progress

I am still working away on Christmas gifts. I thought I could safely post this table runner. (its for a non blog reader) It is now ready to be quilted. Can anyone spot the mistakes in the piecing? I decided they added charm and so I left them. :0)
I wish I could figure out how to take better pictures of the quilty things I post. If only I could add that to my Christmas wish list....
Happy Quilting!

used up quilt

I've been thinking about how I use the quilts I have made. Yesterday I was at a little gathering of quilters and someone held up a beautiful queensize quilt and remarked that they wouldn't think of sleeping under it - that it was just for show. I thought of this old quilt - made by my grandmother in the 1940's.
This was the quilt on my bed when I was a very small child (in the 1970's) it was old and used already then. When I was 5 years old I decided I wanted a comforter and so (horrifying confession) my little sister and I found spots in the quilt top that were worn through - small holes I guess you would call them - and we used a coat hanger end to rip (I can hardly bear to type this) the patches through thinking that if the old quilt was ruined then my mom would buy us a new comforter. Well I was wrong. My grandmother came to visit, bought a new, patterned sheet and sewed it over the now ruined top of the quilt and tied it through the layers. I slept under this quilt until I got married (1997). By now it was the back and the edges that were in tatters. I put it away - it was an old friend and I wasn't going to part with it.
Last year my parents came to visit and we got talking about Grandma's quilts. I have 3 other quilts made by her but I could not recall the pattern on this quilt so I removed the sheet and revealed this old, used up, worn out, faded "Nancy's Nosegay" quilt. Handpieced, hand quilted, made from scraps of my aunt's skirts and Grandma's dresses and some new bits. My dad remembered her making this quilt when he was young. What do I do with it now? Around the edges are blocks with no damage - I could salvage them and do something with them...
This next quilt is one I made for daughter #2. She's been using it for 5 years now. Every night when I tuck her in - I look at the quilt and appreciate the fabric, the pinwheels ect... I love that I can tuck her in under a quilt I made for her myself. The other day I discovered she had colored one of the flowers in the fabric with a purple marker. (serves me right after what I did to my grandmother's quilt!)
To sum up. I make quilts to be used. In my home, we all sleep under the quilts I have sewn. One day they may look like the tattered old quilt at the top. But I'm okay with that - It just gives me the excuse to make another new quilt. :0)
Happy Quilting!!

Christmas sewing

I've been doing lots of sewing but not much that I can post. I've been busy working on Christmas gifts for various people and well ... I want things to be a surprise - so I'll have to wait to post pictures.

I did manage to finish one more Christmas stocking. I had appliqued a pair of green mittens onto it but found it was just too busy so took them off. Now, even though I really like pinwheels, it seems a bit plain. Oh well, I'm hoping to get at least one more stocking made before Christmas so I can get rid of the cheap fuzzy ones we've been using.

Happy Quilting!

Christmas Friendship Star

I finished piecing Marcie's free Christmas pattern. With 152 HST's (thank goodness for triangle paper) there was a lot of squaring up to do. :0)
It was a fun project and I am happy with how it turned out. I think I may put a border or 2 on it yet - I'm still deciding. I simply must get this quilted in time for Christmas decorating!
Happy quilting!

Sunbonnet Sue times 2

I did get the costume finished in time for Halloween. Daughter #2 was very happy with her Kirsten (American Girl) costume. Here she is posing with DD#1 in her Little House on the Prairie costume from last year. They didn't pose long - they got cold feet. :0)

This picture made me think of the cute Sunbonnet Sue blocks on Cristina's blog http://cri68.blogspot.com If you scroll down far enough she has a different Sunbonnet Sue block for nearly every month. I enjoy her blog very much. I only wish I could read it - I think it is in Italian.