Fall Quilting

Fall 2014 Garden

So where have I been? Outside, of course! This summer has been one of the nicest I can remember, temperature-wise and with lower humidity. Makes you want to stay outdoors all the time! Even when I am at work, I make a point to at least walk outside around the building at lunch time.

Catching the light (while it's still here)

I am making some quilty progress, too. Slow but sure.

I'm about two-thirds of the way done quilting this one. I thought I could get by with machine quilting in the ditch between the blocks, but it was not enough. At least the stitching between blocks is holding everything together while I hand quilt the logs of the blocks (the blocks are about 4 inches wide).

I have more to report, from a Harriet Hargrave lecture at our guild, to the AQS show in Grand Rapids mid-August. Stay tuned!

Next on the Docket

Our family Christmas party was canceled over a month ago due to a snowstorm that made traveling dangerous. We finally got together this past Sunday at our home!  It was weird last month putting up and taking down Christmas decorations and lights without anyone but us seeing them (we didn't want them up for 6 weeks!)  So now that the party's over, it's time to get some stitching done!

This Broken Star Log Cabin quilt top (pattern from Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts) was made a few years back. My friend Debbie S. worked on one for herself, too, back when we used to stitch every other Monday at her house. With steady stitching from 10 to 12:30, then 1 to 3 pm, we could only get 6 blocks done per time. These are 4-inch blocks, people! Simple sewing but time intensive. A closer view:

I plan to machine quilt in the ditch between the 4-inch blocks. Then I'll decide if more stitching is needed. 

I also have another quilt which will get some simple hand quilting. This top was a block of the month from Quilts Plus in Kalamazoo, from quite a few years ago.  These are also 4-inch blocks. Debbie S. has one of these, too. I'm glad we stitched together, because we had to read the directions for each block a few times, and double check with each other so we were assured that we wouldn't goof up.

I'm anxious to have these finished and hanging in my living room.