Getting the color right...

Last weekend I had to go get some more thread for the machine quilting.  I decided to pick up some satin binding for the quilt.  Normally, I don't use the satin binding, but it just seemed like the right choice for this quilt.  Unfortunately, the color selection at Hancock Fabrics was a bit limited due to their sale on it.  I picked up a rust color that I thought would work.

Throughout the week, it kept nagging at me.  It just didn't seem like quite the right color.  After I finished the machine quilting Tuesday night, I folded up the quilt so that I could see both the front and back with the binding laying across the top.  Tonight, I went out and bought some green binding.  It is much better.

And, it led to another project finished!

The quilt is already in use:

It also turns out to be reversible:

Progress on the split rail Christmas quilt...

Yesterday, after I took the photo of the quilt that I'd unearthed in the craft room, I left it on the loft railing along with the flannel backing fabric instead of risking putting it back in the craft room.  Apparently, it worked.  While the first football game of the day was on, I assembled the front, batting, and backing fabric, and during ads, Geff helped me get everything down smoothly.

Then, it was time to start machine quilting.  Since I'm still relatively new to machine quilting, this is the first time that I've tried to quilt a flannel quilt.  Between the size of the quilt, the weight of the flannel, and the aching arms (from working out), I definitely am stopping for the night.  But, I'd say that I'm about a third of the way done. 

Not quite what I had planned for the day...

I planned to work on the Christmas cards today.  After all, the holidays are swiftly approaching.

Unfortunately, when I get into one of these creative streaks, I develop a vision issue.  I seem to be completely incapable of seeing clutter.  I see the supplies I need for the current project and perhaps a few future projects, but I no longer see the growing piles of craft supplies.  How long this issue lasts seems to be fairly unpredictable.  Typically, impending visitors or the holidays will help my vision to clear up.

This time, it was walking into the craft room and seeing this:

Granted, when I saw it, it was still in the closet.  Long ago, at least 15 years ago, but probably closer to 20, I bought this plastic vertical storage unit.  It had hangers to hang over the clothes rod in the closet.  Almost a year ago, I heard a thump one evening and tracked it down to the craft room.  After a bit of searching, I realized that the plastic had finally given out, and the thump I heard was this hitting the back wall of the closet.

For some reason, this was the sight I needed to suddenly see the craft clutter in a lot of clarity.  I have been using the kitchen table as a sewing table, and some time during the past two weeks, the clutter spilled from the kitchen table to the kitchen island to the dining room table.

Tonight, it isn't quite all contained, but it is getting much closer.

During a trip to Target for dog treats, I splurged and bought myself a new vertical storage unit.   And, instead of leaving it sit on the sewing table along with a half a dozen other unfinished projects, it is now installed in the craft room closet.  Success!  A project started, and a project finished.

And, then, I turned around.  Yikes!

That is the corner of my real sewing table (the one in the craft room) and my cutting table.  Unfortunately for my Christmas cards, the vision issue really has cleared, and so rather than sew, I cleaned.

The every day sewing machine is now on the table as well, and I'm working on re-folding fabric and carrying it back up to the craft room.

The good news is that I'm already ahead of schedule now on the cleaning effort for Thanksgiving dinner.

The bad news is that the Christmas cards will likely sit idle for a while.  While making room for the sewing machine and fabric, I uncovered another unfinished project:

Yes, this is a fully finished quilt top.  I finished it in 2003 or maybe 2004.  It is flannel and will be perfect for watching TV on these cooler evenings.  I already had the flannel for the backing and the batting.  I purchased some thread this afternoon, and I think as soon as I have the kitchen table cleared off, I'll put the machine I use for machine quilting on it and finish up another project.

Quilters Corner

This weekend, we went to Grand Junction.  As always, I found the first opportunity to head to Quilters' Corner, one of my absolute favorite quilt shops (www.quilterscornergj.com for anyone interested).  This is the same place that I got the gingerbread table topper from.  The staff is always friendly and helpful and the ideas are always plentiful.

And, as always, I came home dreaming of quilts.  I fell in love with two different quilt projects, although I wound up not buying the kits.  The first is a lap quilt of a variety of minkee fabrics.  They have a good selection of minkee (although, not in the colors I was hoping for on the bolt), and a fantastic array of quilt kits.  Red, black, & white. Pink & brown.  Lime green & brown.  And on and on.  The second project I fell in love with was a block of the month quilt.  It has the look and feel of a Baltimore quilt, but with wool felt on flannel.  I loved the way the flowers looked with the wool felt.  While I didn't break down and buy the kit, I did buy some wool felt to play with.

I also bought some fat quarters (I found some batiks that will work really well for backgrounds of cards) and a booklet of patterns ("Motif" by Jeri Kelly) that I fell in love with.  Motif has 14 designs in a 12"x16" size.  I first noticed the elk that I know will wind up in at least one wall hanging, and then noticed the snowman, pumpkin, star, and dragonfly patterns that are also begging to be done.

So, now it is back to the Christmas cards while I dream of working with wool felt and following the patterns (or knowing me, modifying the patterns) from the booklet.

Quilted Photos

I needed another break from making the Christmas cards (which are still coming along--18 completely finished, with another 15 or so in progress).

A while back, I saw a really cool idea--quilted photographs embellished with beads.  The photographs were printed on fabric, and then "matted" and "framed" with fabric.  It gave the photo added dimension and called attention to areas that otherwise might have gone unnoticed in the photograph.

I fell in love with the idea, which of course led me to trying it out myself.  The photo to the right is my attempt at it.  The image is of a waterfall in northern Michigan (Bond Falls).  I quilted around some of the trees with hand-dyed embroidery floss, and I quilted areas of the waterfall itself.  I also added some white beads in the falls and some yellow beads where there were clusters of yellow flowers in the picture.

Why bring this up?  I've started working on my second image:  a close up of a cone flower.  I also printed a third image on fabric.  And, now I want to add my own touches--both in terms of quilting and in framing.  I've purchased a black frame that I want to use for the cone flower and a plain wood frame that I haven't quite decided yet how to decorate for the third image.

More on this later, I'm sure.