For He's a Jolly Good Fellow!

Happy Birthday Abe!!  This is a magnet that my friend Margaret brought me as a hostess gift.  Isn't he the cutest? 

Interesting that I'm exploring Log Cabin quilts this year.  Coincidence?  I think not....

I'm currently reading (on my ipod) "Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker"  by Jennifer Chiaverini.  It has been interesting and offers a different prospective on Mary and the Freed Slave experience during the Civil War.  It is easy for forget, but these women sewed these gowns by hand, talk bout haute couture!

Non sequitur:  How about those mourning dresses on Downton Abby?  I was sorry to see a character die, but I'm so glad we got to see the Jet dripping black dresses.

After seeing the movie "Lincoln" I decided to make a companion quilt to my Abe quilt.  This one will feature Mary Todd Lincoln.  I feel she is a complicated and misunderstood historical figure.  I'm hoping to start work on it soon!

Friday before the big storm on Friday, I finished my Jubilee Top!!

I had  HUGE snafu while finishing the borders and you can read the whole sad story here on the Jubilee Blog.

When the top was finally together I celebrated!  You know how I roll:

This is the beautiful new Christmas 2012 flute.  It is a BIG flute and has a gold trimmed red bauble on the stem.

I'm hoping to finish the marking and baste it today.  I'm using wool batting for the first time, wish me luck!

Here are some photos of the Blizzard of 2013. It was beautiful!  The best part?  We did not lose power!!  Hooray!

I love the bluish color of the dawn snow.

Our wrought iron chairs look like thrones for the snow king and queen.

 See you Friday with a recipe and fun.

Happy Birthday Abe,
Happy Mardi Gras,
Somber Ash Wednesday,
Happy Valentines Day....
what a busy week!

Fun For Friday - Be Mine!

Happy Friday!

I finally got the Dickens' Village put away and it was time to take out my Valentine's Day decorations.

It is a special day for us because we were married on a snowy, blustery night in Chicago on February 14, 1987.

We've been Valentines for 26 years~

Here are little shadow box valentines I made several years ago in empty chocolate boxes (they are displayed on the mantel on little picture easels).

I lined empty little chocolate boxes with black and white toile' and then bedazzled them with buttons, bow, cards, flowers, trinkets, etc.  I was working with the "king and queen of hearts theme...

here are some close ups.  Lots of references to 2-14

They are in this sized box -

Last year we were on a Carribean cruise at this time.....now we are bracing once again for a snow event!  Nemo is headed our way and colliding with a mid-west event.  Bring it on.  I'm ready.

good nemo -

bad nemo -

let it sew, let it sew, let it sew!

Have a great weekend - I'm posting early in case of power outage.

Cabin Fever - Finished!

Happy Monday!

I finished my Cabin Fever quilt, started in 1995:

The backing is made up of 20 fat quarters (I trimmed them all to 21" x 18").

After realizing on basting day that the backing was short, I attached the NYC subway fabric to the top and bottom.

Here is the backing before quilting.

Coco took a 30 minute sun bath on it one afternoon (she's avoiding eye contact with me).

Here is my favorite FQ on the back.  These funny Chimps.  The eyes are a scream.

I quilted each block and then on the diagonal in one direction.

The label - and hooray, I had the opportunity to use this funny label.  I didn't actually take forever, just 18 years to get back to it.

I couldn't decide on a single binding fabric, so I used 4, one on each side.

Here is a rag ball made of batting and the strip that gets trimmed after binding.  I've been making these for each larger quilt that I do.

And what's next?  I'm working on finishing my last border on the Jubilee quilt and I am piecing more of my flying geese that I traded with Susan and Jill.  It's happy and fun.

What are you up this week?

Fun For Friday - Morning!!

Morning is my favorite time of day!  I'm an early riser and I love having a quiet house to myself for awhile.  I'm one of those super obnoxious people who go around humming and singing in the morning.  My poor family....

I have a morning routine that very rarely alters and here it is:

I make a cup of coffee (thank you Kurig for being so fast) and step into my office.

That is what Rich calls my table and my spot on the green couch in the Gold Living Room.  I took over the living room 3 houses ago for morning time.  It is a pretty room and often under used - so I use it for me time.

I take my coffee (and usually coco) and sit.  My first task is to make an entry in my Five Year Journal.  It is awesome.  There are only a few lines to fill in and now that I'm on Year 3, it is fun to read back.

The second thing I do is a little spiritual reading of some sort.  I've read the Bible 3 times by doing it one day at a time.  This year I'm working on "The Wisdom of the Tao" and a book my friend Mary B gave me; "Help, Thanks, Wow - The Three Essential Prayers".

Then I either do a little more reading, or I write a note to someone.  I often listen to my book and a do a little applique' and have a second cup of coffee.  Sometimes I work on my laptop, but I'm trying not to get into that habit.

Here are two more new books that I got from Mary for Christmas this year: "Making Time", and "How to Live on 24 Hours a Day".   I'm sensing a theme here.

At 7 am I can almost always be found watching Good Morning America.  They don't know it, but there is a suburban NJ woman helping them co-anchor the show.  I weigh in on nearly every topic, especially the legal issues.

Okay, so maybe that wasn't exactly fun, but it wasn't quilting related either.  You know what is fun?  PUPPIES!

Not into the Super Bowl?  Animal Planet hosts the Puppy Bowl click here to see some footage.  It is so cute!  I can't stand it.

http://youtu.be/EjpM-m20pIg

Have a Fun Weekend!

Pin Basting - A Cautionary Tale

Thank you for all your get well wishes!  I feel much better.  Funny, well enough to quilt, but not nearly well enough for housework.

Fabric APB!!
Julie is looking for a red fabric and I know how she is feeling.  Without the help of generous quilters I never could have finished my Mothers Garden quilt.   Please pop over to her post and see if you can help her.
http://quiltjewelry.blogspot.com/2013/01/that-red-fabric.html

On Sunday coco assisted me in the sewing room while I finished the Log Cabin top.  What a nice pup.

Today was quilt basting day.  I decided to offer step by step of how I pin baste on my table.  This method can be used with any sized table, even a card table.  A folded banquet table works well or you can make a table with plywood and 2 upturned trash barrels.

Line the surface with cutting mats.  I cut a really old one for the small spaces.

Fold each layer in half and half again to find the center.  Mark with a safety pin.

Lay the backing face down, centering the pin with the center of the table.

Using extra large binder clips, secure the backing to table.  Be careful not to stretch the fabric too much.   Also try and keep the fabric grain straight in both directions.  If you have a pieced back it is a good idea to secure those areas.

I like to let the batting "rest" out of the package for a day or so.  Here is coco helping it to relax.  Good girl.

Smooth the batting over the backing careful not to stretch or pull it.  Match the center pins on the backing and batting - and don't forget to remove the one from the backing so it's not quilted in.  (I used an old photo here, cause I forgot to take one this morning)

Last spring I quilted the backing to my daughters quilt on upside down, so now I'm going to mark the upper right hand corner and make sure both layers are the right way - duh....

All set for pinning!

I try to come up with a pinning plan and do the whole quilt the same way in each block.  This makes it easier to remove them later, I think. 

It is a good idea to add a few extra where the blocks meet and may shift.  I follow the rule of quilting the grid first, then filling in later.

Release all the binder clips before you close the pins.  This will take stress off the quilt.

This is really important:  Enlist all family member or guests that are hanging about to help you close the pins.  Thanks, honey.

After the center section is finished, shift the whole quit to the other side.  Binder clip the basted edges first, then smooth the layers and binder clip the backing again, and pin as before.  Repeat until all sides are basted.

Here comes the CAUTIONARY portion of this tutorial.  Do as I say, not as I do.

Do you notice anything strange about the bottom of this quilt?  Does it look like the backing will be long enough for top? 

I love being human.  I really do.  It is so funny sometimes.  As I'm preparing this whole thing to blog about, I have somehow miscalculated my backing and I'm short not just on the bottom, but the top as well.

JOY!  RAPTURE!  If I only had a brain.

This has given me such an interesting creative opportunity!  Hope you are having a fun week!