Happy Thanksgiving!

It has been a slow week in the studio though I did manage to make a little something for a special someone who is turning 10 tomorrow!

Bitty Bag

 Above is the "Bitty Bag" (pattern by the same company as the Mondo Bag) made with Moda's new line of fabrics called Soho Chic. 

Charm and Mini-Charm packs.

 I wish I could afford to buy a few yards of each of the 40 fabrics in the line but alas I had to settle for Charm and Mini-Charm packs and yardage for lining. I love this new line from Moda.

Mondo Bag and Bitty Bag

I posted a picture of the Mondo bag a while back. Here are the two side by side so you could see the size difference. There is a mid-size bag pattern also.

Pumpkin Dessert, Pecan pie and Triple Berry Pie

My mother-in-law wanted to roast the turkey this year so I was put in charge of pies. There will be six of us for dinner so I made a Pecan pie, Chocolate Silk pie, Triple Berry pie and a Pennsylvania Dutch Sour Cream Apple pie plus a Pumpkin Dessert. Hmmmm. Overkill? We'll be eating pie for a week! And as you can tell from the Triple Berry Pie, I have an oven to clean.

Just in the oven!

Two of the things I love to do in life is quilt and make pie. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. You are treasured.

Saturday

The view from my front door.

It appears winter is trying to invade the valley so it is a good morning to get stuff done around the house.

There were a bunch of chicken/turkey bones in the freezer so I started the stock pot. I had some crimini mushrooms in the fridge so I made mushrooms in marinara for my breakfast.

Stock and breakfast

But most importantly...

Feather design

I'm in the studio quilting on Dave and Christy's quilt. I drew up a feather design to incorporate into their quilt. I don't do feathers very much but admire the feather work I see on other quilts, especially from two of my favorite local professional quilters, Selena Beckwith and Vicki Ibison. (One of the reasons I don't do very many feathers is because I'm not that good at them.) 

Sample of Salena's feather work. 

So inspiring!

Salena's award winning quilt.

So, as it has been said, "Practice makes perfect!" 
So I practice and maybe someday I will quilt like a pro! 

It has been a slow week in the studio but I  have been trying to be diligent because I have a lot of quilts to get quilted. I want to get a lot accomplished today because I'm hoping this quilt will be done by next weekend or at least ready for the binding.

Dave and Christy's quilt at the machine.

It is time to go to the studio, switch laundry loads around and get back to quilting. Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by.

Border Dilemma

Here is a quilt I've been working on for quite some time, well actually it has been sitting on the shelf for quite some time, and tonight it called out to me because it's feeling naked and really wants a final border. 

So I began "auditioning" my extremely limited stash of black and white fabrics and nothing seemed to work due to the strong visual elements already in place.

After much consideration, I decided to go with a simple pieced border, either black with thin white strips, (Yes, I know there is only one white strip in the photo, but in my head there are two!)

or white with thin black strips.





If you take a second look at the first picture, you can get the idea. I think I'm going with the white border with two thin black strips. I like the "floating" effect of the two black lines and believe it will make a nice frame for the central design. The top is currently 78" square so I'm making the final border 9" so the quilt will finish at 96" square. 

I'd really like a couple of days off from driving bus to work in the studio. I usually spend time in my studio after work but the time change really seems to be affecting me this week. It is bothering me to look outside at 5:30/6:00 p.m. and have it be dark.

Thanks for checking in folks!

Mondo Bag

My daughter Sophie was bored yesterday so I decided to take a break from quilting quilts and make this bag with her. The Mondo Bag, designed by M.P. 'Mattie' Rhoades, is made using printed interfacing by Quiltsmart. It is Mondo fun and easy to make. We started it yesterday and finished it tonight!

There are twenty-one different fabrics in this Mondo Bag...

and it's a Christmas present for a beloved teacher. We had a lot of fun making this project together.