TA-DONE!

Got the binding on last night before I went to bed.  I worked so fast doing it that my fingernails on my right forefinger and thumb were sore from guiding the needle.  I'm glad that I'm getting used to using a thimble again, otherwise my middle finger would have holes in it.

I went out early before my Bible Study Class this morning to get some pics of it finished.

Another quilt ready for a sweet great niece.

Thank you for your continued prayers for our grandson,Cole; he should be going home from the hospital soon for a six month recovery time.

Binding Ready

I just love it, love it, love it.  It's quilted and ready for binding.  This one only took about five and a half hours to quilt.

It cuted up really nice-m-m-m.  I just wish I could cuddle my great niece up in this, but she lives too far away.  I will either have to mail it to her, or send it with Nana (my sister).

I just love all these different views.

I guess I'll start the binding now.  I get to cuddle up underneath it while I do the handwork.  I'm glad it's a little cool out.

Please keep praying for our grandson Cole, he's still in the hospital.

Fiddling Around With My Hexies

I'm making hexie groupings.

I've been playing around with the hexie flowers on the floor to get an idea of how I would like to join them together.  I decided to make some of them into groups of 3 flowers, then fiddle with them some more.  Here are some I've joined and laid out on our bed.

I'm trying to group them in groups of like colors.  I think that would not look so hodge-podge.

I think this part will be fun--Oh the possibilities.

Please pray for our grandson, Cole; he went into the hospital this morning.

Another Great Niece Quilt

I just finished basting another baby quilt.  I can't wait until it cutes up from quilting it.  This is my favorite part coming up.

I decided to baste it the same way as the last one.  It took a couple of hours.

The difference of before and after quilting is big.

Yesterday, I was soo busy.    I had Bible Study Class, ate out with my sister and niece, got groceries at three different stores, bought material for my next quilt, got my eyes examined, and ordered new glasses.  Whew!  Wears me out just talking about it.

My FIL and BIL took an honor flight to Washington DC, so we also went to see my MIL and she was doing fine. I guess a little time apart doesn't hurt much.

I Love to Quilt

Here it is in all it's glory.  I did enjoy quilting this one.  The pinwheels are quilted in the ditch and the outside border is meander quilting. The borders are scalloped also.

I started quilting right after my Bible study lesson---

Our Bible study group is doing Exodus--and as many times as I've taught it it is still exciting to see what God did for the Israelites.  I'm am still learning more about God.  Amazing how you can study the Bible and still find out more--every time!

I quilted for 10 hours that day, start to finish I did  all the quilting.  I almost forgot to eat.  I just love a quilt when it "cutes up"  from quilting it.  I think I'm going to do my next quilt basting the same way I did this one.  It worked out fine.  It was a little tricky not getting the basting threads caught on the foot when I was moving the quilt around though.  I was impressed how the back stayed in place and there were no puckers on the back side from quilting.  I think it worked better than safety pins.  The backing is flannel in a baby print of white with tiny little pale blue flowers.  Cozy.

Here it is before I scalloped the borders while I was still quilting it.  If you enlarge the picture by clicking on it, you can see the basting threads I was talking about.  It's been a while since my last quilt, so quilting ten hours was going to be hard on my muscles--I get muscle spasms easy, but once I got started I didn't want to quit.  I was starting to hurt after about eight hours, so I took two vitamin D-3 (1000 IU) pills--the pain went away and I wasn't even sore--AMAZING!

The binding is bias-cut so I can go around the curves.

And done.

I love taking lots of pictures of the finished quilt.  I think I'm naming this one Ginger Snap Swirls.

Now, we just need a baby.

My niece is due in November, but her shower is today.
I linked up with amylouwho's sew and tell.

Ahhhhh-- How Sweet!

Well, my hubby brought me flowers the other day--for no reason--Surprise!

What a sweetie.

I'm working on another great niece's quilt here.  I love the colors of this one, but then I love yellow and blue.

Sometimes I get a little messy.

It's more fun to work when things are cleaned up.

Not sure what I'm naming this one, or the other two I'm working on.

For some reason blogger is not letting me add anymore pictures.  Oh well, I guess that's all you get.

Hexie Quilt and Thimble holder

Plugging along on my Hexie Flowers--I'm a little over half way there. 

It's the project I work on when I'm trying to avoid work--(snicker).  I'm actually working on three quilts right now.  Piecing another baby quilt-- that's not the most enjoyable part for me.  I like the quilting part and binding.  When I get tired of piecing nine-patches and hour glasses, I just go work on my hexie quilt.  That's probably why I'm over halfway there now.  At this rate, I'm going to have to start another handwork quilt before long.

See that grayish little contraption--that's my new thimble holder.  I also use it for bobbins of thread so I can just pull on the thread when I need more for handwork, and the bobbin just rolls around inside--pretty neat.  No more looking under the couch for my spool of thread that just rolled under there.

I love handwork, but I'm trying to use my thimble more, because I keep punching a hole in my finger.

I found a tutorial for this on a blog here. 

It's three pieces of plastic covered in fabric and stitched together around two of the edges.

I used the larger size for my holder, but I think I'm going to make a smaller one too.

I just finished my 30th hexie flower.

A Baby Quilt

I'm working on another quilt; it's for my great niece who's due to arrive shortly.  I love pinwheels, and I don't know why--just do.

Here's the stack of cut-outs.  After I cut them out, I mark the back with a cutting line down the center and two sewing lines on either side of the cutting line.  The chain sewing begins.  First down one side, then I turn and sew down the opposite side.

The next step is to cut them apart.

  Then I piece the blocks together.

To get the points to match, I stick a pin vertically through the two points, then pin either side of that pin making sure it stays vertical; remove the vertical pin and stitch.

The back side needs two short seams in the seam allowance unpicked so it will twirl and lay flat.

After the top is completely pieced, I begin the basting process.  I'm trying something new I found on Minick and Simpson's blog.  There was a video tutorial on this.  On the floor, (you could do it on the table) I roll the backing up on a board then the top on another board.  Now I can unroll it a little at a time on the table with the batting in between the two.  I baste across from left to right, because I am right handed, a swath of quilt about12" deep.  When that is finished I unroll some more and baste some more, repeating the process until the whole top is basted down.

I am anxious to see how it quilts up.  If I don't like it I can use safety pins instead of needle and thread.  Still I'm excited that I no longer have to drag out two long tables and set them up to spread it all out on.  I can do it on the kitchen table using only half of the table and two boards to do it with.  Ya-Hoo!