Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Off my To-Do List


The quilt I am making for my Uncle is finished. WooHoo! a finish and in pretty quick time for me.  I just need to add the label and then decide if I want to give it to him right away or wait until Christmas. 
It measures 63" x 66"   Odd size, I know,  I made it a bit more rectangular by making the top and bottom border a bit wider than the sides.

I did stitch-in-the-ditch on both sides of the muslin borders and straight stitch down the centre of the homespun squares.  So it is quilted approx every two inches all over.  I wanted this quilt to have a lofty feel and so I didnt do dense quilting all over.  I did quilt densely in the muslin rounds.  I freemotioned a different pattern in each.  Pebbles in the centre, then jesters hats, then loop-de-loop, then swirls and finally a meander.  I used a 50# Wonderfil TUTTI in colour #TU38, a lovely  beige/ lt.grey/white variegated thread, one of my all-time favs.  I used six bobbins. I used a size 90/14 Superior Titanium Topstitch needle.   On the back I used a good quality flannel extrawide backing in a light beige colour.  It turned out just wonderful, so cozy and warm.  Now my son, Alexander wants one just like it. 

You may remember this gorgeous handquilted star block that I received as a birthday gift from Lesley
Here is how I decided to showcase my beautiful star block
proudly displayed in my kitchen so I can see it all the time.
  I fell in love with the fabric and wished I owned some of it. On Sunday I decided to go through some goodie bags that I had been given, by Lesley back in September, and guess what.....oh yes, a baggie full of lots of pieces of these wonderful fabrics.  How happy was I...soooo happy.  I went right to work and made this...
A stuffed tea cozy!  I pieced the front and there was even some little half-square triangles in the scrap bag so I made a pinwheel and then just kept adding strips around, log cabin style.  I did some freemotion stitching, added a plain back and then for warmth, heat resistant thermal batting layers and a flannel lining and then I stuffed the whole thing with fiberfill and it is just the best tea cozy I have ever owned. I saw one at an up-scale craft store for sale for 85.00 and figured I could make one.  I even used the ribbon that the scrap bag was tied with, for the tab at the top.  I still had scraps left over so I started another small project that I am still working on.  I will share that when it is completed.  Thanks so much Lesley, I enjoyed myself so much using up your scraps! 

Thanks for stopping by my little blog.
Have a quilty day!