Speaking Of Old Tablecloths

Yesterday I mentioned that the fabric I recently purchased was reminiscent of the tablecloths that my grandma once had. I really do have a love for all things vintage...especially linens. I'm fortunate to have several of my grandma's tablecloths as well as others that I have collected from yard sales and thrift shops over the years. The tablecloth in the photo is a new addition to my collection. It was made by my daughter-in-law's grandmother around 1976 and has a beautiful hand crocheted pineapple edging all the way around. Just imagine the time it took to do that! Sadly, my daughter-in-law's grandmother is having to move to a nursing home for health reasons and the family has the difficult job of sorting through and dividing up her belongings. I feel privileged that they have entrusted this beautiful tablecloth to me. I will treasure it.

What's A Quilter To Do?

It started innocently enough with a quick stop at a fabric store just to have a look around. I have lots of fabric, I don't need any fabric, and goodness knows I have projects that I am already working on so there was no need to buy anything. I was just going to see what there was to see. Then all of a sudden a bolt of fabric caught my eye..."Oh, isn't this pretty?!" The rest I can blame on my sister because she is the one who said that the print reminded her of a tablecloth that our grandma once had. Then she pointed out another "tablecloth print" and another and another! It was then that the wheels started turning and I knew that I HAD to make a table topper with these prints! Now there is a beautiful stack of flowered prints sitting on my cutting table mocking me every time I say, "I can't start the table topper until I get some of these other projects finished!" They are so hard to ignore! This project would be perfect for the spring fever that I have been suffering from, but I really need to keep working on my other projects and keep up with my promise to finish my UFO's. What's a quilter to do?

Did You Work On Your UFO This Week?

I don't have a lot of UFO progress to report, but at least there has been progress and block 6 is now complete! While I was working on this block I was trying to remember why I packed this project away to begin with and couldn't think of a single reason. I really do like the blocks and the Thangles are an easy way to quickly make a lot of perfect half square triangles. I'm actually looking forward to making the next block. Maybe it won't take me as long to finish this UFO as I thought it would!

Did you work on your UFO this week?

Dreaming Of Spring

My husband keeps telling me that it's too early to get spring fever, but I'm afraid I have a bad case of it! Yesterday I checked these two books out of our local library. Both Garden Inspired Quilts and Flower Pounding have beautiful photos and lots of ideas for making quilts inspired by flowers from your garden. I can hardly wait for the flowers to start blooming, so I can try a few of these projects, but for now I guess I'll just have to be satisfied to read through the books and plan my flower quilts while waiting for spring to arrive.

Late Winter

We have had a lot of rain here the past couple of days, but the good thing about that is that it melted all the snow and washed away a lot of the winter grime. While it was raining, I finished the bed runner top that I have been working on for my daughter-in-law. As I was studying the finished top this morning, I realized that it's the same colors of a late winter day...browns, sage green and bright sky blues. It really is the perfect project for late winter and I should be done with it just in time to break out another project using the colors of SPRING!

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind?

After looking through my UFO basket yesterday, I realized that I had forgotten about most of the projects that were in the basket. Projects get packed up for one reason or another and then become buried in the closet never to be thought of again. Out of sight, out of mind! Could this be the reason why I have so many UFO's? Maybe. Yesterday afternoon I covered a 4'x4' foam insulation board with a piece of flannel and hung it on the wall above my sewing machine and on it, I hung this week's UFO project. Now I will see this project every time I sit down at my machine and it will be on my mind even if I am working on a different project. No more out of sight, out of mind!

UFO's, WIP's & PIG's

UFO's (UnFinished Objects), WIP's (Work In Progress) and PIG's (Projects In Grocery Sacks)...we all have them! Some of us have more than others though and I'm the first one to admit that mine are out of control! For example, see the bag of Thangles Buck A Block's on the left? They are from 2007! Anya and I decided to make Christmas quilts using those blocks. Her quilt has been finished, gifted and it is probably half way to being worn out by now. I have a whopping 5 blocks finished! Needless to say, it's time for me to do something about all these unfinished projects that are taking up space in my closet. Each week I am going to set aside some time (even if it's just a few minutes) to work on one of my UFO projects and then on Friday's I will post my progress (big, small or none at all). Accountability can be a great motivator! If you have UFO's that you would like to finish, you are welcome to join me in my efforts...I'd love the company!

Missing Quilt

See the lovely little Charming Circles quilt in the photo? This photo is all that Kimberly Einmo has left of her wonderful quilt because someone had the audacity to steal this quilt while she was giving a trunk show at a local quilt shop. I don't understand what makes someone steal to begin with, but it's hard think that a quilter would stoop so low as to steal a quilt (or anything for that matter) from another quilter, but who else would attend a trunk show at a quilt shop? On top of that, Kimberly is a designer and author, so if someone loved this little quilt so much that she had to have it for her own, she only needed to purchase Kimberly's new book, Jelly Roll Quilts and More, and make one for herself! I know that things like this happen and that there is good and bad everywhere, but today I can't help but ask, what is this world coming to?

You can read the full story about Kimberly's stolen quilt on her blog, Quilting with Kimberly and if you have seen this quilt or know of its whereabouts, please contact Kimberly Einmo.

Tension Headaches

When you were a little girl and learning to sew, did your mother ever tell you never, ever, no matter what, NEVER touch the tension dial on the sewing machine? Mine did and after all these years I still find it very hard to turn the tension dial. As I reach for the dial I break out in a cold sweat, my hands shake and I start to hyperventilate, but this time I had to work through my fear and just do it! I had just finished ripping out three rows of horrible "loopy on the back" quilting and something had to be done to fix it. I did a little research and found that yes, those tension dials are meant to be turned! Who knew? After breathing into a brown paper bag for a minute or two, I made a few adjustments to the top and bottom tensions and started quilting. It turned out perfectly! I don't think I'll ever hesitate to adjust the tension again!