Some Progress

This is all I have left to sew of the binding on my vintage Double Wedding Ring. It was the only good thing about being sick. I sat on the couch and did hand sewing. That's about all I could do. My energy is coming back and I'm feeling better. I've been to work and not getting as tired as I had been at the beginning of the week.

I found this fabric in my stash. I thought it would be a better backing for my Dream Big panel. I think my quilting will show up better. I love the look of this fabric. It reminds me of marbled paint. The backing is all pieced and ready to be loaded. I'm hoping to get to it soon. I've been too tired to do much after work but I think I'll be better this coming week.

I found this pattern and couldn't resist buying it. It's so stinking cute! I think it will be to make for the holidays. I just need to get some zippers! 

Knit Stellaria Shawl

I finally blocked the Stellaria shawl I knit for my mother. I thought I should get it done since the cooler weather will be here soon. The outer edge measures around 120 inches. 

This is a closeup of the lace edge.

This picture shows you how I blocked the pointed lacy edge. You can't even see the pattern until it's blocked. The stitches are just all close together and look rather messy until they're separated .

Here's the shawl all pinned on my formal living room carpet!

I had to cover the shawl with towels to keep my cats from pulling out the pins! They think it's funny to pull the pins out and run all over the house with them!

My Piecing Remedy!

I finally felt better today. I don't have a fever anymore but I bet this cough will be sticking with me for awhile. I wanted to sew and just get something done! I haven't worked on Carolina Chain in quite some time. I thought it would be perfect for today!

I decided to make 2 blocks. That means I had to make 8 almost 9-patch blocks! The hardest part is choosing the fabric. That's 56 pieces that had to be cut. The cutting takes forever!

Anyways, I ended up with 2 blocks. That brings my total to 20 completed blocks. I only have 52 left to make! I consider this a long term project. It's fun to use fabric left over from previous projects.It doesn't really tame my scraps at all but it's nice to pretend that it helps!

New BOM Project

I had a few days off in a row this week. I had planned on doing some quilting and cutting some fabric. I did absolutely nothing! I came down with a chest cold and fever and I've been on the couch all week! I'm hoping to be able to work tomorrow. Lucky me. I get healthy just in time to work. Anyways, the guild is starting a new block of the month. You need 7 or 8 eight fat quarters. I had bought this package of fat quarters a while ago. I think it's the state flowers fabric. Anyways, they're perfect for this project.

I bought extra of this fabric which was in the fat quarter package. I'm going to use it for the backing of the Dream Big panel. 

This is my Dream Big Panel. It looks more green than this picture shows.

I bought this fabric for the background of the block of the month project. It's white not grey like this picture! I couldn't just buy a solid. I love the little dots!

I just hope this virus goes away soon. I hate being sick. I feel like I'm wasting my time off just laying on the cough. I've been catching up on some shows I've recorded on my DVR. I'd rather be sewing!

Serendipity Star Quilted

I just finished quilting Serendipity Star Table Runner. I really love how it came out. It was nice to quilt something that didn't take very long. This runner just took me a few days. It would have taken even less time but I had to work and sometimes I just don't feel like quilting when I get home. 

I wanted to try something new in the border. This is variation of ribbon candy. It's a little bit out of my comfort zone but I thought I would try it anyway. It didn't come out perfect but it's okay. The challenge was that I had all these corners that I had to navigate. It's not my best work but I'm leaving it! 

I'm an avid reader and wanted to share what I'm reading at the moment. This book is so good! I'm having a hard time putting it down! If you get the chance to read this book, do it! You won't be sorry!

Slow Binding.

I've been sewing down the binding on the vintage Double Wedding Ring. I'll have to admit that it's just so slow! I knew it would take a little while since it's curved with that 4 patch poking out. I like how the binding looks so that's a good thing!

I don't even have one side completely finished! I suppose I'll just take my time and enjoy the process! (Which is difficult for me to do!!) On the bright side, I'm almost done quilting my table topper. I just have the border left to quilt. I'll post pictures soon!!

Free Motion Quilting Serendipity Star

I had a rare Saturday off from work today. However, my husband was scheduled to work so I ended up having the day to myself! I thought I should start quilting the Serendipity Star Table Topper which I made a while back. I spent most of the morning trying to figure out what pattern I should quilt. I have a bunch of books that I look through. I usually take one idea from one book and combine it with an idea from a different book. That's how I came up with the motif for this diamond shape. I outlined the diamond and then used a ruler to make the straight lines within the block. I used that middle seam to be my stem for my feather. I think it worked!

Equilateral triangles are found on both sides of the diamond shape. I found lots of triangles with quilting but none were equilateral. I liked the idea of these parallel lines on each side of the triangle. I decided to make a tight meander in the remaining space. 

I was going to try something different in the middle but the fabric was so busy that you just can't really see the quilting very much. I thought meandering was the was best choice.  

That was my Saturday! I got half of the table runner quilted. I also started to sew down the binding on the Double Wedding Ring quilt. I started reading a new book too! I had a pretty nice day off!

Backings

I got an email that Bits N Pieces, my local quilt shop, was having a Labor Day Sale. I rushed over this afternoon with the intention of looking for quilt backings. Sales fabric was on sale for 30% off the sale price. Sales fabrics are usually $7/yard. What a great bargain! I bought this fabric for Step Down Quilt. The quilt top is made up of large squares so I thought little colored squares would be perfect for the back!

I chose this fabric for the backing for Green Tea and Sweet Beans. I love the pink and the large flowers. It's colorful and reminds me of the flowers appliqued on the quilt top.

I couldn't resist this pattern. It's by the same person who came up with the original oval Jelly Roll Rug. I love that this one is rectangle. I will definitely use scraps to make this one. This pattern looks like a lot of fun!

I'm ending this post with a picture of Tiger Woods. I spent the day yesterday at the Dell Technologies Championship in Norton, MA. My husband and I attend this tournament every year. This year, Tiger Woods was one of the golfers. It's the first time I've ever seen him. We had a fun day but both came home tired from the sun and all the walking.