Quilting Laurel Ridge

 For a few days, I did nothing but cook, clean and eat! I suppose that's a sign of having a good Thanksgiving. We hosted dinner but we only had a total of 8 people so it wasn't so bad. My daughter's boyfriend's mom joined us this year and it was a pleasure to have her! Anyways, I wanted to get back to my projects so I practiced my pantograph and actually started to stitch it yesterday. This is called Acadia Feather by Bethanne Nemesh. A single row is 13.5" wide. I purchased the paper pantograph from Urban Elementz. The pantograph is set up on the back of the longarm machine and I follow the design with a laser light. It's a great feature to have. 

Here's just a few pictures with 2 rows completed on the quilt top. I really love this look. The blocks are so small that the large feathers are a great complementary design. I'm only doing a pass a day so I'm hoping to be done sometime next week. That's pretty fast for such a large quilt top!

Facets Quilt - Round 5

 Since Laurel Ridge is ready for quilting, I'm back to working on my Facets Quilt. I just finished the 36 dark purple blocks for the 5th round. I'll probably still moves blocks around, but this is what I've come up with so far. I do love how the quilt is coming along. All those scraps surely shine in this great quilt designed by Victoria Findlay Wolfe. This quilt can be found in her latest book, The Quilting Experience.

I wanted to show how my pile of 36 blocks looked! They measure 6.5" square.  For some reason, I thought it would look bigger! Anyways, on to the next round!!

I Like Thursday #296

It's time for Thursday Likes! Please visit LeeAnna to link up with more participating blogs. It's done!! My Laurel Ridge quilt is complete! This was not an easy quilt for me but I'm happy I finished it and it came out really good! I have already washed the backing but it needs to be ironed. I'll also iron the quilt top one more time. I've decided on using a pantograph so I ordered that yesterday. I'll be quilting it soon. I'm so happy that this quilt is done! Phew!!

My Christmas cactus is full of blossoms this year. It's a little early but still so nice to see! It's such a pretty pale pink.

I've really been enjoying knitting socks lately so I got this book. There are so many great patterns throughout this book. I've pretty sure my next sock project will be from this book.

Our prompt this week asks if we made turkey hands in school. I can't remember if I did or not but I do remember both my kids coming home from school proudly displaying their 'turkeys' for me! I think it is the cutest thing! I may have saved them. I'll have to look around.

I can't believe next week is Thanksgiving! Where does the time go??? Have a great weekend!

Laurel Ridge Progressing

Here is my almost finished Laurel Ridge! It's in 3 sections that still have to be sewn together but all it needs are 2 big seams! And then, 2 borders and the top will be finished! Almost there. These 3 sections will measure 80.5" square once the sections are joined. I noticed I had quite a few blocks oriented in the wrong direction so it took me a few days to get everything corrected. I'm happy with it now that the corrections have been made. 

This is the backing for Laurel Ridge. I got it from Hancock's of Paducah. It's 108" wide so I don't have to seam the backing. I really love this pattern. I feel it complements Laurel Ridge very nicely.

Does anyone remember my Alaska quilt? I finally put it on my bed. It reminds me of winter and since it feels like winter outside, I thought it would be appropriate. This quilt is one of my favorites!

I Like Thursday #295

It's time for Thursday Likes! Please visit LeeAnna to link up with more participating blogs. I have focused all week on getting this quilt top complete. I'm getting there slowly but surely. Although I have more blocks to add, I will also have 2 borders to complete this quilt. It should measure 90" square when finished. I've been thinking about how I'm going to quilt it. The original quilt made by Lynn Wilder has beautiful feather in certain areas. The blocks are quite small, most are 5" square, so the pieces within these blocks are even smaller. Many blocks are made up of 1" squares. I've been leaning towards using an edge to edge pantograph but I will wait until the quilt top is complete before I decide for sure. I just don't think my custom quilting will be very visible in such a busy quilt.

I've been working on a new sock. I got this gorgeous yarn and just couldn't wait to start. The yarn is from Turkey and is made up of such vibrant colors. I love self striping yarn. It does all the hard work for you!

My daughter bought this Sumo Cat Wrestler for the cats. It's been peppered with catnip! They sit next to it and play with it but they're not overly crazy about it. Cats are so finicky. You just never know what they'll like!

The prompt this week asks us if we decorate for Thanksgiving. I just made this wall hanging last month so I only have one quilted wall hanging for the holiday. I do have a few kitchen towels with turkeys that I will display once we get closer to the holiday. I don't think Thanksgiving has the same power as Christmas which seems to take over every other holiday. Christmas is just too big!

Have a great weekend!!

Sections of Laurel Ridge

 I hope everyone had a nice weekend. It's been raining here since yesterday afternoon. It's rather dark and dreary which I think is a great time to quilt! I posted what my star looked like for Laurel Ridge, well this is what it was supposed to look like! I inverted those green rectangle pieces with the gold square. It still looks very similar and I'm okay with it. By the time I noticed the error, it would have been too much work to fix it. The center block measure 30.5" square.

This quilt is made up of 4 corner blocks and 4 inner blocks as well as the center I've already made. This is my version of the inner blocks. I did not do any applique for this quilt. I decided to piece instead. Alternative blocks were made available. I made these pieced ring blocks which give the same effect as the appliqued blocks. However, I opted to make flying geese instead of the second applique block. Flying geese were repeatedly made for this quilt so I thought it would fit in nicely. This sections measures 30.5" X 25.5".

These pieces are not all sewn together but gives you an idea of what the quilt will look like so far. I plan on starting the 4 corner pieces when these are pieces are all sewn together.

Here's a picture of the original quilt design by Lynn Wilder and offered by The Quilt Show. Mine is similar but also different which is okay with me. Just a little poetic license!!

I Like Thursday #294

It's time once again for our Thursday Likes! Please visit LeeAnna to link up with more participating blogs. Here's the Laurel Ridge middle section that I finally completed this morning. I didn't notice it until later, but I complete reversed one piece. It's too late for me to change it unless I take the whole darn thing apart. I guess this will be my version of Laurel Ridge! I'll keep it this way because I just can't take the whole thing apart without having a breakdown! It measures 30.5" square so there's that! It's the proper dimensions.

I picked up my sewing machine from the shop yesterday. While I was there, I couldn't help but buy this adorable fabric! The sugar cookies on the left is my favorite! I don't have too much Christmas fabric so I didn't feel too bad about buying these.

I took Molly to the vet this morning. She's usually very aggressive at the doctor. I got another vet within the same office and Molly was so good! She didn't mind her touching her and never made a peep. She used to hiss and growl and actually try to bite the vet. She was so good today. I guess changing the vet was a good idea.

I got a kick from this wall hanging at the vet today. It cracked me up so I thought I'd share! Too funny!

The question this week asks us what podcasts we listen to. My favorite is Radio Rental. It's a horror/mystery podcast hosted by Rainn Wilson. It's so good! I also listen to The Meidas Touch, Book Lounge by Libby and True Scary Story. There are so many good ones out there. I don't listen to them as often as I should but I do enjoy them.

Have a wonderful weekend! Stay warm!