up outside in our side yard for this picture.  There's a small tree on the right in our neighbors yard that has turned red.

I just can't help doing some sewing, but if I keep doing it, I'm not getting the rest of my things put away and organized.  There is still quite a bit of organizing to do before we are really "settled" so I need to get busy on that instead of getting side tracked.  But I just have to "make" myself do the organizing.  Oh, well, it shouldn't take too much longer.  I also can't show you-all pictures of our house until I get it done.  :-)  Plus, I feel so good when I get things in the house the way I want them!

A BREAK FROM ORGANIZING

Monday on my way to shop for groceries, I saw that the "Garage Sale Store" was open.  I had some good luck there a month ago or so and decided to check it out.  Right away, I spotted this book case for $55.  It looked really nice and I liked the doors on the bottom.  After texting a picture to DH and getting his approval, I bought it.  After getting it home, DH saw that it was made by Ethan Allen!  It is perfect for our living room.

I needed a break from "working" (aka unpacking and finding a home for each item in a box) so I decided to do some sewing and got most of this wall hanging put together.  It's "Over the River and Through the Woods" by Crab-apple Hill.  I just need to put on an inner border and then add the flying geese border and it can be basted!

I don't have my design wall put up yet, so it is on the floor.  Here's a little closer view.

We are pondering how to put up a quilt rack or something that I will be able to hang my larger wall hangings on.  It will have to be rather high up - we have a vaulted ceiling and it's an ideal place to hang a quilt.  I have about 4 large wall hangings and they will hang on the opposite wall from the "Colonial Glory" quilt (or whatever quilt is on that particular quilt rack).  They won't all be up at the same time, but I will switch them out seasonally.  In order to put a quilt on that wall, two people will have to climb up on ladders.  :-)  I wonder how quilt shops get their quilts up so high.

Yesterday I showed my next door neighbor my sewing room (she's the one who wants to learn to quilt).  She seemed to like it - or else she thinks I'm totally nuts!

ANN HERMES' BOOK HAS ARRIVED!

I have been following Ann Hermes' blog ever since I started blogging on Allpeoplequilt.com in 2008 (or sometime around then).  She and a group of other bloggers are still blogging and reading each others blogs, so I feel like I know her, even though we have never met in person.

Her book, Pennsylvania Patchwork Pillowcases and Other Small Treasures, has just been published and I just received my copy!  I have barely cracked it open for a short peek and decided I had to blog about it.  I can't wait to read it all!  It's available from Ann or on Amazon.com.

Front cover

Back Cover

After just flipping through a few pages, I can tell it will be very interesting and informative.  I'm going on a trip to Minnesota for a family reunion and will take it to read on my flights!

Inside

If you visit Ann's blog, you will see the many quilts and vintage fabrics she has made and/or collected as well as other items she makes from the fabrics.  She is definitely a multitalented woman!

In between moving, etc. I managed to make 32 flying geese for this pattern by Crabapple Hill.  I think I worked on the embroidery panels for at least a couple years, so now, I would like to finish it before Thanksgiving, if possible.  I need 32 more flying geese for the border, then I just have to make the blocks in the middle sections!

Here are some of the flying geese that are completed.  I can remember the day when I just dreaded making FGs, but after many years, the task has gotten easier.  That's always nice.  I guess practice does make perfect - just as my old piano teacher used to say!

BTW, we have all our belongings are now in the house, but not in the actual rooms as we are keeping them clear for the carpet to be put down tomorrow.  Our furniture and boxes are in the garage, shed, bathroom and on closet shelves.  The kitchen is taking shape and most of the cabinets have been cleaned, so we are making progress.  The living room has been painted and really looks great!

Thanks for all your good wishes!

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?

A couple months ago I basted a really old UFO and I finally decided to take a break from other newer projects to get this quilted.  Unfortunately, I decided I couldn't do an over all easy quilt job on it, so it's taking me a lot longer to get it quilted.  The pumpkins were easy, but then there is the area around the pumpkins and the area around the apples, etc.  Everything is different!   I also had to order some other colors of quilting thread and it hasn't come yet.  

In the mean time, I made the 2 wristlets for the Christmas challenge (that I blogged about on Saturday) and set up my Featherweight on one side of my sewing table so I didn't have to change the foot and thread on my Janome.  I decided to leave the FW there because it's heavy enough not to get pushed off the table by the quilt I'm working on and because I might want to use it to do some piecing or something.

Also, in the mean time, I finished the hand embroidery for my "Over the River and Through the Woods" quilt designed by Crab-apple Hill.  Now I just need to make the blocks and flying geese.  Maybe I can finish it for next Thanksgiving and Christmas.

What's on your sewing table?