200 Quilts · FAL · Finish-A-Long · Quilts · Something to Think About

Christmas Treat Wallhanging

Christmas Treat front

So, out here on the old sewing ranch-a-roo, I finished up Christmas Treat (name is courtesy of my husband) and took it outside to pose for pictures.  The front.

Christmas Treat back

The back is an old Alexander Henry fabric with quirky angels flying everywhere.  I’ve hoarded this and now only have about a yard of the black colorway.

Christmas Treat label

The label.  I like to print mine out and border them before I stitch them on.  If you do a search for “labels” in the search box on the blog, you’ll find posts about how I do my labels.

Christmas Treat final

The final full shot.  It’s #111 on my 200 Quilts list.  It’s a big day because of the following four reasons:

1–this is my first Finish a Long completed.  I probably won’t finish the blue flowers at this time as the shop owner likes that it shows the back;
2–I actually did some free motion quilting on this that I’m not mostly ashamed of.  Don’t look too closely, as I don’t do enough of it to show it off, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out;
3–I took this sample (above, of Christmas Treat and below, of Lollypop Tree block) to Bluebird Quilts & Gallery, my local quilt shop, and she booked me in to teach two classes.

Lollypop Block

4) my husband took a new picture of me that I think is a pretty good rendition of who I am at this point in my life.  As the Mid-Century Moderns know, we scrupulously monitor our images, preferring instead to be behind the lens instead of in front of it.

ESE April 2013

About photographs: we swim in a sea of digital images, and most are out of our control, as was demonstrated by the plethora of images that came forward about the Boston Marathon tragedy.  Our grandparents had a handful.  Our great-grandparents had, like, maybe three.  So does having so many pictures make it any easier to find one you like of yourself?  If you’re like me, my husband took about ten shots before I got one that I liked–one that represented on the outside how I generally felt on the inside.  So, here it is.  Banish all other images to the dustbin.  This is the me as I am this week, all sunny yellow in sunny Southern California.

Two Lollypop Blocks800

Okay, class info:
Class will be taught at Bluebird Quilts & Gallery, at 22320 Barton Road, Suite A, in  Grand Terrace, California (just north of Riverside).

I’ll teach Wednesday, May 22nd from 10 to 3:30 p.m. and July 29th, from 10 to 3:30 p.m.

I need at least four, preferably, five people to carry the class.  I’m including the pattern (my own, drawn from the original Lollypop Tree quilt from the 1880s), and freezer paper (have you priced this stuff lately?  Whew!).  Cost is $50/full day class, including pattern.  Call the shop (909) 514-0333 to sign up, if you think you’d like to take the class.  They’ll have class supply lists for you when you sign up.  Their hours are Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Closed Saturdays.

Quilts

And the Razzy Award Goes To. . .

First, congratulations to Beth Baird, on winning the Practical Bag Pattern with this comment:

“I would totally love this kind of a bag. Our grocery stores no longer give us plastic bags, so this would be perfect for replacing those. And when we travel, it would fold up in the bottom of the suitcase or carry-on to bring home fabric from a shopping spree!”

I’ll get that in the mail to you today!

Thought I’d show you some of the ancient projects that didn’t make the cut into the Finish-A-Long group.

Millenium Quilt

This was a quilt done during our Millenium Year–you know 2000, when all the computers were going to quit and the world was going to end.  I have some a snippet of fabric that says “2000” on it.  I pulled out all my old projects and had my husband help me evaluate them.  He kind of shook his head and said, “Yeah, I’m not quite sure if this is worth your time to finish.”  Agreed, but this doesn’t get the Razzy Award.

Old Christmas Quilt

This gets the Razzy Award.  Note the outdated colors of burgundy and forest green, the precious pre-printed Currier and Ives-type panels combined with Santa Claus motif fabric.  I never even listed it on my 100 Quilts list (the other one is).  I mean, at the time, I thought it was “all that” as one of my friends says when referring to someone who convinced they are God’s Gift to Mankind, but we all know that all things pass away, even a passion for burgundy and forest green.

I am working today on a more updated color scheme, trying to figure out the quilting for my Christmas Lollypop Tree Wallhanging.  I seem to get at stuck spots too often on new projects, as if making a decision has to be practically perfect in every way (thank you, Mary Poppins).  It doesn’t, I keep telling myself.  One of the quotes I have on my syllabus is “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”  Sometimes I think it should go: “The perfect is the enemy of the done.”

And I’m listening non-stop to the news about the Boston Marathon bombers, probably just like the rest of you.  I’m glad at times like this to have the cloth under my fingers, keeping my hands busy while I still think about the sad events of this past week.  Take care of yourselves!

Screen Shot 2013-04-19 at 10.09.42 AM

My daughter’s hand.  Thanks, Barbara.

Giveaway · Quilts

Christmas Lollypop Tree Wallhanging

Christmas Lollypop Tree Wallhanging

I finally was able to stitch down the petals, dots and branches of my Christmas Lollypop Tree Wallhanging, figure out the borders (I referred to the antique Lollypop Quilt for ideas) and get it all stitched together.  Lacking: quilting, and a border, so it looks a bit incomplete, but like I always say, it’s nice to be at this point!  I think I’ve cornered the market on red and white and kelly-green and white fabrics.  Funny how our stashes will tilt one way while we’re working on a quilt, then veer into another direction when the next project comes along.  This is one thing I’ve been working on for this Works In Progress Wednesday Post, hosted by Lee of Freshly Pieced.  Thanks, Lee!

WIP new button

Earbud Zipper Pouch top

Another thing that has been in the works, but couldn’t show before is the little earbud holder.  I used Dog Under My Desk‘s pattern, and it went together pretty quickly.  I gave it to a friend, for she and I have what we call “sushi therapy,” where we get together and vent about our students (she’s a professor, too). I think between the sushi and the venting, we maintain our sanity (but this semester is really trying our patience!).

Earbud Zipper Pouch

I fussy cut out a bit of fabric that has a piece of sushi saying “You’re really really rice” and appliqued it on to the inside bottom of the pouch.  My friend laughed.

Tote Bag

And I made her a bag from my favorite pattern by Grand Revival: “Practical Bag,” with some book fabric that she gave me (I’m such a nice girl, that I’m sharing!).  I’ve made this pattern a ton of times.  I made it in New York fabric for my sister who lived in New York for 18 months on a church mission, so she could carry her groceries back home after shopping.  I made it for a friend who came to visit from Iowa and whose husband is a pastor (BTW, they just got a call to move to Brisbane, so she’ll be joining all my Australian friends very soon).  I’ve made a couple for me, and a bunch for I don’t know who else.  I originally purchased it for my daughter to make and traced off the pattern for me in case she had questions.  But soon, I bought my own and an extra.  What will I do with this?

Grand Revival Practical Bag

(They are much better at styling their photo, I think.)  So. . . I think I’ll drop it into the mail to one of my readers!  As usual, readers get one chance and followers get two chances, but leave a comment if you’d like me to mail you my extra pattern. But to qualify, tell me what you’ll make your bag to hold. . . or to who you’ll give it away to if your idea is to make it for a gift.

I can make this bag up in under an hour, and it holds quite a lot of groceries, or sewing for a doctor’s office trip, or snacks for the kids, or things to return for your errands.  I’ll use the tried and true husband-pick-a-number method of selecting someone (although if you’re very clever in what you say, I might have to override him).  Giveaway will end Friday morning when I drag myself out of bed, so make sure to leave your email so I can contact you.

And if you want to know what I’ll be doing while you write interesting things?  I’ll be quilting my Christmas Lollypop Tree and grading Drama tests (grading is NEVER done).  Thanks for reading, and Good luck!