Saturday, February 9, 2013

My Weekly Quilting Review


I thought I might just give a quick review of what I've done this week, along with an explanation of where I've been the last few days. I've actually accomplished quite a bit, and since the name of this blog is "Get More Done...Today," that's what I've been trying to do! Some of these things have been mentioned before, so forgive me for repeating myself. One item that I accomplished that is NOT on my list of projects for the 2013 Finish-A-Long (see sidebar) was to put together the blocks for what I call my Martinsville quilt. I'm working on this project because I'm trying to help some quilter friends get theirs finished, which probably wouldn't happen without my help. So the top is done, it just needs borders.
This next accomplishment is my Breath of Spring project. It's quite pale, even in real life, so it's hard to get a good picture of it. It's supposed to be made into a pillow, but I really have no idea what I would do with such a fancy pillow, so I'm thinking I'll make it into a wall hanging. I love the curves of the lace on the left, so I'm trying to figure how I'll preserve those in the finished project. It's so close to being done and I'll be glad to have it off the workspace and onto the wall!
My mom's Egg Money quilt--all the blocks are finally done! I've cut the WOF strips of fabric for sashing, but that's all else I've gotten done. We made a little family trip today to go to a quilt shop to buy fabric for borders and backings for this quilt and the Martinsville quilt. After driving about an hour to get there, we found that it had closed 45 minutes before we got there! I was so bummed! Now I'll have to make plans to go again next week.

One piece of good news--I thought we just had 2 weeks left in February and was so relieved to look at the calendar and realize that there are 3 weeks left! Since I'm planning on finishing this Egg Money quilt this month, I can really use that extra week!
I haven't taken another picture of this quilt, but it is now completely finished. Charles has discovered the series, "Downton Abbey" and we've been watching the first few episodes each evening. That's when I got the binding sewn on here.
This project is what has kept me away from the computer the past few days. I spent the better part of Thursday cutting and piecing the backing and batting and then loading it all on the longarm frame. I quilted several passes on it yesterday, but with kids and grandkids dropping in, I had to wait to finish it until today. I pieced the binding from leftover bindings from other projects so it would be scrappy too. 

I like using flannel on the back of quilts, but until now, I'd only used it on lap quilts. This is a large full-size and it is SO heavy with flannel for the backing! I felt like I was wrestling with a baby elephant while I was trying to sew on the binding and move it back and forth from the sewing machine to the ironing board! I still have to hand-sew the binding, but I wanted to see how it would look on my bed and took a picture while it was there. With that flannel, it should be extra-toasty warm!

I have a few other projects I've been working on too. I'm trying to design a mini Valentines wall hanging for February (I'm not in the hop, I'm just doing this for fun) and I would like to actually finish it before Valentines day! I've also started a mini wall hanging for March that I just love. There's a Small Quilt yahoo group that I'm participating in and I cut out the pieces for the February small quilt. 

And then there's the Stitch Me Up Blog Hop for next month. I've been looking over the various designs and trying to figure what I'm going to make. I think I've finally got a plan! So that will be worked on behind the scenes. I've signed up for the April Showers Blog Hop too. That one should be lots of fun!

So...I've been gone because I've been busy! But that's all that's gonna be happening THIS week! I'll Get More Done...NEXT Week!




2 comments:

  1. Hi Gwen, Thank you for passing by at my blog, really appreciate it. I am loving your 'Breath of Spring' project. Looking forward to seeing it finished. By the way, I am a huge fan of Downton Abbey, they have just started Season 3 yesterday :-)

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  2. I love the breath of spring panel- did you embroider the picture yourself? I have been making a quilt from vintage white embroidered cloths for what seems like forever, you have inspired me to get on with it!

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