Stories from the Sewing Room

I have been so busy quilting!  I've even squeezed in a bit of binding.

I quilted two Quilts for Kids quilts and have finished binding one.  I like making Quilts for Kids quilts when I want to try out a new quilting design.

I quilted the Caticorn quilt with the Rainbow Hearts pattern.

The rail fence quilt was quilted with a border design that I made into a pantograph (all-over pattern).  When I did this, it looked a bit like a line of fish.  I did have to add extensions to my backing on this one since it needed to be loaded sideways for the pattern to work.

Next I decided to quilt a few minis.  Do you quilt your minis with a long arm?  Most of the time I do.  As long as the backing is big enough, it works great.

The green one is called Lucky Charm.  I bought a kit from Primrose Cottage Quilts on Etsy last year.  I decided to quilt this one with a tiny Pumpkin Seed pattern.  This helped me learn how to align patterns more closely.  Next, I quilted my surprise mini quilt with a basic swirl pattern.  Why is it a surprise?  If you've been following me on Instagram, you've seen many posts lately about my Water Drop QAL.  I've mentioned it a few times here on my blog as well.  Anyway, I had some chunks of fabric left from piecing my top and decided that it would be really fun to make a mini version.  I had some 1.5" half-square triangle paper that fit my leftovers perfectly.  The rest is history.   If you've been a long-time reader, you may remember my Postcard from Sweden quilt and mini.  I like working in mini scale.

I also quilted my full-size Water Drop throw.  I didn't get as far as I had hoped this week with it since I had some other deadlines to meet.  Anyway, here is a quilted, but not bound, in-progress picture.  I quilted this one with Raindrops on Water.  I LOVE how this turned out and I can't wait to get the binding onto it and have a picture with the regular and mini versions together!

I also worked on Nancy's dragonfly quilt.  I quilted it with the Dragonfly Dance pantograph.  Isn't it pretty?

I also quilted and bound a new quilt.  This is called Northbound and the pattern is by Lindsey from Yellow Umbrella Quilts.  Lindsey released this pattern today!  I made my version using Lella Boutique's Gooseberry fabric line.  Yay--I used something from my stash!  I was uninspired by the project I originally had set this fabric aside for, and when the opportunity to test Northbound came up, every single piece of fabric I needed was the exact amount I'd set aside.  It was meant to be!  I quilted this one with Ginger Snap and machine bound it.

And now for the garden and cooking updates.

Pears finally went on sale, so I had my husband get some when he went grocery shopping.  Canned pears are my favorite.  I actually prefer canned over fresh.  Anyway, I had enough for six pints with a few leftovers I ate for lunch the day I canned.

You might notice the jar on the left looks funny.  I dropped it when taking it out of the water bath.  Amazingly, the jar did not break, but it bend the ring and the lid, which then unsealed.  So we ate that jar of pears for dinner and I have five for the pantry. 

I replanted peas and lettuce.  I think the chipmunks have eaten all my peas, because they had sprouted and now there is only one plant left.  And I saw chipmunks running through that bed.  Most of the lettuce is coming up.  I hope it survives the chipmunks.  My compost tomato plant still has some fruit on it, but it has been cold at night and they are not progressing.  I might have to pick them and ripen them on the counter.

I'm trying to block out all the depressing national and local news.  We don't have network channels anymore, so while I miss Jeopardy immensely, I am happy to avoid all the political ads.  I often wonder if those ads actually persuade anyone.  Things are just so ugly in the world right now.  

I was devastated by the loss of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  What a champion of equal rights she was.  Let's take a moment to honor her memory.

Need quilting?  Visit my quilting business website www.quiltingbyanne-marie.com to book.